Normal 0 false false false EN-US JA X-NONE We arrived in Tom Price on Sunday and booked the Tom Price Mine Tour for the next morning. We had a date night going out to dinner at the Windawarrie Lodge, where a lot of the mine workers have their meals. It was a smorgasbord, the food was great. We left there and drove 10 kilometers out of Tom Price and stayed at a disused airfield for the night. 
 Monday morning we arrived at Tom Price early enough to sit and watch the Rio Tinto Railroad video, which you have to do to apply for a permit to drive along the privately owned railway road. We obtained the permit but we were advised that the railroad was currently badly corrugated. Having the permit will give us the option.The mine tour set off at 10am, it only went for one and half hours but certainly an informative tour. The mine trucks were amazing, they cost $4.5 million, have a 240t carrying capacity with a 2500hp engine carrying 4920Lt's of fuel. The mine has 36 large 240t trucks plus 6 smaller 100t trucks. The truck drivers earn $160k per annum.The rail network is the largest privately owned and operated rail system in Australia. It currently services 15 mines via mainline systems of 1600km. Five trains consisting of 234 cars are filled from the Tom Price mine sight daily. Each train is worth approx $3.5 million carrying 27,376t per train load.Tom Price was named after Thomas Moore Price, who worked for the American company, Kaiser Steel. He arrived in the area in the early 1960’s to appraise deposits of ore and was instrumental in convincing the mining companies that it was worth mining here. He also played a major role in lobbying the State and Federal Governments to allow mining to proceed and for the ore to be exported. In September 1962 at the age of 71 Thomas Moore Price returned to America. Sadly he died of a heart attack whilst at his desk, only two hours after being advised of the very rich ore deposit discovered on the mountain. In recognition of Thomas Moore Price and his efforts during the foundation of the industry, the mountain and town Tom Price was named after him.Whilst in and around Tom Price, Alan had two free Chiropractor treatments, Rio Tinto sponsored students studying to be Chiropractors from Perth, supplied them with meals and accommodation to provide this free service to locals and visitors.We both loved Tom Price, it’s a very clean town and have a lot to offer visitors. On leaving Tom Price, we decided to head up the Hamersley Gorge. We had lunch a the bus before heading down into the Gorge. The gorge was spectacular with astonishing colours and reflections highlight the complex geological forces.We free camped 300 meters outside the national park and cooked up roast lamb and veggies in the camp oven followed by scones.