Don Strack
Railroads and mining in Bingham Canyon have gone hand in hand since the
first railroad was constructed in the canyon in late 1873. Bingham
Canyon in the early years was a gold and silver mining camp, and the
railroads were small operations. Copper mining took hold in the late
1890s, and the mines, mining companies, and railroads that served them
expanded rapidly. Bingham Canyon soon became the largest and richest
mining district in the western United States and was the source for as
much as a third of the copper mined in the nation. A variety of
locomotives worked in the canyon, including a small number of Shay
locomotives, several large articulated steam locomotives, and the
nation's largest roster of electric locomotives. The last Bingham Canyon
ore train ran in late 2001. While the railroad tracks have been
removed, the mine itself is very much in full production and remains the
source for 25 percent of the nation's copper production.
