Arizona Eastern Railway and Copper Spike Train Excursion

Sunday, April 5 and Monday, April 6, 2009

On Sunday, April 5 and Monday, April 6, 2009, the Southern Appalachia Railway Museum ran a series of special train rides covering all of the available trackage on the Arizona Eastern Railway. Equipment was from the Copper Spike Train Excursion. The trackage covered included the former Globe and Clifton Branches of the Southern Pacific in the copper country of eastern Arizona.

On Sunday, riders parked their cars in Bowie, AZ, and boarded a charter bus for the ride to Miami, AZ, near Globe. Representatives of the Bowie Chamber of Commerce were on hand to greet us and hand out locally grown pistachios. At Miami, riders boarded our chartered Copper Spike Train Excursion dome and club cars and started the all-day train ride back to Bowie. The train made a stop in Globe to pick up lunch (delivered by Domino's) and to take photos of the great depot and some street running as our charter met the excursion train to the casino. We made several other stops for run-bys and arrived at Bowie after dark.

On Monday, riders boarded at Duncan, AZ. Our excursion train had come up the branch on the night freight turn and pulled into Duncan right on time. We headed south to the junction at Lordsburg and returned to Duncan. Then we headed up the line to Clifton, which included scenic running along the Gila River, several overhead bridges, and six tunnels. At Clifton, we had a great taco lunch catered by the local American Legion Post. (They serve tacos every Monday, so if you are going to be in the area stop by for lunch!) After our lunch break and some photos of a freight working the yard before heading up to the mine, riders boarded the train for the trip back to Duncan. Arrival at Duncan was at dusk, ending our two days of fun in Arizona.

Photos will be posted when available. In the meantime, check out Chris Guenzler's trip reports on the Globe Branch and the Clifton Branch.