The is a
Short Line Railroad that was a Subdivision of the
Atchison, Topeka And Santa Fe Railway (ATSF). The ARZC began operations on
May 9 1991 when David Parkinson of the ParkSierra RailGroup purchased the line from the Santa Fe Railway. ParkSierra Railgroup was purchased in January 2002 by
RailAmerica , the current owner of the ARZC.
At
Cadiz, California the ARZC begins with an interchange with the BNSF and continues southeast across the
Mojave Desert to Ripley, then east to cross the
Colorado River Arizona/California stateline at
Parker, Arizona . The railroad continues east to Matthie (near
Wickenburg, Arizona ). At Matthie the ARZC has trackage rights over the BNSF line to
Phoenix, Arizona . The ARZC trackage rights are over the north-south BNSF line that connects Phoenix to BNSF's mainline near
Flagstaff . It also has a branch that runs from Rice south to Blythe and then terminates at Ripley.
The ARZC is 297 miles (478 km) long consisting of the following segments:
- A) 190 mile (306 km) mainline from Cadiz, CA (BNSF Interchange) - Parker, AZ - Matthie, AZ (BNSF Interchange).
- B) 57 miles (92 km) of trackage rights over the BNSF Railway from Matthie - Phoenix, AZ.
- C) 50 mile (80 km) branch line from Rice - Blythe - Ripley, CA.
The line provides direct access from BNSF's access to the
Southern California ports to Phoenix, Arizona. Because this is the most direct route to Phoenix from Los Angeles (the
Union Pacific line from Yuma - Phoenix is out-of-service), much of the traffic over the ARZC is through traffic such as containers enroute to Phoenix.
The ARZC handles about 20,000 cars per year (1996 estimate) with 75% being through freight for the BNSF. The remaining 25% is local traffic such as
Hay ,
LP Gas ,
Lumber and solid waste.
The ARZC was originally constructed between 1903-1907 by the
Arizona And California Railway . The line between Matthie, AZ and Parker opened in June 1907. By 1910 the line reached Cadiz, California.
