Mexico's Copper Canyon

A 'Soft Adventure' trip to the rim of Copper Canyon by Train.

Photos by Carl Morrison (unless otherwise credited).

Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico

September 4, 2003

Day 0, Getting There Traveling partner on this journey, Don Roe, and I were unable to get to Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico on Day 1 because of full flights, but it was to our advantage. Instead, we left on September 4, and added another night at the Santa Anita Hotel in Los Mochis for $84 for our room with 2 beds. We found that the best (quickest) way to get to Los Mochis is from Los Angeles (LAX) Airport. We boarded the smaller-than-we-expected, 33-passenger Saab 340 prop-jet, thankful that they turned off the left engine every time we entered or left the plane! Our first leg was to Hermosillo, Mexico, where we went through customs, then back on the same type of plane for Los Mochis.

Don Roe

LAX Airport Entry at Sepulveda and Century Blvds.

The "Theme Building" was built to represent the "Spirit of Flight" and the
restaurant never, contrary to popular belief, revolved. It was, and is,
stationary. My father was part of the design team that did the Master Plan
for the "new" LAX. Next time you're there look carefully at the arches of
the theme building. You'll see steel cables connecting them to the base. As
it was being built they found that onshore breezes caused the structure to
vibrate. The easiest solution was, as my Dad put it, "to tie the sucker
down" --Frank Browne

We cleared El Segundo Beach, banked left and headed southeast to Mexico.

We unexpectedly met our tour hostess, Sue Stilwell, in the Hermosillo Airport and continued our journey with her to Los Mochis. She grabbed a cab and Don, I, Liz LaManna and Jay shared the cost of a Surburban which took us to the Santa Anita Hotel.

September 5, 2003 - Day 1, Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico

The owner of the eight hotels Sue Stilwell uses for her tours to Copper Canyon is Roberto Balderrama. I had lunch with Mr. Balderrama and Sue. Roberto is a very pleasant, personable, likeable man. He was educated in the United States and he has his office in his Santa Anita Hotel. We sat in the dining room, had coffee, and chatted for a while. He and Sue are obvious friends as well as business partners. As he spoke with me, he discussed the turnover in the Office of Secretary of Tourism, changing two or three times during the 6-year President's term. He was very happy with the current Secretary, who, with his own father, had stayed at this hotel as a youth. Roberto philosophized that, "In Mexico politics runs everything, in the United States money runs everything."

We stayed in the Hotel Santa Anita in Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico.

We had heard that the local sugar cane factory used steam trains to haul the cane from the fields to the mill. Sue told us no trains were used by the mill any more, but that the steam trains were still on their property. We asked her if we could photograph them, and she made the arrangements and we were there shooting before we knew it: Coca Cola owns the plant now and Sue said the consumption of cokes in Mexico is almost one per day per person...the National Drink.

Comments always welcome. E-Mail: Carl@TrainWeb.com

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Extra Pictures:

Santa Anita Hotel

Retired Steam Engines at the Sugar Cane Mill, now owned by Coca Cola.

Engine #2 out front of sugar mill.

Photo Credit: Don Roe


	#7's Baldwin, Philadelphia, November, 1920, nameplate

Looking over tender of #7	#7's Cab left
#7's Cab right	From cab of #7 out past the boiler

#7 side
#4	#4

#4 Cab right	#6
#6 Cab right with cooking grate and chair	#6's tender

Miscellaneous materials in their abandoned rail yard.


	Tractor pulled cane wagons.

	Sugar mill being upgraded during off-season, semi leaving with sugar from warehouse.
	Don 'enjoying?' the 6-block ride back to the hotel.

Don found a desk in the lobby where he could work since the desk in the room was taken up with the TV.	The Los Mochis Train Station has a steam locomotive as well.

The station is very nice, clean lobby and nice posters of the Express Train ,

	Engine awaiting assignment outside the station.
On the track side of the depot, we found a private car. Carlos said it could be rented, but he didn't think it was in good shape.

The number to call to book the train. The best part, as far as I was concerned, is the large platform on the back.

Freight cars near the station. Grey ones are from a cement factory.

There was a herd of Brahma cattle attending to the lawn mowing at the station.

The cattle tender of the herd was in the shade as his horse (see the saddle above in the herd) was grazing with the cattle.

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Comments always welcome. E-Mail: Carl@TrainWeb.com