In July of 1880 the Atlantic & Pacific Railroad Co. started laying new track west, out of Albuquerque New Mexico with the plan to meet the Southern Pacific Railroad in Needles, California. By early 1882 they had reached Canyon Diablo about 7.2 miles west of this location. As they pushed the railroad west they needed stone to build the bridges that crossed the many washes & gullies that abound in this western country. All along the route the railroad would establish quarries to supply the necessary stone. As the railhead pushed further west and the distance to haul the stone became too great they would seek a new location close to the tracks and near the current railhead where more stone could be quarried for bridge construction.
It is likely that the stone for this bridge came from a quarry that was established about 46 miles to the east at a location near Joseph City, Arizona now called Penzance, Arizona. The quarry at Penzance is still used today by the A&P’s successor the BNSF Railroad Co. Huge amounts of stone blocks were needed for these bridges and the massive bridge just to the west at Canyon Diablo would require 10 fold the amount of small bridges like this one. A new quarry was established just 1.75 miles to the west of this bridge near the railroad station location of Sunshine, Arizona to fill the needs of the Canyon Diablo bridge and for the hundreds of bridges being built further to the west.
Look closely at the hand mixed mortar used to join these stones together. Over 130 years old and still in outstanding condition. Also of note are the remnants of hand tooling as these large blocks of sandstone were shaped to specific dimensions by hand so that they could be used to support the trains rolling over them in America's quest to open the vast lands of the west.
Be careful as you locate the cache as it requires a bit of climbing. If you are not up to the climb then stand on a high point nearby and take a photo of the cache location where you believe it to be and that will work as a find in this case. The actual goal of this cache is for you to see the bridge anyway. I plan to add more caches to the west at the Sunshine quarry location so that you can see the other side of the story of the stone used by the railroad to build their bridges across the country.
Please take a look at the gallery of photos. I have included several photos of the original locomotives of the A&P that hauled freight over this very bridge.
Please do not deface, leave graffiti or in any other way alter or change the appearance of these stones. They are a historical treasure and must be preserved for future generations of visitors.
As you drive towards the parking area from the I-40 Meteor Crater exit, make the right turn just before the old windmill. The coordinates for this right turn are: 35.117872, -111.030849. This road will now take you towards the parking area and the cache.
Remember that this is a micro cache, BYOP and please no swag or TB's. Thanks! Any spoilers included in logs or photos will be deleted. Please log DNFs & pertinent notes. These are very important to me in tracking the condition of the cache & maintaining it in a good condition for searchers. Congratulations to "emorehead" for capturing First To Find honors!
If you have enjoyed this little bit of history, check out the nearby cache "The Wild Wild West of Canyon Diablo" about 7 miles west of this location. That bridge is the background image you see on this cache. Lots of great history & photos on that one!
