SG - White Mountain Scenic Railroad / Southwest Forest Industries

Over Thanksgiving we rented a cabin in Greer, AZ since we didn't really get to have a summer vacation this year. After the Thanksgiving dinner three of us went out on a short hike along the so called Apache Railroad rail trail off of State Route 260 just east of the Sunrise Ski Resort road. This segment is pretty open and quite chilly this time of the year as the wind sweeps across the grasslands. After our hike we also scouted out the wye near Sheep Spring Tank which is on tribal land so I shot it from the road. We also took a drive along Forest Road 112 to get a few shots of the grade. I wanted to head down to Big Lake the next day but a snow storm swept in early Friday morning so we didn't venture out of the cabin too much. Maybe I will get back up there in the spring or early summer to do some more exploring to the south.

Note that I have added some zoom buttons below the map for areas of interest. At Big Lake you can spot the wye on the west side of the lake. Nothing but foundations remain at McNary from the aerial shot. Maverick was at the end of 5 hour scenic trip early on until operations were later cut back.

An interactive map with some photos links:
[davesriogrande.net]

The wye along State Route 260 that is on tribal land.


The wind swept grasslands just south of State Route 260.


The grade sweeps in front of us and then arcs off to the left of the shot with the ski runs at Sunrise Park off in the distance.


A shallow cut further south with some tree cover.


Dave



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/29/2020 07:16PM by ROW Explorer.