This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations .(August 2021) |
Overview | |
---|---|
Headquarters | Benson, Arizona |
Reporting mark | SPVR |
Locale | Southern Arizona |
Dates of operation | 2003– |
Technical | |
Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
Other | |
Website | ironhorseresources |
San Pedro Valley Railroad | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sources | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The San Pedro Valley Railroad( reporting mark SPVR), formerly the San Pedro & Southwestern Railroad, is an Arizona shortline railroad, currently operating from a connection with the Union Pacific Railroad (UP) at Benson, Arizona, seven miles to Curtiss, Arizona west of St. David. The SPSR formerly ran a total of 76.2 miles (122.6 km), with main track from Benson to Paul Spur, a location about 10 miles (16 km) west of Douglas, as well as the Bisbee Branch which ran 5.6 miles (9.0 km) to Bisbee, Arizona. The SPSR is owned by Ironhorse Resources.
The SPSR commenced operations in November 2003 after David Parkinson acquired the San Pedro and Southwestern Railway( reporting mark SWKR) from RailAmerica in 2003 with "the intent of restoring transborder rail service with the Mexican rail system at Naco, Arizona, and developing North American Free Trade Agreement-related traffic, but that this plan never materialized." David Parkinson had owned several other shortlines in the western US, such as the California Northern Railroad, under his ParkSierra Rail Group, which was sold in 2002 to RailAmerica, which was purchased in turn by Genesee & Wyoming in 2012.
SWKR's traffic was weak and consisted of coal and coke for Chemical Lime on the Paul Spur, the only on-line shipper. Chemical Lime only generated between 380 and 500 carloads per year which SWKR claimed was inadequate to sustain the railroad. SWKR decided to abandon the line south of Curtiss in March 2005 due to limited freight business and the lack of prospects for future traffic increases.
On February 3, 2006 the Surface Transportation Board (STB) authorized abandonment of the line (STB Docket #AB-1081-0-X). [3] However, on February 13, 2006, Sonora-Arizona International (SAI) filed an offer of assistance with the STB, to acquire the line for $5.6 million. [4]
On July 18, 2006, the Cochise County Board of Supervisors declined to write a letter suggesting the line be converted to a trail, saying investors should be given sufficient time to arrange reactivating the line. [5]
The SPSR traces its origins back to May 24, 1888, when the Arizona and South Eastern Railroad (A&SE) was incorporated with headquarters at Bisbee, Arizona. Bisbee was a booming mining town that by the 1890 census was the sixth largest city in Arizona.
In 1888 Arizona & Southeastern built a 60-mile (97 km) line southward along the San Pedro River from a connection with the Southern Pacific Railroad at Benson to Bisbee. The A&SE track partially paralleled the New Mexico and Arizona Railroad (NM&A) that was built six years earlier (1882) on the opposite side of the San Pedro River from Benson to Fairbank. The NM&A then went southwest to Nogales via Sonoita and Patagonia.
On June 17, 1902, the Arizona & Southeastern was sold to the El Paso and Southwestern Railroad (EP&SW) and the line was extended through Douglas to El Paso. On November 1, 1924, the EP&SW was leased to the Southern Pacific. In 1955 the EP&SW was merged into the SP. At that time, four of SP's five daily passenger trains used the route via Douglas with only one via Bowie; but by 1966, the line east of Douglas into New Mexico was abandoned. The section between Paul Spur and Douglas was abandoned in the 1990s.
On June 15, 1992, SP sold the line to Kyle Railways and operations commenced as the San Pedro & Southwestern Railway (SWKR). For several years starting in 1995, the SWKR ran an excursion train from Benson to Charleston. In 1997, the track was abandoned beyond Curtiss. On January 22, 1997, the SWKR was acquired by StatesRail but continued to operate as the SWKR. On January 7, 2002, the SWKR was acquired by RailAmerica.
The San Pedro Railroad Operating Company (SPROC) commenced operations in November 2003 when it purchased the San Pedro & Southwestern Railway (SWKR) from RailAmerica. The SPROC later filed for abandonment of the southern portion of the line. The STB approved abandonment of the entire line by SPROC on February 6, 2006.
SAI made an offer of financial assistance to the STB, and was granted the option of ownership of the line on May 3, 2006. The STB ruled that the Offer of Financial Assistance (OFA) deal of the agreed upon price of $5.6 million for the SPROC railroad line from Curtiss to Naco and Paul Spur must close on or before July 12, 2006. On July 12, 2006, the attorneys for the Sonora–Arizona International LLC re-filed with the STB that they were withdrawing their OFA and that the SAI would no longer be purchasing the railroad line.
The San Pedro Railroad Operating Company then refiled on July 13 to ask for approval to immediately abandon the line.
The STB's decision is pending.[ when? ] Removal of the rails, ties and related infrastructure began in early 2007 south of Curtiss, to Paul Spur.
In October 2018, the line was sold by ARG Transportation Services to Ironhorse Resources and renamed the San Pedro Valley Railroad. [6]
Cochise County is a county in the southeastern corner of the U.S. state of Arizona. It is named after the Native American chief Cochise.
Benson is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, United States, 45 miles (72 km) east-southeast of Tucson. It was founded as a rail terminal for the area, and still serves as such. As of the 2010 census, the population of the city was 5,105.
