History
The Apache Railway was incorporated on September 5, 1917. Grading for the APA began on October 1 and by March 1918 the rails were being laid. One year later, on September 6, 1918, the track reached Snowflake. The railroad continued building south from Snowflake and reached McNary on April 5, 1919. Construction of the entire 72-mile (116 km) line from Holbrook to McNary was completed on July 1, 1920, and the APA was listed as a class II railroad common carrier.
From October 1, 1931, until 1936, amid the great depression, the APA was placed in receivership.
The White Mountain Scenic Railroad operated steam powered passenger excursions over the Southwest Forest Industries-owned line from McNary to the logging camp of Maverick, AZ, beginning in 1964. As track conditions deteriorated the excursions were cut back in later years to a point about half way to Maverick. In the final years it operated north from Pinetop Lakes to a place called Bell on US Route 60. In 1976 the White Mountain Scenic Railroad ceased operations and moved its equipment to Heber City, UT to be used on an excursion there known as the Heber Creeper. The line from Maverick to McNary, with some elevations exceeding 9,000 feet (2,700 m), was removed in 1982 after the McNary sawmill closed.
By the 1980s the APA was Arizona's only remaining logging railroad. The track from Snowflake to McNary was abandoned in 1982.
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