UNION PACIFIC'S LORDSBURG SUBDIVISION - PART 1: TUCSON TO STEINS

IN STOCK AND SHIPPING 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. Plenty of mixed manifest and unit grain trains 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 mai