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The morning sun catches on a rusted spike half-buried in the red earth of eastern Arizona, casting a shadow across what was once the rail bed of one of America’s most remarkable feats of mountain railroading. Here, etched across the rugged canyons of the San Francisco River and Chase Creek, the ghost of the Morenci Southern Railroad persists in scattered remnants—concrete abutments anchored to sheer cliff faces, the weathered timbers of a water tank base, and the unmistakable scars of cuts and fills climbing impossibly steep grades. Built to carry copper from one of the world’s richest mining districts, this engineering marvel conquered terrain that many experts considered impassable. Yet today, this once-vital transportation artery has almost completely vanished, its extraordinary story known only to dedicated railroad historians and locals who still point to the phantom curves carved into canyon walls and whisper tales of the “crookedest railroad in America.”
Behind the engineering statistics and operational details of the Morenci Southern Railroad were the individuals who built, maintained, and operated this challenging mountain railroad. Their stories, preserved in company records, newspaper accounts, and oral histories, illuminate the human dimension of this remarkable transportation corridor.
Consider Manuel Hernandez, who began as a track laborer during the railroad’s construction in 1897 and eventually rose to become a section foreman responsible for maintaining some of the most difficult segments along Chase Creek Canyon. Born in Sonora, Mexico, Hernandez was one of many Mexican immigrants who found employment in Arizona’s expanding mining and transportation industries. His daily logs, preserved in the Greenlee County Historical Society archives, document the constant battle against nature to keep the railroad operational—clearing rockslides, repairing washouts after monsoon storms, and adjusting track alignment on curves where the forces of heavy trains constantly pushed rails out of gauge. Hernandez’s career spanned nearly thirty years on the Morenci Southern, making him an encyclopedia of practical knowledge about the line’s unique challenges.
For locomotive engineers, the Morenci Southern represented the ultimate test of professional skill. James Sullivan, who operated trains on the line from 1905 to 1922, left detailed notebooks describing the specialized techniques required. “Every curve has its own personality,” he wrote, “and demands its own approach. Too much brake entering the curve near Mill Creek, and you’ll skip the rails entirely. Too little brake starting down from Morenci, and you’ll be going too fast to hold her when you hit the 28-degree curves below.” Sullivan’s accounts reveal how engineers developed an almost intuitive feel for managing steam pressure, throttle, and brakes on the challenging grades—knowledge that could only be gained through experience and that no formal training could fully provide.
Station agent Elena Rodriguez, who managed the Morenci terminal from 1912 to 1932, handled the complex logistics of coordinating ore shipments, supply deliveries, and occasional passenger traffic. Her position made her a crucial link between the mining company, the railroad, and the community. Daily logs show her arranging special shipments during labor disputes, coordinating relief supplies during a 1918 influenza outbreak, and organizing the movement of equipment during mine expansions. Rodriguez’s career demonstrates how the railroad created employment opportunities that allowed women to occupy positions of significant responsibility in an otherwise male-dominated industry and era.
The passenger perspective appears in letters and diaries from those who experienced the remarkable journey. Traveling salesman George Hammond described his first trip up the line in 1910: “I have ridden mountain railroads in Colorado and even Switzerland, but nothing prepared me for this experience. At points the train seems literally to cling to the canyon wall, with nothing visible from the window but open air and a drop of hundreds of feet. The grade is so steep that when standing in the aisle, one must lean significantly forward when climbing toward Morenci. The sharpest curves produce a grinding sound that sets one’s teeth on edge, yet the train proceeds with deliberate confidence under the skilled hand of an engineer who clearly knows every inch of this incredible route.”
For Damon Brown, an African American brakeman who worked the line from 1915 to 1928, the Morenci Southern offered employment opportunities not readily available elsewhere, though within constraints of period discrimination. Oral histories collected from his descendants describe how Brown had to demonstrate exceptional skill to secure his position, as brakemen on the Morenci Southern needed specialized expertise beyond that required on conventional railroads. The job’s demands apparently transcended some racial barriers, as the technical requirements of safe operation took precedence over social prejudices in at least this limited professional sphere.