State Route 90 is a highway in Cochise County, Arizona that runs from the I-10 junction at Benson to a junction with State Route 80 between Bisbee and Tombstone. It is a north–south route north of Sierra Vista, and an east–west route east of the city. It passes through the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area at milepost 329; the riparian area makes up a large part of the southern section of the San Pedro Valley.
The San Joaquin Valley Railroad is one of several short line railroad companies and is part of the Pacific Region Division of Genesee & Wyoming Inc. It operates over about 371 miles (597 km) of owned or leased track primarily on several lines in California's Central Valley/San Joaquin Valley around Fresno and Bakersfield. The SJVR has trackage rights over Union Pacific between Fresno, Goshen, Famoso, Bakersfield and Algoso. The SJVR also operated for the Tulare Valley Railroad (TVRR) from Calwa to Corcoran and Famoso.
The Georgia Southwestern Railroad is a Class III short line railroad company that operates over 234 miles (377 km) of track in southwestern Georgia and southeastern Alabama. Beginning in 1989 as a division of the South Carolina Central Railroad on a pair of former CSX Transportation lines, the railroad has since undergone a number of transformations through abandonments and acquisitions, before arriving at its current form. The railroad was formerly a RailAmerica property before going independent, and in 2008 it was acquired by Genesee & Wyoming Inc.
The Heart of Georgia Railroad is a shortline railroad created in 1999 to lease and operate 177 miles (285 km) of track owned by the Georgia Department of Transportation between Mahrt, Alabama and Vidalia, Georgia, in the United States. The railroad has since expanded to include more than 219 miles (352 km) of track, reaching as far as Midville, Georgia. Initially only the portion from Rochelle to Preston, Georgia was utilized, with the Preston-Mahrt and Rochelle-Vidalia lines out of service. The Heart of Georgia also hosts the SAM passenger excursion train and is owned by parent company Atlantic Western Transportation Company.
The Kansas City Terminal Railway is a Class III terminal railroad that serves as a joint operation of the trunk railroads that serve the Kansas City metropolitan area, the United States' second largest rail hub after Chicago. It is operated by the Kaw River Railroad.
Hereford is a populated place in Cochise County along the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Arizona. It is southeast of Sierra Vista and is a part of the Sierra Vista-Douglas micropolitan area. The elevation is 4,193 feet at the location of the original townsite at the far eastern end of the unincorporated area; the residential area runs for another 8 miles west from this location, blending into the unincorporated area of Nicksville at an elevation of approximately 4800'. Hereford Station Post Office is located at the far western end of Nicksville, at the foot of the Huachuca Mountains.
The Pine Belt Southern Railroad was a shortline railroad formerly operating on two disconnected track segments in east central Alabama. Upon its start in 1995 the railroad ran over a branch from Nuckols to Hurtsboro, Alabama. In 1996 a second branch was acquired, extending from Roanoke, Jct., near Opelika, to Lafayette, Alabama. Together the lines totaled 42.4 miles (68.2 km) and the railroad was controlled by Richard Abernathy.
The El Paso and Southwestern Railroad began in 1888 as the Arizona and South Eastern Railroad, a short line serving copper mines in southern Arizona. Over the next few decades, it grew into a 1200-mile system that stretched from Tucumcari, New Mexico, southward to El Paso, Texas, and westward to Tucson, Arizona, with several branch lines, including one to Nacozari, Mexico. The railroad was bought by the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1924 and fully merged into its parent company in 1955. The EP&SW was a major link in the transcontinental route of the Golden State Limited.
The West Michigan Railroad is a shortline railroad in southwest Michigan. It began operations in 1995, replacing the bankrupt Kalamazoo, Lake Shore and Chicago Railroad on an ex-Pere Marquette Railway line between Hartford and Paw Paw, Michigan. That company had taken over operations in 1987 from CSX Transportation.
The Wallowa Union Railroad Authority is a short-line railroad owned by Wallowa County and Union County in the U.S. state of Oregon. It operates freight and tourist trains over a 62.58-mile (100.71 km) ex-Union Pacific Railroad line from the end of an Idaho Northern and Pacific Railroad branch at Elgin to Joseph, generally paralleling Oregon Route 82.
The Arizona and California Railroad is a class III short line railroad that was a subdivision of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (ATSF). The ARZC began operations on May 9, 1991, when David Parkinson of the ParkSierra RailGroup purchased the line from the Santa Fe Railway. ParkSierra Railgroup was purchased in January 2002 by shortline railroad holding company RailAmerica. The Genesee & Wyoming shortline railroad holding company purchased RailAmerica in December 2012. ARZC's main commodities are petroleum gas, steel, and lumber; the railroad hauls around 12,000 carloads per year.
The Thermal Belt Railway is a Class III shortline railroad that operates for freight service on an irregular schedule on a former CSX line from Bostic to Forest City and on a former Norfolk Southern line from Forest City to Alexander Mills, North Carolina. Total mileage is 8.5 miles (13.7 km). Connections are made with CSX at Bostic. Rail is 85 pounds.
The Colorado Pacific Railroad is a shortline railroad operating on 122 miles of former Missouri Pacific Railroad trackage in southeast Colorado. It interchanges with Union Pacific and BNSF at North Avondale Junction near Boone, and with the Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad at Towner. It is sometimes referred to as the Towner Line or the Towner Railway.
The history of the Southern Pacific stretches from 1865 to 1998. For the main page, see Southern Pacific Transportation Company; for the former holding company, see Southern Pacific Rail Corporation.