The White Mountain Scenic Railroad
August 14, 1974

In the last days of the White Mountain Scenic Railroad. The train began operating north from Pinetop Lakes, Arizona, to Bell. This is a much less scenic section of track compared to the former stretch from McNary to a picnic spot the crews called "Apache Hilton". In the very early days, trains actually went as far as an old logging camp called Maverick. All of those days are long gone.

(all photos by William Gardei)


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So here we are at the Pinetop Lakes station waiting for locomotive #36 to
couple onto the train. I can't see wearing a white shirt and tie on an engine.
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Mikado #36 (ex Sierra Railroad) couples onto the consist.
It will operate tender-forward for the 20 mile trip to Bell.
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En-route northbound to Bell we encounter... Cows.
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From the open vestibule of "The Jersey Lily" (an old Jim Crow car)
we can watch the massive Mikado boiler bounce around on the wobbly track.
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Returning to Pinetop Lakes, we see the White Mountains coming closer.
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This is ranch land with numerous cattle fences and fence crossings.

On to Page 2


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A year or so later I returned with a friend to Pinetop Lakes.
All that remained was this old Santa Fe maintenance of way car in poor condition.
(Train station - no longer needed - is in the background)
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The railroad was pulled up on the Fort Apache reservation and both Mikados #36 (ex-Sierra Railroad) and #100 (ex-Santa Maria Valley) were trucked to Heber City, Utah to pull the "Heber Creepers". Both locomotives are now stored, alegedly on display, in poor condition on the Kepner estate in Merrill, Oregon.