185:. The seven former B&LE units were used for hauling the taconite pellets, while No. 734 was purchased as a parts source and never was used in active ore service. Those seven former B&LE locomotives all went first to the Texas Southern railroad. Three units — 723B, 724B and 726B — eventually were scrapped. Four other locomotives — 712B, 723A, 724A and 726A — found homes elsewhere. 712B, 723A and 724A all later became property of the Washington Central Railroad, while 726A fell into the hands of Passenger & Freight Locomotive in San Antonio. No. 734, the former Burlington Northern unit, was bought by railroad photographer
123:, and extended north and then northeast, snaking past the west side of South Pass City and then turning northeast before concluding at the mine. From the mine's loading chute at its north end to the connection with the Union Pacific at Winton, the line descended 1,884 feet in elevation, including dropping 880 feet alone in the first 13 miles between the mine and the Continental Divide at South Pass. Construction of the line required fills as high as 100 feet between the mine and the
79:. That mine proved insufficient to keep Geneva Steel Works operating at full capacity, so U.S. Steel sought a secondary source of iron ore. Owing at least in part to a geological report issued jointly by the Geological Survey of Wyoming and the University of Wyoming Natural Resources Research Institute in 1949, U.S. Steel became aware of a large reserve in the
163:— a plant that had been operating at only 25 percent of its capacity. In Atlantic City, operations at the mine were shut down on October 1, 1983, and the final run of the railroad — to bring the remaining stockpiled ore from the mine to the Union Pacific — took place on October 20, 1983. U.S. Steel officially closed the mine on April 1, 1984.
146:, which was only about 30 percent iron. After the taconite was blasted from the pit walls, it was crushed several times and then strong magnets pulled the iron out of the taconite. Then, the concentrated iron ore was agglomerated, which involved mixing the iron ore — which at that point was a cake-like mixture — with
158:
In 1982, America's steel industry was struggling, with far more capacity than demand, which prompted U.S. mills to cut capacity in an effort to reduce expenses. In 1983, U.S. Steel no longer found it financially feasible to continue mining the relatively low-grade iron ore at the
Atlantic City mine,
67:
during World War II. The federal government backed the construction of the steel mill for national security purposes, reasoning that its location far inland protected it from any
Japanese attack on the West Coast. In addition, the plant's location in Utah was relatively close to regions in Utah and
197:
On numerous occasions over the years, the idea of reopening the
Atlantic City Iron Ore Mine has been studied, given worldwide steel demand. In 2012, a consultant hired by the state of Wyoming estimated that 200 million tons of iron ore reserves — which would produce 60 to 66 million tons of iron —
166:
in 1985, Ohio-based
Universal Equipment Co. bought the railroad line and mine site from U.S. Steel. Universal Equipment reportedly had planned to mine the site for road construction materials. However, Universal Equipment ultimately wound up overseeing the salvaging and scrapping of the mine and
127:. In that segment, grading contractors moved more than 2.5 million cubic yards of material. Below South Pass, civil engineers encountered a peat bog across the route, which was unusual for such an arid climate. The solution was to dig deep under an impervious layer of soil to drain the subgrade.
94:
Undaunted by those distances, U.S. Steel in the mid-1950s began planning the creation of the
Atlantic City iron ore mine, to be an open-pit mine with on-site agglomeration facilities. The mine was located some 8,300 feet above sea level. Work began in 1960 on the mine complex and the 76.7-mile
150:, rolled into marble-sized pellets and heated in an agglomerating furnace at the mine. Finally, the pellets were stored on-site in a building until they were shipped out in 120-car trains. The operation was the highest open pit iron ore mining operation in the U.S.
176:
Locomotive-wise, the railroad had four F7 A units and four F7 B units. Seven of the railroad's eight locomotives — all except the F7A unit bearing the number 734 — formerly had been on the roster of the
Bessemer and Lake Erie, while F7A No. 734 formerly had been a
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The mine operated for three shifts each day — thus never shutting down — and employed 550 employees, and the railroad normally carried a full train out of the mine every other day. At the mine, U.S. Steel extracted a hard, slate-like rock called magnetic
478:
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The reopening of the mine was discussed again in 2014, after the
Wyoming Business Council began investigating the feasibility of reopening the mine. Reopening of the mine, whose mineral rights are owned by
102:
U.S. Steel enlisted the Union
Pacific Railroad's civil engineers to design the railroad, which was completed in 1962. The line's construction disproved a theory put forth in the October 1947 issue of
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which was expensive to operate. U.S. Steel concluded its best option was to shift Geneva Steel's source of taconite pellets from the
Atlantic City mine to U.S. Steel's Minntac plant, in
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691:
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in the Rocky
Mountains. The taconite pellet plant began operations in August 1962, with the first shipment departing the site on August 15, 1962.
