Arizona & California Railroad HO Scale Models

The Arizona and California Railroad traces its origins to the early twentieth century, when the Arizona and California Railway constructed the line that forms the present-day mainline between approximately 1903 and 1910. The segment connecting what was then known as A&C Junction in Arizona to Parker was operational by mid-1907, and the bridge spanning the Colorado River near Parker was completed in June 1908. The final link connecting the line to Cadiz, California, where it met the main transcontinental route, was made on June 10, 1910, with through service commencing on July 1 of that year. The line eventually came under the control of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, which operated it as a subdivision and ran passenger trains over the route into the mid-1950s, when those services were discontinued effective October 1, 1955. The modern Arizona and California Railroad came into existence on May 9, 1991, when David Parkinson of the ParkSierra RailGroup acquired the line from Santa Fe, transforming it from a railroad subdivision into an independent short line operation. The railroad's 191-mile mainline runs from Cadiz, California, where it interchanges with the BNSF Railway, southeast across the Mojave Desert through Rice to Parker, Arizona, and then southeast to Hope before turning northeast to Matthie, near Wickenburg, Arizona. At Matthie, the railroad holds trackage rights over BNSF's north-south corridor connecting Phoenix to BNSF's mainline at Williams, giving it effective access to the Phoenix market and an interchange with Union Pacific. Ownership of the railroad changed hands twice in the early twenty-first century. RailAmerica, a shortline holding company, purchased ParkSierra RailGroup in January 2002, bringing the Arizona and California into a larger portfolio of regional and short line properties across North America. In December 2012, Genesee and Wyoming acquired RailAmerica, and the Arizona and California Railroad became part of that company's extensive short line network. One notable chapter in the railroad's history was the abandonment of most of the Rice to Ripley branch, a line originally constructed by the California Southern Railroad beginning in 1915 and reaching Ripley by 1920. Citing deteriorated track and an absence of traffic since late 2007, the railroad petitioned the Surface Transportation Board to abandon the branch in 2009, and approval was granted on June 30 of that year. The line beyond the first four miles from Rice was subsequently scrapped in 2011. Today the Arizona and California Railroad operates approximately 262 miles of track, including its mainline and trackage rights, and handles around 12,000 carloads per year. Its principal commodities include petroleum gas, steel, and lumber. The railroad represents a characteristic example of a former Class I subdivision successfully transitioned into a viable short line operation, linking remote portions of the Mojave Desert and western Arizona to the broader national rail network through its interchanges with BNSF and Union Pacific.