MAGMA ARIZONA RAILROAD
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This diesel-electric locomotive served the timber industry in northern California for nineteen years, then served the Arizona copper mining industry for another twenty-two years.
It was built in 1950 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia to haul medium-size trains on shortline railroads. It was originally built for the McCloud River Railroad in McCloud, California, then in 1969 it was sold to the Magma Arizona Railroad in Superior, Arizona. The Superior mines produced vast quantities of copper ore until production ended in 1982, then the railroad continued operating as a freight hauler.
The
locomotive was retired in 1991, and was donated by parent company Magma Metals
to the Arizona Railway Museum in July 1994.
It was built as McCloud River Railroad No. 29, with an
armour-yellow-and-gray paint scheme which was later changed to a red stripe
pattern. When it became Magma Arizona Railroad No. 10, its red stripes were
changed to yellow.
Following its donation to the Arizona Railway Museum, it moved from Superior to the museum's Armstrong Park location under its own power, arriving on July 20, 1994. It then moved to the museum's new Tumbleweed Park location in 2006, again under its own power. Mechanical restoration has kept the locomotive functional. It is started periodically to maintain its operational status, and is used occasionally for switching cars on the museum grounds.