The Arizona and Swansea Railroad (A&S RR) was a mining

Mining

Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...

 railroad that operated from a connection with the Arizona and California Railway (later the Santa Fe Railway) at Bouse

Bouse, Arizona

Bouse is a census-designated place in La Paz County, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1908 as a mining camp, the economy of Bouse is now based on tourism, agriculture and retirees...

 to a copper and gold mine at Swansea, Arizona

Swansea, Arizona

Swansea is a ghost town in La Paz County in the U.S. state of Arizona. It was settled around 1909 in what was then the Arizona Territory. It served as a mining town as well as a location for processing and smelting the copper ore taken from the nearby mines....

, 21 miles (33.8 km). The A&S RR was owned and operated by the Swansea Consolidated Gold & Copper Company.

History

The A&S RR was constructed in 1909 to build to the Clara Consolidated Mining Company at Swansea. Track construction commenced in November 1909 and the line was completed by December 31, 1909. In 1937 the A&S RR was abandoned.

Motive Power

• Engine #1 was purchased used from the El Paso and Southwestern Railroad
  El Paso and Southwestern Railroad
  The El Paso and Southwestern Railroad was a short-line American railway company which operated in Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, with line extensions across the international border into Mexico. The railroad was known as the Arizona and South Eastern Railroad from 1888 to 1902.-Founding:James...
  
   (#179) and was a 2-8-0
  2-8-0
  Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-8-0 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle , eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and no trailing wheels...
  
   (Consolidation Type) locomotive built (Builder # 3852) by Baldwin Locomotive Works
  Baldwin Locomotive Works
  The Baldwin Locomotive Works was an American builder of railroad locomotives. It was located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, originally, and later in nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania. Although the company was very successful as a producer of steam locomotives, its transition to the production of...
  
   in 1876.
• Engine #3 was a 2-8-0
  2-8-0
  Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-8-0 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle , eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and no trailing wheels...
  
   (Consolidation Type) locomotive that was purchased new (Builder #48024) in 1910 from the Schenectady Locomotive Works
  Schenectady Locomotive Works
  The Schenectady Locomotive Works built railroad locomotives from its founding in 1848 through its merger into American Locomotive Company in 1901.After the 1901 merger, ALCO made the Schenectady plant its headquarters in Schenectady, New York....
  
  .

Route

• 0.0 Bouse
  Bouse, Arizona
  Bouse is a census-designated place in La Paz County, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1908 as a mining camp, the economy of Bouse is now based on tourism, agriculture and retirees...
  
   (Junction with Arizona and California Railway) - later the Santa Fe Railway
• 11.0 Midway
• 16.0 Summit
  Summit, Arizona
  Summit is a census-designated place in Pima County, Arizona, United States. The population was 3,702 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Summit is located at ....
  
  
• 18.5 Clara
• 21.1 Swansea
  Swansea, Arizona
  Swansea is a ghost town in La Paz County in the U.S. state of Arizona. It was settled around 1909 in what was then the Arizona Territory. It served as a mining town as well as a location for processing and smelting the copper ore taken from the nearby mines....