(This page printed from UtahRails.net, Copyright 2000-2010 Don Strack)

UNION PACIFIC IN UTAH

Union Pacific in Utah, 1900-1996

Compiled by Don Strack

This page was last updated on December 17, 2009.

(This is a work in progress since 1978 — research continues.)

Additional Information

Union Pacific Controlled Railroads — An index page for the railroads in Utah that were built by companies controlled by Union Pacific, including the two largest companies: Oregon Short Line (OSL) and Los Angeles & Salt Lake (LA&SL).

Timeline

1900:
By 1900 E. H. Harriman had "absolute control" of Union Pacific. He had been involved in the reorganization, was a director of the new corporation and had gradually increased his holdings until he took control. (Trottman p. 274)

September 1900:
The famous Thousand Mile Tree in Weber canyon had died and was cut down. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, September 16, 1900)

end 1901:
By the end of 1901 Union Pacific had purchased 45 percent of Southern Pacific stock, giving it control of the SP. (Trottman p. 281)

March 1906:
Union Portland Cement announced that it would build a plant at Croydon. (Salt Lake Mining Review, March 15, 1906, p. 30) Production began in June 1907. (Salt Lake Mining Review, June 30, 1907, p. 31) (Croydon was called Devil's Slide by the Union Pacific)

September 1909:
E. H. Harriman died. (Trottman, p. 362)

February 18, 1908:
Federal government sued Union Pacific to break up the "combination" with Southern Pacific, because it was in restraint of competitive trade and commerce. (Trottman, p. 358)

April 1910:
Hearings for the break-up of Union Pacific and SP ended. (Trottman, p. 362)

1911:
In 1911 the Circuit Court decided in favor of UP/SP, the government appealed the case to the U. S. Supreme Court, which found in favor of the government on December 2, 1912. The Supreme Court agreed to have Union Pacific submit a plan of dissolution to the Circuit Court, by July 1, 1913, that the railroad would dissolve its interest in SP within twenty days of that date. (Trottman, pp. 368, 369)

January 2, 1911:
A new all-brick Union Depot was opened at Provo, Utah; to be used by D&RG and UP. (Salt Lake Herald, December 23, 1910)

October 1915:
D&RG and UP both announce that they will build into the Uintah Basin; D&RG from Soldiers Summit, UP from Park City Branch. (The Sun, October 15, 1915)

December 1915:
Union Pacific will build a line into the Uintah Basin. (Coal Index: News-Advocate, December 3, 1915) Confirmed by R. S. Lovett. Work to start in spring. (Coal Index: News-Advocate, December 24, 1915)

late 1916:
Union Pacific completed construction of the second track between Emory and Wasatch, in Echo Canyon. The new line was used for eastbound trains and has a ruling grade of 1.14 percent, compared to 1.77 percent for the original, now westbound, line. The curves of the new line are 3 degrees and the old line has curves of 6 degrees. (Engineering News, October 16, 1916, pp. 700-701)

1917:
Union Pacific completed construction of the second track between Riverdale and Gateway, used for eastbound traffic. (source not recorded)

December 28, 1917:
USRA assumed control of the nation's railroads, including Union Pacific. (Trottman, page 377)

January 1918:
Union Pacific completed construction of the two-mile Weber Mine Spur from Coalville to the Weber Mine of the Weber Coal Company, which is a subsidiary of the Ontario Silver Mining Company. The work was started in October 1917 and was done by Christensen Construction Company. (Salt Lake Mining Review, January 30, 1918, p. 40) The mine went into production in March, after pumping out the flooded mine and cleaning out the old drifts. The mine is developed down to 900 feet. (Salt Lake Mining Review, February 15, 1918, p. 44) In May 1919 the coal mines in the Coalville area included the Summit Fuel Company. (Salt Lake Mining Review, May 15, 1919, p. 35)

March 1, 1920:
USRA returned control of the nation's railroads to private ownership. (Trottman, page 379)

August 1922:
Columbia Steel received Utah Public Utilities Commission approval to construct a subsidiary called the Carbon County Railway. At the same time they withdrew their application to build another subsidiary called the Iron County Railway which was to be constructed from Lund, on the Union Pacific, to their iron ore properties in Iron County. The steel company withdrew their application based on the Union Pacific's protest in which Union Pacific stated that they were intending to construct the Cedar City Branch. (Public Service Commission of Utah, case 577)

The iron ore bodies in Iron County had been discovered in the early 1850s by Mormon pioneers. The particular deposits near Iron Mountain were first located in the 1870s but by the 1920s had not yet been commercially worked. The mines were to be developed to furnish ore for the new Columbia Steel Company's new iron mill that was being constructed near Springville. The actual mining was done by the steel company's subsidiary Columbia Iron Mining Company, and also by the Colorado Fuel & Iron Company to supply its mill in Pueblo, Colorado. Columbia's mill near Springville, called Ironton, went into production, producing pig iron, on May 1, 1924. The construction of the Cedar City Branch also included the 4.5-mile Iron Mountain Branch to Desert Mound, which left the Cedar City Branch at Iron Springs (Mile Post 20.28).

