Tooele Valley Railway Locomotives

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This page was last updated on June 27, 2022.

Timeline

May 1955
Tooele Valley SW1200 100 was delivered.

February 1956
Tooele Valley 11 was returned to service for four days while the diesel locomotive was in the shop. (Salt Lake Tribune, February 16, 1956, with photo)

May 1963
Tooele Valley Railway 2-8-0 number 11 was last operated on May 20, 1963, on a run between the UP connection at Warner and the International smelter. The locomotive was retired because of new stricter boiler inspection standards. (Tooele Bulletin, September 27, 1977)

February 1966
Tooele Valley Ry. purchased Pickering Lumber SW900 104. Pickering Lumber operations out of Standard, California; last day of Pickering operations was on December 28, 1965.

November 1969
City of Tooele was approached by members of the Wasatch Railway Museum to remove TVRY. 2-8-0 11 from Liberty Park in Tooele and move it to Heber for restoration and operation. The city council found that Tooele residents preferred that the locomotive stay in Tooele. (Tooele Transcript, November 11, 1969)

1972
Tooele Valley SW1200 100 (EMD 20640, 5/55, 4311-1) sold to Butte, Anaconda and Pacific 100 in 1972. Later sold to Anaconda Aluminum 100, sold to Columbia Falls Aluminum 100, at Columbia Falls, Mont. (Locomotive Notes II, Issue 151, page 7, with photo)

August 28, 1982
Tooele Valley operation ceased on August 26, 1982. (Larry Deppe; The Mixed Train, September 1982, page 14)

September 1982
Tooele Vallet Ry. 104 was moved to temporary storage on Salt Lake, Garfield & Western in Salt Lake City, pending sale on used locomotive market. By March 1983 the locomotiuve had been sold and was moved to its new owner, Minnesota Corn Processors in Marshall, Minnesota.

Tooele Valley 104 was sold to Minnesota Corn Processors, Marshall, Minnesota. (CTC Board, July 1984, page 43) (MCP SW900 104, b/n 25343!, b/d 4/59!, f/n 4427-2!, ex Tooele Valley 104, exx Pickering Lumber 104 -- Locomotive Notes II, Issue 135, March 1990)

Steam Locomotives

Road Number	Wheel Arrangement	Builder	Builder Number	Date Built	Drivers	Cylinders	Date To TVRy	Date Retired	Notes
1	2-4-2T	Dickson	45133	Nov 1907	46 in.	16x24 in.	(new)	ca. 1913	1
2	2-6-0	Brooks	2632	Jan 1896	56 in.	19x24 in.	Jul 1910	6 Feb 1923	2
3	0-6-0	Brooks	2210	Dec 1892	49 in.	19x26 in.	Feb 1912	15 Nov 1925	3
9	2-8-0	Brooks	48884	Sep 1910	52 in.	21x28 in.	Nov 1925	1950	4
10	2-8-0	Brooks	44336	Nov 1907	52 in.		Jan 1915	Apr 1955	5
11	2-8-0	Brooks	47764	Jun 1910	51 in.	21x28 in.	Apr 1912		6
12	2-8-0	Brooks	47765	Jun 1910	51 in.	21x28 in.	Apr 1912	May 1956	7

Notes:

TVRy number 1 was built for Hines Consolidated Mining Co. number 1, diverted to TVRy. Likely used during the construction of the line; missing from government reports after June 1913; other researchers speculate as to the exact history of this locomotive, but the above data seems to be the most accurate; likely moved by parent company (Anaconda Copper, after it took control of International Smelting & Refining in 1914) to Anaconda's copper mining and smelting operations at Cananea in Sonora, Mexico (about 30 miles southeast of Nogales on the U.S.-Mexico border), and later passed to NdeM when that road was organized and took over Mexico's railroads in 1938; possibly the same locomotive displayed as NdeM 2501 at Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, since 1973; NdeM 2501 moved to indoor display at the Museo de Historia Mexicana, just east of the Palacio de Gobierno Estatal in Monterrey.
TVRy. 2 was built as Butte, Anaconda & Pacific no. 24 in January 1896; renumbered to BA&P no. 13; to TVRy no. 2 in July 1910; retired in February 1923; sold in May 1929
TVRy. 3 was built as Great Northern no. 252 in December 1892; sold to Butte, Anaconda & Pacific no. 3; to TVRy. no. 3 in February 1912; retired in November 1925; sold in May 1929
TVRy. 9 was built as Buttte, Anaconda & Pacific no. 29 in September 1910; to TVRy. no. 9 in November 1925; retired in 1950
TVRy. 10 was built as Butte, Anaconda & Pacific no. 28 in November 1907; to TVRy. no. 10 in January 1915; retired in April 1955
TVRy. 11 was built in April 1910 as Buffalo & Susquehanna Railway number 169, order canceled in June 1910; held as Alco stock; sold new to Anaconda Copper Co. in April 1912 for Tooele Valley Railway 11; last run was on May 20, 1963, stored at smelter until retired and moved to Tooele's Liberty Park in September 1964; moved to Tooele County Railroad Museum in July 1982. (information from Steam Locomotive.info)
TVRy. 12 was built in April 1910 as Buffalo & Susquehanna Railway number 170, order canceled in June 1910; held as Alco stock; sold new to Anaconda Copper Co. in April 1912 for Tooele Valley Railway 12; after the locomotive was scrapped in 1956, its tender was converted for use as a snowplow, which is currently displayed at the Tooele County Railroad Museum.
(Read more about the Buffalo & Susquehanna locomotives)

