Narrow Gauge In Copper Country

Arizona on Pacific NG .com

Arizona and New Mexico

In the early 1880s, The Copper Mountain mining district had a local industrial railroad but no outside connection. Two companies were formed in 1883, one in Arizona and one in New Mexico. It was opened from Lordsburg NM to the Gila River at Guthrie in 1883. And all the way to Clifton in 1884. A 465′ trestle burned in 1900 and the line was later converted to standard gauge in 1901.

Arizona Copper Co

Arizona Narrow Gauge

This road was concieved in 1882 to go through Tucson from the DRGW to a port on the Gulf of California. Ground was broken in North Tucson in 1883 and Track had reached 6 miles by June 1886. There it stopped. In 1887 a down-pour washed out the bridge over the Rillito, and the line ceased operating.

Coronado

The Coronado Railroad, a 20 inch line, was one of the first railroads in Arizona, constructed by Henry Lesinsky in 1879 along Chase Creek, between mines and a smelter. Eventually the line connected mines via seven funicular railways and many miles of track. It operated at least 10 locomotives of 0-4-0T, 0-4-2T, and 0-4-4T wheel configuration. The mines and the railway were connected in ownership, and the railroad was not separately incorporated or a common carrier. Cars used were 4-wheel mine cars and flatcars.
The railroad operated as an isolated line until 1883 when a 3 ft gauge line reached Clifton to form an interchange with the Coronado. This connecting line, the Arizona and New Mexico, was converted to standard gauge in 1901. Its former 3 ft gauge equipment was used to widen the 20 in (508 mm) line from Clifton to Shannon by 1903. This new 3 ft gauge line was incorporated as the Coronado Railroad.

Magma Arizona

The Magma Arizona Railroad  was built by the Magma Copper Company and operated from 1915 to 1997.
The railroad was originally built as a 3 ft line, but was converted to standard gauge in 1923. Originally headquartered in Superior, Arizona, the company primarily hauled cattle and copper on 30.2 miles (48.6 km) of standard gauge track to and from the Southern Pacific mainline in Magma, Arizona, between Florence and Queen Creek.

Mohave & Milltown

The Mohave and Milltown Railway was a 3 ft private railroad built in 1903 to serve the Leland Gold Mine near Oatman, Arizona, US. The railway was incorporated in 1903 and construction of the 17-mile (27 km) line was completed that same year. The railway started on the Arizona side of the Colorado River, across the stateline from Needles, California. From the Colorado River the railway went northeast through Milltown and terminated at the Leland Mine, Vivian Mine and the Midnight Mine (near Oatman).
The railway hauled ore from the mines near Oatman to the mill at Milltown.
The railway was operating for only one year when several washouts in September and October 1904 damaged six miles (10 km) of the railway and led to its abandonment. The rails were removed in 1912, the same year that Arizona became a state.

Morenci Southern

The Morenci Southern Railroad was constructed by the Detroit Copper Company around 1900 to connect its mining operations near Morenci to the Arizona and New Mexico Railroad at Guthrie on the Gila River. The 36″ line was a bit more than 18 miles in length and remained in operation until 1922. In its heyday, it appears that the train ran passengers and freight twice daily in both directions.
The Detroit management had been considering a railroad line into Morenci for sometime. The surveyors had to find a way to negotiate a 1,400-foot rise in elevation between the Town of Morenci and the San Francisco River. They overcame the elevation difference by looping the track. The most distinguishing feature of the Morenci Southern was a series of five loops used to negotiate the Morenci Gulch. The first loop was at Morenci, which was followed by three loops in the canyon constructed in part with wood trestles, the final loop incorporated one of tunnels by the San Francisco River. The railroad was completed in 1901, and was nicknamed “the cork screw railroad of America”. The numerous loops attracted visitors to behold the scene of “wonder and curiosity”. The five loops evoked comments from all those who had seen it or dared to ride it. The rail connected Morenci with the Arizona and New Mexico railroad at Guthrie, which was 18 miles away. Heavy grades and sharp curves limited the trains to only three cars and a caboose. Two hours were required for a single trip. In 1914, three loops were replaced by switchback, because the timbered loops were unsteady.

Shannon-Arizona Railway

This 10 mile line was built from Shannon to Copper Mountain incline in 1909. It was opened in February 1910 and served only Shannon Copper Co. from it’s mine to it’s smelter. Shut down in 1919 and revived in 1923, it was rebuilt as standard gauge in 1937. It remains in service to this day.

United Verde & Pacific

The United Verde and Pacific Railway was a 3 ft narrow gauge railroad that operated from 1895 to 1920 in what became Yavapai County in the U.S. state of Arizona. William A. Clark built the 26-mile line to link his copper mine and smelter in Jerome to an existing branch of the Santa Fe Railway system. Clark eventually replaced the line with three standard gauge rail lines after building a new smelter and company town in Clarkdale.