Utah Fuels the West
Utah's coal industry and the railroads that served it
By Don Strack
This page was last updated on October 18, 2004.
(Incomplete… research continues)
Sunnyside Mines
During 1899 coal was discovered in Whitmore Canyon in the Book Cliffs. To exploit this new discovery, the Utah Fuel Company developed the Sunnyside Mine. The coal was of good coking quality, and Sunnyside became the major supplier of coke in the intermountain region. In 1889 the Utah lines of the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railway were reorganized as the Rio Grande Western Railway to finance the conversion to standard gauge. The Rio Grande Western also owned the Utah Fuel Company, which owned the new Sunnyside mines, and these same interests organized the Carbon County Railway on November 20, 1899 to provide transportation for the coal and coke coming from the Sunnyside Mine. This Carbon County Railway of 1899 should not be confused with the company of the same name that operated in the region between 1923 and 1983.
The first coal mine in the Sunnyside area was opened early in 1896 by Jefferson Tidwell and his sons, John, Jeff, and William. Early in 1897 George Holiday became a partner and the coal mine became known as the Tidwell-Holiday coal mine. The Pleasant Valley Coal Company bought the rights to the property in late 1898. (Zehnder, p. 39)
"The Holliday Coal Company which was recently incorporated in Salt Lake City, and whose claims are located in this county, some nine miles from Sunnyside, is working to make a shipment of four cars right away. The coal is said to be a good anthracite and bring $7.70 a ton on the Salt Lake market. Most of the incorporators are residents of Wellington and their enterprise deserves success. We understand the company intends making another road as soon as practicable to shorten the distance of hauling. As it is now the road is some fourteen miles long and this can be cut down some five miles. The seams of coal are 9-1/2 feet and four feet and are separated only by a thin strain of rock." (Eastern Utah Advocate, April 15, 1897, page 4, Local News; Utah Digital Newspapers)
"A number of our [Wellington] boys are at the Tidwell Holdaway mine digging coal and making a road to Sunnyside over which the coal is to be hauled. This mine will be a heavy shipper in the future." (Eastern Utah Advocate, April 15, 1897, page 1, Wellington; Utah Digital Newspapers)
Coal was discovered in the vicinity of Whitmore canyon in 1898 by cattlemen from Wellington. The land for the Sunnyside mine was purchased by Robert Forrester for Utah Fuel Company for $250.00. The excellent coking properties of the Sunnyside coal was discovered when Forrester sent a sample to the coke ovens at Castlegate. Work began on the Sunnyside mine in 1898. (Madsen, p. 52)
The first coal was shipped on November 19, 1899, the first day of railroad operations from the coal camp. (Gibson: Sunnyside, p. 203)
In a 1909 article for Mines & Minerals magazine, A. C. Watts, Chief Engineer for Utah Fuel Company, described in detail the crushing and screening plant at the Sunnyside mine. The plant was capable of furnishing both the commercial market for coal and the preparation of coal for the coking operation at the mine, each without interfering with the operations of the other. The coal vein mined at Sunnyside dipped into the mountain at a ten percent incline. Coal was mined from both the No. 1 and the No. 2 openings and was transported to either of two tipples. The No. 1 mine was located about 100 feet from the Sunnyside tipples, and the opening was on a slope down into the mine. The loaded mine cars were hoisted out of the mine in sixteen-car "trips", or trains, through the use of a Webster, Camp and Lane hoist, each trip averaging about twenty-eight to thirty tons. The opening for the No. 2 mine was on the level and was located on the same seven foot thick coal vein in a side canyon, about one and a half miles east of the tipples. Loaded mine cars were moved from the mine to the tipple with the use a thirteen-ton Jeffery electric main haulage locomotive in trips of forty to fifty loaded cars, each trip averaging 85 to 106 tons. The coal from either the No. 1 or the No. 2 openings was dumped into either the No. 1 dump, for commercial grading, or the No. 2 dump, which was mostly used to crush the coal into slack and pea (less than 3/8 inch) size for use in the coke ovens, but could also grade and process the coal into lumps for the commercial market. The Sunnyside mine also made use of its own slack and pea coal to power its power plant located adjacent to the tipples. (Watts: Utah Fuel, p. 161)
The Watts Utah Fuel article also contains very detailed descriptions of the exact methods of crushing and screening the coal at Sunnyside. Also shown was a photo of the Sunnyside tipples, a general layout of the tipple yards, a cross section of the processing plant, and a plan view of the plant.
