An old tradition has started again in Ash Fork, AZ; crew changes. Starting in January, 2021, BNSF Railway has changed the crew district between Phoenix, AZ and Winslow, AZ to incorporate a crew change in old railroad town of Ash Fork. Before, crews based out of Phoenix would run trains 300 miles to Winslow. Battling the steep grade of the Colorado Plateau, slow speeds curves, and roughly 200 miles of single track (dark territory) resulted in trains being rescued by relief crews more often than not. Now, all trains running on the Phoenix Subdivision will receive a crew change in Ash Fork. This was how the former Santa Fe Railroad had their crew district prior to the BN merger. Crew from Phoenix will protect west of Ash Fork, while Winslow crews will protect east.
Here, the outbound crew of the Phoenix, AZ to Belen, NM manifest board their train to start their 130 mile run to Winslow. This train was tied down in the siding of Ash Fork due to there not being any rested Winslow crew in the hotel to take the train east. As soon as the manifest cleared, another eastbound train would roll in behind them to tie down in the siding. Again, this move was done to allow for a Winslow crew to get rested out of the hotel.
