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Salt Lake & Mercur Railroad

This page was last updated on May 25, 2004.

Additional Sources:

(Note: The information below was developed in response to Mr. Robert L. Noon, on December 19, 1998, in answer to his request for information about the Salt Lake & Mercur Railroad)

Incorporated on July 18, 1894. The majority shareholder was A. A. Noon of Provo, Utah, with 1,000 shares. L. L. Nunn is not mentioned.

From an article in the Salt Lake Mining Review, Volume 1, Number 18, December 30, 1899, pages 5-8:

Stephen Carr included three pages on the Salt Lake & Mercur in his book, Utah Ghost Rails (Western Epics, 1989), including five photos and a map.

The City of Mercur was incorporated on May 11, 1897. (Our Pioneer Heritage, Vol. 2, p.475)

There have been several articles about the Mercur mine and mill itself:

"The End of Con-Mercur", article about the shut down of Consolidated-Mercur mine at Mercur.  The company was organized in July 1900. The mine and mill closed on March 30, 1913.  (Salt Lake Mining Review, Volume 15, number 1, April 15, 1913, p.26)

The mill was dismantled in 1913 and the equipment removed over the Salt Lake & Mercur line. The railroad shut down on October 18, 1913. (Conversation with Grant Pendleton at Utah Power & Light in reference with an L. L. Nunn biography, circa March 1982)

The following is from Our Pioneer Heritage, Volume 10, by Daughters of Utah Pioneers, pages 184-185:

The Salt Lake & Mercur was a broad gauge mining road built to run between Fairfield, Utah County, and the famous mining town of Mercur. It was one of the roads illustrating the difficulties of railway building in the mountainous districts of the West. The roadbed was almost twice as long as the airline distance between the terminal points, these being Fairfield in Utah County, and Mercur in Tooele County; the distance first mentioned being fourteen miles and the other nine miles. Necessarily the track was crooked and the general view spectacular.

The road owes its beginning and finish to Joseph G. Jacobs, a native of Ohio, who reached Utah in 1890. The line was commenced September 1, 1894, and finished February 20, 1895. It was one of the best paying roads in the country and one of the most altitudinous, its climb from the valley to the heights, being 1986 feet. It was [p.185] dismantled in 1914, after the abandonment of mining operations at Mercur."

Originally the line was intended to bring the ore from the Mercur area three miles south to the Manning Mill. The tracks were soon extended on down the canyon to Fairfield, connecting with the Union Pacific lines. This allowed passengers and equipment to travel by an all-rail route from Salt Lake City via Lehi and Fairfield. Much of the color of the 1890's in Mercur was connected with this one-car railroad.

James W. Nell gives this account of a ride on the Salt Lake and Mercur:

Mercur is reached from Salt Lake via the Union Pacific Railway with one change of cars at Lehi Junction, change again at Fairfield, where the Salt Lake and Mercur Railroad, with a little narrow gauge car on broad gauge track, meets the Union Pacific trains and conveys one to Mercur. This railroad is a wonder to the traveler; the trip over it is well worth the taking even if the mining camp at its western end were no attraction.… It is twelve miles long, and I heard an old railroad man say that he would wager big money that in four miles of it one could not find a straight rail! It crosses a divide 1,800 feet above the Fairfield station, reaching this point by a series of curves, loops, twists and turns which fairly make one dizzy, and discounts any of the scenery on the famed Marshall Pass on the D. & R. G. Railway or the Hagerman Pass of the Colorado Midland. The single car is taken over by a diminutive engine of the Shay type, and at every turn the passenger holds his breath for fear this little machine will actually jump over what, to all appearances, is the end of the track. The rails are not yet laid into the town of Mercur proper, but a short drive of one-half mile in a hack fills the gap.'

Additional information:

Locomotive Roster

No. Builder
Number		 Builder
Date		 Trucks Cylinders Drivers Light
Weight		 Notes:
1 295 26 Jul 1890 2 (3) 9x8 inches 26 inches 37,500 pounds 1
2 489 2 May 1895 2 (3) 10x10 inches 28 inches 54,000 pounds 2
3 513 26 Jun 1896 2 (3) 10x10 inches 28 inches 55,100 pounds 3
5 563 7 Dec 1898 3 (3) 12x12 inches 32 inches 89, 820 pounds
"50-Ton Shay"		 4
7 598 26 Apr 1900 3 (3) 12-1/2x12 inches 32 inches 90,310 pounds 5
9 1787 22 Dec 1906 3 (3) 12x12 inches 32 inches 100,900 pounds
"60-Ton Shay, 3-Truck"		 6

General Notes:

a This roster is based, in part, on research by George Pitchard.
b. All six locomotives were built by Lima Locomotive Works, Lima, Ohio.
c. Note that, as far as currently known, Salt Lake & Mercur Railroad did not use numbers 4, 6 and 8.
d. "Light Weight" given above is the "empty" weight as shown on Lima's "Drawing Card Index" sheets.

