The $19.3 million realignment opened on December 19, 1960, and the old line was abandoned west of the Phoenix connection at Ash Fork.

Construction commenced on August 17, 1892, from the Atlantic & Pacific connection at Ash Fork.

By April 1893 trains were operating between Ash Fork and Prescott.

The northern terminus of the highway is located at an interchange with Interstate 40 (I-40) in Ash Fork.

The structure was one of the first made by the railroad and became too small to handle the amount of passengers at Ash Fork.

Ash Fork was a meal stop; all trains stopped so passengers could eat.

Ash Fork's service on the main line lasted until 1960, when the Santa Fe completed a bypass around Ash Fork.

This was done to avoid the steep Johnson Canyon, west of Ash Fork.

The former main line west of Ash Fork was abandoned.

This, combined with I-40 bypassing the town, began the decline of Ash Fork.