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San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad
Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad

With details of SPLA&SL and LA&SL as UP's subsidiary in Utah, 1903-1987

This page was last updated on March 7, 2010.

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.

This page covers the lines, tracks and property of UP's LA&SL subsidiary in Utah. Operation of LA&SL lines in Utah, which are all lines south and west of Salt Lake City, is covered as part of the UP in Utah page.

(click here for the Wikipedia entry)

Index for this page:

Additional Sources:

Chronology History

As the Los Angeles boom was gaining popularity during the late 1880s, the harbor at San Pedro was seen as an ideal harbor, and capitalists and investors soon began working toward developing the harbor to suit their visions of future growth.

Los Angeles got its first railroad in 1869 with the completion of the Los Angeles & San Pedro Railroad between Los Angeles and Wilmington on San Pedro harbor, just to the west of today's city of Long Beach. The LA&SP was merged with Southern Pacific in 1874, and Southern Pacific itself entered Los Angeles from the north in 1876 by way of a new line south from Bakersfield and the Tehachapi Mountains, and through Soledad Canyon.

Southern Pacific continued its expansion to the east from the Los Angeles Basin and reached El Paso in 1881 and New Orleans in 1883. To beat out its feared competitors, SP started a branch across the Mojave desert from Mojave to the Colorado River at Needles.

Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe interests built the California Southern Railroad north from San Diego to Colton on the SP in 1882, and completed its line over Cajon Pass to Barstow (and a connection with SP's line between Mojave and Needles) in 1885. Another AT&SF affiliate built the Atlantic & Pacific Railroad from the east across Arizona reaching Needles, California on the Colorado River in 1883 at the same time that SP completed its line to Needles from the west. The A&P leased SP's line between Barstow and Needles in 1883. The line was formally sold to A&P in late 1884. By the mid 1880s, Los Angeles had its place on the maps of two transcontinental lines, but lacked local service between and among its smaller towns and cities.

(click here for more SP and AT&SF history in Los Angeles)

San Pedro Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad

Los Angeles Terminal Railway

January 2, 1891
Los Angeles Terminal Railway (2nd) was incorporated as a consolidation of the earlier Los Angeles Terminal Railway of August 1890, and two other roads: Los Angeles & Glendale Railroad and Los Angeles Pasadena & Glendale Railway. The stated purpose of this consolidation was to provide a network of railroads that could be leased "to larger systems of railways."

The Los Angeles Terminal Railway consolidation was under the control of John Cross. The railroad interests of John Cross were later purchased (date?) by the California Investment Company, an syndicate owned by R. C. Kerens and T. Leighton of St. Louis, and E. F. Leonard of Springfield, Illinois.

(click here for more Los Angeles Terminal Railway history)

August 21, 1900
Officials of Los Angeles Terminal Railway announced that William Andrews Clark and his associates, including his brother J. Ross Clark, had purchased an interest in the railroad.

San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad

March 20, 1901
San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad incorporated to purchase the interests and property of the Los Angeles Terminal Railway, and to construct a line between Los Angeles and Salt Lake City. Construction commenced immediately, as follows:

March 20, 1901:
San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad incorporated. (Utah, 3077)

March 1901
SPLA&SL took possession of abandoned railroad right-of-way between Uvada (Utah-Nevada state line) and Clover Valley Junction (now Caliente), Nevada. To stop the attempted possession by SPLA&SL, the Harriman-controlled Utah, Nevada & California Railroad started actual construction, completing 40.4 miles of trackwork by the end of July 1901. Throughout the summer and fall of 1901, both SPLA&SL and UN&C construction crews continued to survey and construct limited bits of railroad grade south from Caliente and on to the California-Nevada state line. In November 1901 a truce was called and the fight moved to the courts and board rooms.

The contest between Clark and Harriman for a railroad route across southern Nevada is covered very well in three published histories:

May 1901
SPLA&SL commenced construction of 53 miles of new line of railroad between Hobart (Los Angeles) and Riverside Junction on the AT&SF.

July 30, 1902
Clark and Harriman signed their compromise settlement. The agreement included Clark selling half interest in the SPLA&SL to Harriman's Union Pacific, and Harriman's Oregon Short Line Railroad selling its entire route south from Sandy (south of Salt Lake City) to Clark's SPLA&SL.