In 1935 Columbia Iron Mining expanded their operations to include the open pit mine at Iron Mountain and Union Pacific extended the Iron Mountain Branch 10 miles south to reach Iron Mountain Station. In 1942 mining operations were again expanded to supply ore for the new Columbia-Geneva Steel plant, under construction near Orem to supply steel plate needed for the war effort, and Union Pacific made improvements to the facilities on the branch to handle the additional traffic. (U. S. Bureau of Mines Report of Investigations 4076, May 1947)

July 10, 1925:
Union Pacific received Utah Public Utilities Commission approval to discontinue passenger trains 223 and 224 between Echo and Coalville. The Park City mixed train was 225 and 226. (Public Service Commission of Utah, case 799)

November 1925:
Union Pacific gave contract for construction of grade for second track between Gateway and Echo to Utah Construction Company. (Salt Lake Mining Review, November 30, 1925, p. 15)

1927:
Union Pacific's Utah Parks Company began operating the facilities at Grand Canyon National Park, and took over the interests of Utah & Grand Canyon Transportation Company, the bus company that was operating the bus service between Union Pacific's passenger trains at Cedar City and Cedar Breaks National Monument, Bryce Canyon National Monument, Zion's Canyon National Park, and Grand Canyon National Park. The bus company had begun the service in 1923. (Poor's, 1929, p. 1052)

(Union Pacific changed the name of the bus company to Union Pacific Stages.)

July 1930:
State Road Commission replaced the wooden 30th Street bridge in Ogden with a concrete overhead viaduct. (Public Service Commission of Utah, case 1176)

June 2, 1931:
Union Pacific received Utah Public Utilities Commission approval to close the agency at Keetley on the Ontario Branch east of Park City. (Public Service Commission of Utah, case 1210)

December 29, 1932:
Union Pacific received Utah Public Utilities Commission approval to close the agency at Peterson. The freight house is to remain in place, but locked. (Public Service Commission of Utah, case 1264)

March 16, 1935:
Union Pacific received Utah Public Utilities Commission approval to close the agency at Uintah. (Public Service Commission of Utah, case 1716)

April 1935:
The State Road Commission began construction of a concrete subway for State Street under the Union Pacific and D&RGW tracks near Midvale. The construction included a gantlet (interleaved and parallel, but not connected) track for the D&RGW Little Cottonwood Branch to share the new bridge but not the actual rails, with Union Pacific's Provo Subdivision main line. (Public Service Commission of Utah, case 1725, approved March 25, 1935)

January 1, 1936:
Union Pacific leased Los Angeles & Salt Lake, Oregon Short Line, and Oregon-Washington Railway & Navigation for operation. ("Union Pacific Unification", ICC Finance Docket 9422, dated July 26, 1935, in 207 ICC 543.)

"LEASE OF PROPERTIES OF SUBSIDIARY RAILROAD COMPANIES --- For many years the properties of the Union Pacific Railroad Company and those of the Oregon Short Line Railroad Company, Oregon-Washington Railroad & Navigation Company, Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad Company and The St. Joseph and Grand Island Railway Company have been operated under one control and management but the operations of the properties of each company were for its account and it was necessary to keep accounts and statistics and make separate reports to regulatory commissions and others for each company. Effective January 1, 1936, the properties of the other companies were leased to and are being operated by the Union Pacific Railroad This made possible the centralization at Omaha of all accounting and treasury work in connection with the railroad operations and the discontinuance of the separate Accounting and Treasury Departments which had been maintained by the lessor companies at Salt Lake City, Portland, Los Angeles and St. Joseph, with a resultant saving in expense (after the first year) estimated at $472,000 annually." (Union Pacific Annual Report for 1936)

1938:
In a 1938 listing of telegraphers on Union Pacific, there was shown to be three locations in Utah with "towermen" assigned to them:

April 2, 1941:
Union Pacific completed removal of the 5.75-mile Grass Creek Branch. (Work Order 8737; Public Service Commission of Utah, case 2381, approved June 15, 1940)

Union Pacific had purchased the branch from Zion Securities (the investment arm of the Mormon Church) in 1923 for the sum of $1.00, agreeing to relay the line with heavier rail and maintain it in operable condition.

In 1927 the mine shipped 207 cars, and in 1928 335 cars. In 1929 Zion Securities leased the Grass Creek mine to the Grass Creek Fuel Company of Coalville, who also operated the Weber mine near Coalville. The new operators shipped 210 cars of coal in 1929 and 353 cars in 1930. In 1931 the mine shipped 243 cars, even though actual production had stopped. The coal being shipped was coming from the pillars of coal that had supported the mine roof while it had previously been in production. The amount of coal in the pillars was sufficient to allow the operators to ship large quantities of coal.

In the first ten months of 1932 the mine shipped 130 cars, with the mine shut down between March and June. In June they began shipping coal to the Union Portland Cement plant at Devils Slide, which was in heavy production to furnish cement for the construction of Boulder Dam.

