After some consolidation of operations in 1924 a short connecting track was built from the west end of Mescal siding to reach the El Paso Southwestern tracks just north of this location. The El Paso Southwestern track then became the westward main track and the original SP route along the Pantano Wash became the eastward main. The tracks of the El Paso Southwestern were abandoned from Mescal south to Fairbank in 1961. Train GSLAF (Extra 8748 West) is cresting the top of the hill at Mescal and then using this short connector to access the El Paso Southwestern track.

Waiting at the end of double track is Extra 6606 East. We saw this engine yesterday at Hayden. Mescal is the top of the hill at 4,080 feet. It is one percent climb coming east out of Tucson and a 1.2 percent grade for westbound out of Benson. Mescal is at milepost 1023. Unfortunately for railfans, the semaphore signals were replaced in November 1995 and the coaling tower at Mescal was torn down in March 1998.

Sunset Route Index

Train TXN at Benson