The following comes from Larry Deppe, via an email dated September 26, 2016:

Number 11 was generally run twice each year when the wheels of engine 100 had to be turned. The 100 was transported to the Union Pacific Diesel shop in Salt Lake City for this procedure. The photo of Number 11 and Number 100 was taken at Warner depot west of Tooele City. I remember this very well because I spent the first twelve years of my life in a house just across the street from the Tooele Valley line and both engines had passed our house that day. According to Don Lee, one of the firemen for the Tooele Valley, the diesel locomotive would not start.

I helped move Number 11 from the Tooele City Park when the station and property were transferred to Tooele City. We went up to a siding east of 7th Street. The siding had been cut free from the main line. The Tooele Army Depot was kind enough to provide a crane which was used to pick up the siding and set it on two flat cars (also provided by the Depot). Everything seemed fine except for one thing: Some of the ties at the end of the siding had fallen off. The locomotive had been set on a pedestal in the Park in 1964. The rails of the siding were removed from the flat cars and attached to the rails in the pedestal. The engine was pushed and pulled to move it off the pedestal into the street where the Tooele Valley tracks ran. Everything seemed to be going fine until the locomotive reached the portion of the old siding without any ties. At that point, the rails spead outward and the engine and tender ended up sunk in the asphalt of Vine Street.

The Tooele Valley's second diesel locomotive, No. 104, an SW900, was then attached to the coupler of the tender. When the engineer opened the throttle, the locomotive stopped due to a governor that prevented wheels from slipping on the rails. A tractor (also provided by Tooele Army Depot) was tied to the rear of the 104 and the old steam engine was finally removed from the asphalt.

Diesel Locomotives

Road Number	Locomotive Model	Previous Number	Builder Number	Date Built	Date To TVRy	Date Retired	Notes
100	EMD SW1200		20640	May 1955	(new)	1972	1
104	EMD SW900	Pickering 104	25343!	Apr 1959!	Feb 1966	Jul 1982	2

Note 1 -- TVRy 100 operating weight was 228,000 pounds; EMD frame number 4311-1.

TVRy 100 was sold (transferred?) to Butte, Anaconda & Pacific 100 in early 1972; sold (transferred?) to Anaconda Aluminum number 100; sold to Columbia Falls Aluminum Company number 100, Columbia Falls, Montana; later sold to S&S Shortline (SSRX) as SSRX 904, seen at Garrison. Montana, on October 12, 2015, en route from Columbia Falls to Port of Montana at Silver Bow; by May 2020 moved to an unknown location.

Note 2 -- TVRy 104 operating weight was 200,000 pounds; EMD frame number 4427-2.

TVRy 104 was built as Pickering Lumber 104 (Pickering Lumber ended operations on December 28, 1965); sold to Tooele Valley Railway in February 1966; equipped with EMD's Flexicoil trucks, with plain bearing journals; changed to roller bearing journals after sale to Minnesota Corn Products.
TVRy 104 was seen "for sale" at UP&L's Gadsby plant on September 20, 1982.
TVRy 104 was seen en route to its new owner on March 17, 1983; locomotive was sitting west of UP's Salt Lake City depot. At that time the previous owner paint and lettering was visible under its TV paint; "Pickering Lumber Corporation" in six-inch Railroad Roman lettering on hood side, with 12-inch Railroad Roman number on cab side, along with the Pickering Lumber Corp., logo on cab side.
TVRy 104 was sold to Minnesota Corn Processors (MCP) 104, Marshall, Minnesota, March 1983; by June 1993 the unit was being used at MCP at Columbus, Nebraska; still there in late 2011 (MCP purchased by Archer-Daniels-Midland - ADM); moved to the ADM plant (ADM - Benson Quinn Grain Terminal) near Hitchcock, South Dakota, still there as of November 2021.

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