Sunday, June 27, 2010

Return to Maricopa

On Monday evening (June 21) I drove south from Phoenix, Arizona to see some Union Pacific action at Maricopa. You may remember I was in Maricopa in November 2009.

It didn't take long for the first train to come along. I saw headlights to the east when I was driving past the cow feedyards, so I stopped to get the shot. UP 7770 and UP 4564 led a bare table train.
UP 7770 in Maricopa, Arizona
I understand there are tens of thousands of cows there. The smell is unbelievable! I made the mistake of leaving my car door open for a bit and the smell, and flies, got in the car and it took a while to get rid of both. Apparently the cows are going soon.

Within ten minutes another westbound train came along, with UP 9657 and UP 4080 and a short autorack train.
UP 9657 in Maricopa, Arizona

After those two, it was quiet for a while. I went and grabbed some supper, and when I was driving back to the tracks, I saw the gates going down. I jumped out of the car to get this sunset shot.
UP 7915 at sunset in Maricopa, Arizona
This train had four engines, UP 7915, UP 8446, UP 4725 and UP 7762.

In Arizona, when the sun goes down, it gets dark FAST. That was my last train that night. I was there for a good time, not a long time!

No comments: