Odd Booth

This strange little structure in the desert ..

.. turns out to be the weirdest phone booth I've ever seen.

Railroad Relics

I stumbled upon this collection of rusty tubs in the foothills of some mountains near Tucson.

As it turns out, they are actually coal-cars for an old railroad line - the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad out of Colorado.  The line was established in the 1880s, appropriated by the federal government during both WWI and WWII for the war efforts, was named an historic landmark in the 1960s, and now operates in a museum capacity.

(see D&SNGRR)

An example of a coal-car and associated 480 series locomotive in a stock photo.

Standing on top of the abandoned car, looking down into the interior compartment.  The small structure on the back of the car in the previous photo looks like it might have been placed over this opening - would have to revisit and measure to be certain.

There were four coal-cars altogether.  The far one in this picture still has old railroad tracks emerging from underneath the front end.

This one still has extra wooden rails along the coal bin.

It's a mystery to me how they ended up here in Arizona.  There is no record I could find that the line ever operated this far south of Colorado.  A number of nearby mines were operational during WWI and WWII, but none seem large enough to warrant a rail line, much less one from Colorado.  Interesting pieces of history, not going away anytime soon.

Copper Cut

Copper-lead mining cut in the Santa Rita Mountains.

A nice vein of secondary copper minerals, about 18" wide and 10" high.

Working the pocket for specimens. Photo courtesy of the Yeti.

Pulled out this nice plate of azurite (blue), malachite (green), chrysocolla (aqua), limonite (mustard yellow), hematite (dark brown), and quartz (brighter yellow). 8"x6"

The quartz occurs as tiny hexagonal crystals in the yellow-lined vugs. FOV=4"x2"

Cactus Blooms

Esoterizona Stones 41

Fluorescent Minerals

The following specimens come from a small abandoned copper mine in the Santa Rita Mountains.  They feature two forms of calcite - white veins through gray matrix and druzy coatings of small orange crystals, both of which are fluorescent red under shortwave UV.

3.5"x2"x0.5"

6"x4"x1.5"

7.5"x5"x2"

Esoterizona Stones 40

The following specimens are a few of those acquired at this year's Tucson gem show.

Vanadinite, ACF Mine, Mibladen District, Morocco. 5"x2"x1.5"

Malachite, Mashamba West Mine, Katanga, Dem. Repub. of Congo. 2"x2"x1.5"

Anhydrite, Naica, Chihuahua, Mexico.  4"x1.5"x1"

Creedite, Mina Navidad, Abasolo, Durango, Mexico. 2.5"x1.5"x1"

Alto

The ghost town of Alto is just barely visible in the valley several miles ahead.

The town site and many of the nearby mines were first established in the late 17th century by Spanish Jesuits.  All that remains now are the ruins of an early 1900s adobe post office.

The remains of Alto can also be just barely visible when up close.

If you didn't know it was there, you might not know it was there.