Apache served a massive pig farm mid- way between Holbrook, at Milepost 16. This farm, Pigs for Farmer John (PFFJ), received up to a dozen cars of feed per week. With corresponding inbound traffic from the BNSF Railway inter- change, these trains could be quite long on some days. Three or more matched Alco Centuries handled these trains, and they could be seen racing across the high desert on nearly a daily basis.
In mid-July, Catalyst Paper an- nounced the closure of the Snowflake Mill and the Apache Railway. Within a few weeks, the Blue Looper coal train had ceased running as the mill could operate on stockpiled coal for its last months of operation. Yet, the Apache continued to operate five days a week, serving the paper mill and the PFFJ pig farm, as well as storing railcars on the Snowflake Branch.
When the Catalyst mill shut down the Apache Railway appeared to have had its last day. However, the pig farm still requires frequent service and railcar storage near Snowflake keeps a couple of the Apache Alcos ac- tive. At this point the short line’s fu- ture seems far from secure, and only time will tell whether the Apache Al- cos will continue to run across the high desert of Arizona.
LEFT: Apache No. 99 smokes as leads a short train up the Snowflake Branch in the evening of August 31, 2012. With the shutdown of the Catalyst paper mill only one month away, the darkening skies in the background provided a potent metaphor for stormy times ahead for the Apache Railway.
BELOW: Closure of the
Snowflake Paper Mill and the end to coal trains was over two years in the future when this massive Apache Railway train climbed through the high desert south of Holbrook on August 5, 2010. On this day, heavy regular traffic combined with the “Blue Looper” coal train, caused the Apache Railway to run two roundtrips to Holbrook. This first trip led by C420 No. 81 and is seen passing Milepost 4.
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