UtahRails.net - Tooele Valley Railway

Tooele Valley Railway

This page was last updated on January 28, 2007.

(Seven miles, total of 9.42 miles, 7 steam locomotives, 2 diesel locomotives; AAR reporting mark TOV)

November 18, 1908:
Tooele Valley Railway was incorporated in Utah on November 18, 1908 (corporate information here).

January 1909:
News item about the beginning of grading of the Tooele Valley Railway. (Salt Lake Mining Review, Volume 10, number 20, January 30, 1909, p.26)

April 1, 1909:
First train operated over Tooele Valley Railway, using SP,LA&SL locomotive 3605, operated to Middle Canyon trestle. (Mining, Smelting and Railroading in Tooele County, page 72)

October 15, 1909:
Tooele Valley Railway commenced operation. The railroad operated 6.235 miles of line between Tooele Junction and International, along with 1.698 miles of yard tracks and sidings. maxiumu grade was 2.4 percent, and maxiumu curvature was 14 degrees. The railroad was incorporated on Novber 18, 1908; construction began on November 18, 1908 and the railroad was opened for operation on October 15, 1909. The construction was fully financed by International Smelting Co., which also furnished substantially all of the railroad's freight consignments. (Interstate Commerce Commission, Valuation Reports Volume 110, Valuation Docket 9, pages 310-322)

July 14, 1910:
First ore was received at the International smelter, by way of the aerial tramway from Highland Boy. The tram was 20,000 feet long and was constructed to transport ores from the Utah Deleware Mining Co. in Highland Boy in Bingham Canyon. (Mining, Smelting and Railroading in Tooele County, page 72)

Ore arrived at the Tooele smelter by three methods: the 20,000 feet long aerial tramway of Utah Consolidated that traversed the ridge from Bigham Canyon; the 11,000 feet long tunnel of Utah Metals Company between its Bingham property and an outlet just two miles from the Tooele smelter; and the Tooele Valley Railway that operated between International and a connection with Union Pacific at Tooele Junction (later Warner), west of Tooele. The railroad connection allowed lead-zinc-silver ores (known as galena ore) and concentrates to be shipped in from all over the west, and for shipment of concentrates and smelted metals to refineries nationwide. Ores that arrived via the aerial tramway was dumped into railroad cars and moved to nearby sampler bins for storage and later processing.

March 1, 1911:
Construction started on a new lead smelter. While the original smelter had been constructed for copper, the supply of copper ore from the Utah Consolidated mine in Bingham Canyon dropped severely in 1910. A new lead smelter was constructed using much of the existing machinery from the copper smelter. The International smelter stopped processing copper completely in 1946, but continued to process lead (and zinc) until 1971. (Mining, Smelting and Railroading in Tooele County, page 75)

December 1916:
News item about Utah Construction Company having been awarded the contract to build the Western Pacific's Tooele Branch. (Salt Lake Mining Review, Volume 18, number 17, December 15, 1916, p.34, "Trade Notes")

Mid 1920s:
By this time the International smelter had become a custom smelter, processing copper and lead contrates and ores from Bingham, Park City, Tintic, nearby bauer, an from Idaho. At times there were 85 to 90 rail cars from all over the west, unloading at the smelter's rail yards. (Mining, Smelting and Railroading in Tooele County, page 74)

April 1926:
A full description and valuation of Tooele Valley Railway was completed for the federal Interstate Commerce Commission in April 1926. This description included two new locomotives built in 1910, two secondhand locomotives built about 1893, along with 60 freight cars (which it does not use, being rented to International Smelting Company), and seven passenger cars. (Interstate Commerce Commission, Valuation Reports Volume 110, Valuation Docket 9, pages 310-322)

1937:
Tooele Valley Railway completed a 2.33 mile branchline to serve the transportation of personnel and materials for the construction of Elton Tunnel, being built by National Tunnel & Mines Co. The branchline connected with the mainline at a point about three miles west of International, which itself was about five miles east of Tooele. (Utah Public Service Commission Case 2444)

