We left the Copper Stay Inn and headed to Mescal where the old coaling tower no longer exists. We then drove to the bridge at Vail so I could show Elizabeth this famous railroad photography location.
The uphill track was underneath the bridge.
The downhill track crosses the bridge under normal circumstances.
The historic marker at this bridge.
The old arched bridge of Old Marsh Road that crosses the uphill track. From here, Elizabeth drove us to Tucson and we had a sit-down breakfast in the Black Bear Diner which was very good. After breakfast, we drove northwest on Interstate 10 to Rillito.
The wooden Southern Pacific Rillito station which is up for sale.
The Southern Pacific station in Red Rock, built in 1917.
The Red Rock Southern Pacific water tower. We drove to Chandler and our next stop of the trip.
Arizona Railroad Museum HistoryThe Arizona Railway Museum is a railroad museum located in Chandler, Arizona. It was founded and incorporated as a non-profit organization in 1983. It is dedicated to the railroads of Arizona and the Southwestern United States. It has an extensive collection railroad rolling stock and artifacts. Two of items on display are listed in the National Register of Historic Places, they are the Southern Pacific Railroad 2-8-0 2562 and tender 8365 and the Railroad Steam Wrecking Crane and Tool Car.
Our VisitWe went into the gift shop and I explained we were there to write a story and we waited for a few minutes until Steve Whisel, director and curator, met us and welcomed us to the museum. We started photographing inside before exploring outside.
The Chandler train board from the former station.
Station bench.
The CTC board from Tucson Division Office.
Lantern display.
Hard hat display.
Dining car china. Now we went outside.
The semaphore signal.
Southern Pacific caboose 4740 built by the International Car Company in 1980. It was used in local service based out of Eugene, Oregon.
Speeders.
Homestake Mining 0-4-0 5 built by Porter in 1923. It was displayed at the Mesa Museum of the Southwest for twelve years and returned to Chandler in 1997.
Narrow gauge trailer.
20" mine cars.
Santa Fe station signs. Each has a description of the location with a map.
Whiting Model 2TMA trackmobile donated in April 2016 by Power From The Past in Tucson. It was the only piece of rail-oriented equipment in their collection.
Kennecott Copper 35 ton switcher 801 was built by General Electric in 1957 with. KCC 801 and 802 were purchased by Kennecott but lettered as Western Knapp Engineering number 1 and 2, working at Hayden, Arizona, while Western Knapp was building the Hayden smelter in 1957; lettered for Kennecott in 1958. KCC 801 was used at the Hayden smelter for slag disposal service; when slag disposal was no longer required after the smelter process was changed in mid 1970s, the unit was rebuilt and painted in Bicentennial red-white-blue and used for general in-plant switching. It moved to the adjacent ASARCO smelter after Kennecott sold Ray Mines Division to ASARCO in 1986. It was listed as still in service as of 2014. Jake Jacobson acquired the locomotive in 2017 and Copper Basin Railway forces rebuilt and repainted the locomotive to pristine condition prior to donationto the Arizona Railway Museum.
ASARCO (American Smelting and Refining Company) 20 ton switcher 81 built by Plymouth in 1949. It worked primarily for Ray Consolidated Copper in Hayden.
Wig-wag signal.
Arizona Railway Museum ML-8 switcher 1 built by Plymout for the U.S. War Department as US 7595 and stationed at the Army Air Corp's Victorville Advanced Flying School, in Victorville, California. In November 1966, it was sold to private company M. Lummis & Co of Richmond, California and was later owned by Pacific Railroad Contractors of Torrance, California, and finally Railroad Builders of Mira Loma, California, who donated the locomotive to the museum in 1988. It was named for the locomotive's long-term caretaker, George E. Holt, in 2005.
Magma Arizona DRS 6-6-1500 1 built by Baldwin in 1950 as McCloud River Railroad 29. It ran in regular service from Superior to Magma Junction until 1991 and donated to the museum in 1994.
The Craig Junction station sign.
Chicago and North Western E8A 5022B, built by Electro-Motive Division in 1950, which ran on the "400" trains. It became METRA 519 and was retired in 1991 and came to Chandler in 2006.
PCC Car 4607 built by Canadian Car and Foundry/St. Louis Car Company in 1951. It was acquired from the Phoenix Transportation Department where it was a display downtown. It originally ran in Toronto, Ontario and sold to City of Phoenix in 1996.
Santa Fe 1 double bedroom/four drawing rooms/observation lounge car "Vista Canyon, built by Pullman in 1947; one of four built for the Super Chief".
