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Oregon Short Line & Utah Northern Railway (OSL&UN)
Oregon Short Line Railroad (OSL)

With details of OSL&UN and OSL as UP's subsidiary in Utah, 1889-1987

This page was last updated on October 19, 2009.

Additional Information:

Index for this page:

(click here for the Wikipedia entry for Oregon Short Line)

Overview

The following listing is meant to correlate various corporate changes with changes in equipment ownership and identification, and operations specifically in Utah. The list shows only companies that built operating mainline trackage, and owned rolling stock. Non-operating companies are noted as necessary.

Chronology History

Oregon Short Line & Utah Northern Railway (1889 - 1897)

July 27, 1889:
Oregon Short Line & Utah Northern Railway is organized by merging the following companies: Utah & Northern Railway, the Utah Central Railway, the Utah & Nevada Railway, the Salt Lake & Western Railway, and the Ogden & Syracuse Railway (all in Utah), the Oregon Short Line Railway and Idaho Central Railway (both in Idaho), and the unbuilt Nevada Pacific Railway in Nevada. (OSL corporate history)

The lease of ORy&N to OSLRy (dated January 1, 1887) continued after the consolidation that formed OSL&UN.

August 19, 1889:
OSL&UN took possession of the following railroads:

September 1889:
OSL&UN (UP) purchased fifty percent ownership (and control) of ORy&N, at a cost of $12 million, by direct purchase from Henry Villard's Oregon & Transcontinental Company. (Memoirs of Henry Villard, page 332) This was to prevent Northern Pacific from taking the same action to control ORy&N. (Trottman, History of the UP, page 237)

September 9, 1889:
OSL&UN completed 3.24 mile branch to Eureka. Construction of the line was begun on April 9 by the Salt Lake & Western. (OSL corporate history)

November 1889:
OSL&UN (Utah & Nevada) is sharing Salt Lake City depot with John W. Young's Salt Lake & Fort Douglas and Salt Lake & Eastern lines. (Salt Lake Herald, November 15, 1889)

1889-1890:
OSL&UN began grading a line from Milford to Pioche, Nevada, a distance of 145 miles. In March 1887 Union Pacific president Charles Adams had asked that a route be surveyed to California, from the Utah Central at Milford, and the route was found "worthy of consideration". At the time of the survey, the silver mining town of Pioche was almost a ghost town. (Athearn, p. 288) The grade to Uvada was completed and some bridges were built along that portion of the line. The grade from Uvada to Clover Valley Junction (later Caliente) and then north to Pioche was only partially completed, although six tunnels were completed on the line between Uvada and Clover Valley Junction. Early completion of 7.75 miles of track laid south from Milford ended when financial difficulties developed in 1890 and construction was halted and the track was taken up. (SP,LA&SL corporate history)

late June 1890:
W. H. Bancroft resigned as general manager of Rio Grande Western, "a surprise to everyone". Effective July 1, 1890. (Pitchard: Newspaper Notes, from Salt Lake Daily Tribune, June 21, 1890) Bancroft returned to Salt Lake City from Denver, to find a letter from D. C. Dodge saying that Bancroft's letter of resignation would be accepted. Bancroft announced that he would leave on July 1, 1890. (Pitchard: Newspaper Notes, Salt Lake Evening Times, June 21, 1890)

(Bancroft had been with D&RG, and its successor RGW, since 1881 [Athearn: Rebel, p. 147] and became Superintendent of the Oregon Short Line.)

October 1, 1890:
OSL&UN completed the new standard-gauge line between Ogden and Pocatello. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, October 2, 1890, "last rail in widening of old line and building new line") The new line included 48.58 miles of new construction between Dewey, Utah and Oxford, Idaho (20.64 miles north of the Utah/Idaho line) by way of the Bear River gorge, along with an 8.58-mile connection between Cache Junction, on the new standard-gauge line, and Mendon, on the old narrow-gauge line. Operation of the new standard-gauge connection between Cache Junction and Mendon line began on October 24. (OSL corporate history) The conversion of the old (original narrow-gauge) line between Mendon and Preston, through Logan, was completed on Sunday, October 26. (Utah Journal, October 22, 1890) This line became the Cache Valley Branch. (ICC Financial Docket 15790, 267 ICC 638)

The 15-mile section of the old narrow-gauge main line north from Preston to Oxford, Idaho was abandoned upon completion of the new standard-gauge line, as was the 12-mile narrow-gauge line between Dewey and Mendon, by way of Collinston Summit. This original line over Collinston Divide was used 25 years later by the Ogden, Logan & Idaho Railway to build their electric line between Ogden and Logan in October 1915. (Swett, p. 76) The line between Preston and Oxford later became the alignment for today's U. S. Highway 91.

