The Bradshaw Mountain Railroad, Arizona: Exploring the Poland Branch

We take a ride in January 2019 along the long-abandoned Poland Branch of the Prescott & Eastern Railroad in the Bradshaw Mountains, near Prescott, AZ. Our journey just off Hwy 89, about 5 miles north of Mayer, AZ. The Bradshaw Mountains were prime copper mining areas in the late 1800's and early 1900's. The Poland Branch was active with mining until about 1914, and then fell mostly into disuse when the mines played out. NOTE: I refer to 'north' and 'south' on the line. That's "timetable" direction. The line actually runs from east to the end. But I use north, as it works off the north-south main line at that point. After 100 years, the tunnel ceiling is still black with carbon--as I show.
Remarkably, even the locals are not familiar with the townsite of Poland, as I found out. I talked to one of them and met his dog, "Pain In The Ass Buck".

[@LetitiaHurd-cv9pj]

Where the wall was, across that is my family’s cabin. We’ve owned in the area since the 50’s. The road “down there” was part of the turn table and part of that area is our road. The 3 levels of rocks was used for tailings. My great uncle was a miner and his wife was a teacher in Poland.

[@W7DSY]

That's good information. I have talked to people who supposedly who are in the know who have no clue where the turntable was. I appreciate your input.

[@rekillih]

When I was a kid, my dad would take us out here. He worked for Santa Fe. When it was still in Prescott, he would take us all over the place where old train wrecks happened. He actually worked the line that is now the Verde Canyon RR. Lots of AZ history that not many know about.

[@franksnyder1357]

Please start your channel. Please notify me. Thanks. I lived in Prescott once.

[@roderichroby9078]

Any books avail. on that history?

[@pev05]

I'm in cordes drive passed Poland junction always..why was it called that? I'm wondering because I was born in warsaw Poland haha

[@KylerPlays.]

Went out to the harden mine today! We saw your video and headed out and made the adventure! Thanks for sharing it made a great time out with my dad!

[@d.l.hemmingway3758]

When I worked for ADECCO Staffing I was assigned to Bartlett and West Engineering to work on the BNSF R.R. Property Mapping Project. I had a heck of time trying to find the route the Poland Branch took from Poland Junction. The one station I couldn't find was the Poland Station which I assume from your video must have been where the former settlement was located.

[@stuntmanhn]

Awesome! Thanks for the Video!

[@Fyrfotog2]

Maybe the Crown King branch is in the future? Another great video! Back in the early 90s I was with a group of railfans that drove back there did the same thing and found the area the turntable was at. Of course this was before 89 had been widened and you could see the jct clearly.

[@W7DSY]

Good question. I've been to Crown King, never did any video work up that way. I know the road follows the old line quite a lot (switchbacks, tails, etc.). I was up to Prescott about a week ago. I should investigate that more closely. Thanks!

[@drgil65]

great video, Thank you

[@karenannelopez]

Been there so many times. I live near there. 😊

[@W7DSY]

I want to get up there and do a follow-up video.

[@d.l.hemmingway3758]

You guys found the tunnel! Where is it from the Wye? I could never find it on the satellite photos.

[@franksnyder1357]

Thanks.

[@freedom_foz_6337]

I’ll have to check this out one day

[@rrelectric5159]

Very nice exploration of a little known railroad. Thanks for the coordinates. Helps to find the locations on a map.

[@W7DSY]

Thanks. I wanted to do a bit more up there, but time was limited. Hope to get back do a part 2.

[@rrelectric5159]

@@W7DSY It would be interesting to see what is left of the main line. I enjoy Arizona history because a lot of my family has lived there over the years.

[@W7DSY]

@@rrelectric5159 There's enough of it that's obvious that makes it vry interesting. Much of the ROW can be seen from the highway into Prescott.

[@UweJMeyer]

Your car has to be tough👍🇺🇸Greatings from 🇩🇪

[@W7DSY]

Thanks! It's pretty tough, but last year I had to put some major repairs on it. It has over 275,000 miles (442,570 km) on the odometer.

