Utah Eastern Railroad (1879-1883)
This page was last updated on May 26, 2010.
Utah Eastern Railroad, December 1879 through to its shut down by UP in 1883 and abandonment in 1887
Additional Information
- Corporate Information — Information about Utah Eastern Railroad's corporate organization
- Johnson Thesis — A portion of the Johnson thesis covered the Utah Eastern.
- Reeder Thesis — A portion of the reeder thesis covered the Utah Eastern.
Overview
From Bancroft's History of Utah (published in 1889), Chapter 28, pages 757, 758:
During Emery's administration a bill passed the legislature authorizing the counties of Salt Lake, Davis, Summit, and Tooele to issue bonds for the purpose of constructing a road from Coalville to Salt Lake City, the main object being to obtain a supply of coal at cheaper rates than was charged for fuel taken from the Wyoming mines of the Union Pacific. The bill was vetoed by the governor; but in 1880 an effort was made to build the line by private enterprise, among the subscribers being many who could ill afford such a venture. Like others of the Utah lines, it was thus commenced on a slender capital, but through the aid of wealthy stockholders in the Ontario mine, it was completed as far as Park City, a distance of twenty-five miles from Coalville. Soon afterward a parallel branch, named the Echo and Park City, was built by the Union Pacific, and in 1883 the control of the former, which was known as the Utah Eastern, fell into the hands of the latter. (Salt Lake City Tribune, Dec. 28, 1879)
Timeline
June 30, 1874:
Union Pacific raised its rates for moving coal from Summit County to Salt Lake City from $1.50 to $3.80 per ton and started a public outrage about Union Pacific's monopoly over coal into Utah. The public outcry over the monopoly and the need for competition was the reason that both the Utah Eastern Railroad and the Salt Lake & Coalville Railroad were organized on June 13, 1874, joining the Salt Lake & Echo Railroad which was organized on January 25, 1873. Union Pacific yielded to the pressure of public opinion and lowered the coal rate back down to $1.75 per ton on August 8. (Reeder, pp. 330-336; Utah corporation
number 4289)
December 26, 1879:
Utah Eastern Railroad incorporated to build from Salt Lake City to Coalville. The company was organized with special provisions to keep Union Pacific, or any other road, from gaining control of it and getting a strangle hold on the coal traffic into Salt Lake City. (Reeder, pp. 339-342)
October 1880:
Utah Eastern directors organize Home Coal Company to operate several coal mines in vicinity of Coalville, to furnish reliable coal sources to fulfill contracts with Ontario Silver Mining Company in Park City. (Arrington: Coal Road, p. 51)
October 23, 1880:
Nevada Central sold two locomotives, 10 flat cars, and one caboose, along with 25 miles of rail, to Utah Eastern. Nevada Central numbers 1 and 3 became Utah Eastern numbers 1 and 3. (Pitchard)
October 26, 1880:
Utah Eastern began track laying, at Coalville. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, October 27, 1880, "yesterday")
November 4, 1880:
Utah Eastern 2-6-0 number 1 was fired for the first time on Utah Eastern. (Pitchard)
December 5, 1880:
Utah Eastern 2-6-0 number 3, actually its second locomotive, was received at Echo, formerly Nevada Central number 3. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, December 8, 1880)
December 9, 1880:
Utah Eastern completed to Park City. Grading had begun in May and track laying began in early November. The tracks were completed to Kimballs Junction, near the Kimballs Overland Stage station, on November 26. (Arrington: Coal Road, pp. 50-52)
(The Salt Lake Daily Tribune of December 8 says that the Utah Eastern had been completed to within three miles of Park City, which is the approximate location of Kimballs Junction.)
