I've been monitoring Arizona's predicted weather, and have several "agents" in the field out ther, including in-laws at the headwaters of the Verde River.

Long story short: Heavy rain atop 2 feet of snow already on the ground.

Direct from the latest NWS Flood Warning bulletin:
-VERDE RIVER AT CLARKDALE EXPECTED TO REACH FLOOD STAGE OF 14
FEET AROUND 11 PM MST THIS EVENING AND CREST NEAR RECORD STAGE
AT 24.5 FEET EARLY FRIDAY MORNING
-VERDE RIVER NEAR CAMP VERDE EXPECTED TO REACH FLOOD A CREST OF
23.6 FEET MIDDAY FRIDAY. RECORD STAGE IS 28.4 FEET.

I expect some bad things for the Verde Canyon RR.

On the other hand, the Grand Canyon RR was reported as running its daily trip today, in spite of the snowfall and only possessing a Jordan spreader......

Verde Canyon got plenty trouble coming it looks like..and Grand Canyon might have to fire up a steamer to go and "rescue" their train someplace due to snow in the traction motors....stay tuned....

Graph of observations and forecast levels of the Verde river 9 miles SE of Camp Verde here:

http://ahps2.wrh.noaa.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=fgz&gage=vcva3&view=1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1

Bob

Latest report from central Arizona is that flooding, by fluke of temperature shifts and snow lines, flooding in the Verde River did not reach projections.

Up in Flagstaff, buildings have been collapsing under the weight of snow. I-40 and I17 have both been closed due to drifting and dangerous conditions. Wonder if the BNSF is running plow trains through there?

I believe that I can authoritatively cite that BNSF and predecessor Santa Fe have found, over the decades, that pounding scheduled expediter merchandise trains over the railroad every 20-40 minutes in each direction do a perfectly adequate job of keeping the line open in lieu of a rotary or plow. Mind you, crew availability enters into the equation as well, and crew transports have been shut down by the closure of I-40 and I-17.

One Yahoo Group I'm on monitors traffic on the Santa Fe "Peavine" between Williams Jct. and Phoenix, complete with automatic e-mails dispatched when a train enters the "branch" westbound (geographic southbound) to Phoenix. Traffic as usual (two trains each way a day) thanks in part to the line relocations away from the mountains below Prescott in 1960.

News reports out of Prescott of the flooding below Mayer showed at least two (presumably private) road bridges constructed from former "Twin 45" TOFC flat cars, both battered by flood debris..... and I know of other such bridges spanning washes in the Paulden area.

Yes, I can see your point regarding train frequency. My thought would be if stack trains are heavy enough to do the job. I suppose if the business end is two to six heavy Diesels at speed, it makes little difference what follows!