Industrial Railroads of Utah

Intermountain Power Agency

This page was last updated on April 1, 2011.

Additional Information

Intermountain Power Project — A separate page about the Intermountain Power project, and the Intermountain Power Agency the owns it.

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Overview

Power plant located between Lynndyl and Delta, Utah (rail service is from Lynndyl).

Rail car maintenance facility located near Springville, Utah.

IPP power plant is owned by a consortium of cities that includes Los Angeles, through its Department of Water & Power. LADWP bought the Nevada Northern Railway in preparation for the construction of rail-served power plants at Thousand Springs (north of Wells) and Cherry Creek (along the Nevada Northern), both in Nevada. The power plants remain in their permitting phase, and construction has not yet started. NN 401 was moved to IPP near Delta to allow its occasional use as an in-plant switcher.

Ryan Ballard wrote this about IPP's unit coal train operations:

Utah Railway does not take the train all the way to the power plant near Lynndyl. The train is turned over to the Union Pacific at Provo. UP takes the train from Provo down the Lynndyl Subdivision to Lynndyl. At Lynndyl is the track to the power plant where the train is unloaded on a balloon track. The empty train then returns to IPP's yard at Springville, where it is inspected. All IPP trains start and end at their Springville yard.

BNSF does not have anything to do with the IPP train. It is a UP and Utah Railway train.

The UP track that this train goes south on (railroad west) lays east of the IPP yard in Springville. Anything going north goes to Salt Lake City.

Train crews change in the UP yard in Provo. The IPP yard is where the trains are stored and checked out. All IPP trains leave the Springville yard to go to the mine load outs. Both Utah crews and UP crews work out of the IPP Springville yard. Also at IPP's Springville yard is car storage, train storage, and a car shop for car repairs. This shop repairs both IPP cars and other company's cars.

IPP does get some coal from Wyoming and Union Pacific runs these trains, but at present I'm not sure were the Wyoming trains are loaded.

Power for the IPP train train is both Utah Railway MK50-3's and UP AC units, both GE and EMD. Utah will use UP engines if their own power is on the east end of their line. If UP is short of power in Provo, then the Utah Railway's motive power will run to the power plant with the train.

The Utah Railway was anticipating a very good year hauling coal in 1987. The Intermountain Power Project will come on line in 1987 adding to the road's volume. In addition, the road will continue to haul export coal. (CTC Board, December 1986, page 46)

June 17, 1985
The first coal train bound for the Intermountain Power Project operated over Utah Railway. (Pacific RailNews, Issue 262, September 1985, page 4; CTC Board, August 1985, back cover, two photos of first train)

The train was a joint operation of Union Pacific and Utah Railway, and was loaded at the Wildcat loadout on Utah Railway. The first train had 84 cars and operated without a caboose. Its main motive power was four UP GE locomotives, including UP 2436, 2457 and 2462. Its trip up the east side of Soldier Summit used four Utah Railway ex-BN F45s and two of the four ex-SP SD45s being tested in the new service.

[photo caption] This is the first train from the Wildcat mine near Martin, Utah (on the Utah Railway) to the new Intermountain Power Project near Delta, Utah moving on June 17, 1985. This particular train is scheduled to run about six times per month until the new power plant gets into full stride when it will require three trains of coal per day from various Utah mines. Above, the train, using UP power (it is a joint UP/Utah Railway operation) and new aluminum cars, is dropping around the middle Gilluly loop below Rio Grande's Soldier Summit. The photo below shows the same train on the 2.4 percent Price River grade near Castle Gate. The helper on the 84 car cabooseless train is four ex-BN F45's, now with Utah Railway stenciled on the sides, plus two of the SP SD45's (of a group of four) now being used on a trial basis by the Utah. The train speed, even with all this power, is about ten miles per hour. (CTC Board, August 1985, back cover)

July 2, 1985
A special ribbon-cutting ceremony was held at the IPP plant, labeled as the "First Train." The ceremony included tours of the facility and a luncheon for dignitaries.

Locomotive Roster

Road Number	Builder Model	Builder Date	Builder Number	Notes
P-401	EMD SD7	Aug 1952	16824	Used at power plant near Delta, Utah
IPPX 1	EMD SW1001	Apr 1985	847004-1	Used at car repair shop in Springville, Utah.

General Notes:

P-401 was built as Nevada Northern 401; entire Nevada Northern Railway sold to Los Angeles Department of Water & Power in (?), including NN 401; moved from Ely, Nev., location to the IPP power plant near Delta, Utah, in October 1988 (Locomotive Notes II, Number 119, page 7, reported by Ryan Ballard); shipped from Salt Lake City to Delta on October 20, 1988; in May 1993, in addition to its Nevada Northern lettering and number, the SD7 was also numbered as P-401, with a LADWP decal. (Locomotive Notes II, Number 173, August 1993, page 6, reported by Norm Metcalf)

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