These individual stories, pieced together from fragmentary historical records, illuminate how the Morenci Southern Railroad shaped lives and communities beyond its obvious economic function. For those who built, operated, and depended upon this transportation artery, it represented not just an engineering achievement but the foundation of their livelihoods and community identity.
| Aspect | Details |
|---|---|
| Name | Morenci Southern Railroad |
| Established | 1901 |
| Purpose | To transport copper ore from the Morenci Mine to a connection with the Arizona and New Mexico Railway at Guthrie, Arizona. |
| Length | Approximately 18 miles |
| Route | – Ran from Morenci, Arizona, to Guthrie, Arizona, located along the Arizona and New Mexico Railway line. |
| Ownership | Owned and operated by the Phelps Dodge Corporation, which also owned the Morenci Mine. |
| Primary Cargo | Copper ore, mining supplies, and equipment. |
| Terrain Challenges | – Extremely steep grades (up to 5.5%) and sharp curves due to the rugged mountain terrain in the Morenci area. |
| – Required specialized operations to handle the difficult conditions, including small locomotives and careful management of train movements. | |
| Equipment Used | – Initially used steam locomotives designed for steep grades. |
| – Later transitioned to diesel-electric locomotives to improve efficiency. | |
| Significance | – Critical to the success of the copper mining industry in Morenci, one of the largest copper mines in the world. |
| – Connected Morenci to regional railroads, enabling the transport of copper to markets across the U.S. and internationally. | |
| Decline | – The development of onsite smelting and new transportation methods, such as trucks, reduced the need for rail services. |
| – The railroad ceased operations in 1922 as mining practices shifted and alternative transport became more efficient. | |
| Legacy | – Parts of the line have been abandoned, but remnants of the route and equipment remain of interest to historians and rail enthusiasts. |
| – The railroad played a vital role in the early growth of Arizona’s copper mining industry. | |
| Modern Status | – The Morenci Mine continues to operate as one of the largest copper mines in the U.S., but rail operations are no longer a part of its transport system. |
| Cultural Impact | – The railroad’s history is preserved in local museums and historical societies, showcasing its role in Arizona’s mining heritage. |
The story of the Morenci Southern Railroad begins with copper—the mineral that shaped so much of Arizona’s development. The rich copper deposits in the Clifton-Morenci area were first developed commercially in the 1870s, when prospectors and mining engineers recognized the exceptional quality of ore in these remote mountains. By the 1880s, the Detroit Copper Company (later absorbed into Phelps Dodge Corporation) had established significant mining operations at Morenci, while the Arizona Copper Company developed mines around Clifton.
These operations faced a persistent challenge: transporting ore and refined copper from isolated mountain locations to distant markets. The initial solution came in 1879 when the Arizona Copper Company constructed the narrow-gauge Coronado Railroad to connect Clifton with the mines and the Longfellow Incline, a remarkable gravity-powered ore delivery system. However, both mining operations still lacked direct connection to the national rail network.
The first significant improvement in regional transportation arrived in 1883 when the Arizona & New Mexico Railway (A&NM) reached Clifton, connecting the mining district to Lordsburg, New Mexico, and the Southern Pacific’s transcontinental line. This narrow-gauge railroad provided crucial access for the Arizona Copper Company’s operations centered at Clifton, but the Detroit Copper Company’s Morenci mines remained isolated on the mountaintop above, served only by difficult wagon roads.
The situation grew increasingly problematic as Morenci’s production expanded. While Clifton lay in the relatively accessible San Francisco River valley, Morenci perched more than 1,500 feet higher in elevation along the precipitous slopes of Chase Creek Canyon. Connecting these two points by rail would require overcoming some of the most challenging terrain ever confronted by railroad engineers.
In 1897, Phelps Dodge and Company (which had acquired the Detroit Copper Company) decided that a dedicated railroad connecting Morenci to the A&NM at Guthrie was essential for continued expansion. The company incorporated the Morenci Southern Railroad on October 2, 1897, and construction began almost immediately under the direction of engineer James Colquhoun.
