Bingham Miscellaneous Notes
Index For This Page
This page last updated on August 26, 2024.
(Return to Bingham Index Page)
Overview
Here you will find random notes about Bingham Canyon; items that don't fit on any of the other pages about its railroads, mines, the town itself, and a few biographical notes.
(listed alphabetically)
Servicing The Locomotives
(December 14, 2016)
A recent question asked if the coaling tower in Utah Copper's Bingham A-Level gathering yard was used to fuel the "Dinky" locomotives at the mine. I wrote the following in response.
When you say "Dinky" locomotives, I think you mean the small steam locomotives used in the pit before the electric locomotives came in 1927.
Beginning in 1906, Utah Copper had 35 saddle-tank four-wheel locomotives that were delivered new as late as 1911. In addition to the Utah Copper four-wheelers, there were 11 narrow-gauge Boston Consolidated four-wheelers that were sold very soon after the 1910 merger.
Beginning in 1915, Utah Copper received a total of 18 side-tank six-wheel locomotives that were used in the pit. The Utah Copper four-wheel locomotives were retired as the larger six-wheel locomotive arrived, as late as 1924.
When Bingham & Garfield started operations in 1911, in addition to the large road locomotives for the main line to Magna, their fleet included 12 six-wheel switching locomotives that had regular tenders. These were used at both Bingham and at Magna and Garfield to move single and small groups of rail cars around at the mills, and at the Bingham mine.
So, to answer your question, I think the smaller B&G six-wheelers used the coaling tower at Bingham, but I think the smaller pit engines were fueled and watered at their work locations on the mine levels, unless for some reason they had to come down to the shop, which can be seen in the background in the photo. I know the pit engines were watered on the mine levels, because you can see water tanks on many of the mine levels. Maybe they also had small fueling stations next to the water tanks. More research is needed.
Summary of Operations
A summary of Bingham and Garfield, and Kennecott's railroads, written in July 2008 in response to an email request:
Utah Copper incorporated the Bingham and Garfield Railway to give themselves full control over the movement of their own ores between their mine at Bingham and their mills and the smelter at Garfield. However, the most important reason the Utah Copper organized the Bingham and Garfield was that Utah Copper, as a corporation, did not have the power of eminent domain (the power to condemn property for the common good) -- an advantage that a railroad corporation does have.
Kennecott Copper's predecessor Utah Copper Company organized the Bingham & Garfield Railway in 1908 to get away from its dependence on the local railroad, then known as Rio Grande Western Railway. The B&G was organized as a common carrier, with the power of eminent domain, and served as such until that feature became a liability to Kennecott's Utah Copper operations during WWII. The laws governing railroads had evolved during the 1930s, especially with regard to labor laws, and having its own common carrier was found to no longer benefit the copper company.
After World War II, Kennecott began surveying for a new railroad line between the mine and the mills, 16 miles to the north on the shore of Great Salt Lake. In 1944 Kennecott completed a new natural gas-fired power plant at Magna, at the time to furnish its own electric power for all of its operations, which included the current electric shovel and rail operations in the mine itself. The new nameless railroad would be electrified to take advantage of the efficiencies of electric motive power, and would not be a common carrier. Instead it was designed and built as a privately owned, in-plant railroad, and would not be subject to the regulations of the Interstate Commerce Commission, or any other laws except mining safety laws. The B&G organization was dissolved and the railroad abandoned with the startup of the new private railroad in April 1948. Regular interstate interchange rail service would continue to be provided by Union Pacific Railroad at Garfield, and by Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad (as successor to the RGW of 1908) at both Magna and in Bingham Canyon.
The new private railroad operated between Copperton at the mouth of Bingham Canyon, north to the Magna and Arthur mills on the shore of Great Salt Lake. Those rails are still in place, but operations have been severely cut back due to the construction of a new crusher and concentrator mill at Copperton, and a new slurry pipeline between the Copperon mill and the smelter. I assume Kennecott owns the railroad and the right of way for the entire railroad, including under Copperton Yard. D&RGW's trackage lay immediately south of Copperton Yard and extended directly east and west between the Proler Steel facility at 5600 West (shown on some maps as Robbe), and area adjacent to Copperton Yard. The only interchange was at the precipitation plant at Copperton.
The years of operation of the B&G, and as Utah Copper/Kennecott continued to acquire and control smaller mining operations in Bingham Canyon, brought a continuing reduction of operations for D&RGW at Bingham. By the late 1940s, there was little interchanged rail traffic other than an occasional carload of supplies. The major source of traffic was the movement of scrap steel to the precipitation plant at Copperton, where copper concentrate was produced by way of leach-water from the copper company's waste dumps being run through steel as part of the reduction process. As Kennecott continued to improve the leaching and precipitation process, the use of scrap steel in the process continued to decline. The scrap facility owned by Proler Steel was closed in the mid 1990s and railroad service west of West Jordan (two miles east of Bingham Canyon) came to an end. In 2002, Union Pacific (as successor to D&RGW) abandoned the entire five-mile Bingham Industrial Lead and sold it to Utah Transit Authority for use as part of UTA's light rail transit system. Current railroad service is provided on the UTA-owned trackage under contract by Savage Bingham & Garfield Railroad, a shortline railroad organized for the purpose.
Like so many questions, yours about interstate railroads "in the mine" needs clarification. Are you asking about the copper mining operation in the open pit mine itself, or railroad service to the town of Bingham located in Bingham Canyon, or the railroad at the mouth of the canyon, which is today the town of Copperton. After 1950, D&RGW provided railroad service to Bingham, but that railroad service was very limited. As the mine expanded throughout the 1940s and 1950s, D&RGW may have formally owned the tracks and right of way at the very bottom of the canyon, but the railroad itself seldom, if ever, operated trains west of the precipitation plant at Copperton, and by that time, D&RGW's tracks had become thoroughly intermingled with those of the copper company. D&RGW's Bingham Branch tracks were removed as Kennecott proceeded with its environmental cleanup of Bingham Creek throughout the 1980s and 1990s. I don't have any information about right of way ownership, whether tracks were in place or not. The best place for that would be the Salt Lake County recorder's office in Salt Lake City.