April 1891:
OSL&UN relaid 11 miles of former Utah & Nevada with 40-pound steel rail. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, April 5, 1891)

1892:
OSL&UN completed the 1.09-mile Five Points Branch, from Five Points Junction, on the main line, 2.94 miles north of Ogden, to Five Points, Utah. (OSL corporate history)

January 1892:
The narrow-gauge (former Utah & Nevada) district of the OSL&UN was operating standard-gauge cars on narrow-gauge trucks for the salt traffic between the south shore of the Great Salt Lake and Salt Lake City. The change in trucks is being made at Salt Lake. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, January 1, 1892) The change was done using a Ramsey Transfer device. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, December 11, 1900)

February 1892:
OSL&UN completed the 3.03-mile Northern Spy Extension, from Silver City on the Silver City Branch to the Northern Spy Mine. Construction was begun in August 1891. (SP,LA&SL corporate history, LA&SL drawing 8111-D; OSL corporate history)

October 13, 1893:
UP entered receivership, along with all of its leased and controlled subsidiaries, including OSL&UN and ORy&N.

October 13, 1893:
Receiver appointed for OSL&UN (same date as Union Pacific)

Additional receivers appointed for OSL&UN by other courts in other suits foreclosing on several separate mortgages, on November 3, 1893, November 22, 1893, and on September 4, 1894.

December 1893:
OSL&UN completed the 1.82-mile Mammoth Branch from Mammoth Junction, on the Silver City Branch, to the Mammoth Mill. Construction was begun in September. The last 5,047 feet (.96 mile) of the branch, from the crossing of Rio Grande Western's Tintic Range Railway to the mill, was joint trackage to allow RGW access to the mill's traffic. (SP,LA&SL corporate history; OSL corporate history)

spring 1895:
A separate receiver is named for the OSL&UN. (Trottman p. 261)

February 23, 1897:
The property of old Oregon Short Line & Utah Northern Railway was sold to the new Oregon Short Line Railroad, incorporated for the purpose in Utah on February 1, 1897. On January 9, the receivers had sold the property to the reorganization committee, who then sold it to the OSL. (OSL corporate history)

March 15, 1897:
The new Oregon Short Line Railroad took possession of the old Oregon Short Line & Utah Northern Railway on March 15, 1897. (OSL corporate history)

(Trottman, p. 261, gives date as "early 1897".)

(The Salt Lake Daily Tribune of March 16, 1897 says that the transfer took place, saying that "At 12:01 am this morning, the Oregon Short Line company commenced operating its lines and independent system.")

The Salt Lake Daily Tribune article mentioned above also showed that OSL's principal shops were at Salt Lake City and at Pocatello, with smaller shops at Shoshone, Eagle Rock, and Battle Creek, all in Idaho, Butte, Montana, and at Lehi, Logan and Ogden, Utah. (Lehi?!?)

"All locomotives of the Short Line will be at once be renumbered by the class system in vogue amongst most of the roads." (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, March 16, 1897)

November 1, 1897:
Union Pacific Railway was sold to Union Pacific Railroad, incorporated for that purpose in Utah on July 1, 1897; UPRR took possession of UPRy on January 31, 1898 (Trottman, pages 268, 269)

Oregon Short Line Railroad (1897 - 1987)

February 9, 1897:
Oregon Short Line Railroad was incorporated.

March 16, 1897:
Oregon Short Line Railroad took possession of bankrupt Oregon Short Line & Utah Northern Railway

OSL was independent from Union Pacific from March 1897 to October 1898.

November 1, 1897:
Union Pacific Railway was sold to Union Pacific Railroad, incorporated for that purpose in Utah on July 1, 1897; UPRR took possession of UPRy on January 31, 1898 (Trottman, pages 268, 269)

July 11, 1898:
In a move to show its new independence, W. H. Bancroft, OSL's General Manager, put into effect an passenger service agreement with RGW for interchange at Salt Lake City that would "shut out the U.P." Bancroft and general Traffic Manager Eccles had just returned from a conference with Union Pacific at Chicago concerning traffic divisions, being disappointed to not received the same divisions OSL&UN enjoyed with UPRy.

October 13, 1898:
At its annual meeting on October 13, 1898 in Salt Lake City, Utah, Union Pacific was able to vote in 10 of the 15 board members on OSL's board of directors (including E. H. Harriman as Chairman), putting UP in firm control of Oregon Short Line Railroad. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, October 13, 1898)

August 1901:
OSL ordered a 65 ton Shay for the New East Tintic Railway. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, August 2, 1901) (New East Tintic 11 was built in January 1902.)

September 10, 1901:
The records of the Oregon Short Line Railroad were destroyed in an explosion and fire at the Salt Lake City headquarters on September 10, 1901. The entire offices of the Oregon Short Line were wiped out of existence. "It had many valuable records stored in different parts of the burned building upon which no money value can be placed. They were records of the company from its very beginning - records which represented the company's entire history and holdings. They are gone, and gone forever." General Manager W. H. Bancroft was asked what was lost. His reply was, "What have we lost? Why everything we had. We have not as much as a scratch of a pen left. Everything is gone; everything." The cause of the explosion was said to be improper storage of various chemicals in the basement, which was occupied by the Mine and Smelter Supply Company. The first alarm was sounded at 3:34 a.m. Burned fragments of OSL records were found as far away a one and a half miles, on the grounds of the St. Mark's hospital. Included in the destruction was the Chief Engineer's vault, which contained the plans for the Salt Lake City to Los Angeles extension. (Deseret News, September 10, 1901; Salt Lake Daily Tribune, September 11, 1901)