Notes:

1. SL&M No. 1 was built for Ogden City Ry No. 10; to D. Eccles & Co.,  for Oregon Lumber Co. No. 10 in January 1891; sold to Salt Lake & Mercur on 12 October 1894 first as No. 10 and then as No. 1; sold in late 1899 or early 1900 to Dabob Bay Logging Co., in Dabob Bay, Wash.; then sold in January 1921 to Devitt Lumber Co., Devitt, Ore.; then sold to Bade Lumber Co.; then sold to Shanghai Building Co.; then sold to Shanghai Lumber Co., all in Devitt, Ore.; last date given being July 1927; after Shanghai Lumber it was sold to Mowry Logging Co. in Glenwood, Ore.
2. SL&M No. 2 was built for Henry Hoecke, Marshfield, Ore., not delivered; sold to SL&M, shipped on 2 May 1895, received on 15 May 1895; after SL&M, sold to M. T. O'Connell Lumber Co., Winlock, Wash.; then sold to Smith Powers Logging Co. No. 4, Fowers, Ore.; then sold to Coos Bay Lumber Co. No. 4, Powers, Ore., 13 October 1921.
3. SL&M No. 3 was built for SL&M, received July 1896; after SL&M, sold to Gardner Timber and Land Co., Discovery Bay, Wash.; then sold to Hofius Steel & Equipment Co., Seattle, Wash., a dealer, in 1921; then sold to E. E. Overton & Co., Allyn, Wash.; returned to Hofius, and scrapped in October 1929.
4. SL&M No. 5 was built for SL&M, received 20 December 1898 in Salt Lake City; sold by SL&M to Zimmerman Wells & Brown Co., Portland, Ore., a dealer, on 29 April 1914; then sold to Eastern Railway & Lumber Co., No. 5, in Centralia, Wash; then sold to S. A. Agnew Lumber Co. No. 5, also in Centralia; parts for No. 5 noted as late as 1930.
5. SL&M No. 7 was built for SL&M; transferred to the Copper Belt, as their No. 1, in January 1901; to D&RG No. 1 after 1908 consolidation of D&RG and RGW interests; still shown on D&RG roster as of April 1, 1923; contrary to information published in Koch's Titan of the Timber, D&RG/D&RGW record of "Locomotives Retired" shows that D&RGW retired Shay No. 1 in August 1924, and in September 1924, sold it to Morse Bros., Denver, Colo., for $816.75; another D&RGW list shows Shay No. 1 as being on the list to be scrapped when retired in August 1924. Other than the note in Koch's list, there is no other record of the locomotive ever being actually owned by Utah Construction Co. The Lima "drawing card index" shows that SL&M No. 7 received "3 new cylinders, complete" in February 1921.
6. SL&M No. 9 was built for SL&M; leased for a time to the Salt Lake & Alta, likely in 1913 and in 1914 up to the time it was sold in March of 1914 to J. H. Chambers, in Cottage Grove, Ore.; later sold to Western Lumber & Export Co. No. 9, then sold to Anderson. & Middleton Lumber Co. No. 9, and then sold to Oregon, Pacific & Eastern RR No. 9, all the foregoing being in Cottage Grove, Oregon; then sold to Dallas Machine & Locomotive Co., a dealer, in Dallas, Ore. in 1941.

The Salt Lake Tribune of 13 October 1894 notes the sale of the Shay to the Salt Lake & Mercur by the Oregon Lumber Company, and that it was run down to Fairfield station, junction of the U. P. and the S. L. & M., southwest of Lehi on the old Salt Lake & Western line. The Tribune of 18 May 1895 notes the arrival of the No. 2. There is no exact reference to the arrival of the No. 3. See the Tribune for a note on the arrival of No. 5, issue of 20 December 1898. This item says the new Shay, No. 5, weighs 40 tons, the 2 and 3 some 28 tons, and the 'dinkey' a mere 20 tons.

Engineering News Article

ENGINEERING NEWS, Volume 36, Number 1, July 2, 1896:

THE SALT LAKE & MERCUR RAILROAD.

By W. P. Hardesty, C. E.

