Utah Fuels the West
Utah's coal industry and the railroads that served it
By Don Strack
This page was last updated on July 18, 2002
(Incomplete… research continues)
Before Utah Railway — The years of joint operation by Southern Utah Railroad and Castle Valley Railway of the Southern Utah line between Hiawatha and Price.
Because the mines of both the Consolidated Fuel Company and the Castle Valley Coal Company were so close and their two respective railroads were both bound for Price, a joint ownership agreement was signed that allowed the Castle Valley company half ownership in the Southern Utah tracks from Price, south to a junction near the mouth of Miller Creek Canyon. The Southern Utah Railroad was completed in late December 1909 and the Hiawatha mine began shipping in early January 1910. The Castle Valley Railway was completed in February 1910 and the Castle Valley mine at Mohrland went into production at the same time.
On July 20, 1909 James H. Mays, of Castle Valley Coal, for the amount of $125,000.00, purchased a half interest in Southern Utah Railroad line and telephone line between Price and a junction to be built near Miller Creek Canyon, to be called Castle Junction. The Castle Valley Railroad was not in existence but was contemplated upon the agreement and would be incorporated as soon as convenient. The Southern Utah line was only graded at the time. The $125,000 purchase price was to be paid in five installments, with the last installment of $25,000.00, scheduled to be due on upon actual completion of the new joint line, projected to be on October 1, 1910. The joint track was to be built to include two side tracks with the capacity of at least twenty cars each. Each railroad was to operate its own trains over the joint track at its own expense. (Carbon County Miscellaneous Records Book 3-B, p. 33-37)
(NOTE: The Castle Valley Coal Company was organized on July 12, 1909, incorporated in Wyoming on July 19, 1909, and incorporated in Utah on August 9th. The Castle Valley Railroad was incorporated in Utah on August 10, 1909.)
Within a month and a half, on September 29, 1909, James H. Mays, as trustee for the Castle Valley Coal Company, assigned his half interest in the Southern Utah Railroad to the Castle Valley Railroad, for the grand sum of $1.00. (Carbon County Miscellaneous Records Book 3-B, p. 38)
The joint operating agreement called for the Southern Utah line to be completed by October 1, 1909, and for the equal division of all costs involving the joint line. Also stipulated was the division of revenues. The handling of the United States Mail, all passenger traffic, and any traffic originating in Price would be divided equally, after subtraction of a ten percent handling fee by the handling road. Any traffic originating at Miller Creek would be exclusive to the Southern Utah, and any traffic originating at Cedar Creek would be exclusive to the Castle Valley, with no division of revenues. (Carbon County Miscellaneous Records Book 3-B, p. 33-37)
In mid May 1910 the two companies announced that passenger service to both Hiawatha and Mohrland would begin within thirty to forty-five days, and that a smaller locomotive was to be ordered for that service. (Eastern Utah Advocate, May 19, 1910)
In early June 1910 the Castle Valley purchased an old coach passenger car from the Bamberger Electric Railroad. Upon its arrival at Price on June 5, 1910, the local press jokingly suggested that the car "looks like it crossed the plains with the handcart brigades." (Eastern Utah Advocate, June 9, 1910)
With the delivery of the second hand Bamberger car, the Castle Valley began operating a mixed train between Price and the Cedar Creek mines, on a loose schedule of about every other day. The new mixed train service lasted only about three months. The coal company paid $2,000.00 worth of coal for the old Bamberger passenger car. (Eastern Utah Advocate, June 23, 1910)
During June 1910, Consolidated Fuel was shipping 800 tons (about 26 carloads) of coal per day. (Eastern Utah Advocate, June 9, 1910)
A third locomotive was ordered for the Southern Utah in early August 1910. (Eastern Utah Advocate, August 4, 1910)
On September 11, 1910, a Sunday evening, the old Bamberger car was totally destroyed in a run-away accident after its coupling broke. (Eastern Utah Advocate, September 15, 1910)
A second locomotive for the Castle Valley was ordered in early October 1910. (Eastern Utah Advocate, October 6, 1910, p. 5)
In mid October 1910, the Southern Utah announced that they were planning an order for two additional locomotives. (Eastern Utah Advocate, October 13, 1910)
The local press announced in early December 1911 that two new locomotives from Lima Locomotive Works were due for the Castle Valley, bringing its total up to four. (Eastern Utah Advocate, December 7, 1911, "any day now")
(COMMENT: Apparently only one of the two locomotives ordered by Castle Valley actually arrived, as Castle Valley number 103. The planned fourth locomotive (Castle Valley 104?) may have been the light engine mentioned for passenger service earlier in 1910, and may have either been wrecked or otherwise disposed of by May 1912 when the Southern Utah received its own number 104, an American 2-8-0 which later became Utah Railway number 4. Only Castle Valley 101 and 103 were on the railroad at the time of its sale to the Southern Utah Railroad in 1914, later becoming numbers 1 and 3 of Utah Railway.)
