Love the video both of the Tucson area and also the Roll area where the Phoenix Line crosses the Gila River, The Amtrak train there is a timeless classic as this is the only video that I've seen with the Sunset Limited running on the Phoenix Line. Love the Semaphore Signals. Thanks so much for sharing!
Great video. The style-B semaphores are classic and lasted on the Eastbound track out of Tucson to the end of double track (Cienaga Wash area) long past their exped lifetime. The two idiots expecting to win the Darwin Award fortunately chose a deck truss, but a fall from the lower chord might be good enough for 2nd place.
I just ran across this video… I lived in Tucson for about 40 years, and covered the Stormy pretty extensively. I miss what it was, but too much has changed in the past after your videos were shot. While I may someday revisit Tucson in the future, it won’t be the same as it was. UP took a great big eraser and removed much of the character of that line.
The upper line at Cienega Creek is the old EL Paso / Southwest ( ie Philips Dodge Copper Company) line .The lower line is the SP line laid down in the late 1880's coming out of Tucson.
Actually, the original transcontinental line there was on the other side, but it got washed out a few years after it was built. SP relocated it to where it is now afterwards. If you wander around the east side of Cienega Creek you may still find some ties and spikes from the original alignment.
Thanks for the sight of how things used to be. I was stationed out in Ft Huachuca back in 2010-2011 and loved going to Tucson. When you got to Benson you could see at least two trains from miles away. And then I'd occasionally pass the yard in Tucson. Seeing this video makes me miss it out there
Jeremy Yeargin I was at Huachuca a few years before you and did the same. There was a greasy spoon in Benson that had a view of the tracks. Good times.
Wow.. Nice to see footage of the old semiphores on the Stormy.. BTW, this is better known as the Sunset Route which goes from about Houston to the end of the line in Los Angeles.
The Sunset Route, and actually it starts in Houston and goes over the I 45 freeway just outside of downtown. We call it the Sunset Route here in Houston too because it officially ends and begins at the Amtrak Station in downtown Houston. I remember when SP and MKT both had tracks around there until they ripped up the old Katy tracks from Downtown to Katy for expansion of I 10.
The Sunset Ltd. still uses the portion of line seen from the beginning to 12:05. From that point on, the video shows the old line into Phoenix where the Hyder derailment occurred and which was subsequently abandoned. The Phoenix stop was put on the line through Maricopa instead, with a bus connection to Phoenix and an ex-CZ dome observation for the station.
@@Cal90208 Yes, me too. Unfortunately road access beyond that point required a 4x4 which I didn't have, and the only through train on the line was Amtrak which meant long waits between trains. Maybe some locals out there have something.
Love the video both of the Tucson area and also the Roll area where the Phoenix Line crosses the Gila River, The Amtrak train there is a timeless classic as this is the only video that I've seen with the Sunset Limited running on the Phoenix Line. Love the Semaphore Signals. Thanks so much for sharing!
Great video. The style-B semaphores are classic and lasted on the Eastbound track out of Tucson to the end of double track (Cienaga Wash area) long past their exped lifetime.
The two idiots expecting to win the Darwin Award fortunately chose a deck truss, but a fall from the lower chord might be good enough for 2nd place.
I just ran across this video… I lived in Tucson for about 40 years, and covered the Stormy pretty extensively. I miss what it was, but too much has changed in the past after your videos were shot. While I may someday revisit Tucson in the future, it won’t be the same as it was. UP took a great big eraser and removed much of the character of that line.
The Californians ruined Tucson.
The upper line at Cienega Creek is the old EL Paso / Southwest ( ie Philips Dodge Copper Company) line
.The lower line is the SP line laid down in the late 1880's coming out of Tucson.
Actually, the original transcontinental line there was on the other side, but it got washed out a few years after it was built. SP relocated it to where it is now afterwards. If you wander around the east side of Cienega Creek you may still find some ties and spikes from the original alignment.
I've never seen a Cotton Belt B40-8 with the small SSW on the nose before. 8066 starting at 3:00 must've had a repainted nose.
I was stationed at DMAFB in the '70's and spent a lot of time at the Cienega Creek bridge. Your videos bring back good memories. Thanks!
Thanks for the sight of how things used to be. I was stationed out in Ft Huachuca back in 2010-2011 and loved going to Tucson. When you got to Benson you could see at least two trains from miles away. And then I'd occasionally pass the yard in Tucson. Seeing this video makes me miss it out there
Jeremy Yeargin I was at Huachuca a few years before you and did the same. There was a greasy spoon in Benson that had a view of the tracks. Good times.
I like the SP engines with the block style letters...
Beautiful highballin!!excellent sounding🎧🎧🚂🚂
I guess the Semaphores finally went away when high intensity LEDs were viable.
Really great video, very nice 'clips', and interesting with the operation of the semaphores
Wow.. Nice to see footage of the old semiphores on the Stormy.. BTW, this is better known as the Sunset Route which goes from about Houston to the end of the line in Los Angeles.
Yes I know this is part of the Sunset Route. I already have another video of the Sunset Route on YT so I wanted to title it differently.
Yeah, I knew you knew what it was. There was a post about not knowing what the subdivision was so I cleared it up for the poster.
+HyperActive7 Sorry didn't realize that. thanks for your comments
Great views of the late great SP. The two trespassing on the bridge are ill advised in what they're doing. But great video.
awesome train video
Nice action :-) that flyover provided a good view local
Can you be specific about where on the Phx line you took that footage? Was it past Hassayampa? Gillespie? It doesn't look familiar.
Hidden Arizona The flood relief train was at Wellton. The hi rail and Amtrak shots were at Salome Rd. near Hassayampa, facing west.
@@fmnut Thanks. Do you have anything past Salome Rd. to the west? Always looking for footage when the line was active.
Hidden Arizona Id also like to see footage of the abandoned part when it was active
Ah, late life Southern Pacific. If it runs, put it on the train. If it isn't ours, even better!
hey, there is a line between El Paso TX and Tucson Arizona. u.p. runs that line
this is part of that line.
+fmnut kewl, I did not know that
The Sunset Route, and actually it starts in Houston and goes over the I 45 freeway just outside of downtown. We call it the Sunset Route here in Houston too because it officially ends and begins at the Amtrak Station in downtown Houston. I remember when SP and MKT both had tracks around there until they ripped up the old Katy tracks from Downtown to Katy for expansion of I 10.
"Thanks for the memories" fr TucsonPete.
This is the line that the Sunset Limited use to use, correct?
The Sunset Ltd. still uses the portion of line seen from the beginning to 12:05. From that point on, the video shows the old line into Phoenix where the Hyder derailment occurred and which was subsequently abandoned. The Phoenix stop was put on the line through Maricopa instead, with a bus connection to Phoenix and an ex-CZ dome observation for the station.
fmnut do you have a specific location for the Amtrak scene at 14:00
@@Cal90208 32141 W Salome Hwy. West of Phoenix.
Never mind I found it. I would love to see some more footage of the abandoned west phoenix line.
@@Cal90208 Yes, me too. Unfortunately road access beyond that point required a 4x4 which I didn't have, and the only through train on the line was Amtrak which meant long waits between trains. Maybe some locals out there have something.
How fast are these trains going? They look like they're moving pretty fast.
npo64 Some are going between 50 and 60. The Amtrak was doing 79.
Nice video.
Can't yell at the kids on bridge..I did it too😂😂