Utah & Northern Railway (1878-1889)

U&N 1, ex UN 1 "John W. Young", along with U&N 2, ex UN 2, "Utah", was sold in September 1881 to Barrows & Co., a dealer working out of New York City; freight was paid by U&N either to Council Bluffs in October 1881, or to Kansas City in November, for unknown later owner. (September 1881 sale date to Barrows & Co., for $10,000 for both locomotives, and subsequent freight for one locomotive to Council Bluffs in October 1881, and the other to Kansas City in November 1881, from U&N account books for September, October, and November 1881, now part of the U. P. collection at the Nebraska State Historical Society, Lincoln.)

"Two of the oldest narrow gauge Utah and Northern engines were yesterday loaded upon Union Pacific flat cars for shipment east, but were held to await further orders. One of the engines was in the Logan round-house fire and both have been refitted and made quite new in appearance. It is thought that the company has sold them to make place for more powerful engines." (Salt Lake Herald, October 20, 1881, page 8, "Chips" column, lifted from the Ogden Pilot)

Utah & Northern number 1 (1st) was built as Utah Northern Railroad number 1 in 1871, named "John W. Young"; to Utah & Northern Railway number 1 (1st) in 1878; vacated before September 1880 and the arrival of Summit County number 2

Utah & Northern number 1 (2nd) was built 1874 as a Baldwin stock locomotive, or for another railroad and not delivered; sold to Summit County Railroad in September 1875, numbered as Summit County number 2; to Utah & Northern number 1 (2nd) in 1880; to U&N 290 in 1885; vacated before 1891, scrapped.

Utah & Northern numbers 1 and 2 were sold in September 1881 to Barrows & Co., a dealer working out of New York City; freight was paid by U&N either to Council Bluffs in October 1881, or to Kansas City in November, for unknown later owner. (September 1881 sale date to Barrows & Co., for $10,000 for both locomotives, and subsequent freight for one locomotive to Council Bluffs in October 1881, and the other to Kansas City in November 1881, from U&N account books for September, October, and November 1881, now part of the U. P. collection at the Nebraska State Historical Society, Lincoln.)

"Two of the oldest narrow gauge Utah and Northern engines were yesterday loaded upon Union Pacific flat cars for shipment east, but were held to await further orders. One of the engines was in the Logan round-house fire and both have been refitted and made quite new in appearance. It is thought that the company has sold them to make place for more powerful engines." (Salt Lake Herald, October 20, 1881, page 8, "Chips" column, lifted from the Ogden Pilot)

U&N number 2 was built in 1872, named "Utah"; vacated in 1881

Tenders on Utah & Northern numbers 4 and 5 were of the usual two-truck style; Union Pacific's 1885 roster shows the tenders of number 4 and number 5 as holding 900 gallons water and 2-1/2 tons of coal.

Utah & Northern number 6 was built in 1878; to Utah & Northern 10 in 1885; ; to OSL&UN 10 in 1889; vacated before January 1, 1891

Utah & Northern number 7 was built in 1878; to Utah & Nevada Railway number 11 in May 1888; to OSL&UN 11 in 1889; to OSL number 1 in 1897; sold to Sumpter Valley Railway 11 in 1903; to Sumpter Valley 12 in 1906; retired in June 1916 and stored until donated Idaho State University at Pocatello, Idaho, displayed on campus from 1936 to 1942; scrapped.

U&N number 9 was built in 1879; to U&N 13 in 1885; to Salt Lake & Fort Douglas Railway number 6 in November 1887; to Utah Central Railway number 6 in 1890; out of service by late 1893, vacated by 1897-1898, likely scrapped due to poor condition

U&N 13 was built in 1879; to U&N 17 in 1885; vacated and sold in September 1888 to Salt Lake & Fort Douglas 17, renumbered to SL&FD number 2 by November 15, 1888; to Utah Central Railway number 2 in 1890; out of service by late 1893, vacated by 1897; to Glasgow & Western Exploration Company for their Golconda & Adelaide Railway in late 1898 to early 1899, named "Pearl"; to Nevada Short Line Railroad number 1 in 1914; to Nevada Central Railroad number 6 in 1924; sold for "preservation" in 1938; stored until moved to California State Railroad Museum; restored to its Nevada Short Line appearance. (This is the only known preserved Utah & Northern locomotive.)

