The Copper Basin Railway is an

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

short-line railroad :''Short Line is also one of the four railroads in the American version of the popular board game Monopoly, named after the Shore Fast Line, an interurban streetcar line.'' A shortline railroad is a small or mid-sized railroad company that oper ...

that operates from a connection with the

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...

(UP) at Magma to

Winkelman Winkelman is a town in Gila and Pinal counties in Arizona, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population of the town was 353, all of whom lived in Gila County. History The community was named after Peter Winkelman, a local catt ...

, in of length. The railroad also has a branch line that runs from Ray Junction to Ray, Arizona. There was formerly an interchange with the San Manuel Arizona Railroad (SMA) at Hayden. The CBRY exists primarily to serve a

copper mine Copper extraction refers to the methods used to obtain copper from its ores. The conversion of copper consists of a series of physical and electrochemical processes. Methods have evolved and vary with country depending on the ore source, loca ...

. L. S. “Jake” Jacobson was the President and Chief Operating Officer, retiring in 2020 after more than 30 years in his position. In summer 2006,

ASARCO Asarco LLC (American Smelting and Refining Company) is a mining, smelting, and refining company based in Tucson, Arizona, which mines and processes primarily copper. The company has been a subsidiary of Grupo México since 1999. Its three la ...

Copper Corporation purchased the entire railroad.

Traffic

107,000 cars per year (1996 estimate) *

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

concentrates *

ore Ore is natural rock or sediment that contains one or more valuable minerals, typically containing metals, that can be mined, treated and sold at a profit.Encyclopædia Britannica. "Ore". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 7 Apr ...

* finished and unfinished copper * sulfuric acid *

lumber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...

* military equipment *

gypsum Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, blackboard or sidewalk chalk, and drywal ...

History

Magma–Winkelman line

The Magma–Winkelman line was constructed by the

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison, Kansas, Atchison and Top ...

(ATSF) subsidiary Phoenix and Eastern Railroad between 1902–1904. The Phoenix and Eastern Railroad built the railroad from

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

–Winkelman via

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

. It originally proposed to build to a connection with the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) at Benson but the line was never built past Winkelman. The railroad was leased to Santa Fe upon completion of construction on December 10, 1904, and was operated by ATSF subsidiary

Santa Fe, Prescott and Phoenix Railway The Santa Fe, Prescott and Phoenix Railway (SFP&P) was a common carrier railroad that later became an operating subsidiary of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway in Arizona. At Ash Fork, Arizona, the SFP&P connected with Santa Fe's ope ...

. On March 13, 1907, the Phoenix & Eastern became an

operating subsidiary An operating subsidiary is a subsidiary of a corporation through which the parent company (which may or may not be a holding company) indirectly conducts some portion of its business. Usually, an operating subsidiary can be distinguished in that ...

of SP. On March 10, 1910, the Phoenix & Eastern was leased and became a non-operating subsidiary of SP and operated by the Arizona Eastern Railroad. The railroad was sold to the Arizona Eastern Railroad on October 31, 1945. The Arizona Eastern Railroad was merged into SP on September 30, 1955. The track at Winkelman was extended to Christmas, Arizona, in 1911 by the Arizona Eastern Railway. That section of track was abandoned by the SP in 1961. At some point SP sold the line to mine operator Kennecott Copper. On August 15, 1986, the line was sold by Kennecott Copper and the CBRY was started. The CBRY was owned by

Rail Management Corporation Durden Enterprises II Inc - Formally Rail Management Corporation (RMC), based in Panama City Beach, Florida, was a holding company of short line railroads in the southeastern United States. History On May 26, 2005, Genesee and Wyoming (G&W) ...

from 1986–2005. In summer 2006, ASARCO Copper Corporation purchased the entire railroad. ASARCO also owns the Ray Mine and Hayden Smelter, CBRY's primary customers. This railway served as the backdrop to

Dwight Yoakam Dwight David Yoakam (born October 23, 1956) is an American singer-songwriter, actor, and film director. He first achieved mainstream attention in 1986 with the release of his debut album ''Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.''. Yoakam had considerabl ...

’s “

A Thousand Miles from Nowhere "A Thousand Miles from Nowhere" is a song written and recorded by American country music artist Dwight Yoakam. It was released in June 1993 as the second single from his album '' This Time''. Like his previous single, this song peaked at number 2 ...

” music video. He is seen near the tracks and moving about a train throughout the video.

Route

The route primarily follows the Gila River. * Magma (Webster) – UP/MAA * Florence Junction * Florence * Stanco * Barr * Munn (Alta) * Price * Tunnel 1 (over in length, second in Arizona only to the tunnel on the

Arizona Central Railroad The Clarkdale Arizona Central Railroad is an Arizona short-line railroad that operates from a connection with the BNSF Railway at Drake, Arizona. The AZCR runs from Drake to Clarkdale, Arizona. An excursion train also runs on the line through ...

). * Cochran * North across the Gila River can be seen the Coke Ovens, several "beehive" kilns. Made from rock, they were originally built to make coke out of local timber and copper/silver ore. * Butte * Zellweger * Wooley * Ray Junction * Tunnel 2 * Riverside * Erman * Tunnel 3 * Kearny * Branaman * Burns * Hayden Junction. Location of the operational center for the SP until the system was rebuilt to have ore trains go directly from Ray to Hayden for unloading onto a new conveyor system. * Hayden (office) ** Spur to Kennecott Copper (KCCX) Mill and Smelter * KCCX Ore Unload * San Manuel Arizona Railroad Junction (to San Manuel and Mammoth Mine) * Winkelman

References

* * *

External links