Building this railroad required extraordinary solutions to seemingly impossible problems. The 18.2-mile route would need to climb from 3,465 feet elevation at Guthrie to 4,836 feet at Morenci, using a circuitous path that ultimately stretched twice the straight-line distance between the two points. The most challenging section involved climbing out of Chase Creek Canyon, where the railroad would need to gain nearly 1,000 feet in just a few miles of horizontal distance.
The engineering solutions proved remarkable. The line featured 5.5% grades (extremely steep by railroad standards), curves as tight as 28 degrees (among the sharpest on any standard-gauge railroad in the United States), and ingenious uses of switchbacks and spiral development tracks to gain elevation. Workers blasted shelves from solid rock canyon walls, built bridges across deep ravines, and in some sections literally carved the railroad into cliff faces where there seemed to be no possible path.
Construction involved primarily Mexican and Chinese laborers working in dangerous conditions for minimal wages. Newspaper accounts detail numerous accidents and at least seventeen fatalities during the building process. Despite these challenges, the line was completed in just fourteen months, with the first train operating over the full route in December 1898.
The Morenci Southern represented both an engineering marvel and an investment in the future of copper mining in eastern Arizona. At approximately $50,000 per mile (over $1.6 million per mile in today’s dollars), it was one of the most expensive railroad construction projects of its era. This investment reflected the extraordinary value of the copper deposits at Morenci and the determination of Phelps Dodge to establish the infrastructure necessary for industrial-scale mineral extraction.
Today’s visitor to the former Morenci Southern route encounters a landscape transformed by both natural processes and continued mining development. Unlike some abandoned railroads that leave obvious grades and infrastructure, portions of the Morenci Southern have been completely obliterated by the expansion of open-pit mining operations that have consumed much of the original town of Morenci and surrounding terrain.
The most visible and accessible remains can be found along the lower sections of the route between Guthrie and Clifton. Here, the railroad grade frequently followed the San Francisco River, and several concrete bridge abutments remain visible where the line crossed the river or tributary canyons. These massive concrete structures, anchored to canyon walls, testify to the substantial engineering required to establish the route.
Particularly impressive are the remnants visible in Chase Creek Canyon, though accessing this area requires permission from Freeport-McMoRan (successor to Phelps Dodge) as much of it lies within active mining property. Where visible, the former rail bed appears impossibly narrow, clinging to canyon walls with barely enough width for the tracks that once carried heavy ore trains. Several rock cuts show drill marks from the original construction, physical evidence of the tremendous labor required to establish the route.
Near the former Morenci station site, little remains of the railroad infrastructure as the continued expansion of mining operations has completely altered the landscape. The massive Morenci Mine, now one of the largest copper producing operations in North America, has grown to encompass much of the area once served by the railroad’s upper terminus.
Archaeological surveys conducted in the 1990s documented numerous artifacts along the route before some sections were disturbed by mining activities. These included rail hardware (spikes, joint bars, tie plates), telegraph insulators, and occasionally more personal items from the railroad’s operational era. These materials help historians understand both the technical aspects of the railroad and the lives of those who built and operated it.
Several specialized structures that made the railroad’s operation possible have left recognizable remains. At the location of one switchback, concrete foundations outline where a small engine house once stood, allowing helper locomotives to be stationed at a strategic point for assisting heavy trains up the steepest grades. Water tank foundations persist at several points along the route, critical infrastructure for the thirsty steam locomotives that operated through this arid region.
The Arizona State Historic Preservation Office has documented the Morenci Southern route, though much of this information remains in technical reports rather than public interpretation. While no formal historic designation protects the remaining features, their documentation ensures that this remarkable transportation corridor is not entirely lost to history even as physical evidence gradually disappears.
Operating a railroad over the challenging Morenci Southern route required specialized equipment and operational practices unlike most American railroads. The extreme grades and curves meant that conventional locomotive and car designs often proved inadequate, leading to customized solutions for this unique mountain railroad.
