Salt Lake & Alta Railroad (1913-1917)

This page was last updated on June 26, 2011.

Additional Information

Salt Lake & Alta Locomotives

Overview

This road was another of J. G. Jacobs’ projects, he having built the Salt Lake & Mercur road, and the Copper Belt railroad. The SL&A was incorporated in August of 1913, to purchase from Jacobs the lease of the Alta Branch of the D&RG. According to the Deseret News of Tuesday, November 25, 1913, the line was finished to Wasatch on the Friday before. (George Pitchard)

Timeline

1913
D&RG leased its Wasatch Branch between Sandy and Wasatch to Salt Lake & Alta Railroad, which agreed to reconstruct and operate the branch. (LeMassena, p. 125)

March 1913
News item about J. G. Jacobs planning to build a railroad up Little Cottonwood Canyon, from Sand Pit to Wasatch. (Salt Lake Mining Review, Volume 14, number 24, March 30, 1913, page 32)

June 10, 1913
"Little Cottonwood Granite Selected" for the new state capitol building; as to the railroad - "Plans for early construction operations are being taken up by the Alta & Jordan Railroad company, which owns the old right-of-way from Jordan to Alta… This company, incorporated about two years ago,… "The old roadbed from Jordan to the Wasatch resort near the mouth of the canyon is still in such shape that the reconstruction would not be very costly. From Wasatch to Alta, the old rails of the gravity tram way are still intact much of the way, although now overgrown with brush. In some places, the wagon road has appropriated the right-of same "Midvale to Wasatch Railroad to be Completed at Once." J. G. Jacobs is to build a railroad to the granite quarries at once, the work to start in a day or two; nearly four miles is built now, and the grade for the 11 miles to Wasatch has been established. "The roadbed and right-of-way has been leased from the Denver & Rio Grande." (Salt Lake Daily Herald, June 10, 1913)

June 13, 1913
"Work Starts on Road Which will Haul Rock…" "J. G. Jacobs, lessee of the old right-of-way up Little Cottonwood Canyon, began active construction work yesterday in building the line… The terminal with the Rio Grande is at Midvale and the road now extends to a point 1-1/2 miles east of Sandy. From that point on, the road must be practically rebuilt, though the major portions of the grade for the old ore tramway up the canyon still remain, making the grading work easier than would otherwise be the fact." The distance between Sandy and Wasatch is stated to be eight miles; the road will go 1-1/2 miles beyond Wasatch in order to reach the upper quarries. Jacobs thinks that his road will be there by the first of August. He will have his own locomotives and passenger cars, but will use D. & R. G. flat cars for the hauling of the stone. (Salt Lake Daily Herald, June 13, 1913)

August 26, 1913
Salt Lake & Alta Railroad incorporated:

To operate and maintain a railroad from Midvale, Utah to Wasatch, Utah, a distance of about 10 miles.
To purchase from J. G. Jacobs the lease of the Alta Branch of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad dated July 31, 1913, full payment being the entire capital stock of this corporation.
The state capitol building was under construction from December 1912 to July 1915; granite blocks for the construction of the capitol building came from the granite quarries in Little Cottonwood Canyon, with the Salt Lake & Alta being used for transportation.
(Utah Corporation Index 10268)

According to an article about the Utah Consolidated Stone Company in The Salt Lake Mining Review of June 30, 1914, upon obtaining the $608,000 contract to furnish 165,000 cubic feet of granite for the building of the Utah state capitol, the stone company advanced the funds needed to build the Salt Lake & Alta Railroad. The line was 10 miles long and connected directly with the stone company's dressing works in Midvale on the old smelter site of the Bingham Consolidated Co., which was adjacent to the United States smelter.

Utah railroads historian Robert Edwards stated on at least one occasion that the dressed and finished stone for the capitol building was moved by way of the street railway to Capitol Hill. (Utah Light & Railway's line along State Street to Murray, Midvale, and Sandy, had been completed in 1910.)

November 1913
News item about the completion of the Salt Lake & Alta Railroad, completed "to the doors of the Wasatch Hotel, up the canyon." (Salt Lake Mining Review, Volume 15, number 16, November 30, 1913, page 28)

"Salt Lake & Alta Railroad", article. (Salt Lake Mining Review, Volume 16, Number 22, March 15, 1915, page 26)

Salt Lake & Alta Railroad -- One of the most important factors connected with the future prosperity of Alta and Little Cottonwood was the building, last year, of the Salt Lake & Alta railroad, which connects with the Denver & Rio Grande at Midvale, and terminates at Wasatch, a famed summer resort a short distance up from the mouth of Little Cottonwood canyon. The need of such a road has long been felt, and already, since its completion last summer, the shipping mining companies of the district have been materially and financially, benefited, and the tonnage handled, this year, will doubtless be much larger than it was last season, with a steady increase being noted in time to come. This road saves the wagon haul from Wasatch to Midvale, and this is quite an item when small profits are considered, and enables the mine-owner to ship who, hitherto, could not market his product because of the costly wagon haul. The road is ten miles in length, from Midvale to Wasatch, with an extension of a mile further from Wasatch to the granite quarries. The building of the road was hastened in order that it might be utilized in the haulage of the granite to be used in the construction of the capitol building in Salt Lake City. Its carrying capacity was taxed to the limit, last year, to care for both granite and ore shipments. The line was constructed by J. G. Jacobs, of Salt Lake, the veteran railroad builder who constructed the wonderful Mercur road a number of years ago, and who has unbounded confidence in the ultimate outcome of Little and Big Cottonwood districts. The company is capitalized at 4,000 shares of a par value of $25. J. G. Jacobs is president and manager, with office at Room 2, McIntosh Building, Salt Lake City.

