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Burlington Northern Santa Fe, Phoenix Subdivision

I live two miles from Grand Avenue in Glendale, Arizona. Motorists hate Grand because it runs diagonally to every other street in the valley (which means it crosses two streets at every intersection and traffic lights take forever--trust me on this) and because the tracks run beside it and every time a train comes through it creates a minor traffic jam. I love Grand for the latter reason. The tracks belong to the BNSF Railway's Phoenix Subdivision (locally known as the Peavine, for it's twisty profile). In any case, it's a pretty nice piece of railroad--grades, curves, mountains, lots of engines. It runs from a connection with the Union Pacific (formerly Southern Pacific) in downtown Phoenix to a connection with the Arizona Division mainline at Williams Junction. Traffic is moderate and includes local freight and intermodel business, as well as bridge traffic to and from the UP.

1. BNSF 965 rolls through the desert near Morristown
2. "The Pig Train," daily intermodel to Chicago, is in the Hassayampa River Valley near Wickenburg
3. North of Wickenburg, another Pig Train approaches Vulture Mine Road
4. Farther north, this vantage point is obtained from the US 93 overpass
5. North of Skull Valley, this Pig Train is dwarfed by the Santa Maria Mountains in Prescott National Forest
6. At Drake, the line crosses Hell Canyon on this impressive steel viaduct