Norton to KOFA

AZ · Norton → KOFA

The Sunset Limited's desert shortcut — until sabotage and neglect shut it down.

Heads up: Out of service but still owned by Union Pacific — freight cars are stored on it, and the west end near Roll still sees trains.

Southern Pacific built a cutoff between Wellton and Phoenix in the 1920s, with passenger service starting in 1928. The Sunset Limited ran on it through the empty San Cristobal Valley past Kofa — a stop named for the King of Arizona mine in the Kofa Mountains, whose name was shortened to K-of-A.

In October 1995, saboteurs derailed the Sunset Limited on this line near Hyder, killing a crew member. The case was never solved. After that, and with the track falling apart, Union Pacific took the 64-mile middle of the cutoff out of service in 1996 and later used it to store freight cars.

The western end near Roll still sees occasional freight as the Roll Industrial Lead, which explains why this stretch looks half-used. A 2014 state study priced reopening the whole route at $165–420 million and concluded it wasn't worth it.

So is it abandoned? No — it's out of service. Union Pacific still owns the line and has said it has no plans to bring it back, but no plans to abandon it either; it's keeping it for possible future use.

⚠️ Before you go: every railroad on this map is private property. A line that looks abandoned may still be owned by a railroad, used to store rail cars, or put back into service at any time — sometimes with no warning. Before going near any track, make sure it's truly abandoned (no recent use, rails not polished, no signals or cars stored on it) and that you're allowed to be there. Never assume a track is dead.

📷 Photos & stories from riders

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