The Mescal Summit and the El Paso and Southwestern Railroad

Long abandoned, traces of a historic rail line can be seen in Mescal, Arizona.  This railroad extended from the Mescal Station to Bisbee, Arizona and beyond. 

Mescal was where the connection between the Southern Pacific and the El Paso and Southwestern Railroad took place.  Mescal was the highest elevation along the line at 4085 fee above sea level.

On historical maps, the connection is shown as "Benson, Arizona", but the connection was approximately 8 miles west at Mescal, Arizona.

Mescal was also the location of a Coaling Tower that stood until 1998.  The picture is of the Section Foreman House for the Mescal Station in 1914 - from Myrick.

The abandoned train track can still be seen quite clearly from satellite images as it passes from Mescal to Bisbee and beyond.

A fascinating history of this abandoned railroad can be found at the waltersrail.com website.