Southwest Scene
Rust colorored hills, Saguaro cactus, a cattle guard, and the Copper Basin Railway....pure Arizona right here!
The same morning empty ore train seen in this photo at Tunnel 2: flic.kr/p/2kWtKyx has now swung off the ex Southern Pacific branchline main and is on the former Kennecott Copper Ray branch at MP 1.8. After crossing the cattle guard they will cross State Route 177 and enter ASARCO property making photography off limits for the 90 min or so it will take them to head up to the loadout by the concentrator in front of the mine and exchange empties for loads that we will chase back to Hayden. A pair of ex Kennecott Copper pit motor GP39-2s bracket an ex Louisville and Nashville GP40.
The Copper Basin has operated the 54 mile long Magma - Winkelman former Southern Pacific branchline since 1986. That year the SP sold the line to Kennecott Copper which immediately turned around and sold it along with their 7 mile private mine haul railroad from Ray mine to Ray Jct. and their branch from Hayden Jct. up to the Hayden smelter to create the CBRY. Later that same year Kennecott turned around and sold their Ray mine and all Hayden operations to ASARCO, operator of the original 1912 smelter in Hayden. Independent for its first 20 yrs, the CBRY was purchased by ASARCO (virtually its sole reason for existence now) in 2006.
Pinal County, Arizona
Sunday October 18, 2015
Southwest Scene
Rust colorored hills, Saguaro cactus, a cattle guard, and the Copper Basin Railway....pure Arizona right here!
The same morning empty ore train seen in this photo at Tunnel 2: flic.kr/p/2kWtKyx has now swung off the ex Southern Pacific branchline main and is on the former Kennecott Copper Ray branch at MP 1.8. After crossing the cattle guard they will cross State Route 177 and enter ASARCO property making photography off limits for the 90 min or so it will take them to head up to the loadout by the concentrator in front of the mine and exchange empties for loads that we will chase back to Hayden. A pair of ex Kennecott Copper pit motor GP39-2s bracket an ex Louisville and Nashville GP40.
The Copper Basin has operated the 54 mile long Magma - Winkelman former Southern Pacific branchline since 1986. That year the SP sold the line to Kennecott Copper which immediately turned around and sold it along with their 7 mile private mine haul railroad from Ray mine to Ray Jct. and their branch from Hayden Jct. up to the Hayden smelter to create the CBRY. Later that same year Kennecott turned around and sold their Ray mine and all Hayden operations to ASARCO, operator of the original 1912 smelter in Hayden. Independent for its first 20 yrs, the CBRY was purchased by ASARCO (virtually its sole reason for existence now) in 2006.
Pinal County, Arizona
Sunday October 18, 2015