Southern Utah Railroad ordered two new locomotives, one locomotive from Lima weighing 91 tons, and another from American weighing 160 tons. These two new locomotives for the Southern Utah would bring the road's total to four. The Southern Utah also ordered thirty-seven coal cars made of rolled steel, each with a capacity of fifty tons. Fifty additional cottages were to be built at the Hiawatha mine, joining the nineteen already completed. (Eastern Utah Advocate, December 22, 1910, "Two New Engines For The Southern")
On December 27, 1910 a locomotive for the Southern Utah Railroad, and a locomotive for the Castle Valley Railroad, arrived at Price. (Eastern Utah Advocate, December 29, 1910, p. 5)
(COMMENT: These two locomotives would have been Southern Utah 102 and Castle Valley 103.)
Southern Utah Railroad leased its locomotive, road number 102, a direct locomotive, with construction serial number 1127, from the Lima Locomotive & Machine Company. The lease was for the period of one year while the purchase price of $13,155.00 was being paid off in four equal payments of $3,288.75. The lease was dated November 30, 1910, and started on January 12, 1911. The locomotive was fully paid for and title of ownership passed to the railroad by May 18, 1912. (Carbon County Miscellaneous Records Book 3-B, p. 376)
The Castle Valley Railroad leased locomotive 103, with construction serial number 1211, a "direct" locomotive (compared to a non-direct Shay locomotive), from Lima Locomotive & Machine Company on January 8, 1911, in the amount of $14,562.97, the cost of the locomotive. The locomotive was ordered on October 19, 1910. The lease was for a period of one year, while the locomotive was being paid for. (Carbon County Miscellaneous Records Book 3-B, p. 354)
(COMMENT: This last locomotive, Castle Valley 103, brought the total up to four locomotives, Southern Utah 100, Castle Valley 101, Southern Utah 102, and Castle Valley 103. Southern Utah also had Shay 50 operating at the East Hiawatha tipple and Hiawatha mine.)
The continuing problem of the coal monopoly by the Denver & Rio Grande came to the front again in early 1911. The Consolidated Fuel and Castle Valley coal companies both depended on reliable rail service from the D&RG to ship and sell their coal. The quality of D&RG's rail service was always suspect because it also controlled the competing coal company, Utah Fuel Company, whose coal was also shipped over its line. In an attempt at fair treatment, during the first week of February 1911, the Consolidated and Castle Valley companies filed a complaint about unfair discrimination with the Interstate Commerce Commission. (Coal Index: Eastern Utah Advocate, February 2, 1911, "Claim Rates Too High")
The complaint with the ICC asked for a through rate from the mines to the customers for shipment of their coal over the D&RG. The use of a through rate would keep the D&RG from having two coal rates, one for Utah Fuel's coal, and another for everyone else's coal. (Eastern Utah Advocate, February 9, 1911)
During the ICC hearings in Salt Lake City, Southern Utah stated that the combined railroads charged forty cents per ton to haul coal, which was less than two cents per ton-mile. They also stated their earnings from other than coal. (Eastern Utah Advocate, July 27, 1911)
ICC ruled in favor of the coal companies. (Coal Index: Eastern Utah Advocate, July 4, 1912)
(RESEARCH: Find minutes to the ICC hearings for Consolidated Fuel and Castle Valley Coal's complaint for through rates.)
Planned improvements for the combined railroads and joint operation were announced in August 1911. The Southern Utah would be adding a second water tank, and the combined Southern Utah and Castle Valley railroads would be building a joint machine shops and roundhouse in Price. The Castle Valley began using its own depot in Price, located about two blocks east of the Southern Utah depot. The Castle Valley agent was at the depot between 3 and 6 p.m. (Eastern Utah Advocate, August 24, 1911)
By September the combined Southern Utah and Castle Valley railroads were shipping about fifty cars per day. (Coal Index: Eastern Utah Advocate, September 26, 1912, p. 5)
The coal from the United States Smelting's mines was used in their own furnaces at Midvale, Bingham, and Tintic. The coal was also sold to markets in Utah. (Coal Index: Eastern Utah Advocate, January 2, 1913, p. 6)
In mid July 1913, the Consolidated Fuel Company bought all of the coal land holdings of the American Steel & Fuel Company in Miller Creek Canyon, near Hiawatha. (Eastern Utah Advocate, July 13, 1913) American Steel & Fuel had purchased that property from Charles T. Lemley. The property consisted of the Southeast Quarter of Section 18, Township 15 South, Range 8 East. (Carbon County Miscellaneous Records Book 3-B, p. 64)
(COMMENT: C. T. Lemley was shown as "being connected" with the Consolidated Fuel Company in early 1910.)