By mid November 1901 the railroad had located new offices in the just completed Deseret News Building. (Deseret News, November 18, 1901) Mr. Bancroft occupied his new offices on April 7, 1902. The railroad occupied three full floors. (Deseret News, March 29, 1902; April 7, 1902)

The original OSL building that burned in 1901 was located on West Temple Street between 2nd and 3rd South. The Deseret News Building was six stories high and was located on the southwest corner of South Temple and Main streets. By 1907 the railroad was occupying all floors of the Deseret News Building except the ground floor. The newspaper had moved directly west to the adjacent "Annex" building. By the time of the modernization of the building's facade in 1964, the Union Pacific had taken over both the original building and the annex to the west, with matching names: Union Pacific Building and Union Pacific Annex. (Deseret News, April 1, 1964)

In April 1977 Union Pacific moved its offices to the old Post Office Annex building, located south of its Salt Lake City depot. What was called the Union Pacific Building at 10 South Main then became known as the Zion Securities Building, named for its then-current owner. The Zion Securities Building was demolished in October 1995 to make way for an entirely new 18-story office building and underground parking terrace called Gateway Tower West. The new building's first tenant moved in during the second week of July 1998. (Deseret News, September 21, 1995; October 6, 1995; June 13, 1996; September 13, 1996; July 9, 1998)

January 30, 1902:
OSL received its new Shay locomotive. An item in the Deseret News revealed that "The Oregon Short Line has received the largest Shay locomotive ever built. It is now being coupled up at the shops and will be used on the Tintic branch in handling the ore shipments of the Star Consolidated." (Deseret News, January 30, 1902)

March 1902:
OSL completed the spurs to the Kaysville Cannery and the Elgin Creamery, both at Kaysville at the present site of the Deseret grain elevator. (UP engineering drawings)

July 9, 1902:
Harriman and Clark reach agreement that ended the rivalry for the route between Uvada and Caliente and south through Meadow Valley Wash in Nevada. (SPLA&SL corporate history)

November 15, 1902:
Last OSL narrow-gauge train operated. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, November 16, 1902) OSL was building the Leamington Cut-off and since September the narrow-gauge trains had been operating on about eight miles of three-rail trackage because some portions of the two alignments were the same. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, September 16, 1902) Approximately 2.36 miles of the roadbed and right of way of the "Terminus Line" from Mile Post 1.28, at the west bank of the Jordan river, to Buena Vista and 4.91 miles of the right of way near Garfield were utilized in the construction of the Leamington Cut-off. (SPLA&SL corporate history) On April 10, 1903 David Eccles' Sumpter Valley Railway lumber line in Oregon bought all of the remaining OSL narrow-gauge equipment. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, April 10, 1903)

June 20, 1903:
OSL completed the 117-mile Leamington Cutoff, between Salt Lake City and Leamington Junction (later Lynndyl). (SPLA&SL corporate history)

Leamington Cutoff:

The original Utah Southern main line between Salt Lake City and the connection at Leamington Hill was 133 miles long and had grades as high as 1.14 percent and numerous 6 degree curves, not suitable for use as part of Harriman's projected trunk line between Utah and southern California. Leamington Junction was originally called Leamington Hill Spur and was at the top of a 1.5-mile 1 percent grade west from Leamington Station. The new Cut-off has maximum grades of 0.8 percent and curves up to 4 degrees.

Construction of the Cut-off began in March 1902, with the grading work being done by Utah Construction Company. The new construction included a cut 100 feet deep and 3,000 feet long through the "Stockton Bar" at the south end of the Tooele valley. This ridge of sand and gravel is the geological feature that separates the Tooele Valley from the Rush Valley, to the south.

The old Utah & Nevada narrow-gauge had terminated at the north slope of the ridge, preparing to construct a 1,000 foot tunnel through it. But the U&N was not able to build the tunnel because of the type of material that makes up the ridge ("unconsolidated conglomerate") would not allow construction of a tunnel with the technology available in the 1880s, and the U&N couldn't afford to go around. Later consideration of the tunnel project was not possible due to the financial condition of the company. (from Engineering News, September 17, 1903, pp. 249-252)

At time of transfer of ownership to SPLA&SL, in July 1903, all of the track work and bridges were completed, but the line was not yet ballasted. Upon completion of the cut-off, the 31 miles of former Utah & Nevada narrow-gauge line was abandoned. (SPLA&SL corporate history)

The Leamington Cut-off crossed the Tintic Branch (built in 1887 by the former Salt Lake & Western) at Boulter, 43 miles south of the branch's connection with the Provo main line at Lehi Junction. The Cut-off also crossed the old SL&W Silver City Branch 1.8 miles northeast of its connection with the Tintic Branch at Ironton. The point where the Cut-off crossed the Silver City Branch was named Tintic Junction and the point where the Eureka Branch made its connection with the Silver City Branch was called Silver City Junction. The 10.04 miles of the old OSL (former SL&W) Tintic Branch between Boulter and "old" Tintic was abandoned in 1904, including the wye at Ironton, the old connection between the Tintic Branch and the Silver City Branch. (SPLA&SL corporate history)