U&N 14 was built in 1879; to U&N 18 in 1885; vacated and sold in June 1887 to Coeur d'Alene Railway & Navigation Company number 3; later to Houston, East & West Texas Railway, after which it was owned by a variety of lumber companies (also see Colorado Rail Annual, No. 15, page 68)

As history for U&N 22 and 1 (ex Summit County 1 and 2), George Pitchard wrote the following:

In September, 1880, the two Summit County engines appear on the Utah & Northern account, both of them appearing as an 'equipment expenditure' for the U&N, at a cost of $5,000 for the both of them.

Summit County Railroad No. 2 was turned over to the Utah & Northern on March 26, 1878, while the U&N was, in fact, still the Utah Northern Railroad. Eventually Summit County No. 2 became Utah & Northern 2nd No. 1, but the exact date is unknown, since U&N's first No. 1, the Grant 2-4-0, is on the property through September of 1881. It is known that Summit County No. 2 operated on the Utah & Northern for some time as SCRR No. 2, and was not officially transferred, apparently, to the U&N until September of 1880. It may be the case that the U&N's original No. 1, being after all a very light 2-4-0 with huge drivers, was out of service and 'retired' for some time prior to its actual sale in September of 1881, perhaps early enough to allow the renumbering of SCRR No. 2 to U&N 2nd No. 1 by September of 1880.

A precedent exists, on a UP-controlled narrow gauge line, for the denumbering of an old, light engine to make way for better power. On the Colorado Central Railroad, where the ancient and underpowered 0-4-0 engines lost their numbers in 1874 and 1875, two of them remaining on the line as late as 1879, identified only by names applied when un-numbered. It's easy to see a similar occurrence on the Utah & Northern in 1880.

U&N 22 as Summit County No. 1, was built Baldwin class number 12D-16, had 11 x 16" cylinders, 36" drivers, and engine weight of 35,000 pounds, and became U & N No. 22, in 1885 renumbered to No. 2, one of four engines in class DF-1.

Both engines were dropped from equipment prior to January 1, 1891, and scrapped.

Allen Copeland's U&N roster shows specifications for Summit County 1 and 2 as 12x18 inch cylinders, 36 inch drivers, 38,100 pounds engine weight, 6,557 pounds tractive effort.

Utah & Northern 22 was built as Cairo & St. Louis number 8 in January 1873, named "Jonesboro", sale canceled; to Montrose Railroad number 2 in March 27, 1873, canceled the next day; diverted to Summit County Railroad number 1 on March 28, 1873, named "Weber", shipped on April 4, 1873, arrived in Utah on April 22, 1873; to Utah & Northern Railway 22 in September 1880; to Utah & Northern number 2 in 1885; vacated before 1891, scrapped. (click here for more Summit County information)

U&N 44 was ordered, built and delivered as Kansas Central Railway number 12, diverted upon receipt by parent Union Pacific to Utah & Northern number 44; renumbered to U&N 101 in 1885.

Dave Johnson wrote:

The U&N Brooks were long legged gals built for getting down the line at a fairly good speed. Their longer wheelbase limited them to less sharp curves but allowed for a deeper firebox and better steaming. I have never seen anything about negative qualities on these locomotives and after the U&N and the KC were standard gauged a large number of these locomotives went to new homes where they operated for several years.

From photos it appears the U&N Brooks may have spent their whole careers with the Congdon (sp) stacks, but the KC locomotives had a diamond stack at the beginning and at the end. Around 1885/86 the UP experimented with extended smokeboxes and capped stacks on at least 3 of the 5 KC Brooks 2-6-0 locomotives. Photos of the locomotives on other lines plus a description of the stacks lying behind the Leavenworth roundhouse in the standard gauge days seem to indicate a change back to the as built set up by the late 1880s. The capped stacks were actually spark arrestors with a covered top and screened slits in the flange of the cap to allow the smoke out. I seem to remember that some of the early Colorado Central locomotives such as the Porters and possibly at least one of the Cooke 2-6-0 locomotives received the same set up for a short time.