Union Pacific applied to abandon the branch in August 1932 but the ICC denied the application because Union Pacific requested that the abandonment not become effective for a period of more than a year. Union Pacific had wanted the unusual, extended effective date to allow the mine to furnish all of the coal needed for the cement plant.

In June 1939 Union Pacific applied again to the ICC for permission to abandon the branch, but on August 1 the ICC dismissed the case for lack of jurisdiction. Union Pacific had been operating the branch as a spur from Coalville by using a light engine to push two or three empties up to the mine and returning to Coalville with the loaded cars.

The Grass Creek mine was finally shut down in the winter of 1938/39. For most of the mine's life, a large part of its production had been furnishing coal as heating fuel for the Ogden Union Railway & Depot, but by now the OUR&D was getting their coal from other sources.

Only one car was shipped in 1936, eleven cars were shipped in 1937, three cars in 1938, and none were shipped in 1939 and thereafter. There was never any passenger service on the branch. (Public Service Commission of Utah, case 2381; UP Drawing 36268, Park City Branch; ICC Finance Docket 9608 --"Return to Questionnaire" and testimony of November 16, 1932 hearing, 189 ICC 195; Finance Docket 12140, 233 ICC 639)

August 1942:
Ogden Union Railway & Depot expanded the Ogden East Yard, also called Speedway or Riverdale Yard. On August 5, the Utah Public Utilities Commission approved OUR&D's request to add two tracks to the 33rd Street crossing as part of the expansion, which included construction of the car repair track. (Public Service Commission of Utah, case 2608)

February 11, 1944:
The construction of the Grant Tower automatic interlocking in Salt Lake City was approved by D&RGW. The documentation to support the project shows that there was a 17-lever mechanical interlocking at the combined WP/D&RGW and LA&SL/D&RGW crossing along 700 West and South Temple streets. The formal completion date for the line change was December 20, 1952, and for the tower building itself, the formal completion date is shown as May 20, 1950. (D&RGW AFE records on file at Colorado Railroad Museum) (click here for more information about Grant Tower)

Industry Events

June 17, 1947 — The federal Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) ordered all railroads to install automatic block signals on all lines where freight trains operated at 50 mph or more, or where passenger trains operated at 60 mph or more. The ICC order required the installation of either an automatic block system (ABS), or a centralized traffic control system (CTC) for lines (Track and Time, Jeff Asay, page 76)

A further clarification of this ICC order comes from Mark Hemphill: "Actually the ICC order required the initiation only of a block system, manual or automatic, in order to exceed 49/59 mph. Automatic block signal systems include ABS, CTC, and various types of cab signal systems. Manual block systems persisted in the U.S. after this date and in fact I dispatched Manual Block-DTC on the KCS in 2000, where we operated freight trains at 60 mph in dark territory." (Mark Hemphill email, October 20, 2007)

1947-1948:
Union Pacific installed Centralized Traffic Control between Salt Lake City and Caliente, Nevada. Included was a new building located north of the Salt Lake City passenger depot, to house the communications equipment, and personnel needed to operate the new control system and control the train movements. this building later became the South-Central District train dispatching center. (part from Union Pacific annual reports for 1947 and 1948)

March 24-26, 1948:
The American Freedom Train came to Salt Lake City via Western Pacific. It was displayed at Salt Lake City (24th), Provo (25th) and Ogden (26th) before going to Pocatello, Idaho, via UP. (Source)

1949:
Union Pacific completed removal of the 2.6-mile Weber Mine Spur, from Coalville to the Weber Mine in Chalk Creek canyon. (Work Order 6926, UP Drawing 19564, UP Drawing 36268, Park City Branch)

Blizzards In Wyoming

Between January 2 and February 21, 1949, a series of blizzards swept across Wyoming, Colorado, and Nebraska. Temperatures fell to as low as 51 degrees below and the wind drove drifts up to 30 feet. It was the worst winter season for Union Pacific since the early 1870s. The blizzards tied the railroad up for seven weeks, and finally UP was forced to detour many of its trains by way of D&RGW through Salt Lake City, Grand Junction, and Denver, then across Kansas. George Ashby, who had been President since Jeffers retired in January 1946, was forced to retire as of March 1, 1949. Although his handling of the railroad's troubles during the storms were not the direct cause, they certainly did not help. (part from Union Pacific, The Rebirth 1894-1969, by Maury Klein, pages 451-458)

 

1944-1951, Grant Tower Interchange

Between 1944 and about 1951, D&RGW, UP, and WP worked together to construct a new interchange in downtown Salt Lake City. (click here for a separate page about the "Grant Tower Interlocking", located just west of UP's Salt Lake City passenger depot.)

July 1951:
Union Pacific completed its new laundry building in Ogden. (Ogden Standard Examiner, July 27, 1952)

December 1951:
Work started on the new Diesel Repair Shop at Salt Lake City. (Railway Age, October 3, 1955, p. 34)

Also in December 1951, Union Pacific completed the Postal Annex building, located just south of UP's Salt Lake City depot. Work began in January 1951 and was completed in time for the Christmas rush. The building measured 125 feet by 225 feet. It was built by Union Pacific and leased to United States Post Office Department upon completion. (Deseret News, January 27, 1951; December 12, 1951) The building was occupied by the Post Office Department from 1951 to 1975 when the Postal Service opened its new sorting facility on Redwood Road.

