Americas steepest grade freight railroad Freeport McMoRan Copper and Gold
Americas steepest grade freight railroad Freeport McMoRan Copper and Gold
Nestled in the copper rich hills of Morenci, Arizona is the rarely visited McMoRan Copper and Gold railroad. Morenci is home to one of the largest copper mines in the World which has been in operation for over 100 years. With railroad grades in excess of 5%, this is the steepest operational freight railroad in the United States. The Cass scenic railroad which runs steam powered passenger trains, has the steepest with grades up to 11%. The Boeing plant in Everett, Washington also has a grade 5.7% however this is just a spur.
Notice the specially outfitted locomotives with low profile fuel tanks, and reinforced plows for rock clearing. All locomotives on this train are non turbo charged giving us that beautiful sound of the 645 engine is all its glory. The size of the mine is truly hard to comprehend. You can see at the end of the video the extremely rich pockets of copper just waiting to be dug out. Each mine truck can haul 300 tons. Will have more of this railroad in another video.
These are not regular 38-2s someone plaease address the sound and extra ductwork on the top! Something is being driven from the prime mover
I am stunned that they run such short trains with crappy power on 5% grade. I bet their TOB is a joke on a loaded train.
This is weird it’s like it’s stuck in the 90s there’s no ditch lights on some of the trains and they were leading
I see that Unit 59 has a standard 2,000 gallon fuel tank, but the others are quite a bit smaller. Any idea why this is so? Also, why are these locomotives not turbocharged? Given the steepness of the grades, I would think they would want the extra power. Great video! Thanks.
Mentions going up the grade: how about the braking going down.
Does anyone know what those add-ons are on the three middle units?
These are Small trains 😂😂 watch Indian freight trains longer n powerful 12000HP electrified …
Why non turboed? That wouldn’t seem to make sense. Too inefficient
Used to work on microwave equipment in the Clifton-Morenci area.
Amazing video!
Engine 51 in Bicentennial colors? Anyone know?
i couldn’t live just feet away from track
Fake News
Looks like 59 was once a GP40.
How far is this from Bagdad AZ
If Arizona was only 20-30 degrees cooler in summer ….. gorgeous place.
You foamers crack me up
Saluda is no longer the steepest grade in use as it is out of service.
..too hear those diesels whine.. under load… x %
Short line to short line to Southern Pacificunion Pacific..i got ship to that small town..catching the railroad out of Deming NM..
i used to work at the refinery in el paso, we put out the final product! 👊💪
Hermosas máquinas
What an interesting video. I’m in the humid, chilly Midatlantic, so I don’t know any better about arizona, a few questions? I see a beautiful rock face that was clearly blasted in order to build the RR Tracks. The rock looked almost black. I like Geology. What kind of rock is it? Also, i know AZ can get very hot. Local friends recently retired and relocated to SCottsdale AZ. They like it, but the outdoors are very tough in summer afternoons. Nancy said in summer you CANNOT go outside without a personal bottle of water. Evenings are nice. It looks so dry. Does it rain in that part of the world? Thanks for the great work, and advice. We’re eager to learn.
Old NW on Clarke’s Gap is wayy more steep
Tom,,nice work , yes I did notice the fuel tanks being different, then there was all the extra ductwork, but given the operation,DUST is the enemy , all those locos reminded me of a PBS series’GREAT RAILWAYS of the WORLD’ there IS a train which goes up the ANDES NTNS IN SO AMERICA with switchbacks, it originally had STEAM LOCOS, but ‘modernized , so put 1 diesel, which fell flat on its ass, so 2,then 3, then 4,then5 even turbocharged to replace 1 steam loco, it was so funny, nut even at altitude it still made steam ! Cheers 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Descent under dynamics was awesome.
I was just out there last month and picked up copper coils.
Those mountains are something to see for sure
Very nice. The first half of this was of the train decending the steep hills in dynamic braking which you can hear. It’s not until you get to 8:29 when you see him throttle up for the pull which gives a good view of the hill he’s climbing. After retiring as an engineer of 32 years, I had my share of climbing steep hills with sometimes having to double the hills if my train was heavy or not enough locomotives.
31,000 total YT competitive railfanning foamer points awarded 👍
About how many times per day does the railroad operate?
Used to haul copper cathode plates out of Morenci to Denton, TX to make copper wire
0:42. #59 is now one inch longer than it was the day before.
Wish I knew about this copper mine when I lived in AZ, would have loved to see it up close. Thanks for a great train vid!
5
Instead of 5 Geeps, 2 or 3 SD40-2’s would be better.
Outstanding video
I really enjoyed this! Thanks for posting!
Former Phelps Dodge?
Just subscribe
I dont believe this is the steepest grade. Just east of ronceverte west Virginia is one of the steepest
Born and raised in Morenci, seen many trains 🚂 back in those days travel thru our mining town. Old Morenci the trains had Phelps Dodge on them and were blue and white. Thanks for sharing
Heavy into them dinees
What are those two big "boxes" on top of the roof near the dynamic brakes?
Saludos a Arizona
Is that Morenci?
Why are there tank cars at the start of the vid? ….from a copper mine …..fuel or some chemical maybe.
Clinchfield Railroad just arrived on Train sim world 2 …..PC Xbox PS4
http://railfan.com/arizona-eastern-railway/ For information about this unique railway
Wait! They put the copper ore in tank cars?
Ok operational, just a question was Saluda grade steeper?
Steeper than Saluda?