U&N 45 was a very unique locomotive. Its lineage has it being built for American Fork Railroad; sold to Eureka & Palisade Railroad in Nevada; sold to Nevada Central Railway; then to Utah & Northern Railway. As history, George Pitchard wrote the following:

Utah & Northern Ry. No. 45 began life as a sort of demonstrator, the first locomotive built by Mason on the single-boiler Fairlie design now so well-known as the "Mason Bogie" locomotive, built in late 1871 to early 1872 with no specific purchaser in mind, simply to demonstrate the principles involved. In April of 1872, it was sold (with an order for a twin) to the American Fork Railroad, to which it was shipped on July 1, 1872, being assigned shop number 461 at that time. It was numbered AFRR No. 1, and named "American Fork" as well. This locomotive being rather light, it was not exactly a stunning success on a railroad having grades of 296 feet per mile (nearly 6 percent), and was offered for sale before the commencement of the second season of operations on the American Fork RR. There were no immediate takers, and the locomotive was not sold until late in 1873, probably December, to the organizers of the Eureka & Palisade RR, in Nevada. After passing through the Central Pacific's shops at Carlin for what appears to have been a refurbishing and repainting, this engine appears on the Eureka & Palisade RR in early 1874 as that road's No. 1, named "Eureka." In 1875, upon the arrival of a new Baldwin 4-4-0 named 'Eureka' (which still exists), the Mason appears to have been renamed "Onward," possibly as a result of someone having seen one or another of the large number of pictures of a 'similar' engine so named, or perhaps as a result of having discovered that name under several layers of paint on the engine.

E. & P. No. 1, by whatever name, was sold in October 1879 to the then-being-built Nevada Central Ry., as its No. 2, named "Austin," which in mid-1881 is renumbered to 2nd No. 3, on account of the arrival of a new Mogul No. 2 from Baldwin; while it may have retained its name "Austin" as the new No. 3, it seems most frequently to be referred to as the "Dinkey" in this period. In December 1882, the "Dinkey" (No. 3) is transferred to the Utah & Northern, to be used 'temporarily' on that road, likely as a switcher; the freight charge of $132.93 is charged to the Utah & Northern's equipment account in December 1882, and the temporary transfer ends up as a permanent thing, and the engine is assigned No. 45 on the U&N. Renumbered in 1885 to number 296, it was vacated in May 1886, and scrapped.

Nevada Central Ry. 2nd No. 3 transferred to Utah & Northern Ry. in December 1882, to be used 'temporarily' (according to the journal entry), but which was retained, and assigned U & N No. 45. The engine was an 0-4-4T "Bogie" built by the Mason Machine Works, Taunton, Mass., construction number 461, 1 Jul 1872, having 10x15" cylinders, 33" drivers, and an engine weight of 14 tons. In 1885, this engine was renumbered to U&N No. 296, with the system roster of June 1, 1885 showing the engine as having 11x15" cylinders, 34" drivers, and engine weight of 29,900 pounds As No. 296, this engine was declared vacant in May 1886, and scrapped.

As late as 2004, George Pitchard's research showed that U&N 45 was NEVER rebuilt from its original 0-4-4T "Bogie" configuration into anything else, including some sort of bizarre 0-4-2T, as is alleged in at least one source that he was aware of.

UP's June 1, 1885 listing of "Locomotives, Snow Plows, Flangers and Passenger and Freight Car Equipment" shows U&N 296 as a member of the "Odd" class, in the number series of 290-299, while the South Park 2-6-6-T locomotives of the similar Mason "Bogie" design were classed as Class D Mogul, and the South Park 2-8-6T Mason locomotives were classed as Class E Consolidation, the rear (or tank) truck not being considered in determining classification.