Fun in the sun - part 3

Trains in the sun

On Wednesday the 14th, M joined me for a day trip to see some of southern Arizona's railroad operations. We began our day on the Copper Basin Railway. Located in the mountains east of Phoenix and north of Tucson, the Copper Basin operates an ore shuttle between the open pit copper mine at Ray, and the town of Hayden.

Copper Basin loaded ore train at Ray Jct., just out of Ray Mine

Copper Basin ore loads arriving in Hayden

The conductor gave us a friendly wave ...

Part of CBRY's public relations effort... an adjoining section of the highway is assigned to CBRY boss Jake Jacobson

This is where all that copper ore comes from...

Later in the day we checked out the Union Pacific "Sunset Route" between Casa Grande and Gila Bend. I had never been that far west on the Sunset Route before. We found some nice scenery about 20 miles west of Maricopa, between Estrella and Shawmut.

Union Pacific westbound approaching Shawmut, AZ

Eastbound approaching Maricopa, AZ at sunset.

On Friday the 16th, it was time to return to Texas. We could have stayed an extra day, but the round trip tickets would have been about $200 more, per person! It was an enjoyable week, and we look forward to our next visit to the Grand Canyon State for more spring training baseball, more trains, and more fun in the sun.

Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport

Our flight home provided us with a nice view of the BNSF transcon east of Belen, NM -- including this view of the western end of Abo Canyon

What's next?

Check back in a couple days for more ... on Monday, I caught Fred Eaglesmith at Dan's in Denton, and I'll be posting a review and a few photos soon.

WSC

np: Jim Lauderdale - "Honky Tonk Mood Again" on KHYI 95.3 FM "the Range"