El Paso & Southwestern Railroad: Map, History, Logo
Last revised: November 4, 2026
By: Adam Burns
The El Paso & Southwestern was Phelps Dodge’s railroad. Copper at Bisbee started it, a smelter town at Douglas pulled it east, and coal at Dawson, New Mexico, gave the eastern end a reason to exist. The Arizona and South Eastern Rail Road was incorporated in the Territory of Arizona on May 24, 1888. The company that took the later name was incorporated on October 19, 1900, as the Southwestern Railroad of Arizona, and the name was changed on July 8, 1901. A 1909 Official Guide sheet states 902.6 miles of operated line. When the Southern Pacific took control on October 31, 1924, the system ran from Tucson to a connection with the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific at Tucumcari, 1,139.90 miles with the branches, and the Nacozari Railroad added 77 miles in Sonora. The price was $28,000,000 of Southern Pacific common stock, taken at par, and $29,400,000 of twenty-year 5 percent collateral trust bonds. The Texas company that crossed the Rio Grande into El Paso stayed on a lease until the Southern Pacific merged it on November 1, 1961.
El Paso & Southwestern 4-6-2 No. 168 at El Paso, Texas, on January 21, 1919. Otto Perry photograph.
On this page: Bisbee · El Paso · Dawson and the northeast · The 1909 mileage · Tucson · At a glance · Timetables · Southern Pacific · Locomotives
Bisbee
The Copper Queen at Bisbee needed a railroad of its own. The Arizona and South Eastern Rail Road Company was incorporated under the general laws of the Territory of Arizona on May 24, 1888, and the road it built became the western end of everything that followed. At valuation the Interstate Commerce Commission recorded 36.20 miles from Fairbank to Bisbee and 19.10 miles from Fairbank to Benson, together with a short line from Naco Junction to Naco. Fairbank, not Fairbanks, is the town. The Santa Fe’s New Mexico & Arizona was the connection at Fairbank. Benson was the connection with the Southern Pacific. The Benson line was the mines’ way around a rate they did not like.
Those miles were sold to the El Paso & Southwestern on June 17, 1902, along with the Southwestern Railroad of New Mexico, a corporation of May 21, 1901, that had built no railroad of its own. By then the name on the locomotive cabs was already the new one. The Southwestern Railroad of Arizona had been incorporated on October 19, 1900. Its name was changed on July 8, 1901. The corporate office was at Bisbee. The general offices were at El Paso.
The herald, lettered the Southwestern Route. Author’s work.
El Paso
Douglas, named for James Douglas of the Copper Queen, was the smelter town, and the railroad went there and then kept going. The constructed mileage in the valuation includes 146.700 miles from Naco, Arizona, to Hermanas, New Mexico, 89.720 miles from Hermanas to the New Mexico-Texas state line, and 31.540 miles from Hermanas to Deming. A separate company did the last few miles into the city. The El Paso & Southwestern Railroad Company of Texas was chartered on June 6, 1902, with its business office in El Paso and a capital of $2,000,000. James Douglas, William E. Dodge, and W. Willis James, all of New York, were on the first board, with El Paso men beside them.
On February 9, 1903, the Texas company bought the property of the El Paso Terminal Railroad, which had been built in 1902 and 1903, and placed the line in service on March 1, 1903. The main line was 4.685 miles, from El Paso west to the state line at the center of a 1,692-foot bridge across the Rio Grande. At that point it met the Arizona company’s road. The Texas stub was owned by the larger system and run as part of it. It was still a Texas corporation, and it outlived the operating independence of the railroad by a long way.
The holding company has to be kept separate from the railroad. The El Paso and Southwestern Company, originally the Southwestern Investment Company, controlled the railroad by stock. From July 1, 1901, to March 31, 1908, the railroad operated its own property. From April 1, 1908, to June 30, 1912, the holding company operated it under lease. After that the railroad operated itself again. The 1909 Guide sheet still calls the El Paso & Southwestern Company the lessee of the operating companies, which is the right description for those years.
Dawson and the northeast
East of El Paso the railroad was a different construction, pointed at coal and at a connection with the Rock Island. The El Paso and Northeastern Railway was incorporated in the Territory of New Mexico on October 21, 1897. Its own organization ran the property from January 1, 1899, the day the first section was completed, until March 31, 1908. The Texas-New Mexico line to Jarilla, 106.660 miles, was finished in that first season. Jarilla to Capitan, 41.750 miles, followed from July to September 1899, and Capitan to North Capitan, 1.120 miles, in June 1901. The town is Capitan. With the short Jarilla-Zora spur of 1916, the New Mexico company’s road was 150.826 miles. A Texas sister, the El Paso and Northeastern Railroad, owned the 19.943 miles from El Paso to the state line.
