Your adventures in Clifton, Arizona, reminded me of my trip on Southern Pacific's daily-except-Sunday Lordsburg -Clifton mixed train on February 25, 1967. I drove from New Mexico State University
in Las Cruces to Lordsburg, where I acquired a roundtrip ticket for 140 miles of rail travel for $ 4.70 from the Lordsburg agent. When I showed my ticket to the conductor of the mixed train, he yelled to his brakeman " Hey we got one for Cliff Town !" The accommodation was in a combine, and perhaps surprisingly there were a few other passengers riding at different times, but I was the only one making the round trip. I remember that the scenery was pretty interesting for at least part of the trip and that there was time for a little exploring in Clifton while the crew assembled their train for the return trip.
Here is a copy of SP's timetable effective April 29, 1962 showing the Clifton mixed on Table 29, and my ticket stub for the train. I don't believe that the SP carried passengers to Clifton much longer.
I am glad that your post brought back some nearly forgotten memories.