Bridgewater Red Mesa Railroad

A BIRM train crossing the Sargent River near Frick, NT.

The Bridgewater Red Mesa Railroad, (reporting marks BIRM) is a small regional railroad that runs in southeastern New Territories, running between the cities of Bridgewater and Red Mesa. The railroad is owned by the New Territories Government, and leased to New Territories Rail Link. The railroad runs about 15 miles of track and hauls primarily iron ore and mesa sand from Red Mesa to various points across New Territories. The railroad also interchanges with the Pine Island and Bridgewater Railway (PIBR), and Ashwood Southeastern Railroad (ASER) at Bridgewater.

History

Red Mesa Northern Railway

In 1896, US colonizers came to the Tsé Łichííʼ region of New Territories. After discovering an abundance of Iron and coal, settlers were quick to establish the colony of Red Mesa. A man named Henry, B, Sargent had a vision and big business plan, a railroad connecting this mineral haven to the rest of New Territories. He chartered the Red Mesa Northern Railroad (RMN) in 1900, and soon started building northwest across the Tsé Łichííʼ and Tsintah regions of New Territories toward the newly established Colony of Ashwood, passing by the communities of Frick, Lichii, now known as Sargent, and Chil, now known as Rutland and Apache. Sargent and his crew made it as far as a location called Reno, about 5 miles northeast of Bridgewater, when war broke out between the American colonizers and Apache tribe in 1902, resulting in the "Great Mesa Massacre", where American colonizers burnt down the entire settlement of Chil, killing hundreds. In response, the Apache tribe burnt down mines, railroad tracks, and bridges, leaving Sargent's railroad in ruins. The whole war halted the construction of the Red Mesa Northern passed Reno, and with a lack of men and materials, Sargent filed for bankruptcy on April 14th,1904, and sold his railroad to the New Territories Government, passing away just a year later on May 8th 1905.

Red Mesa & Sargent River Railroad.

Red Mesa and the surrounding communities began to slowly regrow, after the war, but still needed a rail link to the rest of the Territories. The Pine Island and Bridgewater Railway (PI&B) reached Bridgewater in 1910 and saw huge business opportunities with the former Red Mesa Northern. The PI&B built an extension of their Bridgewater line to Reno and connected with the Red Mesa Northern. At that same time, the New Territories government chartered the Red Mesa and Sargent River Railroad. The Lichii River and town of Lichii was renamed to the Sargent River and town of Sargent in honor of Henry B. Sargent, the founder of the Red Mesa Northern. The RMSR rebuilt and converted the track to standard gauge. The new line opened in 1914. The RMSR gained trackage rights on the new PI&B trackage to Bridgewater, where it would interchange and connect with the rest of the rapidly developing New Territories rail network. The RMSR would haul Iron ore, coal, mesa sand, oil, limber and other various commodities across their network.

Bridgewater & Red Mesa Railway

The Red Mesa & Sargent River ran until 1943, when republican New Territories Chancellor, Carl Grafton sold the RMSR to the Broken Back Iron Ore and Co. As an effort to cut local taxes that initially funded the Railroad. The Broken Back Iron Ore and Co. renamed the RMSR to the Bridgewater and Red Mesa railroad (reporting marks B&RM / BRM). The B&RM ran until 1966, when New Territories  declared independence from the United States. The New Territories economy relied heavily on rail transportation, as its interstate and trucking network had yet to be fully developed or funded. Mining in Red Mesa especially was a critical part in the New Territories economy, so as an effort to regulate the company, the New Territories Government wanted to purchase the B&RM railroad, leading to decade-long court battle, with New Territories ultimately winning, after the Broken Back Iron Ore and Co. Filed for bankruptcy in 1978. The New Territories Government chartered the Bridgewater Red Mesa Railroad (Reporting Marks BIRM) that same year, and eventually leased it to the Broken Back Mountain Mining Company in 1979.

Bridgewater, Red Mesa Railroad

The newly established Bridgewater, Red Mesa Railroad, charted by the New Territories Government was leased to the Broken Back Mountain Mining Company for 45 years, which lasted until 2024, when the lease to the Broken Back Mining Company would expire. They chose not to renew it as the railroad bleeded the company money, especially after the acquisition of the Quincy Southern (QSR) in 1998. So in 2025, the New Territories Government granted a new 25 year lease to New Territories Rail Link, which to this day continues to operate the BIRM between Red Mesa, Bridgewater, and Quincy.