The Alamogordo and Sacramento Mountain Railway was incorporated on March 24, 1898, and organized the next day. It climbed from Alamogordo Junction to Russia, 31.548 miles, through Toboggan, Cox Canon, and Cloudcroft. The first section was done by January 1, 1899. The Dawson Railway was incorporated on July 13, 1901, and organized on July 31. Charles B. Eddy had the coal at Dawson. The line from Dawson to Tucumcari, 131.948 miles, was built between August 1901 and June 30, 1903, and the company operated it itself from July 1, 1903. The El Paso and Rock Island Railway owned 127.493 miles from Santa Rosa to Carrizozo.
On April 1, 1908, under agreements dated May 1, 1908, the El Paso & Southwestern leased the whole of the Northeastern Railway, the Alamogordo company, the Dawson Railway, and the Rock Island company. The through freight route to the east was El Paso, Alamogordo, Carrizozo, and Santa Rosa, and then the connection with the Rock Island at Tucumcari. Dawson was the coal branch off that end of the map, not a second main line.
0-8-0 No. 50 at Dawson, New Mexico, on October 18, 1920. Otto Perry photograph.
The 1909 mileage
The system’s own Official Guide sheet, with the eastern division table dated June 13, 1909, and the western division table dated April 18, 1909, is the mileage that belongs to those years. It states a Western Division of 383.8 miles, an Eastern Division of 518.8 miles, and 902.6 miles operated. James Douglas was president. The general offices on the sheet are 99 John Street, New York. The operating companies named at the top are the El Paso & Southwestern Railroad, the El Paso & Northeastern Railway, the El Paso & Rock Island Railway, the Dawson Railway, the Alamogordo & Sacramento Mountain, the El Paso & Northeastern Railroad, and the El Paso & Southwestern Railroad of Texas. The holding company is printed as the lessee.
The same pages carry the branches: Osborn to Bisbee, Tombstone to Fairbank, Douglas to Courtland, Carrizozo to Capitan, Alamogordo to Russia, Dawson to Tucumcari, and Hermanas to Deming. The western main line on that sheet still ends at Benson. Tucson was not in the 902.6. The Nacozari Railroad is printed as its own company, Douglas and Agua Prieta to Nacozari. So is the Morenci Southern, a separate road from Morenci to Guthrie, and not part of the 902.6.
The valuation figures are a different cut of the same property, taken a few years later and company by company. The El Paso & Southwestern Railroad itself, the Arizona corporation, owned 457.089 miles of road, all of which it used: the main line from the Rio Grande at the state line to Tucson, 337.842 miles, plus Hermanas-Deming and the Arizona branches. That 457.089 is not the system. It does not include the leased northeastern lines, the Texas stub, or the Nacozari Railroad.
A system map from the author’s collection. The sheet calls the railroad the Short Line between the Great Southwest and Kansas City, St. Louis, Chicago, and the East, letters the herald the Southwestern Route, and marks the route of the Golden State Limited.
Tucson
The Fairbank-Tucson line, 66 miles, is in the constructed mileage of the El Paso & Southwestern. The first scheduled train ran on November 20, 1912. Benson stopped being the west end. The map’s boast, the Short Line to Kansas City, St. Louis, Chicago, and the East, and the line under the Golden State Limited, is this railroad once Tucson, El Paso, and Tucumcari were one route.
Other branches filled in around the same years. The Mexico and Colorado Railroad, incorporated in Arizona on December 22, 1908, was sold to the El Paso & Southwestern on March 1, 1910. It had been built from Courtland to Douglas Junction, 34.730 miles. Lewis Springs to Fort Huachuca was 14.300 miles. The Tombstone branch was the 9.300 miles from Fairbank plus a short extension in town. The Burro Mountain Railroad was incorporated in New Mexico on April 13, 1909. Its 13.088 miles, from Burro Mountain Junction to Tyrone, opened on February 1, 1914. The El Paso & Southwestern reached it by trackage rights over the Santa Fe, 33.27 miles from Deming to Burro Mountain Junction, from July 1, 1914.
At the end of 1920 the president, T. M. Schumacher, reported 991.6 miles of main line and branches. That count sits between the 1909 sheet and the sale. It is not the 902.6, and it is not yet the system the Southern Pacific bought.
