Railroads of Arizona, Vol. 2: Phoenix and the Central Roads

This impressive volume continues David F. Myrick's comprehensive history of the railroads of Arizona by focusing on the lines built to serve the Salt River Valley and the towns and mines along the Gila River. It records the fascinating story of ninety years that witnessed failures and frustrations as well as final fulfillment. It animates the many colorful railroading pioneers who helped transform a thinly settled frontier into a region containing one of the largest cities in the Southwest - Phoenix. A century ago, when thousands of miles of railroads were being built each year, Phoenix was still a village served only by stagecoaches and teamsters. Eight attempts were made over a ten-year period to build one 35-mile rail line into the Salt River Valley. Obstacles of all sorts had to be overcome: topographic barriers, lack of financing, unwillingness of residents to bear heavy tax burdens to pay for railroad construction, the need for action by the territorial legislature and Congress, the inaction of insincere speculators, and the ineptitude of inexperienced builders. Yet all obstacles were finally surmounted and one railroad after another pushed into Phoenix and the surrounding area. This delightfully detailed book describes all the people and events contributing to the development of the Central Arizona railroad corridor.