Further agreements were signed later in 1902 and during 1903 that addressed specific concerns that had been generally settled by the initial overall agreement. These included specific components for "the establishment by purchase, construction and trackage rights of a line of railroad between Salt Lake City, Utah (through the State of Nevada) to San Pedro Harbor, California."

July 7, 1903
The sale and agreement between Clark and Harriman became final and SPLA&SL took possession of all former OSL lines subject to the agreements, as well as UP taking possession of its half interest in SPLA&SL. (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 Los Angeles).

(Sandy was likely chosen as the point of separation between OSL and SPLA&SL because UP wanted to retain the Salt Lake valley 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 Salt Lake Valley smelters 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)

August 1903
SPLA&SL commenced construction of a new rail line between Daggett (on AT&SF) and the California-Nevada state line, a distance of 129.1 miles; completed in May 1905.

October 1903
Tracks were completed between Caliente and Las Vegas.

March 12, 1904
Trains began operating between Los Angeles and Riverside; and to San Bernardino via SP trackage rights on July 3, 1904.

September 1904:
SPLA&SL completed the 5.96-mile Newhouse Extension, from Frisco on the Frisco Branch to Newhouse, to serve the copper mine that was being developed near there. The line was surveyed in February 1904. (Salt Lake Mining Review, February 29, 1904, p. 36) Construction was begun in June 1904, using $99,688.65 advanced for the purpose by Samuel Newhouse, owner of Newhouse Mines & Smelters. (SPLA&SL corporate history; Salt Lake Mining Review, April 30, 1904, p. 36)

As part of the construction of the Newhouse Extension, Samuel Newhouse contracted with SPLA&SL to build his three-mile long Newhouse, Copper Gulch & Sevier Lake Railroad between the mining company's Cactus Mine and their mill at Newhouse, the terminus for SPLA&SL's Newhouse Extension.

The Newhouse road was incorporated in December 1904. The line included 4.5 percent grades and was operated using a 65-ton Shay locomotive. The mill went into full production in March 1905. (Salt Lake Mining Review, October 30, 1904, p. 23; December 30, 1904, p. 15; February 28, 1905, p. 25)

January 30, 1905
By use of temporary construction that bypassed some difficult cuts and fills, tracks were connected between Las Vegas and Daggett, allowing for construction and supply trains full access to the entire new railroad.

April 26, 1905
SPLA&SL and AT&SF signed a joint operations agreement for the operation of SPLA&SL trains over AT&SF tracks over Cajon Pass, between Riverside Junction and Daggett, California, a distance of 93.8 miles. (The agreement remains in place during 2009 between Union Pacific and BNSF.)

May 26, 1905:
SPLA&SL formally completed the route between Salt Lake City and Los Angeles and began regular operations. On January 30, 1905 the railroad had completed a temporary connection in the line of new construction between Uvada and Daggett, California, which formed a complete rail line between Salt Lake City and Los Angeles. The connection was actually a temporary one, around several cuts that had not been completed. (SPLA&SL corporate history) (Poor's 1929 manual, p. 1066, gives the date as May 1, 1905.)

November 1905:
Garfield Beach station on SPLA&SL changed to Lake Point, and the new station at the new smelters was to be called Garfield. (Deseret News, November 22, 1905, "Spike and Rail")

January 1907:
SPLA&SL completed the 3.61-mile passenger line, between Buena Vista and Salt Lake City, along Ninth (900) South. Construction was begun in September 1905 from the end of the former Oregon Short Line one-mile long Enamel Spur, which ended near the east bank of the Jordan River. The new line required 2.6 miles of new construction, from Buena Vista to the west bank of the Jordan River and included a new bridge over the river. (SPLA&SL corporate history, p. 47)

Later known as the 900 South Line, the trackage was removed from service in 1999, and reactivated in 2001 to ease congestion through Grant Tower. The 900 South Line was formally abandoned in November 2007 after the alignment of the Grant Tower trackage, allowing faster train operations, and therefore less congestion.

In 1907, SPLA&SL renumbered many of its locomotives to prevent confusion with AT&SF locomotives with similar numbers, while operating over AT&SF's Cajon Pass.