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91:'s line in southwestern Wyoming, and it would require a 300-mile trek by rail to bring the iron ore from the reserve to the Geneva Steel Works.
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subsequently was rerouted through the old mine site, and the mine's pits today have become filled with rainwater and melted snow.
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479:"Remaining Iron Ore deposits at former Atlantic City Mine Site getting second look, Commissioners told"
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locomotives, often in A-B-B-B-B-A configurations, painted in U.S. Steel's own yellow and black livery.
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138:. The railroad initially “leased” the locomotives from the B&LE before purchasing them outright.
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railroad. The mine and railroad were constructed by contractors J.H. Pomeroy & Co. and
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261:"Biennial Report of the State Geologist for 1965-1967: Geological Survey of Wyoming"
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The railroad's motive power was F7 locomotives that U.S. Steel reallocated from a
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magazine that held that no more railroad lines ever would be built to cross the
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remain at the bottom of the lake that sits in the former open pit of the mine.
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Initially, Geneva Steel Works drew its raw materials from an iron ore mine at
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281:
Sanders, Dale (October 1978). "USS Atlantic City F-units vs Iron Ore".
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railroad in Pennsylvania that the company had owned at that time, the
348:
Associated Press (August 16, 1962). "Ore on Way: Wyoming To Geneva".
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that operated in Wyoming from 1962 until 1983. Owned and operated by
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and other materials needed for primary steel making are plentiful.
311:
Ingles, J. David (February 1982). "Where did the Milwaukee go?".
553:
548:
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459:. pp. 517–540 – via University of Wisconsin Library.
387:"A busted Wyoming mining town remains haunted by 550 lost jobs"
370:
James, Martin (September 1967). "A railroad finally made it!".
430:
Ingles, J. David (January 1984). "Arrivals & Departures".
206:, would entail building a new rail line to transport the ore.
31:, the railroad extended 76.7 miles from a connection with the
39:. One notable aspect of the railroad was its crossing of the
244:
Sanders, Dale (September 1993). "U.S. Steel Atlantic City".
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locomotive and prior to that had been on the roster of the
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railroad. The mine and railroad were dismantled in 1985.
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The line began at a connection with the Union Pacific at
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The railroad's genesis was in the construction of the
666:
List of United States railroads by political division
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in southwestern Wyoming to an iron ore mine north of
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87:. The reserve was more than 75 miles away from the
83:in Wyoming, north of Atlantic City and south of
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544:Bighorn Divide & Wyoming Railroad
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417:Social Networks and Archival Context
47:. Another was the railroad's use of
385:Ambler, Marjane (March 18, 1985).
259:Thomas, Horace D. (January 1967).
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413:"United States Steel Corporation"
296:"S.F. Firms Get Mine Contract".
248:. Vol. 189. pp. 20–27.
285:. Vol. 40. pp. 10–11.
268:Wyoming State Geological Survey
193:Potential reopening of the mine
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477:Over, Ernie (June 26, 2012).
647:Wyodak Resources Development
300:. June 28, 1960. p. 40.
179:Burlington Northern Railroad
450:Kuck, Peter H. "Iron Ore".
18:Atlantic City Mine Railroad
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661:Former carriers in Wyoming
687:Defunct Wyoming railroads
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642:Western Fuels Association
574:Wyoming Colorado Railroad
337:. March 1995. p. 39.
204:the J.R. Simplot Company
183:Northern Pacific Railway
161:Mountain Iron, Minnesota
154:Shutdown and reclamation
136:Bessemer & Lake Erie
612:Black Thunder Coal Mine
333:"The Great Ore Heist".
453:Minerals Yearbook 1985
89:Union Pacific Railroad
37:Atlantic City, Wyoming
33:Union Pacific Railroad
632:Peabody Coal Company
617:Caballo Mine Company
528:Railroads of Wyoming
81:Wind River Mountains
564:Swan Ranch Railroad
189:in September 1983.
45:South Pass, Wyoming
597:Antelope Coal Mine
171:Wyoming Highway 28
110:Continental Divide
41:Continental Divide
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622:Cordero Rojo Mine
489:on April 6, 2018.
391:High Country News
374:. pp. 27–28.
350:Salt Lake Tribune
298:Salt Lake Tribune
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61:Geneva Steel
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393:. p. 1
119:, north of
681:Categories
659:See also:
210:References
29:U.S. Steel
592:Arch Coal
483:County 10
397:March 18,
283:CTC Board
246:CTC Board
148:bentonite
144:taconite
70:iron ore
63:mill in
97:Bechtel
55:History
432:Trains
372:Trains
335:Trains
313:Trains
105:Trains
99:Corp.
85:Lander
49:EMD F7
20:was a
457:(PDF)
264:(PDF)
554:CPKC
549:BNSF
399:2018
16:The
43:at
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520:e
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