Santa Fe coach 3079 "Diablo Canyon", built by Budd in 1937 as a 52-seat coach. It was sold to New Jersey Transit in 1969, re-configured to 84 seats. That organization donated the coach to the United Railways Historical Societies of New Jersey. Mr. John McMath bought the car in 1991. Mr. McMath configured the car for personal use and renamed it "Coco Grove". He stripped out the coach interior and installed four bedrooms, a kitchen, a small dining area and a solarium lounge at the vestibule end. In 1996 the car met the requirements for Amtrak service and has continued to be mechanically certified. The car is the oldest Amtrak certified and operable Budd built car in the country; it was donated to the museum in 2005.
Santa Fe Pleasure Dome "Plaza Taos" built by Pullman Standard in 1950. Unique to the Santa Fe, the upper dome featured swivel chairs while below was a lounge, cocktail room and the "Turquoise Room" for private dining. When in Amtrak service it was numbered 9354 and later sold to the Broadway Dinner Train in Nashville, Tennessee before being donated in 2008.
Santa Fe coach 3166 "Regal Phoenix" built by Budd in 1946 as 52 seat coach. This car saw service on many Santa Fe streamlined trains, one of which was the Hassayampa Flyer which ran from Phoenix to Williams Junction. The car went to Amtrak in 1971 and was renumbered 5236. The car was scheduled for shop work and conversion to 60 seats in 1976 but the work was never done. It was retired in 1977 and sold to the United States Air Force and moved to Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The interior was mostly removed to facilitate rebuilding as a hospitality car but the work was never completed. The car was purchased by John Clark in 1990. Mr. Clark sold the car in 1993 to Rail Preservation Inc. of Scottsdale, Arizona. The car was passed on to the museum in 1996. The Arizona Railway Museum re-named the car "Regal Phoenix" and is continuing the re-build of the car as a full lounge.
Santa Fe coach 2870 built by Pullman in 1947. The car entered service on the first all coach streamliner on the Santa Fe, the El Capitan, running between Chicago and Los Angeles, via Winslow, Flagstaff and Kingman. The car became part of the Amtrak fleet in 1971 receiving the number 4484. The car was retired in 1976 and sold to the Pullman Pizzeria in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Sold again to Jim Bennett of Las Cruces in 1981. This car was donated to the Museum by Mr. Bennett in 1990.
More speeders.
Santa Fe observation car "Denehotso" which also featured 1 double bedroom/4 drawing rooms and a 17-seat lounge, built by the Pullman Company in 1938. It saw service on the Super Chief between Chicago and Los Angeles (via northern Arizona). Santa Fe rebuilt the car in 1954 changing the round end to a blunt end and adding one seat to the lounge. While on the Santa Fe, the car also carried the number 1853 which was for inventory purposes only. The car was retired in 1968 and donated to the Steamtown Foundation in Bellows Falls, Vermont. Steamtown later moved to Scranton, Pennsylvania and some pieces of equipment were sold at auction. This car was sold to Bill Fuehring who sold the car to museum member Mike Salwitz. The museum purchased the car from Mr. Salwitz in 1995. This car is the only remaining observation car from the original train set; the other cars were rebuilt to coaches in the mid 1950's and later scrapped. The "Denehotso" was placed on the Arizona State Historical Register in 1995.
Santa Fe business car 405, built by Pullman in 1927. It is one of eighteen Superintendent's cars. They were all removed from service in 1966 and this car was stored at the Heritage Museum in Temple, Texas before being donated to the museum in 2008.
Santa Fe high-level coach 708, built by Budd in 1956 and used on the El Capitan. This became Amtrak 9948 and 39948 and the Arizona Railway Museum acquired the car in 2019.
Santa Fe high-level coach-dorm 543, built by Budd in 1964 and used on the San Francisco Chief. This became Amtrak 9917 and 39917 and the Arizona Railway Museum acquired in 2019.
Santa Fe coach 580 built in 1910, rebuilt in 1917 as a men's smoking car and rebuilt in 1938 as a crew kitchen/diner. It was donated in 1997.
Southern Pacific 2-8-0 2562 built by Baldwin in 1906. It was donated to the City of Chandler in 1956 and placed on display at the Chandler train station, then moved to Armstrong Park before being donated to the museum. The steam engine was placed on the Arizona State Historical Register in 1994.