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 1, 1909:
SPLA&SL and D&RG sign a joint agreement for the passenger terminal at Provo. (SPLA&SL corporate history)

September 9, 1909:
E. H. Harriman died. (Trottman, p. 362)

March 1916:
SPLA&SL announced that it would send surveyors into the Uintah Basin, as soon as snows permited. D&RG was considering a separate corporation to build its road into the Uintah Basin. The construction of the D&RG line was expected to cost $5 million. (The Sun, March 31, 1916, p. 7)

August 25, 1916
San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad changed its name to the Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad.

Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad

August 25, 1916:
San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad name changed to Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad. Name changed approved by stock holders on August 16, 1916. (Signor, LA&SL, p.86)

Control of SPLA&SL by UP Interests

After the settlement between W. A. Clark and E. H. Harriman in 1902/1903, and with UP's Oregon Short Line Railroad taking half ownership of SPLA&SL, there appears to be evidence that from that date (July 7, 1903), Union Pacific progressively increased its influence over SPLA&SL operations and management.

The entire stock was held in a voting trust by Farmers Loan & Trust Company, as trustee in the joint interest of the two owning parties, Union Pacific Railroad and William A. Clark. (Manual of Statistics, Stock Exchange Handbook, 1920, Google Books)

In the California volume of his Encyclopedia of Western Railroad History, Robertson shows that by June 30, 1911, the investment information publications (his major source) were showing that SPLA&SL was an operating subsidiary of Union Pacific.

In the federal antitrust hearings against Union Pacific in 1909-1911, J. Ross Clark, Clark's younger brother gave testimony that it was Harriman all along who controlled the operations and growth of SPLA&SL. (One personal note for Ross Clark was that his son Walter Miller Clark, age 27, died in the sinking of the Titanic on April 10, 1912.) J. Ross Clark died on September 18, 1927 at his home in Los Angeles, at age 76. J. Ross Clark had been a Vice President of SPLA&SL, and later LA&SL, for 20 years.

August 20, 1916:
Pehrson (Mile Post 717.12 on LA&SL) changed from Vernon.

October 1916:
LA&SL completed the 13.6-mile Delta Branch, built north from Delta to serve the sugar beet growing area north of Delta that was being developed due to the completion of irrigation projects on the Sevier River. The land was being developed by companies such as the Delta Land & Water Company, the Morgan-Okelbery Land & Sheep Company, and the Delta Investment Company.

The Delta Sugar Beet Company was promoting the growing of sugar beets and in 1917 they completed a 1,000-ton capacity sugar factory in Delta. The Delta Sugar Beet Company was reorganized in 1918 as the Great Basin Sugar Company, but because of lack of sugar beets being grown in the region, the factory still was not working at full capacity and was sold to the Utah Idaho Sugar Company in 1920. The Utah Idaho company was only able to get 419 growers to plant 10,291 acres in sugar beets in 1921, harvesting 53,498 tons of beets. Production was low because of disease in the beet plants with production for 1922 being even lower than low crops of both 1921 and 1920. The sugar company closed the factory in 1923 and dismantled it in 1927, sending the machinery to a new factory in Belle Fourche, South Dakota. Sugar beet production resumed in the late thirties, with the availability of disease resistant beet plants, but beets were shipped to other sugar factories located in Spanish Fork, West Jordan and Gunnison. (Arrington: Beet Sugar, pp. 192, 193)

November 1916:
LA&SL announced that they would enlarge the Milford roundhouse. (Salt Lake Mining Review, November 15, 1916, p. 33)

April 1917:
LA&SL began a modernizing program which included replacing many bridges along the route. The railroad gave a contract for thirty new steel and concrete bridges to Houghton Construction Company of San Francisco. The headquarters for the project was at Milford. The LA&SL, along with the WP, also filed a condemnation suit against J. L. Wilson for a right of way for the relocation of their lines at Garfield, to allow expansion of the Utah Copper tailings pond. (Salt Lake Mining Review, April 15, 1917, pp. 40, 43)

1917:
Utah Copper expanded its original tailings pond near Magna from the original 1500 acres to 5000 acres. This forced the Union Pacific (LA&SL) and Western Pacific tracks to be relocated to the north along a new alignment. As part of the 1917 line change between today's 5600 West and Smelter station, the two railorads created a new station named Garfield as a connection to Utah Copper's railroad. This Garfield station remained in place until replaced by a new Garfield created in 1997 when UP moved its mainline again to allow expansion of the Kennecott tailings pond. (Utah History Cyclopedia; Union Pacific condensed track profile)

December 1, 1917
LA&SL purchased the Riverside, Rialto & Pacific Railroad from Riverside Portland Cement Company.

