Union Pacific’s Lordsburg Subdivision, Part 2

Rolling across the American Southwest between Tucson and El Paso, The Lordsburg Subdivision has been an integral part of the Sunset Route since its rails were first spiked down in 1880. In Part 1 of this two-part series, we covered the west half of the subdivision through Arizona between Tucson and Steins.

In Part 2, we continue east to El Paso as trains race across desert of southwestern New Mexico and into the Rio Grande Valley.

At Lordsburg, Arizona Eastern’s Clifton Branch provides access to the impressive Morenci Copper Mine. We will visit this fascinating operation complete with its own railroad: the Freeport-McMoRan Industrial. Watch a quintet of non-turbocharged GP38-2’s and dash 3’s battle a five percent ruling grade out of Clifton, Arizona.

Back on the UP main line, heavy stack trains over three miles long sprint across the desert, passing old lava flows and ghost towns. We will visit UP’s busy Santa Teresa Intermodal Facility which first opened in 2014. It is an important hub linking Los Angeles with Chicago, Houston, New Orleans, and Mexico. Finally, we will cross the Rio Grande River into the west Texas town of El Paso.