August 2, 1955:
Union Pacific formally opened the Diesel Locomotive Maintenance and Repair Shop in Salt Lake City. Announced to be built in October 1951. Construction started in December 1951. (July 20, 1955 "72055" news release; Salt Lake Tribune, August 3, 1955, p. 16; Railway Age, October 3, 1955, p. 34)

March 11, 1956:
GM's Aerotrain stopped in Salt Lake City (Salt Lake Tribune, March 12, 1956)

"9,500 Utans See 'Areotrain' On U.P. Swing Into State -- After being admired and examined by more than 9,500 Utans, a forerunner of tomorrows passenger trains was on its way Sunday to oother points on the Union Pacific Railroad.

"Aerotrain," a General Motors conception of modern rail transportation, was viewed Saturday and Sunday during stops at stations in Salt Lake City and Ogden.

"The 400-passenger prototype was lent to U.P. so the railroad's engineers could exhibit it and try it on the company's lines.

"Main difference in the 102-mile-an-hour train from present units, is that each 40-passenger, 32-ton car is cushioned by air-filled bellows rather than steel springs as the older 80-passenger, 65-ton models now being used.

"U.P. has no similar lightweight trains in operation, but is merely trying out the new design, officials said.

"Other stops are planned at Boise, Idaho, March 16 from 8 to 11 a.m. and at Pocatello, Idaho, March 16, between 7 and 9 p.m."

1960
UP joined joined Trailer Train, the national trailer-on-flat-car (TOFC) pool. UP's connecting road at Ogden, SP, also joined Trailer Train in 1960. Competing road WP started TOFC service, better known as "piggyback" service, in 1959 between Salt Lake City and Oakland. D&RGW joined in 1963. (The Tioga Group, Intermodal Timeline, 1954 to 1966, http://www.tiogagroup.com/page22.html )

September 25, 1960:
UP combined its City of San Francisco and City of Los Angeles trains between Omaha and Ogden, as Train 103/104. At Ogden the train was split, with Oakland-bound passengers going by way of SP, and Los Angeles-bound passengers remaining on UP. (part from The Streamliners, Kratville, page 517)

1962:
Union Pacific Coal Company was dissolved and all properties transferred to the railroad. (Moody's, 1973 p. 511)

January 27, 1967:
The United States Postal Service discontinued the use of a Railway Post Office between Ogden and Los Angeles. (The Streamliners, Kratville, page 518)

May 1967:
WP and UP completed a line change to allow the construction of today's I-80, west of Salt Lake City. Included was a new line for WP from about 1000 West, paralleling UP's LA&SL line west to Gladiola Street, at about 3200 West. WP's mainline was abandoned upon completion of the line change, which included a new location called "WP-UP Junction" at about 1100 West. The original WP/LA&SL diamond crossing at Navajo Street was abandoned and the tracks between the new WP-UP Junction and Smelter, 15 miles to the west, were operated as joint trackage. (Track and Time, by Jeff Asay, page 94)

WP-UP Junction, a double crossover at about 1100 West in Salt Lake City, was added in 1967 to replace the "Navajo Street" diamond-crossing at about 1400 West. As noted above, Jeff Asay wrote that the change was to put the WP and UP(LA&SL) lines west from Salt Lake City, on a common alignment in preparation for what today is I-80, and the new superhighway's crossing over the two rail lines at Cheyenne Street (about 1550 West). With the common ownership of both UP and WP lines after the 1983 merger, the need went away to crossover to WP-owned tracks before the ownership changed at the Jordan River, and the double crossover was moved several miles west to Orange Street, about a mile west of Redwood Road. (click here for a Google map.)

1967-1969:

In May 1967, Great Salt Lake Minerals and Chemicals Corp. began building a large plant for commercial extraction of potassium sulfate, sodium sulfate, and magnesium chloride, along with common salt. The plant included 17,000 acres of evaporation ponds just north of Little Mountain, west of Ogden on the lake's eastern shore. (Peter Behrens, "Industrial Processing of Great Salt Lake Brines by Great Salt Lake Minerals & Chemicals Corporation", Great Salt Lake, a Scientific, Historical and Economic Overview, p. 223)

In February 1969, Union Pacific secured Interstate Commerce Commission approval to construct its Little Mountain Branch. The line was to extend 13.27 miles southwesterly from Hot Springs to mineral industry trackage on the east shore of Great Salt Lake, where Great Salt Lake Minerals and Chemicals was developing its extensive facility. Union Pacific's application was protested by both Southern Pacific and the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad, arguing that the new trackage would duplicate SP's already existing 1.7-mile spur, and that shippers had not shown that they required duplicate service from two railroads. The two roads argued that SP, as the existing carrier, was entitled to an opportunity to serve the shippers prior to Union Pacific being granted entry into the area. SP had constructed its 1.7-mile spur northward from its main line to transport construction materials to the site, intending further extension into the area to connect with industry trackage as the area developed and industrial plants were completed. The ICC found that the Little Mountain industrial area was not exclusive SP territory, and that the area was as yet undeveloped and not generating any substantial traffic. Great Salt Lake Minerals, the largest potential shipper, testified that it required single-line service access to Union Pacific, because its markets were all located within Union Pacific territory in the Pacific Northwest, southern California, and in Utah, Idaho, Colorado, Nevada, and Wyoming. Other shippers in the area wanting competitive Union Pacific service included Prior Chemical Co., Boise Cascade Corp., Potlatch Forests, Inc., and Amalgamated Sugar Co. Construction was completed by the end of 1969. (ICC Financial Docket 24635, in 334 ICC 267-272)