Southern Pacific three-door horse car 7241 built by the St. Louis Car Company in 1937. In 1951, it was converted to a postal storage car for use on the Golden State. At that time the number was changed to 4300 and the paint scheme changed to the red over silver of the Golden State. In 1953 the car was repainted to an all aluminum color with a red letter board and the Golden State insignia on the side. In 1958 the car was again repainted, this time to the silver with orange letterboard of the Sunset route. The early 1960's saw the color changed to the solid grey used on all of the head-end passenger equipment. In 1966 the car was retired from revenue service and converted to a heavy tool car at the Sacramento shops, coming out with the number SPMW 5984. In the early 1970's the car moved to Phoenix for use by the car repair forces. It was stationed for a time at the Tempe depot before moving to the Phoenix yard and was sold for dismantle in September 1994 to Smith and Charles Salvage. Jim Smith donated the car to the Arizona Railway Museum in 1995.
Southwest Forest Industries log car 511 built by Bettendorf between 1917 and 1920 for one of the Southwest Forest Industry predecessors. It was used to carry logs from the forest to the saw mill and saw service to the mill in Flagstaff and was also used on the White Mountain line to the mill at McNary. For a few years, it was displayed at the saw mill in Flagstaff with Southwest Forest Industries steam engine 25.
Union Tank Car 7682 built by the company in 1936.
Southern Railway business car 16 built 1879 when it was rebuilt by the South Carolina Railroad in Charleston as an office car. Such a car was variously used both for transportation of railroad executives and their guests, and as a payroll distribution car. It stayed in the hands of the South Carolina Railroad and its successors until 1899 when as South Carolina & Georgia Railroad 101, it became part of the Southern Railway System. The car was heavily modified by the Southern in 1924 to much of its present appearance. While with the Southern, it has borne several numbers, the last of which was 16. The car remained in active service with the Southern until it was retired in 1967 whereupon it was sold to the Houston Sports Authority. Several other private car owners followed including the Phoenix Cotton Pickery. It was purchased from them in 1982 by Mr. Russell Joslin who named the car the "Desert Valley". Mr. Joslin passed away in 1993 and the family donated the car to the Arizona Railway Museum in 1995.
Tucson, Cornelia and Gila Bend caboose 15 built by the railroad in 1944 and served the Phelps Dodge copper mine in Ajo, Arizona and was used for numerous years to provide passenger service between Gila Bend and Ajo.
Tucson, Cornelia and Gila Bend flat car 304 which was donated in 2005. Southern Pacific 20' container is on top of the flat car.
Santa Fe caboose 999741 built by International Car in 1978 for the Toledo, Peoria and Western. In 1986 it was absorbed into the Santa Fe system and retired in 1992.
Frisco 14-4 sleeper 6769 "Eugene Field" built by Pullman in 1948. The car was assigned to such trains as the Texas Special and the Meteor. In 1967 the car was sold to the NORD Corporation and reconfigured as a rolling demonstration lab and showroom for their photographic products. The new floor plan retained the four bedrooms, removed the roomettes and replaced them with two display rooms and a darkroom. At that time is was named "Silver Messenger". The Nord Corporation donated the car to RRE (Rail Road Enthusiasts) who operated the car in excursion service for a short time. The car was next purchased by three friends who continued to operate the car while making upgrades. The floor plan kept the four bedrooms, changed the display rooms to lounges and the darkroom to a shower and kitchen. In 2010 the surviving member of the three friends, Rudy Morgenfruh, donated the car to the Arizona Railway Museum.
Masquerading as a Rock Island Golden State car, "West Palm Beach" is really Seaboard Air Line 42 built by Budd in 1949. It became Amtrak 2704 "West Palm Beach", was retired in 1986 and the museum purchased it in 1992, naming it "Adiel Morris". In 2018, the car was sold to a private owner and renamed it "West Palm Beach".
Union Pacific diner 4815 built by American Car and Foundry in 1949. It was sold to the Alaska Railroad in 1971 and sold in 2001; the museum purchased it in 2003 and named it City of Chandler.
Rock Island coach 330 "Des Moines" built by Pullman Standard in 1947. Re-named "Jane Marie" and owned by Bart Barton, one of the founders of the Arizona Railway Museum.
Signals displayed along the cars.
A Marmon Transmotive Company Model 9000 "Switchmaster" which was used by the Arizona Republic newspaper printing facility in Mesa, used to move boxcards loaded with bulk printing paper.
Santa Fe Business Car 56 built by Pullman in 1923 as Santa Fe 34. It was re-numbered 56 in 1973 and donated to the museum in 2016.
Private car "Federal" built by Pullman in 1911. One of two such business cars, it became Delaware Lackawanna and Western 98, then Erie Lackawanna 98, then Ringling Brothers 98 before being based at the Arizona Railway Museum.
Union Pacific 10-6 sleeper 4138 "Pacific Scene" built by Budd 1950. Amtrak operated it as 2886 between 1972 and 1996 and it received the "Silver Star" name during the rebuild process in private ownership.