Riverside, Rialto & Pacific History

The RR&P had begun its life as the Crescent City Railway on November 27, 1906, and was constructed by Southern California Cement Company in 1907 (construction began on February 18, 1907) to connect its cement plant at Crestmore with AT&SF at Riverside (the cement plant was already served at Crestmore by a spur from Bly Junction on SPLA&SL). The CCRy was extended to connect with SP at Bloomington in 1911, and was changed to a common carrier in December 1912. It was further extended to Rialto in February 1914.

Crescent City Railway was reorganized as Riverside Rialto & Pacific Railroad on January 11, 1915. It was sold to LA&SL on December 1, 1917 to serve as basis of new line over Cajon Pass (no further action taken). Operation of the entire 9.8 miles of line between Riverside and Rialto was under lease to Pacific Electric Railway after 1907 and continued as PE's Crestmore Line after purchase by LA&SL in 1917. Freight service was provided by PE (electric) and LA&SL (steam). Passenger service was provided solely by PE, and was abandoned by PE in 1940. LA&SL continued to provide freight service over what it called its Rialto Branch until it was abandoned by LA&SL in December 1941.

RR&P's three locomotives were sold to LA&SL along with the railroad. Riverside Portland Cement Company retained approximately 2.3 miles of trackage within the Crestmore cement plant.

The cement company was incorporated in 1906 as Southern California Cement Company. The name was changed to Riverside Portland Cement Company on December 29, 1909. On June 1, 1923, Riverside Portland Cement Company purchased the Golden State Portland Cement Company at Oro Grande near Victorville. The company changed their name to Riverside Cement Company on April 10, 1928.

References: John Signor, The Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad Company, Union Pacific's Historic Salt Lake Route, pages 78, 79, 86, 125, including map on page 78; see also Donald Robertson, Encyclopedia of Western Railroad History, Volume IV, California, pages 191, 192.

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

January 1918:
Mammoth Mining Company was complaining of the high rates that LA&SL was charging to ship the ore from the Mammoth Mine down to Mammoth, via the former New East Tintic Railway. In 1917 LA&SL had charged $7,500 to move 40,000 tons of ore in 840 cars over the two-mile line. The mining company threatened to build an aerial tramway from their mine down to the D&RG at Mammoth. (Salt Lake Mining Review, January 30, 1918, p. 40)

April 1918:
LA&SL completed the 3.35-mile Hinkley Branch which connected with the Delta Branch at Moody (Mile Post 4.5). The branch was built to serve the sugar beet growing area west of Delta. (ICC Valuation drawing, ICC Financial Docket 9538, 187 ICC 642)

August 29, 1918:
LA&SL received Utah Public Utilities Commission approval to abandon service on southern 13.3 miles of the Fairfield Branch between Topliff and Boulter, where the branch connected with the main line of the Leamington Cut-off. The Fairfield Branch was the former Salt Lake & Western. The abandonment was protested by the Scranton Mining & Smelting Company, for its Del Monte Mine located a few miles east of Del Monte Station on the branch. (Public Service Commission of Utah, case 85)

The station of Fairfield on the old Salt Lake & Western was the interchange point for the Salt Lake & Mercur Railroad, which operated a steep and curving, standard-gauge railroad from Fairfield up Manning canyon, and over the Oquirrh ridge to the mining camp of Mercur. (Carr: Rails, pp. 127-129) The last ore mined from the Mercur mine of Consolidated Mercur Gold Mines came to the surface on March 30, 1913. The mill was dismantled in 1917 and the equipment removed over the Salt Lake & Mercur line. The railroad shut down on October 13, 1918. (Conversation with Grant Pendleton at Utah Power & Light in reference with an L. L. Nunn biography, circa March 1982; Tooele, pp. 370, 375)

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

April 27, 1921
W. A. Clark and his associates sold their remaining half interest in LA&SL to Union Pacific. Clark was 82 years of age in 1921 and had become a distant interest in his management of SPLA&SL from about 1913 on, leaving the road to the care of his younger brother J. Ross Clark, who along with UP's W. H. Bancroft, managed the railroad in the joint interest of the shared ownership.

