Charting the Changes
A BNSF Railway Denver, Colorado - Stockton, California trackage rights manifest rumbles through the ghost town of Castle Gate, Utah in Price Canyon on Aug. 6, 2008. Founded in 1886 and disincorporated in 1974, the coal mining community of Castle Gate hosted 1,300 souls by the turn of the 20th century. The town is probably best known for a tragedy, which struck on March 8, 1924 when Utah Fuel Company's Castle Gate Mine No. 2 exploded, killing 172 miners. Fast forward to 1998, and Cyprus Plateau's Willow Creek coal mine opened. Tragedy struck again, this time on July 31, 2000, when a fire broke out, and killed two miners. Willow Creek was shut down for good. By 2015, the Carbon power plant, which opened in 1954, was shut down and dismantled. All that remains of Castle Gate today are weeds, wind, dust, passing cars, a few passing trains, and memories.
Charting the Changes
A BNSF Railway Denver, Colorado - Stockton, California trackage rights manifest rumbles through the ghost town of Castle Gate, Utah in Price Canyon on Aug. 6, 2008. Founded in 1886 and disincorporated in 1974, the coal mining community of Castle Gate hosted 1,300 souls by the turn of the 20th century. The town is probably best known for a tragedy, which struck on March 8, 1924 when Utah Fuel Company's Castle Gate Mine No. 2 exploded, killing 172 miners. Fast forward to 1998, and Cyprus Plateau's Willow Creek coal mine opened. Tragedy struck again, this time on July 31, 2000, when a fire broke out, and killed two miners. Willow Creek was shut down for good. By 2015, the Carbon power plant, which opened in 1954, was shut down and dismantled. All that remains of Castle Gate today are weeds, wind, dust, passing cars, a few passing trains, and memories.