Bingham Canyon Railroads Explore in New Book

July 21, 2011 - PRLog -- The newest addition to Arcadia Publishing’s popular Images of America series is Bingham Canyon Railroads from local author Don Strack. The book boasts more than 200 vintage images and memories of days gone by.

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.

Highlights of Bingham Canyon Railroads:
•   This is the first time several photographs of Bingham Canyon Railroads have been published in a single book; from the first years of the copper era, through to the end of operations in 2001.
•   The photographs cover the early steam era, the era of electric locomotives, and the later diesel era, as well as numerous photographs of various trucks and shovels used in the Bingham Canyon mine.

Available at area bookstores, independent retailers, and online retailers, or through Arcadia Publishing at www.arcadiapublishing.com or
(888)-313-2665.

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With more than 6,000 local history titles published to date, Arcadia Publishing is the leading publisher of local and regional history in the United States. Widely recognized sepia books feature hundreds of vintage historical images.