(These four branches that served the Tintic Mining District made up the Tintic Subdivision. The subdivision consisted of 1) the Silver City Branch, from Tintic to Silver City; 2) the Eureka Branch, from the new Silver City Junction (about 3/4 mile east of Tintic) to Eureka; 3) the Mammoth Branch, from Mammoth Junction, on the Silver City Branch, to the Mammoth mine, including the former New East Tintic Railway; and 4) the Northern Spy Extension, from the end of the Silver City Branch to the Northern Spy mine. The subdivision was the operating home of Union Pacific's Shay locomotives. Click here for more information))

July 7, 1903:
SPLA&SL purchased all OSL lines south and west of Salt Lake City. (SPLA&SL Corporate History)

Lines of railroad purchased by SPLA&SL included:

The connection on the new Leamington Cut-off was at the west bank of the Jordan River, 1.78 miles west of Salt Lake City, at SPLA&SL Mile Post 781.56 (from Los Angeles, via Leamington Cutoff) and OSL Mile Post 1.23 (from Salt Lake City).

Separation on Provo line was just immediately south of Sandy at OSL milepost 49.98 (from Ogden), and later LA&SL milepost 786.35 (from LA).

(Sandy was likely chosen as the point of separation because OSL(UP) wanted to retain the smelter traffic. At this time, Salt Lake City was the smelting center of the west, with numerous smelters at Murray, Midvale, and Sandy. Click here for more information.)

Under a 99 year lease dated June 18, 1903, SPLA&SL was granted trackage rights over 18.74 miles of the two OSL lines into Salt Lake City; from Sandy on the Provo line and from the Jordan River bridge on the Leamington Cutoff. Also included was a 99-year joint use agreement for SPLA&SL to use OSL's facilities and yards in Salt Lake City. The line between Salt Lake City and Sandy was within the yard limits of the OSL/LA&SL joint Salt Lake City yard. (SPLA&SL corporate history)

Included in the sale were 17 OSL locomotives (15 rod locomotives for mainline use and 2 Shay locomotives for switching at Tintic). (Deseret News, July 21, 1903)

July 16, 1903:
Malad Valley Railroad completed 14.57 miles of line from Corinne and Garland. The company was incorporated on November 25, 1902. (OSL corporate history) (Utah, 4050) Construction had begun on April 6 at Corinne, at a connection with the Central Pacific's line to Promontory. In November 1902 OSL completed construction of the 4.09-mile "Brigham City Cut-off", between Brigham City and a connection with the Central Pacific line at Corinne Junction, about 1.5 miles east of Corinne. (source not recorded)

July 26, 1903:
OSL and Central Pacific signed a trackage rights agreement that allowed OSL to operate trains over the 1.55-mile section of the Central Pacific's main line between Corinne Junction and Corinne. (Also in July 1903, the SP began operating over the new Lucin Cut-off, directly across the Great Salt Lake, making the Promontory line a secondary one.) On July 1, 1903 OSL began service to Garland sugar factory, operating over their own line between Brigham City and Corinne Junction, over the Central Pacific between Corinne Junction and Corinne, and over the Malad Valley Railroad between Corinne and Garland. (OSL corporate history)

The Utah Sugar Company completed the construction of a sugar factory at Garland in 1903 and in July 1907 the plant came under the ownership of the Utah-Idaho Sugar Company. (Arrington: Great Basin, pp. 391, 407, 408) Union Pacific bought the 1.55-mile Corinne Junction to Corinne portion of the old Central Pacific from SP on November 14, 1947 after the Southern Pacific Promontory Branch was abandoned. (source not recorded)

May 24, 1904:
OSL and Utah Sugar Company signed an agreement for OSL to operate the sugar company's 7.04-mile branch from Tremonton west to Thatcher. The line was operated as OSL's Thatcher Branch. (OSL corporate history)

August 1904:
OSL completed the branch to the United States smelter at Midvale, south of Salt Lake City, called the U. S. Smelter Spur, from Atwood on the Provo line. The road also completed the branch to the Highland Boy smelter, by building north from the U. S. smelter, along the west side of the RGW main line. (source not recorded)

June 1905:
OSL completed the new roundhouse at 900 North and 500 West, the last locomotives were moved from the old roundhouse to the new roundhouse on Sunday, June 5, 1905. (Deseret News, June 9, 1905, "Old Roundhouse Now Demolished)

On February 17, 1905, the Deseret News carried an item that the new roundhouse would be completed about March 1. (Deseret News, February 17, 1905, "Spike and Rail")

OSL and SPLA&SL had shared the original OSL roundhouse at Salt Lake City at North Temple and 400 West, and would continue to share the new roundhouse.

