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Treasure of the Sierra Madre: Copper Canyon

By Dan Schlossberg
ConsumerAffairs.com

June 15, 2006
The Sierra Madre Express, an American-owned railroad marking its 25th anniversary this year, plans to expand service in 2007.

With the purchase of a new passenger car designed to boost its capacity, the Tucson-based firm has added a coastal exursion with stops at some of Mexico's colonial cities.

The regular route for the railroad runs from Tucson to the Copper Canyon, an area nine times larger than the Grand Canyon but many times more remote.

Except for rocky and dangerous one-lane roads, the train is the only way to visit villages of the Tarahumara Indians - one of the most culturally preserved indigenous societies in North America. More than 70,000 still live in the Cooper Canyon.

Like the villages, construction of the rail lines was an engineering feet. Conceived in 1872 by an American engineer, the route required 36 bridges, 87 tunnels, and nearly 90 years of construction, opening in 1961. The highest bridge measures 355 feet high and 1,000 feet long but the high point of the trip is Los Ojitos ("the little eyes"), with an elevation of 8,071 feet.

The train, which operates round-trip service, utilizes vintage Pullmans from the '40s and '50s, with sleeper bedrooms for guests, a lounge and viewing deck, and a domed observation car that doubles as a diner. A single round trip takes eight days and seven nights.

For further information, contact Sierra Madre Express, 4415 S. Contractors Way, Tucson, AZ 85714 (Tel. 800-666-0346, Fax 520-747-0378, www.sierramadreexpress.com).

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