1968
In 1968 D&RGW and UP began operation of a unit coal train between Sunnyside, Utah, and the Kaiser steel mill in Fontana, Calif. The train used dedicated full trains of high-sided gondola cars that were loaded at Sunnyside and unloaded at Fontana. The trains also used dedicated sets of SD45 locomotives from both Union Pacific (12 locomotives) and D&RGW (six locomotives).

(click here for additional information about the operation of the Kaiser coal trains)

1969:
Together with Salt Lake City, UP developed its Centennial Business Park on Salt Lake City's west side. (click here for more information)

Union Pacific Corporation

January 30, 1969 — Union Pacific Corporation formed to manage Union Pacific Railroad and its non-railroads interests. (New York Times, January 31, 1969)

May 7, 1970:
Union Pacific moved its freight offices from the freight depot at 5th West and 1st South, north to its North Yard freight office at 701 North 4th West. (Deseret News, May 7, 1970)

June 26, 1971:
All non-railroad properties transferred to Union Pacific Corporation. (Moody's, 1973 p. 511)

1972:
Union Pacific removed the train sheds for the west side of the Salt Lake City depot. (Historic American Building Survey, by Utah State Division of History)

April 27, 1972:
The North Temple Street viaduct in Salt Lake City opened for traffic, two months ahead of schedule. The viaduct took street traffic over Union Pacific and D&RGW tracks. Weyher Construction Company served as general contractor for the $3.5 million project that replaced a "narrow and dilapidated structure". Construction was said to have taken only five months. (Deseret News, April 27, 1972)

October 1972:
Union Pacific rebuilt its tracks along Fourth West, between Second and Ninth South, in Salt Lake City. The tracks were completely removed and new sub-roadbed was installed. New ballast, ties and heavier rail, including 6,000 feet of track and 23 new switches, was installed. The major feature was separating the track structure from the street structure with a curbing. Many of the original, but unused spurs were removed at the same time. The project cost UP $650,000, and was expected to be complete by the end of November. UP had 60 customers along the line. About six trains per day used the track, including the southbound iron ore train to Geneva Steel. The line was previously all double track. The new line included double track only between Fifth and Sixth South. (Deseret News, October 19, 1972)

December 1972:
Union Pacific completed the "one-spot" car repair facility in Salt Lake City. Construction was begun in July. The facility was the latest of many one-spot car shops being built all over the Union Pacific system, the first was at Council Bluffs, opened in early 1972. (Union Pacific 072772r news release)

October 9, 1973:
Wreck involving a soundbound freight train, on the curve in Draper, Utah. Motive power on the train was SD40-2 3190 in lead position, with the following units trailing: SD24B booster units UP 438B, 428B, 407B, 402B, and SD24 cab unit 424. (Extra 2200 South, Issue 41, July-August 1973, page 13, reported by Don Strack)

November 1973:
Union Pacific will install a test section of catenary at Farmington, Utah, and Emkay, Wyoming. Each of the two half-mile sections will be used to test the characteristics of electrical catenary under varying weather and operational conditions, including interference with communication and signal lines. The test are preparatory to a decision of whether or not Union Pacific will electrify its mainline between North Platte, Neb., and Salt Lake City to the south and Pocatello, Idaho, to the north. (Extra 2200 South, Issue 42, September-October 1973, page 12)

UP's Electrification Test

In a news item dated November 25, 1973, Extra 2200 South reported that UP was "building two half-mile test sections of catenary to be in operation in early 1974. One is north of Salt Lake City and the other west of Cheyenne. Tests will show how the wires will hold up under various weather conditons and if wires interfere with signal and communication lines. This is a further step in the study that may decide to electrify the North Platte to Salt Lake City and to Pocatello (Ida.), routes before the end of the decade. (Extra 2200 South, Issue 42, September-October 1973, page 13, reported by Joe Placek, Don Strack, and Ryan Ballard)

Test overhead catenary for electrified operations was installed at Farmington, Utah during early 1974. (CTC Board, 126, December 1973, page 8)

UP installed 200 yards of test catenary at Harriman, Wyo. and north of Salt Lake City, Utah, with completion planned by spring 1974. European design to be used at Harriman and US design to be used at Farmington. The Farmington section was to be completed by December 1973, and was to be energized to test for interference with communication lines. (Pacific News, Issue 146, December 1973, page 16)

European design used at Farmington and US design used at Harriman. (Pacific News, Issue 148, February 1974, page 28)