June 1905:
OSL completed the spur to the Kaysville Milling Company, at Kaysville (now the Deseret Mills grain elevator). (UP engineering drawings)

December 22, 1905:
Malad Valley Railroad completed the 31.83-mile extension from Garland to Malad, Idaho. The entire 46.38-mile Malad Valley line from Corinne to Malad was formally leased to OSL for operation on July 1, 1906, although they had been operating the line since its completion to Garland in June 1903. (OSL corporate history)

In 1906, OSL completed the construction of a new line into Ogden, from Salt Lake City. The new line left the original Utah Central 1869 main line at Roy and connected with the western leg of the OUR&D wye, at 30th Street, completed in 1889. The construction of the new OSL line included the bridge over the Weber River, and the connection with the OUR&D was named Bridge Junction. The original Utah Central line remained in place as a secondary main line, until the second track between Salt Lake City and Ogden was completed in 1912. At that time the original line became the Evona Branch. (source not recorded)

March 1906:
OSL retired and removed the western half-mile of the Syracuse Branch, west from Mile Post 4.7 at Syracuse, including the wye track at the end of the branch. (ICC 1912 Valuation drawing)

September 12, 1906:
OSL completed the 14.53-mile Wellsville Branch between Mendon and Logan Junction, through Wellsville and Hyrum. The line began in March 1901 as an industrial spur from Logan to the Logan sugar factory of the Logan Sugar Company (later, in July 1902, the Amalgamated Sugar Company) which had begun construction of its factory in December 1900. In September 1905 work was started on the extension of the spur to the west, reaching Hills Spur, just east of Wellsville and nine miles south of Logan Junction, on December 11. Work was halted for the winter. Construction started again in the spring, with the line being completed to Mendon in September. (Arrington: Eccles p. 243; OSL corporate history) The original, direct line between Mendon and Logan, built as the narrow-gauge main line in 1872 and 1873, became the "Old" Cache Valley Branch. (ICC Financial Docket 15790, 267 ICC 639)

December 1906:
E. H. Harriman bought controlling interest in Utah Light & Railway, the street car company in Salt Lake City, operated as a subsidiary of Oregon Short Line. Most of the stock came from the LDS Church, at a reported price of over $10 million. (Arrington: Great Basin, p. 408)

1909:
OSL completed construction of the spur to serve the cement plant of Ogden Portland Cement Company, located near Brigham City. The 1.1-mile line connected with the OSL main line at Bakers and ended at the cement plant, called Opco by the railroad. (ICC Financial Docket 15740, 267 ICC 633) By February 1910 the cement plant was in full production. (Salt Lake Mining Review, 2/30/1910 p. 23)

(The semi-demolished hulk of the cement factory still stands adjacent to Interstate Highway 15, about three miles north of the Brigham City exit.)

July 1909:
OSL and SPLA&SL completed the new Union Depot at Salt Lake City. Construction was begun in November 1906, and the depot was partially occupied in 1908. (Salt Lake City, Past and Present, published in 1908)

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

October 31, 1910:
Oregon Short Line took possession of its seven branch feeder lines, comprising 390.5 miles of trackage, mostly in southern Idaho. Included was the 46.4-mile Malad Valley Railroad, which had completed its line from Corinne, Utah to Malad, Idaho in 1905. The Malad Valley Railroad corporation was dissolved on June 24, 1911. (Poor's, 1929, p. 1051; OSL corporate history)

(The Malad Valley Railroad became OSL's Malad Branch.)

1912:
In 1912 OSL completed the construction of the second track between Salt Lake City and Bridge Junction in Ogden. The construction included major line changes that were completed in May 1911. The longest was between Layton and Clearfield, from OSL Mile Posts 9 to 15. The original Utah Central 1869 main line had been located adjacent to Territorial Highway 1, later to become U. S. Highway 91. The business section in each of those two town's was developing along the same route, giving the towns a main line railroad down its main street. The line change moved the line about 500 feet west to its present location. A short section of the original track was left in place along Layton's Main Street, until at least 1930, to allow access to shippers, including Layton Milling Company and the Layton plant of the Woods Cross Canning Company. (UP valuation drawing; Layton history)

Another line change, called the Shepherd Lane Line Change, was completed in August 1911 and was for an easier curve between Farmington and Kaysville, between OSL Mile Post 18 and Mile Post 21, now Mile Post 799 and Mile Post 803, respectively. There was also a minor line change at Roy, at OSL Mile Post 5, now Union Pacific Mile Post 814. (UP valuation drawing)

October 12, 1912:
OSL completed the 8.13-mile Benson Branch between Ballard Junction (3.53 miles south of Cache Junction) and Benson Junction, at Logan. Construction began on June 1. (OSL corporate history)

(The line was sometimes called the "Ballard Cut-off".)