[@andyamysarizonaadventures5450]

Cool,there was a community of Providence down along the creek going threw red rock ranch

[@W7DSY]

As you saw in the vid, there was a guy who lives up there and he was unable to pinpoint where certain places were/are. Thanks for the tip.

[@andyamysarizonaadventures5450]

@@W7DSY welcome, helps my perants have the place next to it😁

[@d.l.hemmingway3758]

Did you guys find the tunnel or at least the remains of it that went to the town of Walker on the other side of the mountain from Poland? It was one of the locations I had trouble finding.

[@W7DSY]

To answer both of your questions, the route from the junction is much changed, and where the turntable was, etc., is not distinguishable. The road follows the route from the jct. sometime, and sometimes it's changed. As far as the tunnel that goes through the mountain, maybe 10-12 years ago I went with my son & a friend and tried to locate it, but we ran into a javelina who wasn't happy about us being there so we decided to find my truck and leave. I think that tunnel is still there, or at least part of it.

[@jamesh5569]

@@W7DSY You ran into a javelina on the Walker side? I've seen photos and geolocation for the Poland side, but I also am curious where the Walker side is. I grew up visiting that area in the 70's-90's, we had a cabin not far from Snow Drift Mine Rd. I was always curious about what that area would have been like during the mining days.

[@garybauer7574]

Explored up there in the 80tys been to both

[@W7DSY]

I expect to go back at some point and drive the old ROW as much as possible. Thanks for the input.

[@briandm33]

Would Love to metal detect that area. Would find alot of old stuff I can imagine in the ground.

[@gregrowe1168]

Looks like a fun atv trail

[@W7DSY]

Yes, but it is a public roadway and narrow, so caution wd be the order of the ride.

[@gregrowe1168]

Doesn't even look wide enough for 2 full-size vehicles to meet each other, even on the paved portions. The unmaintained dirt road portion doesn't really look wide enough for one full-size truck to go down it. It clearly wasn't meant for that as I could tell how bumpy and rough it was as you drove down that part. Though I've seen many offroad trails like that. Especially out in western U.S. And many of those have steep dropoffs. Meeting another vehicle on one of those trails would be very sketchy in trying to get past them.

[@W7DSY]

@@gregrowe1168 A good part of this road was the railroad right-of-way, and it is narrow. But I use a wide-angle lens on my camera, which makes it look a bit narrower than it is.

[@skyh]

That flashlight sucked.

[@W7DSY]

NO flashlight would work in that tunnel. It was coated with black soot.

[@d.l.hemmingway3758]

Is the cave in on the Walker side or the Poland side?

[@lau8310]

Quick question. Thi s the trail known as poland junction? Does it have a staging area?

[@W7DSY]

Staging area? I'm not sure what you mean. Where Poland Junction Rd. meets State Route 69 is just north of the actual Poland Jct. You can see the old wye on google earth if you write Poland Junction, AZ in the search box. The wye was where the Poland branch met the main line.

[@lau8310]

@@W7DSY we are going to be riding in a razor, curious to know if there is a place to park your vehicle while you ride. I saw this on other guides, so, just wanted to know if you had seen that "area"

[@W7DSY]

@@lau8310 I seem to remember some pullouts along the way where you cd get off the road.

[@walkertriellis9874]

The decimal degrees lat/long is 34.449875, -112.2721

[@johnpinckney4979]

Good video... Ever been to "Nowhere, AZ"?

[@W7DSY]

Every time I go to Kingman to see a friend in prison.

[@philkearny5587]

Why?

[@johnpinckney4979]

@@philkearny5587 It's a very interesting abandoned spot to explore.

[@philkearny5587]

@@johnpinckney4979 Why AZ, down by Ajo, is also an interesting place.

[@johnpinckney4979]

@@philkearny5587 I'm going to give that a try once the U.S. re-opens. My "austerity" vacation of this past September was more stressful than relaxing.

[@emhjr6339]

hope you had a good coat of wax on your pickup

[@W7DSY]

Way too late for that.