Western Railroad Discussion > California and Arizona trip----Part 3

On Sunday, October 18th I drove from So Cal out to Clifton, AZ where I would stay for the next 2 nights, and also meet up with TO member "SPgoletablock" who will add some Fantastic shots in his own post.

I had planned on spending some time out in Dome Valley just East of Yuma but it was totally cloud covered which would be a problem on this trip. 
Due to the bad weather, we passed on the Apache which we were pretty sure was going to run on Tuesday to concentrate on the AZER and FMI when we had at least some Sun and then I also cut short my trip by a day.
Note to self, never go to Arizona again in a Super El Nino year!
As a side note, I just missed the horrible weather they had out in Arizona by a couple of days so I feel lucky that my trip wasn't planned just a week later!

1) I finally took my first picture East of Tucson of Union Pacific DC to AC conversion engine 9635 leading a Ft. Worth to W. Colton manifest train. In the background, it can be seen crossing the bridge over Cienega Creek which also takes it over the old El Paso & South Western track that most Eastbound trains use.

2) Next I stopped at Benson to shoot sharp looking San Pedro Valley GP30's 2408 and 2426 (both ex-Santa Fe) with GP38 #2409 (ex-Seaboard) in between them.

3) Then at Willcox, I snapped San Pedro Valley GP15AC #722 (ex-MOP) 


-------------------Twelve More Pictures Posted Below------------------

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4) The morning of Monday the 19th we started out South of Clifton and caught the Northbound Arizona & Eastern 202 train at Guthrie crossing the Gila River as it approached the South Siding yard with the 4002, 4010 and 4009.
I think those might be freight car doors on the bridge supports!

5) We then went back up to Morenci for the FMI and saw that they were just leaving the yard to head down the 5% grade into Clifton but it happened to be in a heavy downpour. I'll post the shot we took as they entered Clifton at the bottom of the grade.

6) Luckily the storm pushed off and the Sun came out when they returned back up the hill heading to Morenci. There is a switch heading to the run away track seen behind the train that a crew member has to line and he gets off of the moving train, runs ahead and lines it and gets back on without the train stopping and they do this same thing when heading down the grade as well! Old school Railroading:} Thankful for us that the crew member not only got out of the way but he shut the front door as well.
This consist had the 49, 9, 55, 57 and 59. All non-turbochared GP38's and man, did it sound Great:}

-------------------------------Nine More Pictures Posted Below----------------------

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7) Then the 5 engine set came back down the hill light engines to pick up another cut and is seen dropping down into Clifton.

We shot the FMI heading back up the hill a second time and when the AZER tied down at Clifton instead of running back to the S. Siding yard (which I guess was very unusual) we thought the train traffic might be done for the day at Clifton so we took off down towards Safford to look for the Westbound Arizona Eastern train that runs from Lordsburg to Globe/Miami.
After a couple hours of waiting, we caught the train heading West and got some nice storm clouds at a location out near Solomon.

8) We chased the train for quite awhile but never did get any Sun on it but a small rainbow did appear behind it as the train passed some cotton fields near Pima.
The five engine set included the AZER 4006, 4007, 4004, 4013  and 4000.

That was it for this day and then we had to make the drive back to Clifton for the night.

The morning of Tuesday the 20th we started out up at the Mine above Morenci to catch the four unit set of engines that they were using to switch the plant.

9) Here the 50, 58, 52 and 51 were seen between two of the yards at Morenci.

------------------------Six More Pictures Posted Below-----------------------
 

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10) Then the set returned heading back North with the 51 now leading.

After this shot I went looking for the 5 unit FMI set but ended up blowing it as I missed the AZER leaving Clifton heading South out of town. You'll have to wait for Jeff's Awesome shot to see what I missed:{

11) I did manage to get it on a horseshoe curve South of Clifton but in cloud cover. The pair of engines were the AZER 4012 and 4001.

After the Clifton job and the train out of Lordsburg swapped cars at the S. Siding yard, we followed the Southbound train down to Rattlesnake Gulch. Then Jeff and I parted ways as I wanted to try and least get a couple of shots on the Copper Basin.

12) I got one last shot of the AZER as it followed the Gila River from the Highway 191 overpass near Three Way as the train heads to Lordsburg.

-----------------Three More Pictures Posted Below--------------- 

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I hustled it over to Hayden and arrived around 2 PM and I was told that most trains wrap up around then so I didn't have high hopes of shooting anything but I ended up lucking out!

Just North of Hayden I ran across the job that loads leftover tailings from the slag pile and runs it down to a dumper that then transports the concentrate over to the smelter. Since it has to do a back up move once it runs down the lead from the mine to get to the dumper, it has engines on both ends. Now why it needs four engines, I have no clue!

13) On one end was the CBRY 202, an ex-Rock Island GP18!

14) The going away view with the 303 (ex-SSW/Cotton Belt GP40-2 7268) and a pair of GP39's 402 (ex-Kennecott Copper 2) and 503 (ex C&O 3912) 

15) I then caught a Southbound Rock train and shot it just North of Kearny and tried my best to get some Saguaro Cactus in the shot. This train had a pair of ex C&O GP39's the 505 and 504.

There was a light engine move following this train heading down towards Hayden but when it clouded up, I decided to bail and head on over to Miami to try and get the Arizona Eastern train heading back East towards Lordsburg. By the time that I got to Miami, the train was made up and ready to leave in Killer late afternoon light but it never departed! Seems the crew was pulled out of service for some reason when they showed up so that was that:{
Even though the day ended up on a somewhat sour note, at least I was able to meet up with some good friends for dinner at Globe:}

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You did very well, another awesome bunch. And, you didn't have to visit the infirmary in Morenci!
JB



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/04/2026 07:28AM by 3rdswitch.

Love these shortline photos!

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

Awesome series!

Fantastic shots, all of them. 

Tom

Good stuff, good details.
Lots of scenery and train action.
t4p.

Excellent. You did well in the changing weather conditions.  My brother Rob (rbenko) and I did the Clifton-Morenci area a year and half ago and had great fun.  You got the San Pedro Valley coupled to cars which was a plus.  I have always liked that backdrop at Kearny you got in your last photo.

The shot with the cotton is really nice.

Terrific series. Loved you photos
John

A really great group of photos.   I really like the Cienega Creek shot.  

Dave

Awesome coverage!

That Monday the weather was all over the place! Really cool you got the FMI 51 leading, still wearing the blue, white and red colors of the former owner Phelps - Dodge. Sure wish we could’ve got that horseshoe in better light but you did well not including the skyline in the background. I know that Gila River shot looked extremely different a couple days ago after they got slammed with all that heavy rain. Just looking at your shots again and I know it was a whirlwind when you headed out to the copper basin that afternoon but all three of those pics turned out awesome, glad you stuck with your plan! Had a great time brainstorming photo angles with you over those couple days.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/04/2026 04:08PM by SPgoletablock.

Super group! Always good to see shortline and industrial RRs in action.
GK 

Outstanding series, thanks for sharing them all.
—Mac



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/04/2026 03:44PM by MacBeau.

Those engines are FILTHY! I LOVE it!

Tom Loftus
Omaha, NE

A wow series for sure! Also seeing all that green in the desert for this time of year.

BB