January 1913:
OSL acquired Idaho Northern Railway

August 1914:
OSL acquired the following railroads:

April 1915:
OSL completed the spur to the Layton Sugar Company's sugar factory at Layton; the sugar factory was also completed in 1915. In December 1917, additional trackage, joint with D&RGW, was completed. (source not recorded)

June 1916:
OSL awarded a contract for the expansion of Brigham City yard to the Utah Construction Company. (Salt Lake Mining Review, June 15, 1916, p. 33)

August 1916:
OSL announced that it would install a block control system between Cache Junction, Utah and McCammon, Idaho. LA&SL would also install a block control system between Salt Lake City and Lynndyl. (Salt Lake Mining Review, August 15, 1916, p. 33)

The amount of traffic was increasing for businesses in Logan and northern points in Cache Valley. With the construction of the Wellsville Branch in 1906, all of the Cache Valley traffic was being routed away from the "Old Cache Branch" (originally the 1873 Utah Northern narrow-gauge main line) and on to the new line through Wellsville and Hyrum.

The trackage for the Wellsville passed through the Logan sugar factory and was becoming a bottle neck for the other Cache Valley traffic. To remedy the problem OSL completed, during August 1916, a two-mile direct connection which by-passed the sugar factory. The new line connected with the Wellsville Branch on the south at a point called Sugar Factory Junction. The connection to the north was named East Logan Junction.

The name Logan Junction was retained for the connection between the Old Cache Branch and the north end of the line that still served the sugar factory. In 1932, with the abandonment of the west end of the Old Cache Branch, East Logan Junction became Logan Junction, and the old Logan Junction became College Junction, because the Old Cache Branch then ended at College and was renamed the College Branch. The Wellsville Branch became the new Cache Valley Branch at the same time. The old line through the sugar factory became the 1.89-mile long Logan Sugar Factory Branch, between Sugar Factory Junction on the south and Logan Junction on the north.

1918:
OSL completed the 10.6-mile Bear River Branch, from the sugar factory at Garland, on the Malad Branch, south to Bear River City. (Railway Age, January 13, 1919, p. 95)

(Built to transport sugar beets, grown in the region west of the Bear River, to the sugar factory at Garland.)

May 1918:
OSL completed the 4.9-mile Urban Branch, by constructing a 3.8-mile line to Urban, as a extension of the spur to the cement plant at Opco. (Railway Age, January 3, 1919, p. 95) The branch was built to transport the sugar beets from the region along the east bank of the Bear River. (ICC Financial Docket 15740, 267 ICC 634)

July 18, 1918:
OSL received Utah Public Utilities Commission approval to close the agency at Mendon, on the Cache Valley Branch. (Public Service Commission of Utah, case 66)

August 1918:
OSL retired and removed the one-mile long spur to the Highland Boy smelter, which connected with the U. S. Smelter Spur near Atwoods. (OSL Work Order 6324) The trackage was joint with D&RG and had not been used since the smelter was closed in December 1907. The right of way was retired in October 1943. (OSL Work Order 759)

1922:
OSL sold its interest in Utah Light & Traction Company, the street car line in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Poor's, 1929, p. 1051)

December 31, 1931:
OSL received Utah Public Utilities Commission approval to close the agency at Hot Springs. (Public Service Commission of Utah, case 1245)

June 1932:
Public Utilities Commission gave its approval for the OSL to close the agency at Willard. The depot grounds were actually located about a half-mile west of town and the Utah Idaho Central interurban operated through the center of town along Second West. The closure of the depot was protested by the citizens of Willard because they had donated the depot site in 1890 for the purposes of OSL providing freight and passenger service to the town. (Public Service Commission of Utah, case 1275, 1311)

October 25, 1932:
OSL retired and removed the western 2.78 mile portion of the College Branch, from College, at Mile Post 3.14, to Mendon, on the main line of the Cache Valley Branch, Mile Post 5.92 and end of the College Branch. (OSL work order 258; ICC Financial Docket 9518, approved August 25, 1932, 187 ICC 329)

November 10, 1932:
OSL received Utah Public Utilities Commission approval to close the agency at Roy. (Public Service Commission of Utah, case 1278)

October 19, 1934:
OSL received Utah Public Utilities Commission approval to close the agency at Collinston. (Public Service Commission of Utah, case 1610)

September 9, 1935:
OSL received Utah Public Utilities Commission approval to close the agency at Dewey. Approval to take effect on September 14. (Public Service Commission of Utah, case 1762)

November 1935:
The State Road Commission began construction of a concrete subway for U. S. Highway 30 under the Union Pacific and Utah Idaho Central tracks, north of Brigham City. (Public Service Commission of Utah, case 1807, approved November 9, 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)

One of the measures that helped Union Pacific survive the 1930s was a consolidation of UP with its subsidiary roads, which was first proposed by the road's Chairman, Judge Lovett who had controlled the company since Harriman's death in 1909. Lovett's proposal for consolidation was presented to the Interstate Commerce Commission just before his death in June 1932, but was not approved until July 1935, and took effect on January 1, 1936.

This consolidation brought together Union Pacific Railroad, Oregon Short Line Railroad, Oregon-Washington Railway & Navigation Company, and Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad, along with several smaller railroad companies. Because of a wide variety of collateral and bonding arrangements, the component companies remained as separate corporations, and leased their railroads to Union Pacific for their operation thereby allowing much needed economies of scale that cut costs and helped the railroad's bottom line ($472,000 in the first year alone).