April 27, 1921:
Union Pacific agreed to acquire the Clark half interest in LA&SL; the purchase was mostly completed by the end of the year. On January 1, 1922 Union Pacific began including the business of the LA&SL in its System statements and reports. (Poor's, 1929, p. 1066)

"On April 27, 1921, the Union Pacific Railroad Company reached an agreement with W. A. Clark and associates whereby it purchased the remaining half of the capital stock. Effective January 1, 1922, the properties will be included in reports." (Union Pacific Annual Report for 1921)

(The other half interest in LA&SL was owned by OSL, which itself is owned by Union Pacific.)

May 10, 1921:
Topliff (Mile Post 37.0) to Boulter (Mile Post 43.32) on Boulter Branch was abandoned. (Union Pacific AFE 3321, dated September 22, 1927, Work Order 7636, from LA&SL drawing 562-11)

(The name of shortened branch was changed to the Topliff Branch.)

December 21, 1921:
LA&SL received Utah Public Utilities Commission approval to discontinue passenger trains 57 and 58, from Smelter to Warner (Tooele). Trains 57 and 58 only operated between Salt Lake City and Smelter, where they were turned on the wye. Trains 51 and 52 operated between Salt Lake City and Tintic, by way of the Leamington Cut-off. (Public Service Commission of Utah, case 481)

October 18, 1922:
LA&SL received ICC approval to construct the 32.5-mile Cedar City Branch. To be completed by December 31, 1923. (ICC Finance Docket 2527)

(The branch was to be constructed to serve the developing iron ore mines in the district west of Cedar City.)

January 1923:
LA&SL completed construction of the 32-mile Fillmore Branch. The construction had been approved by the ICC on July 1, 1922, in their Finance Docket 2360. Between the spring of 1923, when the branch was opened to traffic, and June 1929 passenger service on the branch was provided with a locomotive and passenger cars. On June 10, 1929, to reduce costs, the railroad began using a gasoline motor car. Just nine months later, in late March 1930, the Public Service Commission of Utah granted the railroad's request to discontinue all passenger train service between Delta and Fillmore, and replace it with auto bus service. During the time of motor car operation, between November 1929 and February 1930, the motor car had been operating mostly empty, and never with more than two passengers. The approval was in effect after April 3. (Public Service Commission of Utah, case 1160) Two years later, in March 1932, the Public Utilities Commission approved the transfer of operation of the Delta-to-Fillmore auto bus service to a private contractor, Mr. Moyle Sargent. (Public Service Commission of Utah, case 1268)

June 7, 1923:
LA&SL received Utah Public Utilities Commission approval to construct the 1.87-mile Columbia Steel Spur across the D&RGW, Utah Railway, and Salt Lake & Utah to serve the plant of Columbia Steel Company that is under construction. (Public Service Commission of Utah, case 652)

February 27, 1925:
LA&SL received Utah Public Utilities Commission approval to discontinue regular service between Frisco and Newhouse. The line was constructed in the latter part of 1904 for the Newhouse Mining Company and the Cactus Mining Company. By 1925 the town of Newhouse had been dismantled and the railroad's only traffic was tank cars of water for the local sheep ranches. (Public Service Commission of Utah, case 741)