At a glance
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | General offices at El Paso. Corporate office at Bisbee. New York office, 99 John Street, on the 1909 Guide sheet |
| States | Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. Nacozari Railroad, Agua Prieta to Nacozari, 77 miles, in Sonora |
| Arizona and South Eastern | Incorporated May 24, 1888. Sold June 17, 1902. Fairbank-Bisbee 36.20 miles. Fairbank-Benson 19.10 miles |
| El Paso & Southwestern Railroad | Incorporated October 19, 1900, as the Southwestern Railroad of Arizona. Name changed July 8, 1901 |
| Slogan | The Southwestern Route. The map’s headline is the Short Line |
| Operated mileage, 1909 Guide | 902.6 miles. Western Division 383.8. Eastern Division 518.8 |
| Main line and branches, December 31, 1920 | 991.6 miles |
| System at Southern Pacific control | 1,139.90 miles, October 31, 1924, plus the Nacozari Railroad |
| Gauge | 4 feet 8½ inches |
| Eastern leases | Northeastern, Alamogordo, Dawson, and El Paso & Rock Island, April 1, 1908 |
| Control | Southern Pacific Company, October 31, 1924 |
| Consideration | $28,000,000 of common stock at par, and $29,400,000 of 5 percent bonds |
| Texas company | Chartered June 6, 1902. In service March 1, 1903. Merged into the Southern Pacific, November 1, 1961 |
Timetables
An Official Guide sheet of the El Paso & Southwestern system. The eastern-division table is dated June 13, 1909, and the western-division table April 18, 1909. Operated mileage on the sheet is 902.6 miles. Author’s collection.
The companion sheet: Alamogordo to Russia, Dawson to Tucumcari, Courtland, Capitan, Deming, and the Nacozari Railroad. Author’s collection.
Southern Pacific
In 1922 the Arizona & New Mexico came into the system. At valuation it was still a separate railroad, 108.364 miles from Hachita to Clifton and a 0.982-mile spur at Lordsburg, with a joint station at Hachita. It was among the companies whose stock rode along in the sale. The Nacozari Railroad, the Mexican line from Agua Prieta to Nacozari, was already a subsidiary. The Southern Pacific’s report puts it at 77 miles.
Copper prices broke after the war, and Phelps Dodge sold the railroad. The Southern Pacific Company’s executive committee authorized the securities on June 20, 1924. Pursuant to an order of the Interstate Commerce Commission, the company acquired control on October 31, 1924, by purchase of the stock of the El Paso & Southwestern Railroad and its subsidiaries and by lease of the railroad property in the United States. The system, in the company’s own words, extended from Tucson to the Rock Island connection at Tucumcari, with the branches, 1,139.90 miles. The same day the Southern Pacific issued the $28,000,000 of common stock and the $29,400,000 of twenty-year 5 percent collateral trust gold bonds. The bonds are dated May 1, 1924, and payable May 1, 1944.
The point of the purchase, as the Southern Pacific stated it, was a second route. Joining the El Paso & Southwestern to the Southern Pacific avoided building another line between Dome, Arizona, and El Paso, 544 miles. The older Southern Pacific main line by Lordsburg and Deming and the newer line by Douglas became the two ways across. The leased lines were operated as part of the Pacific System.
Corporate cleanup came later, and it did not all happen on one day. On November 18, 1937, the Texas company acquired the assets of the El Paso and Northeastern Railroad. On December 13, 1954, it bought the capital stock of the El Paso Southern Railway, a short terminal to the middle of the river bridge that had belonged to the Mexico North-Western. The Arizona and New Mexico corporations were consolidated into the Southern Pacific in 1955. The El Paso Southern’s corporate existence ended at midnight on October 31, 1961. The Texas company was merged into the Southern Pacific Company on November 1, 1961.
Locomotives
The engines in these photographs were still lettered El Paso & Southwestern. No. 168, the Pacific at El Paso on January 21, 1919, is the passenger end of the fleet. No. 367, the Mikado at Santa Rosa on October 25, 1920, is the road freight. No. 50, the eight-wheel switcher at Dawson the week before, is the coal-town end of the same railroad. Consolidations, Mikados, and Decapods handled the ore and the coal, and Mountains were among the last power bought while the railroad was still independent.
2-8-2 No. 367 at Santa Rosa, New Mexico, on October 25, 1920. Otto Perry photograph.
Joseph A. Strapac follows those locomotives onto the Southern Pacific. The Tucson-El Paso-Tucumcari lines stayed on coal, and the Southern Pacific later put its own 2-8-8-4s and secondhand 2-8-4s to work there. A few of the El Paso & Southwestern engines lasted into the 1950s. The last of their revenue service was in 1959. Three survive. The diesels that eventually took the line were Southern Pacific locomotives. The El Paso & Southwestern did not own a diesel fleet of its own.
