Tintic Branches
A List of the UP and D&RGW Branches in the Tintic Mining District.
This page was last updated on December 30, 2009.
(Based mostly on SPLA&SL Tintic Branches track profiles dated March 1915; located in the UP engineering office in the Depot Annex, Salt Lake City, Utah, 29 April 1988. The engineering department had already been moved to Omaha, but there were still numerous engineering files still located in Salt Lake City.)
- Silver City Branch (1882)
- Eureka Branch (1889)
- Northern Spy Branch (1891)
- Mammoth Branch (1893)
- New East Tintic Branch (1896)
- D&RGW's Tintic Branch
Silver City Branch
LA&SL Silver City Branch (1.94 miles)
- completed by SL&W in 1882
- MP 0.48 - Silver City Jct. (on Eureka Branch) (elev. 5,794)
- MP 2.39 - Silver City (elev. 6,027)
- MP 2.66 - end
Maximum grade: up to Silver City, 2.62 percent
Maximum curvature: 4 degrees
Newest rail, S.H. 75 lbs., 1915
Eureka Branch
LA&SL Eureka Branch (3.66 miles)
- completed by SL&W in 1889
- MP 0.00 - Tintic (elev. 5,790)
- MP 0.48 - Silver City Jct. (also known as Tintic Wye)
- MP 1.59 - Mammoth Jct.
- MP 3.66 - Eureka (elev. 6,321)
Maximum grade: up to Eureka, 3.56 percent
Maximum curvature: 7 degrees
Newest rail: S.H. 75 lbs., 1917
Northern Spy Branch
LA&SL Northern Spy Mine Branch (3.03 miles)
Completed by OSL&UN in 1891
- Station 0+00 - Silver City (elev. 6,027)
- Station 40+35 - Rabbit Mill Spur
- Station 99+09 - Tesora Mine Spur
- Station 160+00 - Northern Spy Mine
MP 2.65 (at Silver City, from Tintic) to MP 5.43
Maximum grade: 4 percent
Maximum curvature: 16 degrees
Rail: 52 lb.
Branch retired in January 1922, tracks not removed
Reinstated in 1926 as side tracks
Retired and track taken up in October 1937.
Mammoth Branch
LA&SL Mammoth Branch (Mammoth Junction to Mammoth)
- 1.8 miles, 4% grade
- MP 1.59 to MP 3.24
- completed by OSL&UN in December 1893
- LA&SL bought D&RGW's interest in joint trackage at Mammoth on August 7, 1944
- New East Tintic Railway (Mammoth to Mammoth Mine)
- 2.02 miles
- 5.79% grade from Mammoth to switchback (engineering station 0+00 to 22+31.69, MP 3.645)
- 6% grade from switchback to Mammoth Mine (engineering station 20+17 to 105+01.2, MP 5.21)
- Tintic Sub-Division re-laid with 75-pound rail
- Form 30; No.712; 19 May 1916; "Appn" 1682; $22,922.94
- Silver City Branch rail relaid, completed on 4 December 1915, reported in August 1917
LA&SL Mammoth Branch (from LA&SL drawing 562-16)
- Construct 621.7 foot spur for American Smelting and Refining, called "AS&R Spur"; jointly owned, 50/50 between UP and D&RGW. (Work Order 5366; 100 percent complete on 15 December 1924)
New East Tintic Branch
LA&SL New East Tintic Branch (2.03 miles)
- completed by New East Tintic Railway in 1896
- MP 3.22 - Mammoth (elev. 6,264)
- MP 3.65 - end of switchback track (approximately 235 feet long)
- MP 3.61 - back to switchback switch
- MP 5.21 - Mammoth Mine (elev. 6,791)
Maximum grade: 6 percent
Maximum curvature: 30 degrees
Newest rail: S.H. 90 lbs., 1923 (other portions, S.H. 60 lbs., 1890)
Combined with Mammoth Branch in employee timetables
5.79 percent grade from Mammoth to switchback (engineering station 0+00 to 22+31.69, MP 3.645)
6 percent grade from switchback to Mammoth mine (engineering station 20+17 to 105+01.2, MP 5.21)
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