The visible evidence of the 1936 merger was that Union Pacific lettering was placed on the sides of the tenders, while ownership initials were placed on the rear of the tenders and in smaller letters on the cab side below the locomotive numbers.

April 1, 1938:
OSL received Utah Public Utilities Commission approval to close the agency at Portage, at Mile Post 36.73 on the Malad Branch. (Public Service Commission of Utah, case 2024)

June 28, 1941:
OSL received Utah Public Utilities Commission approval to close the agency at Hyrum, on the Cache Valley Branch. (Public Service Commission of Utah, case 2478)

In May 1942, Union Pacific retired and removed the western 1.15-mile portion of the Evona Branch, between the connection with the OSL main line (branch Mile Post 3.77), and the crossing with the Roy-Hot Springs Road (Highway 91), branch Mile Post 2.62. (Work Order 89) The Evona Branch was built as the original Utah Central main line in 1869 and became a secondary main line in 1906 after OSL completed its six-mile Sand Ridge Cut Off into Ogden. (Public Service Commission of Utah, case 2544, approved March 30, 1944)

The portion of the branch to be abandoned had only been used for the storage of cars since 1912 when OSL completed the second track on the new main line. (Public Service Commission of Utah, case 2544) In July 1930 the state began improving Highway 91 by building a new "modern" concrete bridge over the 1906/1912 built OSL main line. (Public Service Commission of Utah, case 1176)

(Abandonment for the portion of the Evona Branch west of the highway crossing was requested because the state wanted to pave the entire route of Highway 91 between Roy and Hot Springs and Union Pacific did not want to pay for a highway crossing for the branch.)

July 21, 1942:
OSL received Utah Public Utilities Commission approval to close the agency at Farmington. The last business for the agency had been to accept materials for the construction of the Mountain States Telephone & Telegraph transcontinental cable. Woods Cross is the next station to the south and Kaysville is the next station to the north. Approval to remove the Farmington depot building was given on July 26, 1948. (Public Service Commission of Utah, case 2599)

November 1942:
OSL retired and removed the western 2.9-mile portion of the Benson Branch from Mile Post 0 at Ballard Junction on the Cache Valley Branch, to Mile Post 2.9 at Benson. (OSL work order 428; Abandonment approved by the ICC on October 26, 1942, Financial Docket 13927, 254 ICC 810) The 8.17-mile Benson Branch was completed in October 1912, between Ballard Junction (Mile Post 3.53 on the Cache Valley Branch) and Benson Junction, in Logan, as a direct route (11.7 miles) for through traffic between Cache Junction and Logan, by-passing the Cache Valley Branch (15.3 miles) and the Wellsville Branch (23.9 miles). The branch was used seasonally for 90 days each year for the movement of sugar beets to the Logan sugar factory. The Logan sugar factory operated until 1926 and was dismantled in 1936. In the twenty-five years that the sugar factory was in operation, from 1901 to 1926, it processed 1.5 million tons of beets and produced 3.5 million hundred pound bags of sugar; in its peak year of 1920 the factory processed 100,000 tons of sugar beets. (Arrington: Eccles, p. 243)

December 1942:
OSL retired and removed about a half-mile of track at the end of the Bear River Branch, from Mile Post 9.9 to Mile Post 10.6, at Bear River City. (OSL work order 439) The remaining portion of the branch was in service at least until 1951. The branch paralleled U. S. Highway 30, between Bear River City and Tremonton, from about Mile Post 3 to about Mile Post 7.

January 1943:
OSL retired and removed the 1.24-mile portion of the Thatcher Branch from Thatcher at Mile Post 6.25 to Nelson at Mile Post 7.3. (OSL work order 461) The 7.3-mile Thatcher Branch was built in 1903 for the Utah Idaho Sugar Company to transport sugar beets from the region west of Tremonton to the sugar company's sugar factory at Garland. OSL purchased the line in 1922. (Public Service Commission of Utah, case 2621, approved October 19, 1942)

March 16, 1945:
OSL leased, with right to purchase, all of the trackage, facilities, and right of way of SP's line from Corinne Junction to Corinne. OSL purchased the line on October 16, 1947. SP had removed their tracks from Corinne Junction to Ogden in 1942, except for a 962 foot stub at Corinne Junction, which they sold to Utah Idaho Sugar Company. OSL bought the spur from the sugar company on April 21, 1950. (source not recorded)

SP had been running their Promontory Branch trains over OSL between Ogden and Corinne; in an unsuccessful 1932 request for abandonment of the Promontory Branch SP stated that most of their trackage between those two points was "gone, removed by parties unknown". (source not recorded)

October 1945:
OSL retired and removed the 1.03-mile portion of the Evona Branch between the western end at Mile Post 2.62 (the end of the branch at the Roy-Hot Springs highway, U. S. 91) and the spur to the Ogden sugar factory, at Mile Post 1.59. (Work Order 1332)

(The remaining portion of the branch is still in service during 2003, serving the Farmer's Co-op and the former Pillsbury grain elevators.)