March 23, 1927:
LA&SL received ICC approval to operate 1.87-mile Columbia Steel Spur to the Ironton steel plant of Columbia Steel. The spur was built in 1923 to deliver materials needed for the construction of the steel plant. The approval was protested by the Salt Lake & Utah Railroad interurban line because they felt that they should be receiving a large portion of the traffic from the steel plant. The Union Pacific spur crossed both the D&RGW and the SL&U, with the portion from the D&RGW crossing to the steel plant being operated as joint trackage because the steel plant received its coal from the Carbon County coal mines served by the D&RGW and the Utah Railway. The steel plant received its other raw materials from sources on the Union Pacific; iron ore from Iron County on Union Pacific Cedar City Branch, limestone from the Topliff quarries in Tooele County on Union Pacific's Fairfield Branch, and manganese from Pioche, Nevada on Union Pacific's Pioche Branch. (ICC Finance Docket 5543, in 124 ICC 207)

October 31, 1927:
LA&SL retired the southern 13.32 miles of the Fairfield Branch, from Mile Post 30.0 (Topliff) to Mile Post 43.32 (Boulter, connection to Leamington Cutoff main line). Operations were discontinued on September 6, 1918, after the August 29, 1918 approval for abandonment by the Utah Public Utilities Commission. The abandonment was protested by Scranton Mining & Smelting Company, for its Del Monte Mine located a few miles east of Del Monte Station on the branch. (Public Service Commission of Utah, case 85) Mile Post 37.0 to 43.32 was abandoned on May 10, 1921. (Union Pacific AFE 3321, dated September 22, 1927, Work Order 7636, from LA&SL drawing 562-11)

April 18, 1928:
LA&SL received Utah Public Utilities Commission approval to discontinue Sunday passenger service on the Cedar City Branch. (Public Service Commission of Utah, case 1018)

October 26, 1928:
ICC approved the abandonment of the St. John & Ophir Railroad, which connected with LA&SL at St. John. (Public Service Commission of Utah, case 1076; ICC Financial Docket 7108, in 145 ICC 611)

May 22, 1929:
LA&SL and D&RG received Utah Public Utilities Commission approval to close the joint agency at Silver City. (Public Service Commission of Utah, case 1103 and 1104)

March 31, 1930:
LA&SL received Utah Public Utilities Commission approval to discontinue gasoline motor car service between Delta and Fillmore, and replace it with auto bus service. The branch had been in service since spring 1923 and the motor car service had begun on June 10, 1929. Between November 1929 and February 1930 the motor car had been operating mostly empty, and never with more than two passengers. The approval was in effect after April 3. (Public Service Commission of Utah, case 1160) On March 21, 1932 LA&SL received Utah Public Utilities Commission approval to transfer the auto bus service between Delta and Fillmore to Mr. Moyle Sargent.

August 11, 1930:
LA&SL received Utah Public Utilities Commission approval to discontinue Trains 67 and 68 between Salt Lake City and Garfield. (Public Service Commission of Utah, case 1181)

October 1930:
Union Pacific (LA&SL) was operating Trains 3 and 4 between Salt Lake City and Lund, and Trains 103 and 104 between Lund and Cedar City. In October 1930 the Public Utilities Commission approved the road's application to discontinue all four trains and only operate passenger train service to Cedar City during the tourist season. During the off-season the service was to be provided using motor buses of the Union Pacific Stages. (Public Service Commission of Utah, case 1197)

December 11, 1931:
LA&SL received Utah Public Utilities Commission approval to close the agency at Cutler. (Public Service Commission of Utah, case 1249)

December 31, 1931:
LA&SL received Utah Public Utilities Commission approval to close the agency at Juab. (Public Service Commission of Utah, case 1218)

February 2, 1932:
Public Utilities Commission approved LA&SL's application to discontinue the remaining passenger service on the Tintic Subdivision. In March the state agency granted a private individual by the name of George Forsey permission to operate an auto stage company that would provide all of the mail, baggage and express business between Tintic Junction and the nearby towns. (Public Service Commission of Utah, case 1259, 1267) Almost two years later, in October 1933, the railroad received the Public Utilities Commission's approval to close the depot and discontinue the agency at Mammoth.