The railroad initially operated with five steam locomotives, including three specialized “Consolidation” type engines with a 2-8-0 wheel arrangement (two leading wheels, eight driving wheels, no trailing wheels). These locomotives featured extra-powerful braking systems and modified steam delivery systems to handle the steep grades in both ascending and descending directions. To increase traction on the steep grades, these locomotives were among the heaviest in relation to their size operating anywhere in the Southwest.
Standard operating procedures on the Morenci Southern differed substantially from conventional railroads. Trains were limited to just 6-8 freight cars to ensure that locomotives could maintain control on the steep grades. Helper engines were stationed at strategic points to assist trains on the steepest sections, particularly as they climbed from Chase Creek Canyon toward Morenci. These helpers would couple onto the rear of trains, provide additional power for the climb, and then return to their stations to await the next train requiring assistance.
Speed limits were extraordinarily restrictive by railroad standards. On the steepest grades and sharpest curves, trains were limited to just 4-6 miles per hour, with 15 mph being the maximum allowed anywhere on the line. Even at these slow speeds, the trip between Morenci and Guthrie typically took over two hours to cover just 18 miles, demonstrating the challenging nature of the route.
The primary traffic on the Morenci Southern was copper-related: outbound shipments of ore or processed copper and inbound supplies for the mines and community. At its peak around 1910-1920, the railroad might handle 15-20 cars daily, carrying everything from mining machinery to merchandise for Morenci’s company store. While the line was built primarily for freight, it did offer passenger service throughout most of its history, usually consisting of a single passenger car attached to freight trains.
Daily life for Morenci Southern employees involved constant vigilance. Track inspection occurred daily, as the steep terrain made the roadbed vulnerable to washouts and rockslides. Section crews were stationed at intervals along the route, living in company-provided housing near their assigned segments. These workers, primarily Mexican Americans, maintained the track, cleared debris after storms, and provided the continuous maintenance that kept the challenging route operational.
The train crews themselves required specialized knowledge that went beyond standard railroad operations. Engineers needed intimate familiarity with every curve and grade, knowing precisely how to manage steam pressure and braking to maintain control in all weather conditions. Brakemen faced particularly demanding work, as the numerous sharp curves caused significant friction between wheels and rails, requiring frequent brake adjustments to prevent overheating.
A crucial operational feature was the telephone system that connected stations and section houses along the route. Given the limited visibility around sharp curves and the slow speed of trains, this communication system was essential for safe operations. Before a train departed either terminal, telephone calls would confirm that the line was clear and alert section crews to watch for the train as it passed their locations.
The Morenci Southern Railroad served a string of communities whose fortunes were directly tied to copper mining and the transportation corridor that connected them to the outside world. These settlements ranged from substantial mining towns to small maintenance outposts that existed solely to support railroad operations.
Morenci occupied the upper terminus of the line and represented the railroad’s primary reason for existence. Originally developed as a copper mining camp in the 1870s, Morenci evolved into a classic company town controlled by Detroit Copper Company and later Phelps Dodge. The railroad’s arrival in 1898 accelerated Morenci’s growth, allowing for increased mine production and better supply of the community. By 1915, Morenci had approximately 5,000 residents housed in company-owned buildings arranged in distinct neighborhoods based on ethnicity and employment status. The town featured company stores, schools, churches, and recreational facilities, all centered around the massive mining operations that dominated the landscape and economy.
The original town of Morenci no longer exists, having been consumed by the expanding open-pit mine during the 1960s. The company constructed a new, planned community nearby to house workers, but this modern Morenci bears little resemblance to the historic mining town that once marked the railroad’s upper terminus.
Clifton predated the Morenci Southern and had its own rail connection via the Arizona & New Mexico Railway. Located in the narrow canyon of the San Francisco River, Clifton served as headquarters for the Arizona Copper Company and developed as a commercial competitor to company-controlled Morenci. While not directly on the Morenci Southern’s main line, Clifton was connected via a short spur and became an important interchange point between the two railroads. With a more independent character than Morenci, Clifton featured numerous businesses, saloons, and a diverse population estimated at 4,500 by 1910.
