One of Utah County's biggest employers, United States Steel's Geneva Works, appears to be working at capacity as Rio Grande's Provo Switcher departs the mill with 60 cars for Provo Yard. Included in today's train are cradle cars and gondolas of coil steel, gondolas of plate steel, coal empties, dolomite empties, and a few mill gondolas trailed by an Aspen Gold painted caboose. The mill shut down (in cold idle status) in 1986, reactivated by new owners in 1987. It would operate as a profitable venture until the expense of manufacturing steel vs. cheaper imports shut it down for good in 2001. Nothing remains of Geneva Steel today. Note the impact the mill had on overall air quality with the open hearth belching out steam and particulates amid Geneva's infamous 'brown cloud' that hovered above the valley floor throughout the year.
