Americas steepest grade freight railroad Freeport McMoRan Copper and Gold

Nestled in the copper rich hills of Morenci, Arizona is the rarely visited McMoRan Copper and Gold railroad. Morenci is home to one of the largest copper mines in the World which has been in operation for over 100 years. With railroad grades in excess of 5%, this is the steepest operational freight railroad in the United States. The Cass scenic railroad which runs steam powered passenger trains, has the steepest with grades up to 11%. The Boeing plant in Everett, Washington also has a grade 5.7% however this is just a spur. Notice the specially outfitted locomotives with low profile fuel tanks, and reinforced plows for rock clearing. All locomotives on this train are non turbo charged giving us that beautiful sound of the 645 engine is all its glory. The size of the mine is truly hard to comprehend. You can see at the end of the video the extremely rich pockets of copper just waiting to be dug out. Each mine truck can haul 300 tons. Will have more of this railroad in another video.