The Arizona and California Railroad (reporting mark ARZC) is a class III short line railroad that was a subdivision of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe (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 shortline railroad holding company RailAmerica. The Genesee & Wyoming shortline railroad holding company purchased RailAmerica in December 2012. ARZC's main commodities are petroleum gas, steel, and lumber; the railroad hauls around 12,000 carloads per year.
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At Cadiz, California, the railroad begins in the interchange with the BNSF Railway and continues southeast across the Mojave Desert to Rice, then east to cross the Colorado River Arizona/California state line at Parker, Arizonia. The railroad continues southeast to Hope near Vicksburg then northeast to Matthie (near Wickenburg, Arizona). At Matthie, ARZC has trackage rights over the north-south BNSF line that connects Phenix to BNSF's mainline at Williams. It also had a branch that runs from Rice south through Blythe, terminating at Ripley.
Arizona & California operates over 262 miles (422 km) of track, consisting of the following segments:
191-mile (307 km) mainline between Cadiz, CA (BNSF interchange) and Matthie, AZ (BNSF interchange)
4-mile (6.4 km) spur at Rice, CA for railcar storage, formerly part of the abandoned 50-mile (80 km) Rice-Ripley branch
2.5-mile (4.0 km) loop at Utting, AZ for Rose Acre Farms' Lone Cactus Egg Farm
57 miles (92 km) of trackage rights over the BNSF Railway between Matthie, AZ and Phoenix, AZ (UP interchange).
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The mainline now used by ARZC was originally constructed between 1903 and 1910 by the Arizona and California Railway. The line between A&C Junction, AZ, and Parker opened by June 1907. The Colorado River bridge near Parker was completed in June 1908 and the track connection in Cadiz, California was made on June 10, 1910; service to Cadiz commenced on July 1. In 1909, the Arizona & Sawnsea Railroad that connected Swansea from Bouse was completed.
On November 22, 1921, a rail motor car carrying Santa Fe officials derailed north of Wickenburg, with five killed and four injured. A&C Junction was renamed Matthie in honor of the Albuquerque Division superintendent William Matthie.
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As late as 1937, there were several daily passenger trains on the line: #170-117 and #118-181 operated daily between Phoenix Union Station and Cadiz, with connections to Los Angeles and San Francisco; mixed trains #210-233 and #234-209 operated daily between Phoenix's Mobest Yard and Parker; and mixed trains #25 and #26 operated daily except on Sunday or Monday connecting at Rice for Blythe. Trains #170-117 and #118-181 as of June 1954 were hauled by Santa Fe's only ALCO RS-2, and shortly after were supplanted by a motor car; the trains were discontinued effective October 1, 1955.
In 1914, the California Southern Railroad (not to be confused with the earlier railroad linking Barstow and San Diego) was incorporated to build 42.2 mi (67.9 km) from a town then known as Blythe Junction (now Rice, California) to Blythe. The first spike was pounded on August 23, 1915 by Floyd Brown. The Interstate Commerce Commission reported the line as the longest built in the country in 1915. The first train to Blythe arrived on August 8, 1916 and the branch was extended to Ripley in 1920. Santa Fe leased the line in November 1921 and completed its acquisition in 1942. Blythe passenger service ended shortly after World War II, according to Santa Fe agent Ruben Gonzales.
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On March 12, 2009, citing declining revenues and worn out track structure, the ARZC petitioned the Surface Transportation Board to abandon all but the first four miles of the Ripley branch line. In its petition, the ARZC said no trains had run over the line since late 2007 and the cost to repair the branch line would be significant. On June 30, 2009, the Surface Transportation Board granted the ARZC petition.
A Blythe area committee formed to oppose the petition had found a customer willing to purchase the line, the owner of the BG&CM Railroad of Idaho. By January 14, 2010, the Surface Transportation Board terminated the offer of financial assistance for the railroad. The rail line was scrapped in 2011 beyond the first four miles from Rice.
