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November 1942. Bingham Canyon, Utah. "Open-pit workings of the Utah Copper Company. This is the Carr Fork side, from which the company obtains huge amounts of ore. The Carr Fork bridge and main shops appear in the foreground." 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Andreas Feininger. View full size.
I thought I'd seen this mine featured here before now.
The locomotive is a fairly standard Steeplecab design. The design - two powered axles on each truck - was pretty ubiquitous on electric lines worldwide.
About 100 feet in front of the ore train are 3 men and a push cart. I assumed the locomotive was pulling but for these guys' sakes I hope it's pushing!
I believe the engine in the foreground is a (General Electric) GE 90-ton electric. The Bingham Utah Copper Mine received four of these engines in February 1942 and were lettered for Kennecott Copper Corporation. They were numbered KCC 761,KCC 762,KCC 763,and KCC 764.
The engine pulling the ore train is a steeple-cab with an articulated frame that has four wheels (two axles) on each part. These were very heavy locomotives and I believe that they built for this application only.
Coincidently, the towers holding the overhead (trolley) wire could be moved could be moved when the track arrangement was changed to access the changing ore deposits.
The electric locomotive in this scene is known as a "steeplecab" and was a common type used in interurban and industrial freight service in the teens and '20s. The Bingham Canyon mine used many of these over the years and several have been preserved at museums. Here's one: http://www.davesrailpix.com/wrm/htm/wrm045.htm
That engine looks like a scaled down knockoff of a GG-1. Anyone know what it is?
You should add a "jigsaw puzzle" option to the print sales business; this photo in particular would make a wonderful jigsaw puzzle.
The detail is amazing.
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