The test section of catenary at Emkay, Wyo. was completed on 12 July 1974; it was a half-mile long. (Pacific News, Issue 155, September 1974, page 26)

UP has put the electrification project, and the purchase of twenty-five 6,000-horsepower electric locomotives, on hold, possibly due to an economic downturn. (CTC Board, 149, March 1975, page 6)

Both installations were removed in mid 1984. (Extra 2200 South, Issue 81, July-August-September 1984, page 15)

February 1974:
UP began using its eight unique SD40X locomotives, numbered UP 3040-3047, on the Atlantic City, Wyo., to Geneva, Utah, iron ore unit train for U. S. Steel. The eight units replaced similar sets of SD24s and SD24Bs. (Extra 2200 South, Issue 43, November-December 1973, page 12, reported by Don Strack)

late 1974:
Union Pacific completed expansion of Salt Lake City diesel shop, including construction of the new locomotive servicing facility. Construction was begun in March 1973. (Union Pacific news release, dated March 27, 1973) The construction of the locomotive servicing facility and the "one-spot" car repair facility required removal of the old rip track and old coach yard.

Corporate Events - UP/Rock Island Merger

May 13, 1963 — Union Pacific Railroad announced a proposed merger with Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad. (New York Times, May 14, 1963)

June 27, 1963 — The Board of Directors of Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railrpoad voted unanimous approval to accept a proposed merger with Union Pacific Railroad proposed a merger with Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad. (New York Times, June 28, 1963)

July 6, 1963 — Chicago & North Western Railway applied to the ICC for its own merger with CRI&P. (New York Times, July 7, 1963)

Over the following 18-24 months, several suits and countersuits, and shareholder proxy fights kept the Rock Island in the financial news. By early 1965, the ICC began its hearings. The C&NW proposed that C&NW, CRI&P (Rock Island) and CMStP&P (Milwaukee Road) merge to form an Upper Midwest system of railroads, selling any lines south of Kansas City to AT&SF.

UP's proposal would have given the road direct access to Chicago. All of the western roads soon entered the case, asking the federal ICC for some form of consideration, in what would be the longest and most complex railroad merger case heard by the ICC. The case continued for a full 10 years. The ICC finally approved the case on November 8, 1974, but with numerous conditions that UP was unwilling to accept, and UP decided to withdraw its merger application. The ICC dismissed the case on July 10, 1976. (The Historical Guide to American Railroads, 5th printing, 1991, page 91)

June 27, 1966 — C&NW let its bid expire on June 27, 1966, and withdrew its bid to merge with Rock Island. (New York Times, June 28, 1966) Instead, C&NW and almost every railroad in the nation jumped into the UP/Rock Island merger and sought various considerations to the ICC's approval of the merger.

November 8, 1974 —The federal ICC approved the UP-CRI&P merger.

March 17, 1975 — CRI&P declared bankruptcy.

August 4, 1975 — UP withdrew its appliction to merge CRI&P due to the financial condition of the company. The federal ICC approved the UP-CRI&P merger on November 8, 1974, but due to conditions imposed by the ICC to satisfy the objections of D&RGW and SP, UP withdrew its application.

July 10, 1976 — The ICC dismissed the proposed UP-CRI&P merger after UP withdrew its application.

1975:
The TOFC piggyback ramp at Salt Lake City was of the drive-on type until 1975, when they received their first "Piggy-Packer."

October 15-19, 1975:
The American Freedom Train came to Salt Lake City from Billings, Mont., by way of Butte and UP's Montana Subdivision. It was displayed in Salt Lake City (15th) and at Ogden (19th) before heading back north via UP to Boise, Idaho. (Source)

November 1975:
Post Office moved to its new sorting facility at 2100 South and Redwood Road, vacating the Post Office Annex building south of Union Pacific's Salt Lake City depot. (Deseret News, December 17, 1975) (The United States Post Office Department became the United States Postral Service in August 1970; Wikipedia)

The Post Office Annex , or Postal Annex Building, was renovated and became UP's South-Central District offices.

November 1976:
Robert E. Irion was named as General Superintendent of Union Pacific's South-Central District. He replaced Harold H. Brandt who was promoted to General Superintendent of the railroad's Eastern District. Mr. Irion started with UP as a agent-telegrapher at Baileyville, Kansas in 1941. He was promoted to Trainmaster at Grand Island, Nebraska in 1959, then to Superintendent of the Kansas Division in 1964, then Assistant Superintendent of the Utah Division in 1966, then Superintendent of the Wyoming Division in 1972, then General Superintendent of the Northwest District in 1975. (Deseret News, November 19, 1976)

1977:
Union Pacific received Utah Public Utilities Commission approval to abandon portions of the Ironton Branch. (Public Service Commission of Utah, case 77-400-06)

April 1977:
Union Pacific moved into the newly renovated, former Post Office Annex building, south of the Salt Lake City depot. With this move, the railroad vacated leased office space at 10 South Main Street in downtown Salt Lake. (UP letter to Julian Caviler, dated October 28, 1976) The downtown location was in the "Union Pacific Building", formerly called the "Oregon Short Line Building", which the OSL had occupied since 1901. The original OSL offices on West Temple Street in Salt Lake City had burned completely in September 1901. (interview with C. R. Rockwell, UP public relations representative, circa 1978)