1930s:
The combination of a drought in central Utah and the depressed national economy of the 1930s made for some hard times in the region around Delta. The farmers in the area were hauling wood for their fuel, instead of buying coal. On November 29, 1932 LA&SL received Utah Public Utilities Commission's approval to close the agency station at Oasis (Mile Post 644.4, 5.5 miles south of Delta). All of the agency's business was to be moved five miles north to Delta. The depot building was converted to living quarters for the signal maintainer. The Public Utilities Commission gave its permission to remove the depot building on November 6, 1947. (Public Service Commission of Utah, case 1279)

December 1932:
LA&SL retired and removed the entire 3.35-mile Hinkley Branch, from Moody (Mile Post 4.59 on the Delta Branch) to the end of track at Hinkley. The railroad also retired and removed five miles of the Delta Branch, from Nelson (Mile Post 8.4) to end of track at Lucerne (Mile Post 13.5). (ICC Financial Docket 9538, approved October 20, 1932)

June 13, 1933:
LA&SL received the approval of the Utah Public Utilities Commission to close the agency station at Clear Lake (Mile Post 631.2). Business for the agent was primarily accepting railroad owned water hauled to the station for the railroad's own use. (Public Service Commission of Utah, case 1304)

July 1, 1933:
LA&SL closed the agency station at Beryl (Mile Post 526.2). The Utah Public Utilities Commission had approved the closure on December 7, 1932. The Beryl agency was temporarily reopened in the spring of 1948 to accept materials for the installation of centralized traffic control on the Utah Division. The agency was again closed upon completion of the CTC project in early 1950. (Public Service Commission of Utah case 1280)

October 13, 1933:
LA&SL received Utah Public Utilities Commission approval to close the agency at Mammoth. (Public Service Commission of Utah case 1311)

1934:
Between May 1, 1924, the date that Columbia Steel Corporation opened the Ironton plant, and 1934, the plant produced: 1,189,598 tons of pig iron; 825,574 tons of coke; 44,702 tons of sulfate of ammonia; and 35,939 tons of benzol. The pig iron that is produced at Ironton is shipped to plants in Pittsburg and Torrance, California. (Public Service Commission of Utah, case 1658)

July 1934:
During the month of July 1934 LA&SL retired and removed the remaining 7.7 miles of the Delta Branch, from Mile Post 0.8 to the end of track at Nelson (Mile Post 8.5). The abandonment was approved by the Interstate Commerce Commission on October 20, 1932. In the application for abandonment Union Pacific showed that the traffic had been decreasing steadily since 1927, with only 1,932 tons being shipped in 1931, 750 of which was mining ores. The shipment of ore had decreased from over 9,700 tons in 1930.

Both the Delta and Hinkley Branches were constructed in about 1917 to serve a developing sugar beet industry. Beet dumps had been built at Erwin (Mile Post 5.2), Abbott (Mile Post 6.7), Wilson (Mile Post 8.4), Gordon (Mile Post 9.3), and at Sugarville (Mile Post 11.5 on the portion that was abandoned in December 1932). Also at Wilson the railroad built a 50 x 320 foot stockyard with a double deck loading chute, to replace a portable stock chute that been placed there earlier.

The production of sugar beets was inadequate to sustain continued operation of the sugar factory at Delta and the factory was dismantled in 1927. The revenues from the other traffic on the branches after the closure of the sugar factory, including coal, hay, sheep and ore, was not sufficient to meet the expenses of the branch line operations. (ICC Financial Docket 9538 187 ICC 642)

May 31, 1935:
LA&SL began construction of the 11.31-mile line between Desert Mound and Iron Mountain, as an extension of the Cedar City Branch, to serve the iron ore mines that are being developed there. (ICC Financial Docket 10622)

January 1, 1936
LA&SL was among the Union Pacific subsidiaries that the Union Pacific Railroad formally leased for operation.

"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.

January 1937:
The State Road Commission began construction of a concrete overpass bridge for the Garfield-Saltair Highway over the tracks of LA&SL and WP. (Public Service Commission of Utah, case 1895, approved December 22, 1936)

October 7, 1937:
LA&SL completed removal of the seven-mile Newhouse Extension, Mile Post 16.5 (Frisco) to Mile Post 23.5 (Newhouse, end of branch) of the Frisco Branch. The removal was done under Work Order 934. The Newhouse Extension had been completed in September 1904 to connect with Samuel Newhouse's Newhouse Mines & Smelting mill railroad, the Newhouse, Copper Gulch & Sevier Lake Railroad, which shut down in 1927.

