In addition to my popular column and gallery on Phoenix Union Station, I've written about the Ghost Railroads of Arizona, the many lines that helped build the state that have mostly disappeared. Another column detailed the difficult enterprise of building railroads to Phoenix, ending its isolation. And most recently photographer Jack Delano's trip across northern Arizona during World War II. Many of these have additional photos, so check them out even if you read the text.
Now, a grab bag of railroad photos from the 1950s to today. A reminder: Phoenix is by far the largest city in North America without intercity passenger trains, mostly a failure of state government.
Click on the photo for a larger image:
The Sunset Limited, premier train of the Southern Pacific, on its way to Phoenix in 1950.
A Santa Fe train hauling a block of refrigerated boxcars ("reefers") near the Colorado River crossing at Topock in 1953. These cars also hauled Salt River Valley produce by the trainload when Phoenix was an agricultural empire.
Santa Fe freight action on the double-track main line near Holbrook in 1962. The lead locomotive is a new U25B, General Electric's first independent entry into the American diesel market. It was nicknamed the U-Boat.