THE REST OF ARIZONA
Here
is a selection of older shots from around the state, including early color photos
and slides taken during college days and the 1970's Freedom train's visit to
Phoenix and later the World's Fair Daylight.
We
had two streamliners on the Southern Pacific route through Arizona, the Golden
State and the Sunset Limited. Both were historic long distance trains,
one traveled Los Angeles to Chicago and the other to New Orleans. The
Golden State was gradually streamlined in the late 1940's in a stunning silver
and red scheme. However, it lasted only a few years and that equipment
was decolorized into a standard all silver (or stainless steel)
The Sunset Limited, on the other hand, had a dramatic change in 1950 from a
classic heavyweight passenger train to an all new train with all Budd built
equipment in what I thought (and still think) is one of the most classic color
schemes. I have several shots of the Sunset in the station at Douglas
and of individual cars, but for some reason have only this shot of it at speed
leaving town. I think it was because the diesels powering it could outrun
my bike or later motor scooter much faster than the steam powered trains could.
This was taken on the first roll of color film I had ever bought, although it
was with the original Brownie camera so the slow lens couldn't stop the motion
of the train nearest it. Nonetheless, it is a wonderful memory of a beautiful
train in its element.
This
is the Douglas station, originally built by the El Paso and Southwestern Railroad
in the early part of the twentieth century. It is almost identical to
the one they built in Tucson, their western terminal. The station originally
had beautiful, landscaped grounds and a landmark sign welcoming travelers to
Douglas. Underneath the Southern Pacific logos above the windows are the
original cast EP&SW emblems.
The
station was bought by the City of Douglas and with a federal grant was restored
and is in use today by the Douglas Police Department. The tracks are gone,
but fortunately the interior of the station is restored to its original condition.
A
rail line from Douglas also goes south to the Mexican town of Nacozari where
there is a large copper mine. After purchase of the EP&SW by the Southern
Pacific, it was operated as a part of the SP of Mexico system. It is now
part of the Mexican national system. More recent rail connections have
been built by Mexico west and south to connect to the line south from Nogales
so the traffic no longer has to go through the US.
This
is the main train station in Agua Prieta, the twin town to Douglas on the Mexican
side of the border. For years, the Mexican railroads operated mixed passenger
- freight trains and here we see one being made up for the run to Nogales.
While
in college at the University of Arizona, word got to we train nuts that one
of the last remaining railroads still in steam was the Magma Arizona Railroad,
which ran from the copper mines in Superior to the junction with the SP.
Since Superior was only an hour and a half north of Tucson, I decided to just
drive there one Saturday. Luck sometime shines and I caught the train
being made up in Superior. As it started out down the mountain, luck again
was with me as the dirt road I followed ended up following the tracks all the
way to its crossing with US 60 where the railroad then headed across the desert
to its SP connection. Fortunately a dozen photos keeps the memory alive.
It
turned out to me a morning of absorbing a sight that, as it turns out, would
never happen again. Within two months the railroad was dieselized and
today the mines are gone as is the railroad.
I left Ohio in May of 1975, less than a month after seeing the Reading Northern
pull the Freedom train through Ohio. By that November, it had arrived
in Phoenix, now being pulled by the famous Daylight steamer #4449. She
blasted through Phoenix and then switched onto the branch that passed through
Arizona State University in Tempe. The train simply couldn't take a bad
photo and I watched it switch its diesel off in Tempe and then take the train
on the industrial trackage through downtown Tempe to its display at the University.
That weekend I drug Mary Jane and the kids back to actually go through the train.
#4449
returned to Phoenix a few years later pulling the World's Fair Daylight to New
Orleans. There are millions of shots of that stunning train and I have
my share - including video taken from the train as we rode it to Tucson.
What I liked however was the night scene. Darkened sky, platform lights
bring the colors of the cars to light and the train still glimmers - and speaks
of the mysteries of its travels.
Douglas
in the 1950's
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