Downhill with Dynamics Howling
I made a visit to the Morenci Mine railroad, these days formally named Freeport McMoRan (FMI) on a Monday in early September. Like so many railfans before me, I came to the area as I’d been fascinated from afar by the steep grades, heavy tonnage, and beautiful scenery of this part of Arizona. It lived up to the reputation! (Well, perhaps all except for the condition of the engines - the FMI engines have gotten rather filthy as it appears they don’t bother washing much of anything and the AZER paint is cleaner but is a bit more faded now in the desert sun…)
The Arizona Eastern is the FMI’s connection to the outside world. They started the morning in town and made a trip to South Siding and back. The FMI ran a job within the plant to move some cars from the concentrator area down to their main lower yard, and then a job that made two trips up and down the hill with a second set of power.
Here the 5-pack of geeps in three different paint schemes (FMI 49, FMI 55, FMI 50, FMI 59, FMI 56) are howling in dynamic braking mode as they ease the first cut of cars down the hill nearing the interchange with the Arizona and Eastern at Clifton. The AZER hadn’t quite returned from making a run to South Siding yet and so after depositing their outbounds in the small yard along the San Francisco River they would have a short wait on “the ramp” before they did the typical interchange handoff.
Some of the slanted cuts visible on the hill at the top of the frame are from one of the earlier switch-back railroad routes that made the climb from Clifton up to Morenci high on the hills above. Previous operator Phelps Dodge made a realignment of the line to ease the grades a little bit but they still run between 4% and 5% in spots on this impressive bit of industrial railroading.
(I would be remiss without giving a big thanks to GSP and Dennis Stern for kindly sharing some intel on this area that helped make my visit a success!)
Downhill with Dynamics Howling
I made a visit to the Morenci Mine railroad, these days formally named Freeport McMoRan (FMI) on a Monday in early September. Like so many railfans before me, I came to the area as I’d been fascinated from afar by the steep grades, heavy tonnage, and beautiful scenery of this part of Arizona. It lived up to the reputation! (Well, perhaps all except for the condition of the engines - the FMI engines have gotten rather filthy as it appears they don’t bother washing much of anything and the AZER paint is cleaner but is a bit more faded now in the desert sun…)
The Arizona Eastern is the FMI’s connection to the outside world. They started the morning in town and made a trip to South Siding and back. The FMI ran a job within the plant to move some cars from the concentrator area down to their main lower yard, and then a job that made two trips up and down the hill with a second set of power.
Here the 5-pack of geeps in three different paint schemes (FMI 49, FMI 55, FMI 50, FMI 59, FMI 56) are howling in dynamic braking mode as they ease the first cut of cars down the hill nearing the interchange with the Arizona and Eastern at Clifton. The AZER hadn’t quite returned from making a run to South Siding yet and so after depositing their outbounds in the small yard along the San Francisco River they would have a short wait on “the ramp” before they did the typical interchange handoff.
Some of the slanted cuts visible on the hill at the top of the frame are from one of the earlier switch-back railroad routes that made the climb from Clifton up to Morenci high on the hills above. Previous operator Phelps Dodge made a realignment of the line to ease the grades a little bit but they still run between 4% and 5% in spots on this impressive bit of industrial railroading.
(I would be remiss without giving a big thanks to GSP and Dennis Stern for kindly sharing some intel on this area that helped make my visit a success!)