Water In The Mines
(November 16, 2016)
In a comment about the lake of green water so many visitors to the Bingham mine saw in the 1980s, the most likely reason for the lake being there was that Kenncott had no reason to pump it out. That was until Rio Tinto began exploring the use of underground operations. Then they had a reason.
Water in the mines has always been a problem with Bingham mines, as far back as the 1880s. Early accounts in newspaper stories made regular reference to a mine getting down to "the water level," which had more to do with the geology of the ground than with actual depth. Certain types of rock, especially mineral-bearing rock, the kind that carry valuable metal ores like copper, lead and silver, also carry water. As the miners dug their tunnels, they always knew they were getting close to the ore vein because they also started getting a good flow of water. A mine was a serious operation, with serious owners with serious funding, if they also had the money to put in pumping and hoisting equipment. Then the problem was if the mine produced enough money to pay for the extra expense of pumping. Some did, most did not.
Bingham War Memorial
(Including the V-J display at the Bingham-Copperfield tunnel)
Bingham's Victory Flag Society was organized in May 1943 by Carl "Chicago Charlie" Zahos as a communty effort to support the troops stationed overseas duirng World War II. The donations were collected in a donation box located at the Bingham Package Agency. The society gathered donations throughout 1943 to 1946 and its first project was a "Christmas Book" that included lists and photos of Bingham military members assigned overseas. The society also produced a small newsletter that brought news from their hometown to those service members overseas.
In April 1945, another donation campaign was begun to do another Christmas Book for 1945, with a deadline of July 5th. Each community in Bingham had its own society representative. There was a $2 fee to submit names and photos, and to receive a copy of the finished book. (Bingham Bulletin, April 6, 1945; April 20, 1945; April 27, 1945)
One service member, a private stationed in the Alps in Europe, wrote in late May 1945, "You are doing a grand job with the Victory Flag society paper. The Easter issue was really a corker. The picture of the pit is a work of art and I can truthfully say I have been going around bragging about the largest open pit copper mine in the world. I also bragged about Chicago Charlie, the Burgemeister of the Pit and his M2-A2 switch shack up by Greek camp." (Bingham Bulletin, May 25, 1945)
In mid June 1945, Carl "Chicago Charlie" Zahos of the Victory Flag Society attended the regular monthly meeting of the Bingham volunteer firemen and asked the firemen "to help the society in the erecting the V-J display now being constructed near city hall." The firemen voted to help with the project. (Bingham Bulletin, June 15, 1945)
The V-J flag and display platform was dedicated on July 4, 1945 as part of Bingham's annual Fourth of July celebration. The day started at 9:30am with the flag-raising and dedication of the Victory Flag Society V-J display near city hall, and continued with a parade and races, a children's dance, a derby race, and a special program of patriotic films at the Princess theater. (Bingham Bulletin, July 6, 1945)
On August 16, 1945, an "all war show" motion picture was presented, with proceeds going to send a Chirstmas book to the "200 boys among the 900 who left Bingham to enter service who have no one at home to send them a Christmas book." The tickets were 50 cents and the motion picture was at the Princess theater, which had donated the use of the theater for the night. There were to be two showings, one at 10:30am and another at 12:30pm. (Bingham Bulletin, August 10, 1945)
The flag at the V-J platform that had been raised and dedicated on July 4th, and flown continously awaiting complete victory, was taken down in a special ceremony on Saturday September 8, 1945. The platform was at the center of Bingham and was 20 feet by 30 feet. The members of the Victory Flag Society had "been responsible for getting monthly letters to all the Bingham service men throughout World Wra II." (Salt Lake Tribune, September 7, 1945)
The ceremony was held at 7:00pm on Satuday September 8th. John Creedon was master of ceremonies, with music provided by the high school band. "The colors" were retired by boys in the armed forces who were home on furlough. (Bingham Bulletin, September 7, 1945)
Beginning in November 1945, the Victory Flag Society Christmas book "Democracy Triumphs" was on sale, at $1 per copy. (Bingham Bulletin, November 2, 1945)
In March 1946, the Victory Flag Society offered a special citation certificate to Bingham citizens who had served in the Armed Forces during World War II. The certificate was financed by the Fourth of July committee. (Bingham Bulletin, March 1, 1946)
On July 4, 1946, a special ceremony was held at the newly established Bingham War Memorial, to unveil a bronze plaque honoring the 15 men who had died during the war. The plaque was sponsored by the Victory Flag Society. The theme for the entire Fourth of July ceremonies in 1946 was "Welcome Home Day." All service men in attendence were presented with the citation certificate mentioned in March. The plaque was initially placed on a brick monument at the Bingham city hall, but its permanent home would be at the Bingham high school in Copperton. (Bingham Bulletin, July 5, 1946; Deseret News, July 15, 1946)
In September 1946, the members of the Victory Flag Society held a special meeting and voted to give the remaining funds held by the society to Carl Zahos to do with as he saw fit. He used the funds for the bronze war memorial plaque, and an additional golden eagle placed on top of the new war memorial that included a large granite stone (over 14 feet high), which was placed on the grounds of Bingham high school in Copperton. The completed war memorial was dedicated on September 5, 1947. (Bingham Bulletin, September 20, 1946; Salt Lake Tribune, September 3, 1947)
###