Arizona Eastern Railway
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| Reporting mark | AZER |
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| Locale | Arizona |
| Dates of operation | 1988–present |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
| Headquarters | Claypool, Arizona |
| Website | www |
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The Arizona Eastern Railway (reporting mark AZER) is a Class III railroad that operates 265 miles (426 km) of railroad between Clifton, Arizona, and Miami, Arizona, in the United States. This includes trackage rights over the Union Pacific Railroad between Lordsburg, New Mexico, and Bowie, Arizona. The railroad serves the copper mining region of southeastern Arizona, and the agricultural Gila River Valley. Primary commodities are sulfuric acid, copper concentrate, copper anode and cathode, and copper rod and other copper processing materials. AZER also handles minerals, chemicals, building supplies and lumber. The railroad offers a transload location for lumber, building materials and other consumer commodities at Globe, Arizona.
What is now the Arizona Eastern Railway was chartered as the Gila Valley, Globe and Northern Railway (GVGN) in 1885. Before completion to Globe in 1899, the GVGN came under the control of the Arizona Eastern Railroad (AE). The Arizona Eastern was leased by the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) in 1905 and merged into the SP system in 1924. SP sold the Bowie – Miami line to Kyle Railroad in 1988. Kyle was purchased by shortline holding company StatesRail in 1995, which was eventually purchased by RailAmerica in 2001. RailAmerica sold the railroad to Permian Basin Railways on December 9, 2004.
Of historical note, the Gila Valley Globe & Northern Railroad’s first locomotive, apparently GVGN #1, was purchased from the Central Pacific Railroad, originally #1195 (Jupiter)). The locomotive was the Central Pacific locomotive that met with Union Pacific No. 119 at Promontory Summit on May 10, 1869 for the driving of the golden spike, commemorating the completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad. Despite its historical significance, in 1909 the GVGN, by then controlled by Central Pacific successor Southern Pacific, sold No. 1 for $1000 as scrap.
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