Santa Fe 6-6-4 sleeper "Verde Valley" built by Pullman in 1942. The car was named for our well-watered valley in northern Arizona. The car often saw service on the California Limited which ran from Chicago to Los Angeles, through Kansas City, Tulsa and Flagstaff. After World War II, it was assigned to the California Special, running from Houston to Los Angeles via Temple, Texas and Flagstaff. The California Special was discontinued in 1968 and the following year, the car was donated the Gulf Coast Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society. They continued to run the car until Amtrak regulations made that not feasible. In 2015 the Houston Railroad Museum, Gulf Coast Chapter donated the car to The Arizona Railway Museum.
New York Central 4-4-2 sleeper "Imperial Manor" built by Pullman 1939. The car was originally named "Imperial Estate" and saw service on the 20th Century Limited. In 1948 the car was sold to the New York Central and the name changed to "Imperial Manor" in 1950. In 1962, the car was sold to the Illinois Central Railroad and renamed "Hazelhurst". In 1968 the car was sold to Midwest Travel Services and again in 1980 to Rail Passenger Services of Tucson, Arizona. The car was donated to the museum in December 2018.
Southern Pacific caboose 4603 built by International Car Company in 1978. The caboose was used in mainline service out of Tucson until 1994, last used in service on the Buckeye Local out of Phoenix and donated to the Museum in 1996.
Southern Pacific Fruit Express refrigerator car 459579.
Santa Fe 40 foot boxcar 5257 which was de-rated to a Maintenance-of-Way bolt car.
Santa Fe 60 foot boxcar 600197, built by the railway in 1964.
Santa Fe 40 foot refrigerator car 16811 built by American Car and Foundry in 1920.
Amtrak material handling car 1413 built by Thrall in 1986.
Rio Grande caboose 01505 built by International Car Company in 1966.
Southern Pacific caboose 413 built by the railway 1947 for Texas and New Orleans as 512. It was retired in 1982 and donated to the Arizona Chapter National Railway Historical Society who donated it to the Arizona Railway Museum in 1994.
25 ton Army C-45 crane built by American Hoist in 1943 and used at Bellemont, Arizona.
Southern Pacific 120 ton steam derrick tool car 7131 built by American Car and Foundry in 1949. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.
Southern Pacific 120 ton steam derrick 1730 built 1910. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.
Southern Pacific tank car 60157 built by General American in 1942 and restored as an Eagle Scout Community Service project.
GRYX tank car 799 built for the W. R. Grace Company in 1938.
Santa Fe pulpwood flat car 330219 built by the railway in 1951.
San Manuel Railway Rider Car 184 built by MAGOR in 1955. These cars ran on the lead/rear of the train between the San Manuel smelter facility and the mine. The car was in the lead on the empty shove to the mine and trailed bringing loads to the smelter. The car was donated by Capstone Mining through the generosity of Ron Lewallen.
AZER anode flat car 7013 built by General Steel Corporation in 1966.
Copper Basin Railway concentrate car 341002 built by Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton Company in 1961 for the Southern Pacific and donated in 2015.
Southern Pacific sugar beet gondola 359246 built by General American in 1949. The wooden sides provided a better surface than metal for the beets. Upper extensions were added around 1959 to increase capacity. This car was typical of those that brought sugar beets to the Spreckels Sugar processing plant at the northwest corner of McQueen and Riggs Roads in Chandler. The plant opened in 1967 and processed the beets into sugar, plus a small amount of granular sugar for the local market. The plant closed in 1984 when soft drink manufacturers switched to using less expensive high-fructose corn syrup.
After the sugar beet trains ended in the 1990s, this car was acquired by Spreckels parent company Imperial Sugar who donated the car to the Western Pacific Railroad Museum at Portola, California. After many years, the WPRM decided to reduce their collection and offered the car to the Arizona Railway Museum. The car was transferred to the Arizona Railway Museum where it arrived by truck in July 10, 2019.
Ray and Gila Valley Railroad hopper car 1069 built by Pullman in 1910.
Museum scenes.
We walked through some of the cars that were open to the public and were very impressed by the interiors.
Waiting for Elizabeth to come out as she was taking photographs.
Elizabeth enjoying the view from the open platform. I would like to thank the Arizona Railway Museum for having us today and we were both highly impressed by all of their equipment that they have on display. After that, we drove to the Best Western Inn and checked in. I wrote the story then watched the Pittsburgh Penguins win their hockey game against the New York Rangers on the computer after we had KFC for dinner then called it a night.
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