MY honey has been reading some novels set in Bisbee, Arizona, so when we decided to take a road trip that included the operations meet at the Maricopa Live Steamers, Wifey insisted that we visit the former copper mining town.
Most of what was a company town remains the same as it was in the first decade of the 20th century, with much Victorian architecture, sprinkled here and there with a few Art Deco buildings. Like any other western mining town its history is full of bars, prostitutes and gunfights.
One of the main attractions in Bisbee is the tour of the copper mine. If you have a house built before 1975 there is a high probability that the copper in the wire came from the Bisbee mines. The mining district includes both 2000 miles of hard rock tunnels and an open pit. The tour, led by a retired miner, takes you about 1000 feet into one level of the mine.
Below are a couple of photos of the 16-inch gauge mine train that takes you into the tunnel. The battery-powered loco pulls a string of straddle cars which ride on vintage wheels that are free of any spring rigging or brakes and are equipped with oversize flanges. The tunnel is just high enough for the cars to pass, and the overhead planks on the riding cars prevent damage to the hard hats visitors are required to wear should they decide to stand up while the train is moving.
Our guide had worked in the mine for 19 years and explained much of the various actions inside including drilling and blasting, loading the ore cars, and the use of the lift that took miners and ore cars up and down the vertical shafts. I failed to get a photo of an interesting car which was a standard ore car with a steel plate top deck that was cut with two side-by-side portholes. We know what bears do in the woods — miners do that in the mine. And privacy is not an option. Our guide told us about how newbies were initiated into the brotherhood via an adventure with that car. I’ll leave that story for when you take the tour.
Bisbee is only an hour and a half’s drive from Tucson and should you ever be in the area, do make a visit and take a ride on the mine train. While some western ghost towns are hoked up for tourists, this spot is all original and genuine.
Here’s a half-minute video of the ride: https://youtu.be/PU0UJhXvOtM
The mine train power:
Straddle cars. Our tour was full so we had to be quite chummy with the persons in front and behind us.
The cars had no suspension or brakes.
Mine entrance:
Enroute to end of track 1000 inside the mountain:
Drilling equipment. Our guide explained that after the fuse was lit, they never ran away but walked. Running could lead to tripping which could lead to an unpleasant experience when the charge went off.