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Salt Lake City Southern Railroad

Compiled by Don Strack

This page was last updated on May 27, 2004.

Timeline
Current Operations
Locomotives

Timeline

December 31, 1992:
ICC approved UTA's acquisition of UP's Provo Sub from Mount to 900 South. (ICC Finance Docket 32186)

March 31, 1993:
Union Pacific sold a portion of its right-of-way between Salt Lake City and Provo to the Utah Transit Authority as part of its planned operation of light rail along the Wasatch Front.  The actual trackage and railroad right-of-way involved includes the former Union Pacific route from 900 South in Salt Lake City south to the county line between Salt Lake County and Utah County.  UTA also purchased the rights to first refusal on the UP line from the county line south to Lindon, Utah, in Utah County.  Also included in the sale to UTA was the Dahl Spur, which runs west from the former UP tracks, under the Southern Pacific (former D&RGW) tracks and Interstate 15, to the west side of Midvale, at the former location of the abandoned smelter of the United States Smelting, Refining & Mining Co., later known as Sharon Steel Co.  UTA acquired this trackage because of the existing access under the Interstate, saving them from having to fund such an underpass in the future.  There is also some existing rail business at the end of the spur.

The proposed sale of the UP line south through Salt Lake City was cause for concern for many of the businesses that used rail service along the route.  To ensure continuous and seamless freight service to those customers, UTA negotiated an operating lease for its new rail property with Railtex Corporation, an operator of small, shortline railroads nationwide, including the freight operations of the very successful San Diego, Calif., light rail service.  The operating lease went into effect concurrent with the March 31, 1993 sale of the UP line to UTA. (Telephone conversation with Bruce Barnes at Utah Transit Authority, August 1994.)

April 1, 1993:
Railtex organized a new company called Salt Lake City Southern Railroad (SL), and began actual operations on April 19, 1993, following the UTA sale, using first a GP15-1 leased from UP. (part from Railroad Retirement Board Employer Determination)

April 13, 1993:
ICC gave regulatory approval for Salt Lake City Southern Railroad to acquire approximately 25 miles of rail line from Union Pacific, from UP milepost 775.19 (Mount, Utah) to mile post 798.74 (900 South in Salt Lake City), including the 1.25 mile Lovendahl Spur. (ICC Finance Docket 32276)

(The Lovendahl Spur mentioned above is assumed to be the same as the previously mentioned Dahl Spur, the UP spur that passes under both I-15 and the former D&RGW mainline at about 6800 South, and which provided UP with access to the old United States Midvale smelter.)

Although UP had sold the portion of the Provo Sub from 900 South to Mount to UTA, they had retained a permanent easement for freight operations, and on April 13, 1993, that easement was passed to Salt Lake City Southern at no charge.

April 19, 1993:
Salt Lake City Southern commenced operations. The company hired its first employee on April 1, 1993. They owned one locomotive and leased another locomotive. Upon startup, the railroad served 50 customers and provided full terminal and intra-plant switching under contract to UP. (part from Railroad Retirement Board Employer Determination)

June 1993:
SL leased NREX SW1200 2253 from National Railway Equipment, ex SSW 2253. (Locomotive Notes II, Number 174, October 1993, page 12, reported by Ryan Ballard)

November 1993:
Plans for SL locomotives included a former ATSF rebuilt SW1200 (SSB 1200) being reconditioned by VMV Enterprises in Paducah, Ky., ex Texas & Northeastern Railroad (TNER) 1229. (Ryan Ballard, reported in Locomotives Notes II, Issue 176, p. 11)

1994:
Salt Lake City Southern contested the $1M valuation of its property by the Utah State Tax Commission. The case ended up before the Utah Supreme Court, which decided on September 14, 1999 that the tax commission was correct in its method of valuation, but the value was lowered to $738,000. (Supreme Court of the State of Utah, Case 970529, 1999 UT 90)

March 1994:
The new railroad received their first formally lettered and painted locomotive in March 1994 -- an ex-ATSF GP7R, transferred from Railtex's Dallas, Northeastern & Garland operation, and repainted into a handsome light blue and silver scheme for its Salt Lake City assignment. (Telephone conversation with Bruce Weaver at Salt Lake City Southern Railroad, August 1994; Ryan Ballard, reported in Locomotive Notes II, Issue 179, p. 12.)

The Salt Lake City Southern operation had been successful right from the start.  In the first sixteen months of operation, the traffic had seen a steady increase, about doubling the carloadings experienced by UP when it operated the line.  The record monthly carloadings had been as high as 210, with an average of about 160 cars per month.  The line was then-currently being operated as far south as the Intermountain Farmers Association (IFA) facility in Draper, Utah. (Telephone conversation with Bruce Weaver at Salt Lake City Southern Railroad, August 1994.)