June 21, 1977:
Union Pacific received Utah Public Utilities Commission approval to close the agency at Arsenal, which Union Pacific had purchased from the Bamberger Railroad in 1959. (Public Service Commission of Utah, case 77-400-01)

June 21, 1977:
Union Pacific received Utah Public Utilities Commission approval to abandon the stockyards at Henefer. (Public Service Commission of Utah, case 77-400-03)

October 1978:
During mid October 1978, Union Pacific operated its 1944-built 4-8-4 steam locomotive, numbered UP 8444, from Cheyenne to Salt Lake City. The occasion was UP's donating Ogden Union Station to the City of Ogden. A special dedication ceremony was held in Ogden on October 21, 1978, and the locomotive returned to Cheyenne. The actual sale of Ogden Union Station to Ogden City took place in early 1977, with renovation by the city taking place over the following time period prior to the October 1978 dedication.

March 20, 1980:
Union Pacific received Utah Public Utilities Commission approval to abandon the stockyards at Springville. (Public Service Commission of Utah, case 80-400-01)

February 16, 1981:
Union Pacific operated the last train of iron ore from Iron Mountain to the Colorado Fuel & Iron plant in Pueblo, Colo. (source not recorded)

September 16, 1981:
Union Pacific received Utah Public Utilities Commission approval to abandon the stockyards at Wahsatch. (Public Service Commission of Utah, case 81-400-01)

March 26, 1982:
Union Pacific received Utah Public Utilities Commission approval to abandon 2.54 miles of tracks in Weber County. (Public Service Commission of Utah, case 82-400-02)

January 1, 1983:
Union Pacific control of Western Pacific Railroad took effect. UP had received federal ICC approval for its control of WP and MP on December 22, 1982.

(From here on, this chronological history includes all references to events and actions on former Western Pacific tracks and locations in Utah. Click here for WP in Utah prior to January 1983.)

July 21, 1983:
Union Pacific received Utah Public Utilities Commission approval to abandon the stockyards at Wanship, on the Park City Branch. (Public Service Commission of Utah, case 83-400-03)

May 1984:
UP removed the short test installations of catenary at Farmington, Utah, and Emkay, Wyo. These had been installed during the early 1970s to test the two most feasible designs of catenary for electrified locomotive operations. (Extra 2200 South, Issue 81, July-August-September 1984, page 15)

Elsewhere On UP

August 16, 1984 — The first coal train to move on the new Chicago & North Western coal line serving Wyoming's Powder River Basin was operated on August 16, 1984. The train was powered by C&NW SD40-2 6935, along with two UP C30-7s. UP was a partner in construction of the new line, which was known as "Project Yellow". (part from Pacific RailNews, December 1984, page 6)

Early 1985:
Union Pacific placed a "Piggy-Packer" in service at the intermodal ramp in Salt Lake City. The new machine included weigh-in-motion capability. Trailer-On-Flat-Car (TOFC) traffic for UP at Salt Lake City had doubled since 1982. (Pacific RailNews, Issue 257, April 1985, page 5, from Railway Age)

April 21, 1985:
The former Union Pacific depot in Park City was heavily damaged by an arson-set fire. (Deseret News, April 22, 1985)

May 1, 1985:
Union Pacific closed it sales office in Salt Lake City. The office was located in the north end of the UP depot at 400 West South Temple. (Deseret News, April 2, 1985)

October 22, 1985:
Union Pacific and D&RGW exchange trackage rights on each others lines between Ogden and Salt Lake City (D&RGW operating on UP), and between Salt Lake City and Provo (UP operating on D&RGW). (CTC Board, December 1985, page 43, reported by Ryan Ballard)

At the same time, UP and D&RGW removed the angled crossing at Lakota Junction, near Orem, and replaced it with a switch that allowed UP trains direct access to the D&RGW mainline to Salt Lake City. (James Belmont, March 19, 2005 email to Trainorders.com)

January 1986:
Union Pacific announced that all customers along the Wyoming-Ogden main line in Utah, together with customers on the Park City Branch and Ontario Branch, will be served by a toll-free customer service number in Salt Lake City. The stations served include Ogden, Baskin, Castle Rock, Devils Slide, Echo, Emory, Henefer, Morgan, Peterson, Strawberry and Uintah on the main line and Calgas, Coalville, Keetley Junction, Park City, Wanship, and Phoston on the branches. (Union Pacific news release, dated January 1, 1986)

April 29, 1986:
Utah Division was eliminated. The new Western Region covered everything west of Green River, Wyoming, and was made up of the new California Division, Idaho Division, and Oregon Division.

May 5, 1986:
Grant tower in Salt Lake City was closed. The facility controlled the crossing of D&RGW's double track mainline between Roper (Salt Lake City) and Ogden, and UP's ex LA&SL mainline, and WP's line to Oakland. There were at times up to 80 movements per day through the tower trackage. Control was taken over by two screens on the D&RGW dispatcher's station in Denver. (CTC Board, May 1986, page 12)

(See CTC Board, June 1986, page 6, for information about UP's battle against the Great Salt Lake during the spring of 1986.)