Clifton has survived into the present, though with a much-diminished population and economic base following the centralization of mining operations at Morenci. The town’s historic district preserves some buildings from the mining and railroad era, providing a physical connection to the region’s transportation heritage.
Guthrie, at the railroad’s lower terminus and connection with the Arizona & New Mexico Railway, developed primarily as a junction point rather than a full community. The settlement featured a station building, water tank, small engine house facilities, and housing for railroad employees. Never growing beyond a few hundred residents, Guthrie declined along with the railroad and has essentially disappeared from the landscape, with only concrete foundations marking its former location.
Several smaller settlements developed along the route to support railroad operations:
Oroville began as a section house location where track maintenance crews lived while responsible for particularly troublesome segments of the line. A small cluster of dwellings developed around this maintenance base, housing approximately 25-30 workers and their families. Nothing remains of Oroville today except scattered debris and building foundations.
Frisco evolved as a junction point where a short spur led to mining properties operated by the Shannon Copper Company. Never more than a collection of section houses and basic facilities, Frisco disappeared when mining operations consolidated at Morenci. The site now lies within the boundaries of active mining properties.
Colorado Siding functioned purely as an operational point where helper locomotives would meet trains to assist them up the steepest grades. A small shelter, water tank, and occasionally a watchman were the only permanent presence. No visible evidence of Colorado Siding remains today.
These communities, whether substantial towns or simple maintenance outposts, existed in a symbiotic relationship with the railroad. Their development, daily rhythms, and ultimate decline followed the operational patterns of the transportation artery that gave them purpose and connected them to the wider world.
The decline of the Morenci Southern Railroad unfolded through several phases, influenced by changing mining technologies, transportation alternatives, and economic conditions. Unlike many railroads that disappeared following sudden abandonment, the Morenci Southern experienced a gradual transformation before finally ceasing operations altogether.
The first significant change came in 1921-1922 when Phelps Dodge completely rebuilt the most challenging sections of the line, eliminating some of the steepest grades and sharpest curves. This reconstruction included replacing some switchbacks with tunnels and constructing new bridges to create more gradual ascents. While improving operational efficiency, this project began the process of erasing some of the railroad’s most distinctive engineering features.
The Great Depression dealt the next major blow, as copper prices collapsed and production at Morenci was dramatically curtailed. The railroad continued operating on a reduced schedule, but traffic volumes fell significantly. By the mid-1930s, trains operated just three times weekly rather than daily, and maintenance was minimized to essential functions only.
World War II temporarily reversed the decline as copper production ramped up for military needs. During this period, the railroad saw its highest traffic volumes since the 1920s, with trains sometimes operating on extra schedules to accommodate the increased production. However, this wartime boom also accelerated the technological changes that would ultimately render the railroad obsolete.
The most significant threat emerged from improved highway access to the mining district. The completion of all-weather roads connecting Morenci to U.S. Highway 666 (now U.S. 191) by the late 1940s offered a more flexible transportation alternative. Trucks could deliver supplies directly to specific mine facilities without the transloading required with rail delivery. For many goods, this efficiency outweighed the higher per-ton cost of highway transportation.
Simultaneously, mining technology was evolving away from underground operations toward open-pit extraction. This shift fundamentally changed transportation needs, as massive haul trucks and conveyor systems replaced the traditional rail movement of ore within mining operations. As Phelps Dodge expanded open-pit mining at Morenci in the 1950s, internal rail systems were gradually abandoned in favor of more flexible rubber-tired equipment.
By 1959, traffic on the Morenci Southern had diminished to the point where regular operations were no longer economically justified. Phelps Dodge applied to the Interstate Commerce Commission for abandonment permission, though a modified approval kept a portion of the line in service for a few additional years. The last regular train operated in 1961, and track removal began almost immediately on abandoned segments.
A short section of the original line survived as an industrial spur serving the Morenci operations until approximately 1985, when this final remnant was removed to accommodate mine expansion. This represented the end of railroad transportation that had existed in some form in the district since the 1880s.
