The Tucson, Cornelia and Gila Bend Railroad went from
Gila Bend, Arizona
Gila Bend (; O'odham: Hila Wi:n), founded in 1872, is a town in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. The town is named for an approximately 90-degree bend in the Gila River, which is near the community's current location. As of the 2020 cens ...
to
Ajo, Arizona.
The railroad was incorporated in 1915
for use by the
New Cornelia mine
The New Cornelia mine is a currently inactive open-pit copper mine in Pima County, Arizona, United States. It was the only productive mine in the Ajo mining district, and is located just outside the town of Ajo, which was built as a company t ...
at Ajo. Originally, the railroad was intended to connect to Tucson.
[ The railroad was in operation from 1916 until the 1980s.]Tom Childs
Tom Childs, Jr. (10 June 1870 – 5 February 1951) was an Arizona miner and rancher.
Biography
He was born in Arizona City (renamed Yuma), Arizona. His father was Tom Childs, Sr. His mother was Mary Thornberry.
Thomas Childs, Sr. was a teams ...
, who discovered copper at Ajo.[ In 1934, Childs was described as having a post office and station.][
In 1926, it was reported that the track was 44.327 miles long and that the railroad owned an additional 3.310 miles of tracks and sidings.
In 1969, six stations were listed in the timetable, but only Ajo and Gila Bend were agency stations. Black Gap and Rocky Point were short sidings used when passenger trains met. Childs and Midway were longer sidings.][
In 1998, Phelps Dodge upgraded the railroad for proposed resumed mining at Ajo.][
The railroad passes through the ]Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range
The Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range or Barry M. Goldwater Range (BMGR), formerly known as Luke Air Force Range, is a bombing range in the U.S. state of Arizona, between the Mexico–United States border and Interstate 8 straddling the Cabeza Pr ...
.
References
External links
The Tucson, Cornelia and Gila Bend Railroad
(abandonedrails.com)
{{Maricopa County, Arizona
Defunct Arizona railroads