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Show inutffliinmatll gilties i 7r.iml lliiM..lil.iiii,iill -.i ..iii.iiiihiimni WiiViin. WMfct -rfi i ri-nn r,.n.-Mi " - ! t i iit inUi mi niiif -m mm Photo of Crescent railroad courtesy of Bea Kummer. .- ... ..... .m. , , , , m The Crescent Tramway Editor's note: Each week throughout the centennial year a historic site in Park City will be identified with a descriptive plaque. By the end of the year the numbered num-bered markers will act as signposts to a self-guided tour of Park City. This week's centennial site is the Crescent Tramway. The Crescent Mining Company was established in 1872 when local entrepreneur Colonel E.P. Ferry was able to consolidate the Pinion Ridge ore claims. Ground was broken for the Crescent Tramway in 1883. The Cresent Mining Company Com-pany contracted with F.H. Dyer to build a system capable of delivering 60 tons of ore daily to the Mackintosh Mackin-tosh Sampler, a mill at the north end of the minecamp built to process Crescent ore. It was agreed that Dyer would finance, build and run the tramway for three years. After it was proven operational, Dyer would sell it to Crescent. The tram continued con-tinued in use until the 1950s, although snow covering the tracks rendered it useless in winter. At such times horses pull'ng sleds were needed to haul the ore from mine to mill. This was not, as its name implies, an overhead tram, but a narrow gauge railroad with a Shea-type engine. en-gine. It pulled ore cars across high trestles between the town and the mine, and up grades as steep as 12 percent. per-cent. The system's depot was located at the north end of Main Street. Its rails crossed in front of the Kimball Art Center, climbed the mountain moun-tain to the west following the contour of the slope to Rocky Point just behind the old high school, then wound around the ridge up to the Crescent mine. |