Corporate Events

October 1, 1987 — Drew Lewis, former Secratary of Transportation, was named as Union Pacific Corporation's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Since April 1986, he had been a director and CEO of Union Pacific Railroad. Lewis succeeded William S. Cook, who prior to being Chairman and CEO, had been UP Corporation's Vice President of Finance since 1969. (Pacific RailNews, Issue 290, January 1988, page 10)

May 3, 1987 — The Union Pacific Corporation consolidated two subsidiaries, Champlin Petroleum and the Rocky Mountain Energy Company, into a single operating concern called the Union Pacific Resources Company. It said the change would permit further cost and productivity improvements in the natural resource businesses. (New York Times, May 4, 1987)

December 29, 1987:
The Des Chutes Railroad in Oregon and the Oregon-Washington Railroad & Navigation Company were both merged into the Oregon Short Line Railroad.

December 30, 1987:
The Oregon Short Line Railroad was merged into the Union Pacific Railroad.

December 31, 1987:
The Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad was merged into the Union Pacific Railroad. The one day delay was necessary because the LA&SL was owned by both the OSL and the Union Pacific. The OSL was merged into the Union Pacific on December 30. Also on December 31, the Spokane International Railroad was merged into the Union Pacific Railroad.

June 1, 1989:
The new Harriman Dispatch Center in Omaha began operations by taking control of the Seattle to Hinkle portion of the railroad. Control of the remaining parts was to take place over the following 15 months. (Pacific RailNews, Issue 308, July 1989, page 7)

July 27, 1989:
The new Harriman Dispatch Center in Omaha was officially dedicated. (Pacific RailNews, Issue 311, October 1989, page 13)

Corporate Events

Sale of UP Interest in Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal

On January 19, 1990, Union Pacific (through its Union Pacific Realty subsidiary) exchanged its 23% ownership of Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal to Santa Fe Pacific Realty (a subsidiary of Santa Fe Pacific Corp., the merged parent companies of AT&SF and Southern Pacific), in exchange for property previously owned by LAUPT. (Railroad Retirement Board Employer Determination)

 

Corporate Events

UP Buys Interest in Omaha Royals Minor League Baseball Team

During the summer of 1991, Union Pacific Corporation bought half interest in the Omaha Royals, a minor league baseball team.(Pacific RailNews, August 1991, page 4)

"UP Buys Into Royals: In a move aimed more at public relations kudos than corporate profits, UP has entered the world of minor league baseball by agreeing to buy a 49 percent interest in the Triple-A Omaha Royals. Although UP was not seeking a baseball team to purchase, Chairman Mike Walsh struck the deal when it became apparent that Omaha might lose the Royals if a local buyer was not found for the team.

"UP agreed to put up half of the $5 million needed to buy the team. The other half of the money will come from Craig Stein, an experienced and successful minor league owner—and a longtime friend of UP Corp. Chairman Drew Lewis—who will act as managing partner. The one condition insisted upon by Walsh was that any move of the Royals out of Omaha would have to be done with the consent of the railroad."

Two local businessmen were also involved in the purchase to keep the team locally owned: Warren Buffett (25 percent) and Walter Scott (25 percent). UP sold its 50 percent interest to a Deleware businesman in 2001. (Omaha World Herald, August 14, 2008)

May 1993:
UP set up a concrete tie facility in Ogden. Quoting Pacific RailNews, issue 356, July 1993, page 49:

A major manufacturer of concrete ties, CXT Inc. of Spokane, Wash., announced the signing of a six-year contract with UP. During this period, 50 percent of CXT's annual production will go to UP. Approximately one-third of this total will be used in the UP track expansion programs on the Marysville Subdivision in Kansas and Nebraska plus the Blue Mountain project in Oregon. CXT will establish a shipping depot in Ogden, Utah, where the concrete ties will be stockpiled for delivery.

August 3, 1995:
UP and SP announced on August 3, 1995 that they intended to consolidate their operations and merge. In Utah, both Geneva Steel and Kennecott Utah Copper were concerned that the new rail-monopoly in the state would result in increased rates. Geneva shipped about 70 percent of its finished products by rail, using either UP or SP. UP has agreed to allow a second railroad to have access to serve companies that were once served by both railroads, but following the merger, would be only served by the new merged company. At the time of the proposed merger, SP operated 564 miles of route in Utah, with 300 employees, and UP operated 859 miles of track in Utah, with 1,500 employees. (Ogden Standard Examiner, August 21, 1995, p. 4A)

September 11, 1996:
Union Pacific received federal Surface Transportation Board approval to control Southern Pacific Rail Corporation (formerly Rio Grande Industries), including its Southern Pacific and Denver & Rio Grande Western subsidiaries.

(See UP in Utah, 1996 to today, for continuation of this chronology history.)

Creative Commons License Valid XHTML 1.0 Strict Valid CSS!