On December 15, 1900 the Rio Grande Western operated its largest coal train to date. Thirty-six cars with 2 million pounds (1,000 tons) of coal was shipped east from the Sunnyside mine number 3. (Salt Lake Tribune, December 17, 1900) The Tribune stated that the train had 2,000,000 pounds of coal, making 55,555 pounds of coal in each of the thirty-six cars, that's 27.7 tons per car.
In 1901, about thirty miners were used during 1901 in the No. 1 mine, producing 350 tons per day, and about 200 miners worked in the No. 2 mine, producing about 1,000 tons per day. Sunnyside No. 1 was located in the main Whitmore canyon. Sunnyside No. 2 mine was originally located about 400 yards up the side canyon. (Higgins: Industries, p. 12)
During late 1901, slack coal from the Sunnyside mine was shipped to Utah Fuel's Castle Gate mine and used in the 201 coke ovens there to produce about 5,000 tons of coke per month. (Higgins: Industries, p. 14)
Up to the turn of the century, most of the mining effort in Carbon County had been towards the development of the coking industry, in part to serve the "Smelting Capital of the West" at Salt Lake City. Sunnyside had built 200 coke ovens by 1902 and its coke production had reached 139,792 tons (about 2,800 carloads) for that year. By 1907 Sunnyside had 650 coke ovens and together with the 104 ovens at Castle Gate, along with some smaller operations, the total coke production for Carbon County was 324,692 tons, or over 12,800 railroad cars of coke. However, in 1908, with a major drop in demand, the coke production dropped over fifty percent to 134,195 tons. (Powell, Labor, p. 19)
All coal from Sunnyside from 1899 to 1902 was sent to Castlegate to be made into coke. In the years 1902-1903, 480 coke ovens were built at Sunnyside. These were increased to 550 in 1912, to 624 in 1914, and again to 713 ovens in 1917, although not all ovens were in operation at the same time. The first coke was produced at Sunnyside in April 1902, and the volume grew steadily until the late 1920s. At its peak in the 1920s, there were 1,100 men on the Utah Fuel payroll at Sunnyside. In 1929 coking operations were practically suspended. Coke production was suspended at Castlegate in 1905. (Madsen, p. 53)
In 1904 the Utah Fuel Company was furnishing 100 to 200 tons of coke per day from Sunnyside to the Anaconda smelter in Montana. (Salt Lake Mining Review, July 30, 1904, p. 30)
Utah Fuel opened the Somerset, Colorado mine in 1905. (Gibson: Sunnyside, p. 205)
A report in 1907 stated that Utah Fuel Company "disposes of the larger part of output to local consumers for domestic and steam purposes…It has been shipping approximately 15 percent to neighboring states…has been shipping 350 tons of coke daily to Anaconda." (Engineering and Mining Journal, Volume 84, November 23, 1907, p. 980)
(RESEARCH: Coal hearings were being held in Salt Lake City on April 9, 1908 concerning numerous claims on the coking coal lands being mined at the Sunnyside mine. Check out the Salt Lake papers for more information. from Zehnder, pp. 38,39)
Sunnyside in 1909 was working six days per week, producing coke in 480 coke ovens. (Coal Index: Eastern Utah Advocate, January 28, 1909, p. 5)
In 1909 the Utah Fuel Company's Sunnyside mines No. 1 and No. 2 produced 3,000 tons per day, for commercial use and to furnish pulverized coal for coking. (Mines & Minerals, October 1909, p. 161)
The 650 coke ovens at Sunnyside were fed with coal that would pass through a 3/8 inch screen. During 1912, the Sunnyside coke ovens produced 347,356 tons (about 6,900 carloads) of coke, an almost forty percent increase over 1911's production. Watts: Carbon County, p. 404)
(PHOTOGRAPHS: Photos of the Sunnyside tipple and the village of Sunnyside were in Coal Age, Volume 2, number 22, November 30, 1912, p. 747.
Photo of the Sunnyside coke plant was in Coal Age, Volume 3, number 10, March 8, 1913, p. 363.
Photo of the Sunnyside mine was in Coal Age, Volume 3, number 4, April 5, 1913, p. 514.
Photos of Sunnyside's tipple, powerhouse, and old coke installation were in Coal Age, Volume 3, number 22, May, 31, 1913, p. 836.