The railroad’s physical disappearance accelerated with the massive expansion of the Morenci Mine in the 1960s and 1970s. As open-pit operations grew, they consumed not just the original townsite of Morenci but significant portions of the surrounding landscape, including sections of the railroad’s right-of-way. This mining activity obliterated many features more thoroughly than natural erosion processes ever could have, leaving gaps in the physical record of the railroad’s route.
The Morenci Southern Railroad holds significance beyond its practical transportation function, representing several important themes in Arizona’s development and cultural history.
For engineering historians, the Morenci Southern exemplifies innovative adaptations to seemingly impossible terrain. The solutions developed for climbing from Chase Creek Canyon to Morenci—including severe grades, extraordinary curves, and ingenious use of switchbacks—pushed the boundaries of what was considered possible in standard-gauge railroad construction. These achievements influenced subsequent mountain railroad projects throughout the American West, demonstrating that with sufficient investment, rail transportation could access even the most challenging locations.
From an industrial history perspective, the Morenci Southern represented a critical link in the development of Arizona’s copper industry. By providing efficient transportation between the mines and the national rail network, it enabled the evolution of Morenci from a remote mining camp into one of the world’s most productive copper districts. This transformation exemplifies how transportation infrastructure underpinned Arizona’s resource-based economic development and integration into national industrial networks.
The railroad also illuminates important aspects of labor history in the American Southwest. Its construction and operation relied heavily on Mexican and Mexican-American workers, many of whom developed specialized skills that gave them relatively stable employment despite the discrimination common in the era. The presence of the Western Federation of Miners at Morenci and successful union organizing efforts among both miners and railroad workers made the district an important site in the development of labor movements in Arizona.
For ethnic historians, the Morenci Southern’s operations reflect the complex social dynamics of early 20th century Arizona. Company housing at maintenance points along the railroad typically segregated workers by ethnicity, with Mexican and Mexican-American employees generally assigned to less desirable locations with fewer amenities. Yet the technical demands of railroad operation also created opportunities for skilled workers to advance regardless of background, as demonstrated by the careers of individuals like Manuel Hernandez and Elena Rodriguez.
From an environmental perspective, the railroad both responded to and altered the landscapes it traversed. Its construction required significant modification of natural features, particularly in canyon sections where blasting and excavation created entirely new landforms to accommodate the rails. The mining activities it enabled produced even more dramatic environmental changes, eventually consuming portions of the railroad itself in a kind of infrastructural ouroboros where the mining enabled by transportation ultimately devoured the transportation corridor.
The Morenci Southern has been documented in the Historic American Engineering Record, recognizing its significance as an engineering achievement. While no segments have been designated as protected historic sites (largely due to their location on private mining property), this documentation ensures that the railroad’s distinctive design features and operational characteristics are preserved in the historical record even as physical evidence disappears.
In cultural memory, the Morenci Southern lives on through local stories and family histories throughout eastern Arizona. Descendants of railroad workers maintain connections to this transportation heritage through photographs, tools, and other artifacts preserved from the operational era. These personal archives complement institutional collections at the Greenlee County Historical Society and the Arizona Historical Society, creating a multifaceted record of this remarkable transportation corridor.
For those interested in exploring the former Morenci Southern route, several approaches can help identify and follow this historic corridor despite the disappearance of tracks and many structures.
Historic maps provide the most authoritative routing information. The U.S. Geological Survey topographic maps from the early 20th century (particularly the Clifton Quadrangle surveyed in 1902) clearly show the railroad alignment, including sidings, station stops, and major infrastructure. These maps, available digitally through the USGS Historical Topographic Map Explorer, provide precise locations even where physical evidence has disappeared.
Aerial photography reveals portions of the ghost route through distinctive linear patterns in the landscape. Google Earth’s historical imagery function allows comparison between current and past conditions, helping identify sections where the grade remains visible despite decades of abandonment. This approach proves particularly useful in open terrain between Guthrie and Clifton, though less effective in canyon sections or areas now covered by mining operations.