The Salt Lake & Mercur Railroad is a standard-gage mountain road, for giving the Mercur mining camp connection with the railway system of Utah. This camp is situated in Camp Floyd Mining District, in the Oquirrh Mountains, and near the center of the State. This district has, within the past two or three years, attracted a great deal of attention, on account of the discovery and working of enormous bodies of gold-bearing ore, so that within the past few months it has been enjoying a veritable western mining boom. The gold found is not free-milling, not the usual "quartz" gold, but is in a form that requires the application of the cyanide process to secure it. The town of Mercur is the site of the first developments of the gold mines and is the commercial center of the district. It lies just over the divide, and on the west side of the Oquirrh range, which divides Tooele County on the west from Utah County on the east.

The Tintic branch of the Union Pacific Ry. traverses Cedar Valley on the east side of the range, and from the station of Fairfield, which is 49 miles from Salt Lake City, the Salt Lake & Mercur R. R. is built to the Mercur Camp.

The Oquirrh main range, though not high, is difficult to surmount on account of its slopes rising abruptly to its narrow summit, it having no considerable mountain streams with their canons, and it is entirely different in these respects from the Wasatch range of mountains.

From Fairfield to Mercur the distance in an air line is 6 miles. The Salt Lake & Mercur R. R. Co. was organized to build this road. Col. Chas. D. Moore, who has had an extensive experience on the location and construction of western railways, was selected as chief engineer, and work commenced in July, 1894.

A large gulch comes down from Mercur divide on the east side of the range and opens out into Cedar Valley, directly opposite Fairfield station. Up the general line of this gulch the road is located. From Fairfield to the mouth of the gulch the distance to 4-1/4 miles by the line. The road is fairly straight and direct from this portion, and an average ascending grade of 3.75% is used, with a maximum of 4.2%. Then the development begins.

Here at the mouth of the gulch are located the shops of the Salt Lake & Mercur R. R., and also the Mercur mill, for reducing the ores of the famous Mercur mine. The station here is called Manning. From Fairfield to Manning the rise is 844 ft.; from Manning to the summit the rise is 1,142 ft. more, in a direct line of less than 2 miles, and by the railway of 5-1/3 miles.

The total elevation overcome from Fairfield to the summit (called Mercur divide) is 1,986 ft., the length of line 9.58 miles in a direct distance of less than 5-1/2 miles. The maximum grade used is 4.2%, and the maximum curvature 42°, the grade being equated for curves at the rate of .02% per degree. Six of these sharp curves (having a radius of 146.2 ft.) are used for loops, and many 40° and less are used.

The line is continuous, no switch-backs being used, lighter curves would have been used but for considerations of economy. The map and views show the alignment and the nature of the country very well.

The excavation and embankment are comparatively light for such work. The work is mostly in earth, with a good percentage of loose and solid rock for part of the line. The largest cut, about 1,000 ft. long, contained 30,000 cu. yds. The total cost of grading was about $30,000.

There are four 45-ft. culverts for crossing main gulches. But little trouble with either wash-outs or snow has been experienced in the operation of the line. Standard ties are used throughout. 35-lb. second-hand rails were put down. These are to be replaced on the east side of the summit during the summer of 1896 by new 52-lb. rails, the old ones being used for the extension and switches on the west side.

The rails were elevated on curves for a speed of 12 miles per hour. The gage was not widened on curves, Col. Moore deeming it a disadvantage to do so under the conditions here, and of little benefit in any case.

The railway cost, fully equipped, about $75,000. Shay geared locomotives are used, it of course being impracticable to use ordinary mountain engines on such a road. There are one 18-ton and two 28-ton Shay locomotives in the service, the former being geared 3 to 1 and the latter 2 to 1. Each locomotive has three cylinders or engines and eight driving wheels. The large ones weigh 32 to 33 tons when coaled and watered.

They cost about $6,000 each at the works, at Akron, O. These engines do their work well, but are difficult and expensive to keep in good repair. The valve gears of the three cylinders are found hard to adjust for proper cut-off (on account of wear) to avoid working against each other. The wheel base of the small engines is 47 ins., of the large ones 52 ins.

The ore cars used by the road are 30 ft. long, weigh 20,000 to 21,000 lbs., and have a rated capacity of 15 tons, though 18 to 20 tons are often carried. The 34-ft. box cars of the Union Pacific Ry. are hauled over the line with no trouble at all. At one time a 46-ft. furniture car was also taken up to Mercur. It is found that any wheel base of over about 6 ft. 8 ins. gives trouble. The sharp curves, unless reversed, do not seem to affect train motion to any appreciable extent. The ability of the cars to stick to the track seems to depend mostly on their ease of swiveling on their trucks.

At one time a car got loose and ran for three miles, presumably at 40 or more miles per hour, before being ditched by a broken rail. At another time one got loose and was derailed by the workmen--hurrying down the hill-side and placing a tie across the track, catching the car in its return down a loop.

