It was chilly yesterday. I'd tell you how chilly...but my little thermometer blew out going down the road. Probably 50ish high.
Found some interesting stuff yesterday. I may have posted some of this before, but...
The
Copper Basin Railway runs from Winkleman to Magma, AZ. 54 miles through mostly remote desert, and some of my favorite trails are near it. It was built sometime around 1904. It was also used in a Dwight Yoakam video back in the 90's...
It's interesting to watch this video. It was probably monsoon season, since things are very green. It's also notable how much the
salt cedar has taken over the river. Bare patches of "beach" like you see in the video are rare these days.
I had known about an old "station" along the route. I had thought this was near the ghost town of Cochran. I don't know if this station was for passengers or just for train crews of whatnot. I am trying to find info and maybe pictures...but none yet.
In the meantime, I came across this while looking for other stuff...
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This is quite a bit east of Cochran...and not all that far from Riverside. I confess that I wonder about the validity of the location, since Cochran makes much sense, but I had been to this area before and remember certain aspects that made me think it
could have been something, so it was my unofficial destination for the day.
But...I always take the long way. I have explored these specific canyons before, but had never been up this side one. A tricke of water and a rock cairn up on the side. And a bit of my finger...
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Went down to an area just west of the station to revisit and old car...
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While snapping pics, the CBRR made a cameo...
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There were concrete foundations near the car, so there was definitely some sort of railroad infrastructure right here. Down track a noticed an old drag detector. Inside was something very cool...
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Logs. Last entry was 2020. 1st was 1991!
So...before the music video above was shot...in the same year I graduated from high school...someone stood here and filled out information. Never could I have even imagine back in those days that one day I'd stand in the same spot.
It's also a testament to how well the dry climate preserves things.
After checking the log book out, I headed over to the spot listed for the old station. As mentioned, I had been there before and did recall the place looking as though it were un-naturally flat. For sure, there has been grading done in more recent time...probably for water control. There were some scraps of wood and the odd metal pieces, but no smoking gun as far as and old station on the north side of the tracks. In the other side, there was some stuff...
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It looks to be more about ranching than the train, but who's the say for sure.
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Obligatory Hayden/Winkleman lights at dusk shot..
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