On the ground, several telltale signs help railroad enthusiasts follow the former Morenci Southern route where publicly accessible:
Several segments of the former Morenci Southern are particularly accessible for exploration, though visitors should always respect private property restrictions and safety considerations:
Between Guthrie and Clifton, portions of the grade follow public roads or cross public lands, allowing examination of several bridge abutments and cuts typical of the railroad’s construction style.
While not on the main Morenci Southern line, Clifton preserves several buildings related to the district’s railroad era, including the former Arizona & New Mexico Railway depot that connected with the Morenci Southern.
This public road parallels portions of the former railroad grade through Chase Creek Canyon, offering views of some of the most challenging terrain conquered by the railroad’s builders.
Access to many sections is restricted by their location on active mining property controlled by Freeport-McMoRan. The company occasionally offers guided tours of historical features within their property boundaries, providing one of the few opportunities to view otherwise inaccessible portions of the route. The Greenlee County Tourism Council can provide current information about tour availability and scheduling.
While the Morenci Southern Railroad has largely disappeared from the physical landscape, several conservation and memory initiatives help maintain connections to this important transportation heritage.
The Greenlee County Historical Society has established the most significant preservation effort through its extensive collection of photographs, documents, and artifacts related to the railroad. Their archives include over 300 historic photographs documenting construction, operations, and gradual abandonment of the line. Particularly valuable are glass plate negatives from the construction era that show work crews literally carving the railroad’s path into canyon walls and building trestles across seemingly impassable terrain.
Oral history projects conducted in the 1970s and 1980s captured the memories of former railroad employees and community members, preserving firsthand accounts of operations and significance. These recordings, transcribed and archived at both the Greenlee County Historical Society and the Arizona Historical Society, provide insights into daily life along the railroad that would otherwise be lost to history.
Physical conservation has proven more challenging due to the remote location of most remaining features and their situation on private property. The Arizona State Historic Preservation Office has documented significant structures like bridge abutments and tunnels, creating a record of these engineering features even where preservation isn’t feasible. This documentation includes detailed measurements, photographs, and contextual information that helps historians understand the railroad’s distinctive design and construction techniques.
Memory practices in surrounding communities maintain connections to the railroad era. The annual Clifton Hill Climb, a community event featuring races up the steep roads connecting Clifton and Morenci, follows roughly the same route as the railroad’s most challenging section. While focused on modern vehicles rather than historical trains, this event keeps alive awareness of the topographical challenges that made the Morenci Southern such a remarkable engineering achievement.
Educational initiatives include the Greenlee County Schools’ local history curriculum, which features units on the mining district’s transportation evolution. Students visit accessible railroad remnants as field exercises, creating measured drawings and photo documentation while learning about the engineering principles that allowed the railroad to conquer such challenging terrain. These activities help ensure that knowledge of the railroad’s significance transfers to new generations despite the disappearance of much physical evidence.
Digital preservation efforts have expanded in recent years through projects like the Arizona Memory Project, which has digitized numerous photographs and documents related to the Morenci Southern. These resources, freely available online, allow virtual exploration of the railroad’s history and operations even for those unable to visit the physical location. The Arizona Historical Society’s digital collections include several rare maps and engineering drawings showing the railroad’s precise routing and construction details.
Despite these various memory initiatives, the physical traces of the Morenci Southern continue to diminish year by year. Natural erosion affects cuts and fills, particularly during the intense summer monsoon seasons. Mining operations occasionally expand into new areas, consuming additional sections of the historic route. These ongoing processes make documentation efforts increasingly valuable as the tangible connections to this transportation heritage gradually disappear.
For those wishing to explore remnants of the Morenci Southern firsthand, several considerations should guide the experience:
Access and permissions: Much of the former railroad route crosses private property, particularly land owned by Freeport-McMoRan’s mining operations. These areas require explicit permission to visit, which can sometimes be arranged through the company’s community relations office. Segments crossing public lands, primarily managed by the Bureau of Land Management, remain accessible though often without formal trails or interpretation.
Safety concerns: Abandoned railroad features may be unstable, particularly bridge abutments and cuts that have experienced erosion over decades of abandonment. Exploring these features requires appropriate caution, sturdy footwear, and awareness of potential hazards including loose rocks, unstable surfaces, and occasionally abandoned mining features near the railroad route. The remote location of many remnants means emergency services may be hours away, making basic wilderness precautions advisable.