Photo of the Sunnyside mine, townsite, and coke ovens was in Coal Age, Volume 3, number 24, June 14, 1913, p. 914)
Coal mining towns in Carbon County in 1912 included: Castle Gate; Clear Creek; Winter Quarters; Sunnyside; Kenilworth; Black Hawk; and Hiawatha. The principle commercial towns in the county were Price, Helper, Scofield, and Wellington. Coal production in Carbon County for 1912 was 2,750,265 tons (about 55,000 carloads), compared to 2,246,055 for 1911 (about 44,900 carloads), a twenty-two percent increase. Two-thirds of the coal production for the state of Utah is consumed within the state. The coal was of a good bituminous variety, with some coking qualities, although only the coal from the Sunnyside mine made good coke. Carbon County coal was known to be hard and clean, and was able to stand up well to storage and shipment without breaking down. (Watts: Carbon County, pp. 400,401)
Four new mines were opened during 1912: Neslen, Willow Creek, Panther, and Storrs, where a new method of conveying was being tried (Spring Canyon Coal Company's aerial tramway?). (Coal Index: Eastern Utah Advocate, January 2, 1913, p. 2)
D&RG announced that they would double track the Sunnyside Branch to allow movement of coal to the Pacific Coast, with the opening of the Panama Canal. (Coal Index: Carbon County News, January 22, 1914, p. 1)
Due to a reduction in railroad rates for Wyoming coal, Independent was working three to four days per week and Consolidated was working just two days per week. Sunnyside was working six days per week, with all coal production going to coke. (Coal Index: Eastern Utah Advocate, April 9, 1914, p. 1)
Most of the 314,694 tons of coke made at the Sunnyside mine and coke plant in 1914 was shipped to the smelter at Anaconda, Montana. (Lewis, p. 18)
Sunnyside No. 2 was closed due to a fire on August 17, 1920. The mine was reopened in late August 1921. (Coal Index: The Sun, September 2, 1921, p. 6)
In June 1931, the Denver & Rio Grande petitioned the Public Service Commission of Utah for permission to close its agency station at Sunnyside. The testimony of a D&RG official gave some interesting details of the decline of Sunnyside's coke business. By the early 1930s the coke business at Sunnyside had "disappeared", and only forty to fifty cars of coke were being shipped per year. From the beginning, the coke from Sunnyside was generally shipped to the Salt Lake smelters and to the Anaconda smelter in Butte, Montana. At times, Sunnyside coke was also shipped to the Leadville, Colorado smelters if the Colorado coke fields couldn't produce enough. Up until about 1915 the Sunnyside mine was shipping fifteen to eighteen cars of coke to the Anaconda smelter. The drop in business in about 1928 was attributed the Columbia Steel Corporation beginning to sell its excess coke to the Salt Lake valley smelters, and Sunnyside lost a great deal of its business at that time. (Public Service Commission of Utah, case 1213)
Almost all of the output of the Sunnyside mine during mid 1942 was to go to supply coking fuel for a new pig iron plant in California, to produce steel plate for the U. S. Navy. (Coal Index: Sun Advocate, June 11, 1942, p. 14)
Many improvements were made at Sunnyside during the war years, including a new machine shop. (Coal Index: Sun Advocate, March 11, 1943, p. 14)
D&RGW announced that they had purchased twelve new locomotives and 1,500 new gondola cars to support a 200 percent increase in coal traffic from Sunnyside to two Kaiser plants, one at Geneva and the other near San Bernardino, California. (Coal Index: Sun-Advocate, July 2, 1942, p. 12)
In 1943 Henry J. Kaiser leased Sunnyside No. 2 mine from Utah Fuel Company, to furnish coking coal for new steel mill at Fontana, California. The mine had been closed since 1921 because of a fire. After extinguishing the fire, the mine was closed due to low market demand for coal. (Gibson: Kaiser, p. 261)
At their peak of operation, there were over 800 beehive coke ovens at Sunnyside. Coal that makes good coke doesn't necessarily make good domestic fuel, the carbon content and moisture content being different. In 1948 there wasn't much demand for Sunnyside coking coal, with the output of the Sunnyside No. 1 mine mostly going to the D&RGW railroad for use in their locomotives, and being used as fuel for industrial purposes. The market for coking coal had been taken over by the steel companies which were making coke in by-product ovens, using coal from their own coal mines. (Gibson: Sunnyside, pp. 207,208)
