The Phoenix and Eastern Railroad was a

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

company in the state of

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 ...

. It was chartered in 1901 to construct a line from

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

Benson, Arizona Benson is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, Cochise County, Arizona, United States, east-southeast of Tucson, Arizona, Tucson. It was founded as a rail terminal for the area, and still serves as such. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 c ...

via the

Gila River The Gila River (; O'odham ima Keli Akimel or simply Akimel, Quechan: Haa Siʼil, Maricopa language: Xiil) is a tributary of the Colorado River flowing through New Mexico and Arizona in the United States. The river drains an arid watershed of n ...

, a distance of . The company would be leased by the

Arizona Eastern Railroad The Arizona Eastern Railway is a Class III railroad that operates of railroad between Clifton, Arizona, and Miami, Arizona, in the United States. This includes trackage rights over the Union Pacific Railroad between Lordsburg, New Mexico, and ...

, a subsidiary of the

Southern Pacific The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...

, in 1910. A portion of its original line remains in service and is operated by the

Copper Basin Railway The Copper Basin Railway is an Arizona short-line railroad that operates from a connection with the Union Pacific Railroad (UP) at Magma to Winkelman, in of length. The railroad also has a branch line that runs from Ray Junction to Ray, Arizo ...

History

The Phoenix and Eastern was incorporated on August 31, 1901 and among its founders were Baron Gaston de Fontenilliat, William George Tiffany, George S. Pitcairn, M. H. Twomey and J. H. Martin. Its original plan was to construct a line from Phoenix to Benson along the Gila River, for a total length of . At Benson it would interchange with the Southern Pacific and also the

El Paso and Southwestern Railroad The El Paso and Southwestern Railroad began in 1888 as the Arizona and South Eastern Railroad, a short line serving copper mines in southern Arizona. Over the next few decades, it grew into a 1200-mile system that stretched from Tucumcari, New M ...

. The company had the backing of 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 ...

, which was seeking to expand its operations in southern Arizona. The Southern Pacific responded by backing a rival company, the Arizona Eastern, which also intended to build along the Gila River. In 1903–1904 a minor railroad war broke out as the two companies struggled over control of the route. The ATSF and the SP eventually reached a compromise: in exchange for the SP taking control of the Phoenix and Eastern, SP made concessions to the ATSF in

Northern California Northern California (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...

. By 1910 the Phoenix and Eastern had reached Winkelman, a distance of . The Arizona Eastern formally leased the Phoenix and Eastern on March 1, 1910, ending that company's independent existence.

References

{{reflist, 30em Defunct Arizona railroads Railway companies established in 1901 Railway companies disestablished in 1910 1901 establishments in Arizona Territory Predecessors of the Southern Pacific Transportation Company

History

See also

References