Lodore Mill and tram

Completed a weekend project: the mill is ready, spur and trees added.

Learned a lot about the mines, aerial tram and mills around Silverton, by searching the web. I found a detailed historical study (no longer online as of 2023) on the Shenandoah-Dives, aka Mayflower Mill. Although I plan to include the Lodore mine/mill combo next to the Ironton spur, this is the best documented example. The tram terminal, where the buckets with ore from the mines up in the mountains were emptied, had a gabled roof.

Before the ore is dropped in rail cars, it was crushed by machinery and chemical processes, but there’s not enough room in this corner of my layout to model all of this. Another bit of modeling license is the application of wooden tram towers instead of the steel ones engineered for the Mayflower Mill in 1910 by Fred C. Carstarphen, who also directed the crew that constructed the system.

More info:

• San Juan Historical Society
• RocknGem South-West