Uploaded November 2018 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Journey to northwestern Washington State where the BNSF main line reveals the beauty of Puget Sound. Running between Seattle and the Canadian border at Blaine, trains traverse the western portion of the Scenic Subdivision and the entire Bellingham Sub.
Visit the Seattle waterfront and busy yard at Interbay. Follow the shoreline of Puget Sound while viewing several hot spots including Carkeek Park, Richmond Beach, Edmonds, Mukilteo, and Everett.
The scenic shoreline transitions to lush farmland, wild rivers, and secluded coves while passing the charming communities of Stanwood, Mt. Vernon, Burlington, and Bellingham.
Unit coal, crude oil trains, and hot shot intermodals draw the latest high tech diesels, while several locals still sport vintage four axle EMD’s. Besides freight, Amtrak’s Empire Builder, Cascades Talgo sets, and Sounders are everywhere shuffling passengers between busy stations along the line.
This is modern day railroading in the heart of the Pacific Northwest!
Shot in the summer and fall of 2018.
2 Hours 31 Minutes
Available on DVD and Blu-ray.
Journey to northwestern Washington State where the BNSF main line reveals the beauty of Puget Sound. Running between Seattle and the Canadian border at Blaine, trains traverse the western portion of the Scenic Subdivision and the entire Bellingham Sub.
Visit the Seattle waterfront and busy yard at Interbay. Follow the shoreline of Puget Sound while viewing several hot spots including Carkeek Park, Richmond Beach, Edmonds, Mukilteo, and Everett.
The scenic shoreline transitions to lush farmland, wild rivers, and secluded coves while passing the charming communities of Stanwood, Mt. Vernon, Burlington, and Bellingham.
Unit coal, crude oil trains, and hot shot intermodals draw the latest high tech diesels, while several locals still sport vintage four axle EMD’s. Besides freight, Amtrak’s Empire Builder, Cascades Talgo sets, and Sounders are everywhere shuffling passengers between busy stations along the line.
This is modern day railroading in the heart of the Pacific Northwest!
Shot in the summer and fall of 2018.
2 Hours 31 Minutes
Available on DVD and Blu-ray.
![Union Pacifics Lordsburg Sub Part 1 [Tucson, AZ to Steins, NM]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/DK4cJwXvw6E/mqdefault.jpg "Union Pacifics Lordsburg Sub Part 1 [Tucson, AZ to Steins, NM]
Today’s Union Pacific trains roll through the desert country of the American Southwest on a three hundred mile journey between Tucson and El Paso. As part of the legendary Southern Pacific’s Sunset Route through Arizona and New Mexico, it is known as the Lordsburg Subdivision. This double-track main line connects ports in southern California with eastern destinations like New Orleans, Chicago, and Houston, as well as, south of the border into Mexico.
In part 1 of this two-part series, we will cover the western half of the subdivision between Tucson and Steins near the New Mexico state line. Trains crest four different summits including Mescal, Dragoon, Railroad Pass, and Steins Pass west of Lordsburg.
Monster stack trains over three miles in length are common on the Lordsburg Sub. There are plenty of mixed manifest and unit grain trains to keep things interesting. This is also the route of Amtrak’s Sunset Limited which makes a tri-weekly run over the line.
In addition to main-line traffic, we will visit the San Pedro Valley Railroad at Benson and the Arizona Eastern which serves the large Morenci Copper Mine near Clifton.
This program was shot in April 2024
Available on DVD and Blu-ray at 7ideaproductions.com. https://www.7ideaproductions.com/collections/frontpage/products/union-pacifics-lordsburg-subdivision-part-1
0:00 Intro
2:30 Map
5:28 Tucson
11:47 Vail
26:17 Cienega Creek
39:56 Pantano
51:42 Mescal
1:05:07 Benson
1:11:35 Fenner
1:14:11 Sibyl
1:17:30 Dragoon
1:22:25 Apache
1:29:07 Cochise
1:29:50 Wilcox
1:40:28 Raso
1:41:41 Bowie
1:51:20 Karro
1:52:52 Steins")
![Arizona Copper Mine Railroad [Freeport McMoRan Industrial]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/DdZAEgyspEY/mqdefault.jpg "Arizona Copper Mine Railroad [Freeport McMoRan Industrial]
A unique collection of diesel locomotives power trains over a 5% grade in Arizonas Morenci Copper Mine. The Freeport McMoRan Industrial serves the copper mine and interchanges with the Arizona Eastern out of Lordsburg, New Mexico.
This program is part of our series on Union Pacifics Lordsburg Subdivision which is also available on Youtube, DVD and Blu-ray. Visit 7ideaproductions.com. https://www.7ideaproductions.com/collections/frontpage/products/union-pacifics-lordsburg-subdivision-part-2")