Environmental conditions: Eastern Arizona’s climate presents significant challenges for exploration, particularly during summer months when temperatures frequently exceed 100°F and monsoon storms can cause dangerous flash flooding in canyon areas. Spring (March-May) and fall (September-November) typically offer the most favorable conditions for examining railroad remnants, with moderate temperatures and lower precipitation risk.
Archaeological ethics: The removal of artifacts, even seemingly insignificant items like spikes or rail fragments, diminishes the historical record and is prohibited on public lands. Photography, detailed note-taking, and GPS recording of features allow documentation without disturbing the site’s integrity. The Arizona Site Steward Program welcomes volunteers to help monitor significant archaeological sites, including abandoned transportation corridors, providing training in identification and documentation techniques.
Several local resources enhance the exploration experience:
The Greenlee County Historical Society Museum in Clifton houses extensive exhibits on the district’s mining and railroad history, including artifacts, photographs, and maps that help visitors understand what they might observe along the former route. Staff can provide guidance about accessible segments and current conditions.
The Clifton Historic District Walking Tour includes several buildings related to the region’s railroad era, with interpretive signs explaining their historical context and significance. While focused on the Arizona & New Mexico Railway rather than the Morenci Southern specifically, this tour provides valuable context for understanding the district’s broader transportation history.
The Morenci Mine Overlook offers views across the massive open-pit operation that has consumed much of the original mining community and portions of the railroad route. Interpretive materials include historical photographs that help visitors visualize the dramatic landscape transformation over the past century.
For those unable to visit in person, virtual exploration offers an alternative. The Arizona Memory Project (azmemory.azlibrary.gov) includes digitized photographs, maps, and documents related to the Morenci Southern, allowing detailed study of this remarkable railroad from anywhere in the world. The Greenlee County Historical Society maintains an online presence with selected materials from their collections, providing another window into this transportation heritage.
As afternoon shadows lengthen across Chase Creek Canyon, the faint outline of a railroad grade cut into the cliff face catches the golden light, momentarily highlighting what was once proclaimed “the crookedest railroad in America.” Though its rails have been gone for decades, the Morenci Southern Railroad maintains a ghostly presence in eastern Arizona’s landscape—a testament to the extraordinary measures taken to extract copper from these remote mountains.
The railroad’s story embodies the boom-and-bust cycles characteristic of resource extraction in the American West. Built at tremendous expense and with remarkable engineering creativity, it served its purpose for just over six decades before changing technologies and economic conditions rendered it obsolete. Yet in that relatively brief operational life, it enabled the development of one of the world’s most productive copper districts and shaped communities whose descendants continue to call this region home.
Perhaps most significantly, the Morenci Southern demonstrates how transportation infrastructure both responds to and transforms the landscapes it traverses. The railroad’s engineers adapted their designs to the seemingly impossible terrain of Chase Creek Canyon, creating an operational railway where conventional approaches would have failed. Yet this same transportation artery enabled mining operations that would eventually consume entire mountains, altering the topography more dramatically than the railroad builders could have imagined.
For the communities of eastern Arizona, the Morenci Southern represents an important chapter in their development story—a period when rail transportation connected isolated mining operations to national and global markets, enabling the industrial-scale copper production that continues to define the region’s economy. Though the towns and technologies have evolved, the fundamental economic relationship established during the railroad era persists: copper extracted from Arizona mountains flowing outward to markets, with supplies and people moving inward to support the mining operations.
As you stand beside a concrete bridge abutment anchored to a canyon wall, or trace the faint depression of a former railroad grade across an open mesa, you connect with an ambitious transportation vision that conquered some of Arizona’s most challenging terrain. The ghost of the Morenci Southern may be fading from the physical landscape, but its legacy continues in the communities it helped create and the engineering lessons it embodied—a reminder of how humans have repeatedly reshaped this rugged landscape in pursuit of mineral wealth and the infrastructure required to extract it.