Many remember the Southern Pacific's steam engines as oil-fired, but as the railroad worked its way east, coal was the fuel of choice. One of the SP's old coaling towers stood at Mescal, Arizona, where is no doubt serviced the railroad's "backward cab forwards," class AC-9 2-8-8-4s - among other engines. On October 6, 1996, this massive concrete structure still stood, although it had been obsolete for decades. SP train 1-KCWCQ-(K)-0, a "scheduled manifest service" train heading from Kansas City KS to West Colton CA. Power for this train is SSW GP60 9696, SP SD45T-2 9336, SP SD40M-2 (ex-SD45) 8651, UP SD40-2 3822, UP SD40-2 3397 and SP SD40T-2 8540.
