The city of Mesa, AZ was founded in 1878 and soon became a major junction for the Hayden Branch (the section between Mesa and Magma is now the current mainline with a new section built in 1964 to connect Magma to Coolidge while the section beyond Magma to Hayden is now the mainline of the Copper Basin Railroad) and the 1910 Southern Pacific Mainline. The Original Mainline (the Maricopa and Phoenix Railway Co.) used to diverge from the current route at Tempe and remains intact until Chandler Blvd Railroad Crossing, where the current route bends East to serve some factories and warehouses on what is now the Tempe Industrial Lead Branchline. The original ran in a different direction and it is unknown where exactly the M&P laid its train tracks as most have been developed over, although AZ State Route 347 is suspected to have been built on the old trackbed.
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The 1910 mainline, built by Arizona and Eastern diverged from the current mainline at McQueen Junction and continued perfectly south towards Hunt Highway Railroad Crossing, where it veered 45 degrees east and continued until it reached Coolidge, passing a Native American farm and its pesticide company (defunct as of 2017.)
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What's left of the 1910 mainline is now the Chandler Industrial Lead Branch Line
(colloquially referred to as the Chandler Branch.)
The current mainline bends 45 degrees East at McQueen Junction and continues in that direction before making a slight turn and finally turning perfectly south at Magma.
The track south of Magma was constructed in 1964 to meet back up with the original mainline just north of the Coolidge Trestle.
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Just north of McQueen Junction, there is the McQueen Passing Siding, which was once used for meets between trains on both the original and current mainlines, but as of 2020 was where empty freight cars are stored due to Mesa Yard needing to be used as a dedicated space for storing the loaded cars.
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(See map below for detailed picture of junction)
McQueen Junction
KK30 crosses Baseline Rd Crossing with Brandon, a friendly Conductor, in the Cab.
KK30 Stops and awaits permission to proceed to the mainline.
KK30 approaches the junction being powered by UP GP60 1035 and UP GP40-2 1451.
UP 7238 Leads an Autorack Train through the junction.
The Chandler Local begins its day at Mesa with GP60 1047 and GP40-2 1494.
UP 1451 and 1545, two GP40-2s, lead the Northbound Chandler Local to Mesa.
The LKK30 heads to Mesa to perform additional switching before returning to McQueen Jct. to tie up for the day.
The Chandler Local's crew disembarks from the locomotive at the junction.
Engineer - Jim
Conductor - Brandon
Brakeman - Douglas
Assistant Brakeman - Kevin
Jim, the engineer, sets the handbrakes on UP GP60 1016 and UP GP40-2 1451.
A picture of me and Jim standing next to the engines is the perfect way to close out the year 2022!
One final shot of 1016 and 1451 as the final Chandler Local of 2022 ties up.
LKK30 shuts down its engines at Baseline.
Me, Jim, and Doug hanging out before they start their day.
UP 2538 meets UP 1545 at McQueen Baseline Jct.
UP 1545 and 1451 head to Mesa to pick up their consist.
UP 1451 heads south towards Chandler.
The last car of the LKK30 clears the crossing.
The Chandler Local awaits permission to enter the Phoenix Sub and proceed to Mesa while an inbound passes on the mainline.
The Chandler Local arrives back at Baseline and will drop off its cars from Chandler and pick up the ones headed to Queen Creek and Gilbert.
UP GP60s 1035 and 1016 depart Baseline and head north to Mesa.
The KK30 passes Baseline and will drop off its cars at the McQueen Passing Siding.
After a long day of work, the Chandler Local's two locomotives return to Baseline and tie up for the day.
The LKK30 heads south after dropping off the Tool Car Ex-Baggage Car. They will head to Queen Creek before heading back to Mesa to deliver the baggage car to the AZRM.
UP 1082 picks up a cut of Cement Hoppers that they left on the branch. Due to a lack of space in both the yard and McQueen, yesterday's train had to be left on the branch, which isn't used by any other t
Mesa Yard
Mesa Yard is a small train yard (as the name obviously states) outside the old Mesa Train Station, or at least what's left of it. The station opened on March 25, 1931 and served passengers until Amtrak closed it in 1982. Amtrak continued to use Union Station in Phoenix until 1996 with Tempe reopening in 1987 but also closing in 96. The station in Mesa burned down in January 1989 and the only surviving part of the structure is the foundation, including the original tiles of the restroom. The train yard was owned by the Maricopa Phoenix and Salt River Valley Railroad which incorporated part of the Maricopa and Phoenix and one of their lines ran from Phoenix to Mesa and looped back. Most of the right of way has been developed over except for a small spur which serves the Tree-O Lumberyard.
1451 and 1545 shove a loaded boxcar to a lumberyard in Mesa.
The LKK30 prepares to head to McQueen-Baseline Junction where they will tie up for the day, or in this case, the weekend.
Now finished, the LKK30 backs down onto its consist and prepares to depart for Chandler.
The LKK21 tows a UP Tool Car ex-Baggage Car into Mesa Yard. This will be going to the Arizona Railway Museum.
A shot of the Tool Car ex-Baggage Car.
The Chandler Local crosses S McDonald Road crossing, running light.
The LKK30 begins assembling its consist putting each car on the correct siding. Some cars will be going to Queen Creek and others to Chandler.
The LKK30 prepares the train for the following day before coupling onto their Queen Creek-bound loads.
The LKK21 prepares to spot the baggage car and couple it to the pre-made cut of cars in the yard, so the LKK30 doesn't have to do it themselves.
The baggage car is picked up by the LKK30.