For down trips an air pressure of 20 lbs. is kept on the drivers of the engine, and is applied to the cars only for stops. All cars are equipped with Westinghouse air brakes and with hand brakes. The water brake is not used with the Shay engines, as it is thought that there would be a possible danger of their cogs stripping if it were. Chilled steel brake-shoes are used and are worn out very fast.

On up trips two passenger coaches or three box cars is counted a fair load, while seven empty ore cars are taken up at one trip. Mercur station is located nearly one mile further and 132 ft. lower than the summit, being 10-1/2 miles from Fairfield. The depot is 253 ft. higher than the center of the town, which lies in the bottom of Lewiston Canyon. An extension of the road is now being built that will get down into the town on a comparatively easy grade, with a distance of about two miles. This requires extensive development, and two switch-backs are also used. The grade on the west side of the summit is all 2.4% descending, except one level portion of 500 ft.

The operation of this road has proved very profitable, and has fully justified the enterprise of the projectors. An average of 200 tons of ore per day are carried from the Mercur mine to the . Mercur mill at Manning, at a contract rate of 35 cents per ton. With a number of other mines that have about begun shipping, the revenues from these sources may greatly increase. A considerable business is also done carrying miscellaneous freight and passengers, high rates being charged. The road has been in operation since January 20, 1895.

The only other road of any importance in Utah that exceeds the Mercur road in heaviness of grades is the Utah Central, running from Salt Lake City to Park City, distant 31.0 miles. This, road has 6% and 6-1/2% grades for considerable of its length, and one very short strip of 7-1/4%; while 4% and 5% grades are very common.

It has three switch-backs, however, and moreover is exceedingly difficult and expensive to operate, both on account of the heavy grades and because of snow, being located on the wrong side of the valley it traverses. It is a narrow-gage road, with maximum curvature of about 20°. It runs over the Wasatch Mountains, following up the valleys of Parley's Creek and its forks.

By a proper location, using more distance, the grade could have been kept down to 4%. giving a line with better ground for construction as well as much more freedom from snow.

The summit of the divide crossed by this road (19 miles from Salt Lake City) is 7,040 ft. above sea-level, that of the Mercur divide being nearly as high. The Utah Central road, with an engine weighing 40 tons without tender and something like 60 tons with tender full, can haul up ten empty flat cars at one trip, these weighing 6-1/2 to 7 tons apiece.

The great expense of operating this direct connection between Salt Lake City and Park City, is compensated for by the fact that its only competing line, the Union Pacific, runs by way off Ogden and requires about three times the distance for the same connection.

The Alta branch of the Rio Grande Western Ry., running from Bingham Junction to Wasatch,, Utah, has about one mile of 5% grade.

This road is about 8 miles long, and is operated only during the summer season, though it is not troubled with snow.

Deseret News Article

From Deseret News, November 25, 1913:

MERCUR ROAD IS THING OF PAST

Rails, Ties and Rolling Stock Are Being Removed to Salt Lake.

HAS INTERESTING HISTORY.

Romance of Other Utah Railways In Days Gone By

Reconstruction Of One

Receiver Lucius Laudie of Salt Lake & Mercur railroad, is taking up the rails and ties of the Salt Lake & Mercur road, removing them with the motive power and rolling stock to Salt Lake where they are being disposed of at private sale. Mr. Laudie said today, that he was receiving satisfactory prices for the equipment. The occasion of the discontinuance of this once noted line is the failure of Mercur mines to produce sufficient business to pay for operating the road. The Salt Lake & Mercur road was built in 1894, from Fairfield on the Salt Lake Route across the mountain range to Mercur camp, 12 miles of corkscrew curves and scenic surprises, thus affording through rail connection with the outside world. Mercur is southwest from Salt Lake City, 62 miles. The promoter, builder and manager was J. G. Jacobs of this city, formerly of Ohio. The road was planned by him, in 1894. Others had hesitated at the formidable array of difficulties, but Mr. Jacobs had faith in his plan, and in the face of adverse surroundings and with little capital, for it was very difficult to raise the needed money, construction was begun in January, 1895, reaching the camp in the summer of 1896. All told, with side tracks and spurs, the total length of track was 14 38-100 miles, with a maximum grade of 4% per cent. The Third district court of this state appointed a receiver for the road last February, when business had fallen off so that the road was no longer profitable, when the Consolidated Mercur mine closed down, late in the summer, the machinery was hauled away, over the Salt Lake Mercur road, and shortly thereafter the receiver began removing the rails, and ties, and various other properties of the road.

(ed. note: Last day of operation was October 18, 1913; Receiver appointed in February 1913; 14.38 miles long.)

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