The abandoned railroad route between Abra and Prescott, known as The Prescott District, of which 28.22 miles have been abandoned, was once operated in Arizona by the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway.
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I'm new to AZ and its railroads, and alas, I do not have a general RR map of the state. At the moment, I'm trying to digest things in bite-sized quantities (i.e., trying not to drown by input overload). One of my efforts is to get a handle on the Sante Fe line that served Prescott, whose passenger station is now being adaptively reused by Wells Fargo. This subsite informs one that the line from Abra, on the BNSF Phoenix Sub, ran about 28 miles to Prescott, which in 1984 was the end of track. I stress that was true in 1984, but perhaps the line ran farther prior to that year. I note several other abandonments south and southeast of Prescott, between the 1920s and 1973. For example, the intents to abandon both the Entro-Iron King (February 8, 1973) and Abra-Prescott (May 29, 1984) portions refer to Docket AB 52, Subs 1 and 28, respectively. Were these places once all part of the same line? Otherwise put, was the branch serving Prescott a stub line--one way in, one way out--OR did it continue south once upon a time, perhaps connecting to a main line leading into Phoenix? Thanks, Nelson
Nelson Lawry Rollinsford, NH 4/18/2011
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yes the line ran from paulden, through chino valley, had a spur line that ran to mayer and crown king that connected north of prescott in the granite dells, then continued through prescott and on to skull valley, wickenburg, and then on to phoenix. they abandoned the line between prescott and skull valley because the sierra prieta range was too tough a climb, they had an a-b-b-a unit in prescott on stanby to assit. so they made a new line from paulden around behind the range that joins back up just south of skull valley. then in the early 80s a monsoon washed out a bridge north of prescott, so they abandoned the north half too. prescott tried to buy it for a tourist railway, but they wouldnt sell.
clay morgan texas 6/3/2011
If you would like detailed information on this line and its construction details, i highly recommend the David Myrick book "Santa Fe to Phoenix". Unfortunately, this book doesn't cover the United Verde that ran from Jerome junction over the mountains to Jerome. It is left for another volume by Myrick, but there are a number of other publications that cover it.
Strangely, the first major abandonment in AZ, that of the Prescott and Arizona Central, isn't covered by this site...but is detailed in this book. The P&AC was the first railroad to reach Prescott, starting from Seligman. This line only lasted several years due to a number of reasons, among them was the fact that is wasn't very well constructed.
Proof of this can be seen when you try to find remnants of the old ROW today....virtually no evidence of its existence can be found, save for the northern-most section in Railroad canyon just south of Seligman. I may have discovered what might be some parts of the old ROW in Chino Valley, but there is no way to be sure...and even Myrick's book notes that no accurate map of the P&AC has ever surfaced to date. The book does feature a "best guess" map assembled form various sources. Photographs show that near Prescott, the two competing lines ran very close to each other.
Strange that this significant line seems largely forgotten.
James Chino Valley, AZ 1/10/2012
For some historical perspective to actually view the railroad operating thru Prescott, anybody can watch the film "Junior Bonner" staring Steve McQueen & Robert Preston. There is a railroad yard scene at the old Depot and two Sante Fe engines running past running in between McQeen and Preston. The clips give an overall view of the surrounding railyard and businesses. Film was made in 1970.
Don Holliday Temecula, CA 3/8/2012