In the early 1940s Kaiser began the operation of 297 beehive coke ovens at Sunnyside. The ovens were operated continuously until 1958, when Kaiser closed them down. In 1942 Kaiser leased a portion of the Sunnyside mine from Utah Fuel. In 1950 Kaiser bought Utah Fuel, and operated the properties at Sunnyside, Clear Creek and Castle Gate as the Utah Fuel Division of Kaiser Steel. Kaiser later sold the Castle Gate and Clear Creek operations to Independent Coal & Coke, which later sold both operations to North American Coal Company. North American later sold the Castle Gate property to McCulloch Oil Company, and the Clear Creek property to Valley Camp Coal Company. (Sun Advocate & Helper Journal, Special Edition, January 2, 1975, p. 5)
Utah Fuel Company, incorporated on April 17, 1901, became the Book Cliffs Coal Corporation on March 5, 1951. (Utah corporation, index number 3111)
Utah Fuel Company was merged with Book Cliffs Coal Corporation, a Kaiser subsidiary, on December 5, 1950. (Carbon County Miscellaneous Records Book 15-D, p. 4)
Book Cliffs Coal Corporation was merged with Kaiser Steel Corporation on February 23, 1951. (Carbon County Miscellaneous Records Book 15-D, p. 59)
On October 17, 1960 Book Cliffs Coal Company was sold to Mineral Development Company, a subsidiary of Heiner Coal Company, of Salt Lake City, Utah. Included in the sale was mine equipment, coal contracts, and 320 acres of coal lands in Emery County, along with half interest in 2,400 acres of non-coking coal lands in the so-called "East Carbon District", near Dragerton. At the same time, Minerals Development also announced the purchase of the other half interest in those same 2,400 acres, from Malcolm N. McKinnon. The sale and liquidation of the Book Cliffs property followed the death in May 1960 of E. S. O'Conner, former president and general manager of Book Cliffs. Book Cliffs' production was about 75,000 tons per year. (Salt Lake Tribune, October 18, 1960) The sale was announced by R. G. Heers, Fontana, Calif., president of Book Cliffs (also manager of raw materials for Kaiser Steel at Fontana). Mineral Development estimated combined coal reserves on the lands at about 25 million tons. It was a non-coking, bituminous deposit. (Coal Age, Volume 65, number 11, November 1960, p. 50, "News Roundup")
To provide better roof control and to stabilize obsolete entries and worked out pillar areas against bounces, and to seal and fill isolated or possible fire areas, in December 1957 Kaiser began installing yieldable steel arches in motor roads, hoistways, manways, and aircources. The arches were backfilled with washery refuse (sand) that was hydraulically transported and placed. Originally, "coke breeze" was used for backfill material, until equipment to handle and reduce the washery refuse could be installed. By August 1961 over 18 miles of tunnels had been completed and over 350,000 tons of fill material had been placed. Where backfilling had been completed there had been no bounces. These same areas formerly had been subject to numerous and violent bounces. (Coal Age, Volume 66, number 8, August 1961, p. 93, "Yeilding Supports")
Controlling interest in Heiner Coal Company was sold to Island Creek Coal Company, of Huntington, West Virginia, on April 29, 1965. Island Creek was the nation's largest producer of coal. Its 1964 tonnage exceeded 21 million tons. (Salt Lake Tribune, April 30, 1965)
On June 17, 1969 the new high capacity loading facility at Sunnyside was dedicated by the presidents of Kaiser Steel Corporation, Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad, Union Pacific Railroad, and AT&SF Railway, along with Utah Governor Calvin L. Rampton. The new facility was used to load a 8,400 ton Coal Liner unit train every four days. The service began late in 1968 using leased cars. The dedication was held in June 1969 with the delivery of the new gondola Coal Liner cars. (Deseret News, June 13, 1969)
On April 21, 1988, Kaiser Coal Corporation closed its Sunnyside No. 1 and No. 2 mines at Sunnyside, Utah, idling 189 miners and 33 salaried workers. Twelve salaried workers were retained. Kaiser Coal was bankrupt at the time, and asked the bankruptcy court for permission to lease the mines to Sunnyside Reclamation & Salvage to allow that company to mine the remaining one million tons of coal reserves still in the mines. Mellon Bank owned the longwall mining machine in the No. 1 mine, which had been leased to Kaiser Coal, and the bank been trying to repossess the machine since July 1988 and sell it to another coal company. Mellon had been paying the maintenance costs of the mine, about $150,000 per month (more like $1,500.00 per month), which was necessary to keep water (which would damage the mining machine) pumped out of the mine. Most of the costs were electricity for the pumps. On November 25, 1988, Mellon "walked away from the situation", after Utah Power & Light agreed to keep the pumps running, at least until a buyer could be found for the mine, on or about December 7, 1988. (Salt Lake Tribune, December 6, 1988, p.C1)
The last train operated between Columbia Junction and the Kaiser loadout at Sunnyside in 1991. (email from James Belmont, May 27, 2003)