Related reading
Sources
- Interstate Commerce Commission, Valuation Reports, Volume 45. El Paso & Southwestern Railroad: Southwestern Railroad of Arizona incorporated October 19, 1900, name changed July 8, 1901. Arizona and South Eastern incorporated May 24, 1888, sold June 17, 1902. Owned road 457.089 miles, including Fairbank-Bisbee 36.20, Fairbank-Benson 19.10, Naco-Hermanas 146.700, Hermanas-Deming 31.540, Hermanas to the state line 89.720, Fairbank-Tucson 66, Fairbank-Tombstone 9.300, Lewis Springs-Fort Huachuca 14.300, and Courtland-Douglas Junction 34.730 from the Mexico and Colorado, sold March 1, 1910. Operated its own property July 1, 1901, to March 31, 1908. Leased to the holding company April 1, 1908, to June 30, 1912. Corporate office Bisbee. General offices El Paso. Burro Mountain Railroad: incorporated April 13, 1909, 13.088 miles, opened February 1, 1914. Santa Fe trackage rights, Deming to Burro Mountain Junction, 33.27 miles, from July 1, 1914. El Paso and Northeastern Railway: incorporated October 21, 1897, 150.826 miles, Capitan branch included, leased April 1, 1908. El Paso and Northeastern Railroad: El Paso to the state line, 19.943 miles. Alamogordo and Sacramento Mountain: incorporated March 24, 1898, 31.548 miles to Russia, leased April 1, 1908. Dawson Railway: incorporated July 13, 1901, Dawson-Tucumcari 131.948 miles, operated by its own organization from July 1, 1903, leased April 1, 1908. El Paso and Rock Island: Santa Rosa-Carrizozo 127.493 miles, leased April 1, 1908. El Paso & Southwestern of Texas: main line 4.685 miles. Arizona and New Mexico: Hachita-Clifton 108.364 miles, still separate at valuation.
- Southern Pacific Company, annual report for 1924, as printed in the Commercial and Financial Chronicle, May 9, 1925. Control of the El Paso & Southwestern system on October 31, 1924, by stock and by lease. Tucson to the Rock Island at Tucumcari, with branches, 1,139.90 miles. Nacozari Railroad, Agua Prieta to Nacozari, 77 miles. Consideration $28,000,000 of common stock at par and $29,400,000 of twenty-year 5 percent collateral trust bonds, issued that day, the bonds dated May 1, 1924, and payable May 1, 1944. Executive committee authorization June 20, 1924. The joint line avoided a second railroad between Dome and El Paso, 544 miles.
- El Paso & Southwestern Company, report for 1920, T. M. Schumacher, president, as printed in the Commercial and Financial Chronicle, July 9, 1921. On December 31, 1920, 991.6 miles of main line and branches.
- Official Guide sheets in the author’s collection. Eastern division table June 13, 1909. Western division table April 18, 1909. Operated mileage 902.6, Western Division 383.8 and Eastern Division 518.8. Holding company named as lessee. General offices 99 John Street, New York. James Douglas, president. Branch tables for Bisbee, Tombstone, Courtland, Capitan, Alamogordo, Dawson, and Deming, and separate tables for the Nacozari Railroad and the Morenci Southern.
- System map in the author’s collection. The Short Line between the Great Southwest and Kansas City, St. Louis, Chicago, and the East. Herald lettered the Southwestern Route. Route of the Golden State Limited.
- Chris Cravens, “El Paso and Southwestern Railroad,” Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association. Texas company chartered June 6, 1902. Capital $2,000,000. El Paso Terminal purchased February 9, 1903. In service March 1. State line at the center of the 1,692-foot bridge. Assets of the El Paso and Northeastern Railroad acquired November 18, 1937. El Paso Southern stock bought December 13, 1954. Merged into the Southern Pacific Company on November 1, 1961.
- Chris Cravens, “El Paso Southern Railway,” Handbook of Texas Online. Stock acquired by the Texas company on December 13, 1954. Corporate existence ended at midnight, October 31, 1961.
- University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso & Southwestern corporate files. Consolidation of the El Paso & Southwestern corporations into the Southern Pacific Company, 1955. The Arizona company’s papers run 1924-1955.
- Joseph A. Strapac, El Paso & Southwestern Steam Locomotives (Southern Pacific Historical & Technical Society, 2024). The locomotives in Southern Pacific service, coal fuel on the former El Paso & Southwestern, the later 2-8-8-4s and secondhand 2-8-4s, revenue service through 1959, and three survivors.
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Nov 03, 26 10:07 AM
Massachusetts broke ground October 29 in Pittsfield on track work meant to support permanent seasonal Berkshire Flyer service. MassDOT has $31 million for the project in its 2027-2031 capital plan.