Regular service on the Frisco Branch had ended in 1931 with the shutdown of the old Horn Silver mine by the Tintic Lead Company, which had bought the property in 1928. The extension was washed out in several places during 1934 and 1935. Passenger service had ended in 1928.

In 1937 Union Pacific's depot was the only structure remaining in Newhouse and at Frisco there was only the railroad's depot and two houses. Work on removal of the extension was begun on September 10, 1937.

The railroad had applied to abandon the entire Frisco Branch, along with the Newhouse Extension. But the ICC imposed a two year test period, at the suggestion of the Utah State Industrial Development Board, to allow development of potential mine traffic, from Frisco to Milford. (Abandonment approved by the ICC in Finance Docket 10623, effective May 22, 1937, in 221 ICC 309)

December 14, 1937:
Union Pacific completed removal of 2.78-mile Northern Spy Extension, Mile Post 2.65 to Mile Post 5.43 of the Silver City Branch. Retired October 25, 1937. (Work Orders 946 and 1059)

September 30, 1938:
Union Pacific (LA&SL) completed removal of 6.56-mile portion of Fairfield Branch, from Mile Post 23.6 (Five Mile Pass) to Mile Post 30.16 (Topliff, end of branch), including 7.03 miles of spur tracks extending from Topliff, southeasterly to the limestone quarries of American Smelting & Refining Company and United States Smelting, Refining & Mining Company.

The limestone quarries had been opened in 1906 and their operation was abandoned in November 1937. (ICC Finance Docket 11983, 228 ICC 223, approved June 3, 1938, removal date from "Return to Questionnaire" for ICC Finance Docket 13762)

June 30, 1942:
LA&SL received Utah Public Utilities Commission approval to close the agency at Sandy. (Public Service Commission of Utah, case 2593)

September 11, 1942:
Interstate Commerce Commission dismissed, rather than postponed, LA&SL's application to abandon the Fillmore Branch. The railroad had made application based on projected losses from wartime restrictions on petroleum products and to provide relay rail and other scrap materials for the war effort. The branch was not being operated at a loss. The application was denied because of protests of shippers. Union Pacific had requested an indefinite postponement due to new traffic of crushed volcanic stone, as cinder ash, for use on manufacture of cinder block needed in the war effort. (ICC Finance Docket 13771)

September 11, 1942:
ICC dismissed LA&SL's application to abandon the Fairfield Branch, from Mile Post 0.8 (Cutler) to Mile Post 23.6 (Five Mile Pass, end of branch). The application was made on May 23, 1942. (ICC Finance Docket 13762)

On August 24, 1942 Union Pacific withdrew the application because new traffic developed which required that the branch remain in service. The operation of the new Geneva Steel plant at Orem required a special type of clay for use in the mortar of the fire bricking in the blast furnaces. The closest source for the clay was in a quarry which was located on the Union Pacific's Fairfield Branch. The clay was required in quantities that could not be furnished by trucks from the quarry. (Minutes of ICC hearing, Salt Lake City, August 24, 1942)

In November 1942 Union Pacific was operating two trains per week over the Fairfield Branch. (Public Service Commission of Utah, case 2631)

August 28, 1943:
LA&SL completed removal of 15.29 miles of the Frisco Branch, from Mile Post 1.21 to Mile Post 16.5 (Frisco, end of track). The branch was retired on June 22, 1943, after abandonment was approved by the ICC on July 24, 1942. (Work order 2528; ICC Finance Docket 13611, effective September 24, 1942)

1948:
Union Pacific (LA&SL) completed installation of Centralized Traffic Control (CTC) between Salt Lake City and Caliente, Nevada. 329 miles, begun in 1947. (Moody's, 1959 p. 848)

May 14, 1978:
Union Pacific (LA&SL) received Utah Public Utilities Commission approval to abandon the stockyards at Milford. (Public Service Commission of Utah, case 78-400-07)

August 21, 1978:
Union Pacific (LA&SL) received Utah Public Utilities Commission approval to abandon the Eureka Branch. (Public Service Commission of Utah, case 78-400-04)

June 11, 1984:
Union Pacific (LA&SL) received ICC approval to abandon the Fillmore Branch from Delta (Mile Post 0.5) to Fillmore (Mile Post 32.26).

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.

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