October 1945:
OSL retired and removed a portion of the Thatcher Branch, from Mile Post 5.63 to Mile Post 6.25, at Thatcher. (Work order 1429) The siding for Thatcher was moved to the new end of track in November.

November 3, 1947:
OSL received ICC approval to abandon the 2.98-mile College Branch, between College Junction, on the Cache Valley Branch south of Logan, to College. The line had originally been constructed in 1873 as the main line of the narrow-gauge Utah Northern Railway between Ogden and Franklin, Idaho. It became the Cache Valley Branch in 1890, upon construction of a new standard-gauge line between Ogden and Pocatello, and in 1906 the line became a secondary line, with the completion of the Wellsville Loop through Wellsville and Hyrum, further south in the Cache Valley. The 2.78-mile western portion of the College Branch between Mendon and College was abandoned in 1932. In 1945 the only traffic on the College Branch had been 23 carloads of beets and four carloads of potatoes. In 1946 there had only been 25 carloads of beets. (ICC Financial Docket 15790, in 267 ICC 640) By October 1948, Union Pacific had sold all of the property. (source not recorded)

November 14, 1947:
OSL took possession of the 1.55-mile portion of the SP Promontory Branch (originally the 1869 Central Pacific main line) between Corinne Junction and Corinne. Union Pacific had used the line under trackage rights since July 1903 as part of the operations of the Malad Branch. SP had abandoned their Promontory Branch in 1944. (source not recorded)

May 1948:
OSL retired and removed the entire 4.93-mile Urban Branch, between Bakers (OSL Mile Post 25.3) and Urban. (Work Order 2162) The branch was completed in 1918 and was used to move sugar beets to the Garland sugar factory, on the Malad Branch. Beet dumps were located at Natal, Teal, and Urban.

In the six year period from 1941 to 1946, the traffic on the Urban Branch amounted to only 105, 79, 72, 75, 49, and 36 carloads, respectively, all of which were loaded at the beet dumps at Teal, at Mile Post 2.6, and at the end of the branch at Urban. The only trains on the branch were operated about one per day, for the duration of the thirty day beet harvesting season.

The decline in traffic was attributed to the steady decrease in the number of acres that have been planted in sugar beets in the region east of the Bear River. (Abandonment approved by the ICC in Financial Docket 15740, dated November 3, 1947, in 267 ICC 634) The siding at Bakers, Mile Post 25.6, was retired in 1949 (Work Order 2168), while Bakers Spur, at Mile Post 25.3 on the east side of the main line, was retired in December 1947 (Work Order 2162).

July 28, 1948:
Union Pacific received Utah Public Utilities Commission approval to remove the depot building at Farmington. Approval to close the agency was given on July 21, 1942. (Public Service Commission of Utah, case 2599)

January 1949:
OSL retired and removed the 1.57 portion of the Logan Sugar Factory Branch between Logan Junction and the branch's crossing of the Logan River at Mile Post 0.9. (Work order 2617) Included in the abandonment was the one-mile portion of the original branch, from the river to College Junction, along with the 0. 58-mile portion of the College Branch from Logan Junction to College Junction that remained after the College Branch was removed in November 1947. The remaining 0.9 portion of the Logan Sugar Factory Branch is in service today as the Sugar Factory Spur, from Sugar Factory Junction to the river. (source not recorded)

June 1954:
OSL retired and removed the remaining 5.2-mile portion of the Benson Branch from Benson, at the end of track, to Benson Junction in Logan. (Work order 4203)

(The wye at Benson Junction, along with about 1,000 feet of the branch, remains today as part of the Cache Valley Branch.)

August 31, 1955:
OSL retired the 2.6-mile portion of the Syracuse Branch, from Barnes at Mile Post 2.1 to Syracuse at Mile Post 4.7, including the 1.8-mile West Point Spur that ran north from Steed, at Mile Post 3.2. The siding at Steed had been retired in December 1946. Barnes is the present end of track for the Syracuse Branch. (source not recorded)

November 15, 1955:
OSL closed the Trenton depot. The building was sold to the Cache Valley Turkey Growers Association and was moved by January 1956. (Work order 4781; Public Service Commission of Utah, case 3248)

September 7, 1982:
Union Pacific (OSL) received Utah Public Utilities Commission approval to close the agency at Tremonton, on the Malad Branch. (Public Service Commission of Utah, case 82-400-06)

January 13, 1986:
Union Pacific (OSL) received Utah Public Utilities Commission approval to close the agency at Logan, on the Cache Valley Branch. (Public Service Commission of Utah, case 85-400-02)

January 13, 1986:
Union Pacific (OSL) received Utah Public Utilities Commission approval to close the agency at Brigham City. (Public Service Commission of Utah, case 85-400-02)

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.

The OSL depot at Smithfield (north of Logan on the Cache Valley Branch) was removed from railroad property after being retired in the 1960s and moved a few blocks away. In 2007 the building was purchased from its owner and in late 2009 it was moved to become a real estate office at 775 South Main Street in Logan. (Herald Journal, November 9, 2009) The original site in Smithfield was on the east side of the OSL tracks, at 350 West 100 North.

Sources:

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