Description
In the mountains of rural Eastern Arizona, lies one of America's most unique industrial railroad operations. We're in Clifton and Morenci, Arizona, home of the Freeport McMoRan Clifton Copper Mine and Industrial Railroad.
The Freeport Morenci mine represents one of the largest copper reserves in the United States, and produces an average of 700 million pounds of copper per year. With the mine and facilities being that big, the FMI railroad plays a vital role in the operation of the mine. Chemicals, primarily sulfuric acid, are brought in to the mine, as well as shipping out copper concentrate for further transfer and distribution.
The FMI railroad has 12 EMD GP38 locomotives on the fleet, most of which are featured in this video. While the railroad services the mine, the main attraction on the railroad is the journey to the interchange with the Arizona Eastern Railway at Clifton, AZ. With steep 5% grades, and sweeping curves on the single track, it's a treat to hear these classic EMD locomotives working full power up the hill!
In this video, we will start at the top of the hill in Morenci, and follow one of the interchange jobs down the hill. At the bottom of the hill is Clifton, where interchange with the AZER takes place. After a quick and well choreographed interchange job takes place, the FMI opens the throttle for the journey back up the hill to the mine in Morenci.
Thanks for watching! | Video and Content by MichaelLovesTrains 2026
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Timeline:
0:00 - Welcome to the Morenci Mine
0:25 - The FMI interchange job leaves the mine, bound for Clifton
2:25 - FMIX 53 with roaring dynamics, departing Morenci
6:50 - FMIX 52 at the Corral Road crossing, and descending down the hill
11:09 - Arriving into Clifton, at the bottom of the hill
14:21 - The AZER Clifton Turn approaches Clifton for interchange
15:00 - FMI switching operations at the Clifton yard
17:40 - Staging the FMI power for a quick interchange
17:59 - AZER Clifton Turn arriving into Clifton
23:00 - The FMI power now connects to the inbound AZER cut of cars
23:56 - FMIX 57 beings the climb up the hill to the mine
27:34 - FMIX 51 climbing the hill in March 2025
30:10 - FMIX 58 "America 250 unit" battling the hill in September 2025
32:05 - FMIX 59 continues the climb, passing under Shannon Road
34:33 - FMIX 58 "America 250 unit" nears the top of the hill with a set of tank cars
38:16 - The AZER Clifton Turn departs Clifton, back to South Siding and Lordsburg
39:40 - At the same time, FMIX 57 battles the grades bound for the mine
44:35 - Thanks for watching!