A remnant of the curious Henderson Mine Railroad still rests at Henderson Mill. The Mine was opened in 1976, tunneling some 15 miles under the Continental Divide to (underground) near Empire CO. To handle the steep grades and long tunnel haul, the mine built a 3 ft 6 in narrow gauge railroad, double-tracked and electrified at 1,400 volts DC. ASEA built four wheel heavy electrics, with four more built later by GEC in the UK (including this one) to handle trains of 20-25 cars. The line extended approximately 15 miles, end-to-end, with almost 10 miles of that distance underground.
In the late 1990s, the conveyor belt was used more to pull ore out from deeper parts of the mine. The conveyor belt was eventually extended all the way to the mill, rendering the railroad operation obsolete. The railroad was shut down in 1999. The conveyor system still runs today, almost overhead of the photographer in this photo.
Fortunately, the company saved an AMAX near where the end of the line was. Mill security will not allow photographers on to the property (I asked, politely), but there is fortunately a great vantage point on the approach road outside the guard gate.