September 1995:
SL received a GP38 from Central Oregon & Pacific Railroad (CORP). Lettered for RailTex's Missouri & Arkansas Railroad (MNA) 5556, then as SL 5556. (Ryan Ballard, reported in Locomotive Notes II, Issue 187, p. 16)

July 1996:
SL received a GP9 from Central Oregon & Pacific Railroad (CORP). Lettered for CORP 6440. (Sheldon Perry, reported in Locomotive Notes II, Issue 194, p. 9, photo)

May 1997:
SL received a GP7R from San Diego & Imperial Valley Railroad (SDIV). Numbered as SDIV 2151, to SL 2151. (Ryan Ballard, reported in Locomotive Notes II, Issue 197, p. 25)

February 12, 1999:
Surface Transportation Board approved the Salt Lake City Southern petition to operate over a 0.26 mile segment of Union Pacific trackage, between mile post 798.74 and mile post 799.0 in Salt Lake City. Union Pacific stated that it planned to convey this segment to UTA as an extension of UTA's former UP Provo Subdivision. The trackage rights were needed as a result of the Gateway Redevelopment Project in Salt Lake City. The transaction was scheduled to take place on or before January 31, 1999. (STB Finance Docket 33711)

This 0.26 mile segment is the portion of the former Provo Subdivision main line along 400 West, from the connection with the former UP 900 South passenger line along 900 South at about 850 South, and the point where UTA's TRAX light rail line connects with the former UP Provo Subdivision, at about 200 West and 1200 South.

Mid 1999:
Merger discussions were under way between Salt Lake City Southern owner RailTex, Inc., operating 26 railroads with 4,100 route miles in the U.S., eastern Canada and Mexico, and RailAmerica, Inc., operating 25 railroads with 8,400 route miles in the U.S., Australia, Canada, and Chile.

One of the projected changes would be for RailTex to shed itself of the Salt Lake City Southern operations due to the fact that the company did not actually own the trackage over which it was operating. RailTex notified UTA of this and UTA began looking for another operator, and very soon found Utah Railway.

August 24, 1999:
Surface Transportation Board approved UTA's request to take away Salt Lake City Southern's status as a common carrier, subject to another carrier being named to take over freight operations along the UTA line.

August 30, 1999:
STB approved Utah Railway's application to offer freight service over the UTA line. (STB Finance Docket 33785)

September 14, 1999:
Salt Lake City Southern had lost its appeal to the state tax commission for an adjustment of its property tax valuation.

September 30, 1999:
Utah Railway agreed with Salt Lake City Southern's parent company RailTex to purchase all rights and assets of Salt Lake City Southern. (STB Finance Docket 33803, service date October 18, 1999)

The sale was made final after RailTex had placed its Salt Lake City Southern holdings under the ownership of a new RailTex subsidiary Utah Rail Co., which is the actual company that was purchased by Utah Railway. RailTex had transferred its Salt Lake City Southern holdings to its Utah Rail Co. subsidiary for the price of $675,000, making a profit of about $500,000. (San Antonio Business Journal, October 7, 1999)

RailTex Merger:
On October 14, 1999, RailAmerica announced its intent to merge with and control  RailTex. On January 14, 2000, the Surface Transportation Board's approval went into effect, and on February 1, 2000, the stockholders of both companies approved the merger. On February 4, 2000, the merger became final, with February 7, 2000 being that last day of trading for Railtex (RTEX) shares on the NASDAQ exchange.

October 15, 1999:
UP granted trackage rights to the new Salt Lake City Southern Railroad (SLCS) over 2.1 miles of rail line between [D&RGW] milepost 735.8 and [D&RGW] milepost 737.9, on UP's Provo Subdivision.  The trackage rights included the Midvale siding and crossover track, and allowed Utah Railway to move trains between its Midvale yard on the former D&RGW, to an interchange at Pallas on the former UP line, where it could access the UTA-Salt Lake City Southern tracks. (Approved by STB Finance Docket 33808, decided on October 18, 1999)

According to the National Railway Historical Society web site, the SL reporting mark was active from January 1994 to July 2000. < http://www.nrhs.com/reporting_marks/company_reporting_marks.htm >

Operations as of early 2001

As of early 2001, Union Pacific's description of SLCS was as follows:

Nature of Firm: Salt Lake City Southern Railroad operates a line owned by Utah Transit Authority extending from Mount to Salt Lake City, UT, 25 miles. The SLCS also operates a transloading facility for plastics.

Traffic includes cement, animal feed and grain, lumber and forest products, food products, minerals and stone, petroleum products, plastics, and chemicals - about 3,500 cars per year.

This is part of the former Union Pacific main line into Salt Lake City. Short line service started April 19, 1993. SLCS has a freight easement over the line and trackage rights over a short segment of UPRR in the Murray to Midvale area. In November 2000, SL leased and assumed switching operations from the UP for a Salt Lake City Industrial Park (known as Small Arm Industrial Park).

SLCS is a subsidiary of Utah Railway Company of Helper, Utah.

Interchange is made with UP at Murray, UT and Salt Lake City - Roper Yard.

Customers Served

Small Arms Industrial Park

Salt Lake City Southern locomotives

SL 2151 (EMD GP7R)

SL 2207 (EMD GP7R)

SL 3821 (EMD GP38-2)

SL 5556 (EMD GP38)

SL 6440 (EMD GP9)

Also leased HLCX GP38-2 2034, circa September 1994

Also used Texas Northeastern Railroad (TNER) GP9 272, from May 1998 to November 1999

Also reported was SW1200 number 2253, ex SSW 2253, being in Salt Lake City in June 1993 for use on the Salt Lake City Southern; owned by National Railway Equipment. (Locomotive Notes II, Number 174, October 1993, page 12, reported by Ryan Ballard)

(Locomotive roster completed with the assistance of Ken Ardinger, Ryan Ballard, Richard Barnes, Dave Carr, Mike Derrick, James Mischke, Hank Stephens, Russell Underwood, and Paul Wester)

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