Nomad of Mid-America
Rock Climbing
The climb starts heavy and hard. From the bottom of the hill at Clifton, AZ, Freeport McMoRan's mine-owned railroad points to the sky and begins its ascent towards one of the US's largest copper mines at Morenci a short distance away, a mere 6 rail miles if we are keeping track. But those 6 miles are hardly insignificant, challenging FMI's fleet of modified GP38s in consists of 4 or 5 to prove their worth, dragging cars delivered and interchanged from shortline Arizona Eastern up a literal mountain to keep the production of copper ore flowing at a maximum rate of 115,000 metric tons per day. The incline? Try over 5%. That's one of the steepest (the steepest?) active climbs on a traction railway in North America. So despite only having been burdened with 13 cars, this 4 pack of 38s has their work cut out for them, already grasping for every mph they can grab before the hill rips whatever progress was made away. They will balance out well under 10 mph as the climb thickens, but ultimately victory is in their hands as they will conquer the mountain as they most always do.
Rock Climbing
The climb starts heavy and hard. From the bottom of the hill at Clifton, AZ, Freeport McMoRan's mine-owned railroad points to the sky and begins its ascent towards one of the US's largest copper mines at Morenci a short distance away, a mere 6 rail miles if we are keeping track. But those 6 miles are hardly insignificant, challenging FMI's fleet of modified GP38s in consists of 4 or 5 to prove their worth, dragging cars delivered and interchanged from shortline Arizona Eastern up a literal mountain to keep the production of copper ore flowing at a maximum rate of 115,000 metric tons per day. The incline? Try over 5%. That's one of the steepest (the steepest?) active climbs on a traction railway in North America. So despite only having been burdened with 13 cars, this 4 pack of 38s has their work cut out for them, already grasping for every mph they can grab before the hill rips whatever progress was made away. They will balance out well under 10 mph as the climb thickens, but ultimately victory is in their hands as they will conquer the mountain as they most always do.