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above post is correct. had buddy that was 3rd genration worker for BNSF. amtrak pulled out of phoenix and the depot is now 60 miles south at maricopa. other p/up point is flagstaff, up north. railroad upgrading as money allows to concrete RR ties. all wood ties being yanked due to maint. headaches and repairs. buddy used to work on a BURRO which is the crane atop a flat car. worked san berdoo-albuq. mostly repairs, but called off repairs in event of derailment and had to haul A$$ to derail site. huge deal derailments. over a million bucks an hour in lost revenue while track blocked. first rule...........CLEAR TRACK 2nd rule... REPAIR TRACK, then bulldoze leftover cars into hole dug next to track full of cars guns trucks refrigerators microwaves, name the commodity, and it is buried under about 20 ft of dirt within eyesight of main line. RR owns rights quite a few feet on each side of RR track. if caught digging around with backhoe by RR police..............YOU ARE TOAST! have hunted along salad bowl express route(LA-CHICAGO) outside williams AZ. since threats against RR's do not get caught on RR property! was confronted by (2) armed (M-16's) RR police one morning hunting while sitting below RR embankment. first words out of their mouths was YOU BETTER HAVE AN ELK TAG!" watching AMTRAK FLY BY is really cool as well as 150 cars behind 10-12 ENGINE UNITS! now thats some HORSEPOWER!
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