Utah Railway Steam Era (1917-1957)
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This page was last updated on March 13, 2016.
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Operations By D&RG
At the time of initial operation of Utah Railway by D&RG in November 1913, the motive power of the combined Southern Utah Railroad and Castle Valley Railroad consisted of Southern Utah 102 and 104, along with Castle Valley 101 and 103, all were 2-8-0s.
Southern Utah originally had an additional 2-8-0 with road number 100 which was transferred in February 1916 to another United States Smelting, Refining and Mining Company (Southern Utah's parent company) smelting operation in El Paso, Texas.
Castle Valley had an additional 2-8-0, number 102, which was not on the railroad at the time that Utah Railway formally took over operations in 1917. The disposition of Castle Valley 102 is unknown.
Southern Utah also had a two-truck Shay, number 50, and a McKeen gasoline motor car. The disposition of the Shay is unknown. The carbody of the McKeen car was placed on the ground at Utah Railway's Martin, Utah shops in 1939, and remained there until late 1992 when it was cut in half and moved to private property for use as a storage shed.
The Utah Railway 2-8-0s spent about 84 percent of their time on the mixed passenger train, until March 1926 when all passenger service was abandoned. The 2-10-2s spent about 15 percent of their time on the mixed train.
A photo by G. M. Best in 1933 shows Utah Railway 2-8-0 no. 2 on a mixed train in Provo.
Because 2-8-0 numbers 1 and 2 were the smallest of Utah's locomotives, they were usually assigned to the mixed train. Number 2 did most of the duties in 1922, but during 1923. 1924, and 1925, number 1 shared the assignment about a third of the time. The 2-10-2s began to be assigned to the mixed train in 1924, with number 101 doing the duty most often of the 2-10-2s. In 1925, numbers 100 and 103 worked the mixed train several times. There is no mention of the use of the former Southern Utah McKeen car during 1922 to 1926.
During 1923 Utah Railway leased Oregon Short Line 4-6-0 1556, and it was used occasionally on the mixed train.
Utah Railway and Union Pacific
The Utah Railway 2-10-2s and 2-8-8-0s were built using the same designs as Union Pacific locomotives of the same wheel arrangement, and the locomotives were purchased through the Union Pacific Equipment Association.
2-10-2s
Utah 2-10-2s 101-105 were delivered from Baldwin in November and December 1917, after UP's 2-10-2s 5000-5009 (Baldwin, delivered July and August 1917).
In the June 28, 1918 issue of Railway Age, page 1573, in an article about new 2-10-2 locomotives for Union Pacific, the following statements are made,
…locomotives of the 2-10-2 type were designed for this division under the supervision of C. E. Fuller, Superintendent of Motive Power and Machinery, and A. H. Fetters, Mechanical Engineer. Twenty-seven of these engines were built last year by the Baldwin Locomotive Works, fifteen for the Union Pacific, six for the Los Angeles and Salt Lake, and six for the Utah Railway.
Utah 2-10-2 106 (Baldwin b/n 53845) was delivered in November 1920, just after UP 2-10-2 5037 (Baldwin, delivered October 1920).
Utah 2-10-2 107 (Baldwin b/n 53910) was delivered in December 1920, after UP 2-10-2 5038 (Baldwin, delivered October 1920).
Utah 2-10-2 108 (Baldwin b/n 56201) was delivered in June 1923, after UP (OWRR&N) 2-10-2s 5409-5414 (Baldwin, delivered March 1923).
2-8-8-0s
In 1918, Utah Railway received three 2-8-8-0 locomotives, ordered in late 1916 by the Union Pacific Equipment Association. Utah Railway had asked for UP's assistance in the design of these locomotives, with Utah Railway soon to assume the operation of its own trains. UP evaluated the available designs, and determined that the design of fifteen B&O EL-series delivered in 1916 was a good match for the projected and similar service slow speed coal drags on Utah Railway. These three Utah Railway locomotives were very similar to later UP's MC-class, but were built by Baldwin and were about 12,000 pounds lighter (weight on drivers) than the sixteen locomotives delivered in 1918 to UP and OSL. Utah Railway used MC-2 as the class for their locomotives, the same as UP's class.
The Utah Railway three 2-8-8-0s, numbered as 200-202, were delivered in April and June 1918, being built by Baldwin rather than ALCo. The first UP 2-8-8-0 locomotives, numbered as UP 3600-3618, were built by ALCo-Schenectady in May 1918.
Summary
2-8-0s
Leased on December 1, 1917; purchased on July 1, 1918
Road Number |
Previous Number |
Builder | Type | Date To Utah Ry. |
Date Scrapped |
Utah 1 | CVRR 101 | Lima | 2-8-0 | Jul 1918 | May 1939 |
Utah 2 | SURR 102 | Lima | 2-8-0 | Jul 1918 | Aug 1939 |
Utah 3 | CVRR 103 | Lima | 2-8-0 | Jul 1918 | Apr 1942 |
Utah 4 | SURR 104 | Schenectady | 2-8-0 | Jul 1918 | Apr 1956 |
2-10-2s
Delivered new.
Road Number |
Builder | Type | Date To Utah Ry. |
Date Scrapped |
Utah 100 | Baldwin | 2-10-2 | Nov 1917 | Oct 1954 |
Utah 101 | Baldwin | 2-10-2 | Nov 1917 | Sep 1952 |
Utah 102 | Baldwin | 2-10-2 | Nov 1917 | Mar 1957 |
Utah 103 | Baldwin | 2-10-2 | Nov 1917 | Jan 1953 |
Utah 104 | Baldwin | 2-10-2 | Dec 1917 | Mar 1957 |
Utah 105 | Baldwin | 2-10-2 | Dec 1917 | Sep 1953 |
Utah 106 | Baldwin | 2-10-2 | Nov 1920 | Oct 1953 |
Utah 107 | Baldwin | 2-10-2 | Dec 1920 | Sep 1954 |
Utah 108 | Baldwin | 2-10-2 | Jun 1923 | Apr 1955 |
2-8-8-0s
Delivered new.
Road Number |
Builder | Type | Date To Utah Ry. |
Date Scrapped |
Utah 200 | Baldwin | 2-8-8-0 | Jul 1918 | Sep 1954 |
Utah 201 | Baldwin | 2-8-8-0 | Jul 1918 | Mar 1957 |
Utah 202 | Baldwin | 2-8-8-0 | Aug 1918 | Oct 1954 |
Utah Railway received its first diesel locomotives from American Locomotive Company on January 25, 1952. Numbered as Utah 300, it entered service on February 9th. A total of six locomotives were delivered between January and August 1952, numbered as Utah 300-305.
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