The 1880s locomotive at the lower end of the Morenci Plaza is brightly decorated as is the Christmas tree adjacent to it. Above the locomotive is a full moon partially covered by clouds.The area around the lower loop is brightly decorated to highlight the Christmas holiday.
The 1880s locomotive at the lower end of the Morenci Plaza is brightly decorated as is the Christmas tree adjacent to it. Above the locomotive is a full moon partially covered by clouds.The area around the lower loop is brightly decorated to highlight the Christmas holiday.
PHOTO SUSAN BREEN
There is a copper-colored plaque on the ore car attached to it — a baby gauge locomotive.
The plaque tells how the locomotive is more than a century old built in the 1880s or ’90s. Today it stands not only as a relic but also a very important role it played in the copper mining history of Morenci and Clifton.
It is located at the lower end of the Morenci Plaza Loop. The locomotive is one of three that had sat on a track for more than a half-century ago on Coronado Mountain.
The locomotives were used to haul small ore cars from the Matilda Shaft mine to the end of the Coronado Incline. At the top of the incline cars were transferred to a thick cable system and lowered 1,500 feet to the bottom of the incline. The cars were then moved to Clifton to an Arizona Copper Co. smelter.
There were other mining companies in the Morenci-Clifton mining district but the Arizona Copper was the largest of them all. The company sold its interest in 1921 to Phelps Dodge.Â
Phelps Dodge ceased all mining on Coronado Mountain in 1932. The locomotives sat on the mountain on narrow tracks and stood idle since that time.
In 1990, Phelps Dodge carved a road on the mountain and brought them down to Morenci. From there all three locomotives were sent off to be refurbished. Some parts of the locomotive, particularly in the cab, of the locomotive in Morenci were deteriorated by the elements and became rusted
Its renovation was completed with close attention paid to every detail.
Children enjoy the well-decorated baby gauge locomotive in the Morenci Plaza Lower Loop. The locomotive is more than a century old.
PHOTO SUSAN BREEN
Today, while it is mostly children who are often seen playing in the cab, adults who include visitors to the area, also climb the short stairs to the cab.
Foremost, the locomotive, including the ore car, are brightly decorated with lights during the Christmas season. Some locals have been heard to say its holiday beauty is one of the locomotive’s highlights and it is like seeing the engine making history again.
