Final days of the Black Mesa and Lake Powell electric railroad August, 2019

The end is near for the Black Mesa and Lake Powell Railroad. After 46 years, this efficient and modern railroad with it’s electric locomotives is shutting down. This is a totally landlocked railroad running from the Kayenta coal mine to the East where the train is loaded. Then the train travels 78 miles North to the Navajo power plant near Page, Arizona where the coal is unloaded. The 88 car train makes three round trips daily. The August 26th, closure of the railroad and the coal mine will result in thousands of jobs lost. The power plant (one of the largest in the United States) will continue running until after all the coal is consumed on the grounds of the plant. After this closure there will be only two electric freight railroads left in the United States. Those two are the Iowa traction in Mason city Iowa, and the Deseret power railroad in Dinosaur, Colorado. Filmed in August, 2019. More info can be found here regarding the circumstances leading up to the closure of the mine, power plant and