October 1915
News item about the Salt Lake & Alta hauling 2,014 tons in August 1915 from the Wasatch terminal, and 2,987 tons in September 1915, compared to less than 200 tons a year before. (Salt Lake Mining Review, Volume 17, number 13, October 30, 1915, page 18)

April 1916
"Salt Lake & Alta Railroad", article. Ties and rails had been delivered. The "Shea" locomotives were "on their way." (Salt Lake Mining Review, Volume 18, Number 12, April 15, 1916)

The granite quarries at Little Cottonwood Canyon were the source of granite stone for the new Utah state capitol building, all shipped via the Salt Lake & Alta Railroad. The contract for the construction of the new state capital building was held by Stewart Construction Company. The granite stone work was being done by Utah Consolidated Stone Company. The completion of the capitol building had been delayed from July 1, 1915 to January 1, 1916. (Eastern Utah Advocate, July 24, 1913, page 8, "Capital Completion Delayed")

1917
D&RG took over the operation of its Little Cottonwood Branch between Midvale and Wasatch, terminating the lease of the Sandy to Wasatch portion by Salt Lake & Alta. (LeMassena, p. 131)

September 1917
News item about the D&RG "taking over" the Salt Lake & Alta. (Salt Lake Mining Review, Volume 19, number 11, September 15, 1917, page 43)

1924:

As measured at the railroad loading station at Wasatch at the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon, the Alta District shipped 1,255 tons during the month of January 1924, from the following mines: South Hecla 560 tons; Columbus-Rexall 250 tons; Michigan-Utah 225 tons; Emma Silver 230 tons. It was not stated how much of this was over the LCTC and how much was by wagon. (Salt Lake Mining Review, February 15, 1924, Utah Digital Newspaper Project)

As reported by George H. Watson, the Alta District shipped 680 tons during the month of February 1924, from the following mines: Alta Merger Mines 400 tons; Columbus-Rexall 160 tons; Michigan-Utah 120 tons. It was not stated how much of this was over the LCT and how much was by wagon. (Salt Lake Mining Review, March 15, 1924, Utah Digital Newspaper Project)

In May 1924, J. P. Clays petitioned the Utah Public Utilities Commission to build a $200,000 aerial tramway to transport ore from the Alta mines (including the Peruvian mine) to the railroad terminal at Wasatch. The petition was returned for want of jurisdiction. (Salt Lake Mining Review, May 15, 1924, Utah Digital Newspaper Project)

April 1925
J. P. Clays, manager of the Peruvian Mining Company, organized the Alta-Wastach Tramway Company in April 1925 to build a 6-1/2 mile aerial tramway between the mines at Alta and the railroad terminal at Wasatch. The upper terminal was to be just below the operating and drainage tunnel of the Wasatch Mining Company at the mouth of Peruvian Gulch and about 4000 feet below the Peruvian mine itself. The capacity was to be 150 tons per day. The haulage rate for the tramway was said to be about $1.50 to $3.00 per ton compared to the $2.50 to $4.00 and more being charged by the wagon freight companies. No projected date of completion was given. The mines at Alta included the Wasatch, the Hellgate, the West Toledo, the Columbus-Rexall, the Alta Merger, the Emma, the Alta Consolidated, the Michigan-Utah, and others. (Salt Lake Mining Review, April 15, 1925, Utah Digital Newspaper Project)

February 1927
In February 1927 George H. Watson took control of the Emma Silver Mining Company, the Alta Merger Mining Company, and the Alta Consolidated Mining Company, with the new company being called the Alta Michigan Mining Company. The mines had been idle during 1926. (Salt Lake Mining Review, February 15, 1927, Utah Digital Newspaper Project)

September 6, 1933
D&RGW received ICC approval to abandon 6.8 miles of the Little Cottonwood Branch between Sand Pit and Wasatch. The line was built as narrow gauge in 1873 by the Wasatch & Jordan Valley Railroad. Operation was discontinued in 1899 and the line was relaid as standard gauge in 1913. It saw daily service from 1913 to 1917, while leased to the Salt Lake & Alta Railroad. Between 1917 and 1923 there was only irregular service, about two or three times per week. There was only occasional use after 1923, with two trips made in 1932 and none in 1933. No shipments of ore were made after June 1930. There was no service on the branch after June 1932. Car loadings of granite building stone furnished "considerable traffic, but all of that traffic now moves by truck". (193 ICC 461)

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