March 1881:
Utah Eastern built a two stall engine house at the end of the wye at Park City. The road had also received a new locomotive. (Salt Lake Herald, March 3, 1881; March 25, 1881)
February 1882:
Utah Eastern 2-8-0 number 2, its third locomotive, was received at Coalville during the week prior to February 11, 1882. The locomotive was "proposed" by Baldwin to R. C. Chambers for a price of $9,000.00, plus $440.00 in extras. The locomotive was completed at Baldwin on January 5, 1882, its "Date of Trial," and was shipped on January 13, 1882. (Pitchard)
November 19, 1883:
Union Pacific elected its own choice of directors at the November 19 annual meeting. By autumn 1883 Union Pacific had secretly gained control of the Utah Eastern stock and bonds. (Reeder, p. 349)
December 20, 1883:
Union Pacific suspended operation of the Utah Eastern, after completing a connection between its subsidiary Echo & Park City and the Utah Eastern at Coalville. (The Utah Eastern owned the spur from Coalville up to the Weber coal mine, which was owned by the Ontario Silver Mine in Park City.) The contract to deliver coal to the Ontario mine was transferred to Union Pacific's Echo & Park City. (Pitchard: Newspaper Notes, Park Mining Record, February 16, 1884) The Echo & Park City operated the coal spur at Coalville first by transferring the coal from narrow-gauge cars to standard-gauge cars at Coalville and later by converting the branch to standard-gauge and running their cars directly to the mine. (UP corporate history; Union Pacific control and disposal of Utah Eastern is in Athearn, pp. 283, 284)
February 1885:
Receiver appointed for the Utah Eastern, controlled by Union Pacific since November 1883. (Park Record, February 14, 1885)
May 18, 1887:
Echo & Park City purchased the property of the abandoned Utah Eastern, from the trustee Edward Dickinson. Dickinson purchased the Utah Eastern under foreclosure on April 30, 1887. (UP corporate history)
(The Park Record of February 26 said that on February 21, 1887 the Utah Eastern was sold to P. L. Williams, Union Pacific's Western Division attorney.)
December 1887:
Former Utah Eastern tracks between Coalville and Park City were removed. (Salt Lake Herald, December 20, 1887)
Locomotives
Utah Eastern was completed in December 1880; purchased by UP in December 1883 and immediately shut down as competition to UP's paralleling Echo & Park City (formerly the Summit County Railroad). Property of Utah Eastern sold to Echo & Park City in May 1887.
Utah Eastern 2-6-0 — 1 locomotive
| Road Number |
First Number |
Second Number |
Date To Utah Eastern |
Builder | Builder Number |
Builder Date |
1885 UP System Number |
Date Vacated |
Notes |
| UE 1 | B&H 2 | NC 1 | Oct 1880 | Brooks | 230 | May 1875 | UE 1 | Apr 1891 | 1 |
Description:
| Drive Wheel Diameter: 38 inches (later 36 inches) |
| Cylinders: 11x16 inches |
Notes:
Utah Eastern 2-8-0 — 1 locomotive
| Road Number |
Builder | Builder Number |
Builder Date |
1885 UP System Number |
Date Vacated |
Notes |
| UE 2 | Baldwin | 5984 | Jan 1882 | UE 280 | After Dec 1896 | 1 |
Description:
| Drive Wheel Diameter: 37 inches (later 38 inches) |
| Cylinders: 14x18 inches |
General Notes:
| a. | Utah Eastern number 2 was equipped with an Eames vacuum brake, a 20-inch headlight, and a snowplow. |
| b. | In August of 1886, air brakes were put on this engine, and Union Pacific charged Utah Eastern (by this time a defunct company) for the improvement. (Pitchard) |
Notes:
Utah Eastern 2-6-0 — 1 locomotive
| Road Number |
First Number |
Second Number |
Date To Utah Eastern |
Builder | Builder Number |
Builder Date |
1885 UP System Number |
Date Vacated |
Notes |
| UE 3 | M&SV 1 | NC 3 | Dec 1880 | Baldwin | 3625 | Jul 1874 | UE 289 | 1894 | 1 |
Description:
Drive Wheel Diameter: 40 inches (later 42 inches) |
| Cylinders: 12x16 inches |
Notes:
| 1. | Utah Eastern number 3 was built as Monterey & Salinas Valley Railroad number 1 in 1874, named "C. S. Abbott"; M&SV was purchased by SP and gauge changed to standard in 1879; sold to Nevada Central Railway number 3 in December 1879, named "Anson P. Stokes"; to Utah Eastern in October 1880, named "General Burton"; to Utah Eastern 289 in 1885; sold to Kirkpatrick Brothers & Collins, railroad contractors, in 1894; sold to Laurel Railway by early October 1914. |
Sources
Other than the research of George Pitchard, other sources used include:
- Myrick, page 896
- "Coal Road", pages 50, 51
- Kratville, page 3
- Davies, entry for 1885
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