Coronado Railroad
Coronado Railroad was a 20 in (508 mm) railroad which operated in a copper mining region of eastern Arizona.
The Coronado Railroad was one of the first railroads in Arizona, constructed by Henry Lesinsky in 1879 along Chase Creek, between mines and a smelter. Eventually the line connected mines via seven funicular railways and many miles of track. It operated at least 10 locomotives of 0-4-0T, 0-4-2T, and 0-4-4T wheel configuration. The mines and the railway were connected in ownership, and the railroad was not separately incorporated or a common carrier. Cars used were 4-wheel mine cars and flat cars.
The railroad operated as an isolated line, but in 1883 a 3 foot gauge narrow gauge line eventually reached Clifton to interchange with the Coronado. This connecting line, the Arizona and New Mexico, converted to standard gauge in 1901 and its former 3 foot gauge equipment was used to widen the 20" line from Clifton to Shannon by 1903. This new 3' gauge line was incorporated as the Coronado Railroad.
Steam locomotives of the 20 inch gauge system continued to operate, even after expansion of electric mine railways which captured a significant portion of the ore movement. After World War I operations on the 20" was sporadic, with the entire system being shut down in 1932 and mostly removed by the later part of that decade.
Several 20 inch gauge locomotives and cars from the Coronado Railroad and associated copper mining companies survived into preservation. The locomotive "Rattlesnake" was purchased by an old engineer and maintained as a display. Three other locomotives were left abandoned on a hilltop until 1990, when they were removed over very steep terrain by dropping down a loaded truck reinforced with a cable attached to a bulldozer.
The Coronado railroad was one of the smallest minimum gauge railroads that operated in North America.
References
- Hilton, George W.: American Narrow Gauge Railroads, page 311. Stanford University Press, 1990.
- Eppinga, Jane: "MESHPOCHA: The Stories of A Great Pioneer Family of the Frontier: The Lesinsky Family of Southeastern Arizona" Southwest Jewish History, Volume 2, Number 3, Spring 1994.