The Elton Tunnel was constructed by National Tunnel & Mines Company as an outlet for the underground copper mines controlled by Anaconda Copper Company, which by the mid 1930s had assembled control of most of the mines in the west area of the Bingham pit. Collectively the underground mine was known as the Utah-Delaware Mine. By 1948, Anaconda had acquired full control and interest in the tunnel company and the associated mines. In 1969 drill exploration started for what would soon be known as the Carr Fork Mine, made up of the Yampa and Highland Boy properties. (Mining, Smelting and Railroading in Tooele County, page 77)

September 5, 1941:
Tooele Valley Railway was given regulatory approval to discontinue passenger service. With the completion of Elton Tunnel in early September 1941, the railroad projected an increase of freight traffic between the portal of the tunnel and the International smelter. Continued operation of passenger trains would interfere with the projected increase of freight trains. A motor carrier (J. W. Wells, doing business as Tooele-International Bus Company) was planning to offer passenger service over the adjacent highway, including a planned additon of 375 persons between Tooele and the Elton Tunnel. (Utah Public Service Commission Case 2444) (Non common carrier passenger operations continued until 1946, with the operation of daily smelter shift trains between Tooele and the smelter, solely for smelter employees. See Mining, Smelting and Railroading in Tooele County, pages 114-119)

September 1941:
Operation began on what was called the Slag Treatment Plant to extract the zinc content from the slag dumps that had accumulated over the past 30 years. The Salg Treatment Plant continued in operation until early 1972 (Mining, Smelting and Railroading in Tooele County, page 77, 79)

June 1943:
"During last week..." all three of Tooele Valley's 2-8-0 steam locomotives were used for the first tme to pull a train of 17 loaded ore cars and a caboose up a 2.4 percent grade, from the UP connection at Warner, east to the International smelter. Operation of all three locomotives on a single train had previously been blocked by weight limitations of the "Middle Canyon fill". The wooden trestle was filled in using waste rock from the digging of the Elton Tunnel. ((Salt Lake Telegram, June 16, 1943, with photo)

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)

1957:
Tooele Valley Ry. purchased a former D&RGW 01100-series wooden caboose in 1957. Purchase price of $795.60 for the caboose and, in addition, paid $8.20 for inspection, $22.40 for freight, and preparation for service costs of $295.80 for labor and $51.40 for supplies. (information from Tooele Valley Railway records, ICC Completion Records, courtesy of Larry Deppe)

May 1963:
TVRy. 2-8-0 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, Calif., closed in November 1965. (part from Pacific News, Issue 147, January 1974, page 25)

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)

January 28, 1972:
The smelter of International Smelting and Refining Company was scheduled to close on January 1, 1972, but reduced production work continued for another three weeks. On January 28, 1972, the Tooele Valley Railway made it last run between the smelter and the interchange at Warner. Throughout its history, the railroad had made the trip at least twice daily. The last trip was made with only a single boxcar and a caboose. The boxcar had been used to bring the last load of newsprint paper for the Tooele Transcript newspaper. (Tooele Transcript, February 11, 1972)

When the Tooele smelter closed, it left over 30 mining properties without a nearby smelter. These mines were forced to close due the high costs of shipment of their ores to the nearest custom smelters at El Paso, Texas, East Helena, Mont., or Kellogg, Idaho. (Mining, Smelting and Railroading in Tooele County, page 111, citing Deseret News of November 9 and 13, 1971)

The smelter was closed to save costs to Anaconda following the loss of its properties in Chile, which were taken over by the Chilean government in 1971. To save the company, its unprofitable properties were either closed or sold. The sell-off did not work, and by 1975, Anaconda was purchased by Atlantic Richfield. (Mining, Smelting and Railroading in Tooele County, page 118)

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)

Operations continued after the smelter was closed. Until about 1975, the railroad was used to ship outgoing scrap from the dismantling of the smelter, and until 1981, the railroad was used to accept inbound shipments of construction materials for the development of the new Carr Fork Mine. (Mining, Smelting and Railroading in Tooele County, page 118)

1980:
Tooele Valley Railway ceased operations in 1980. Offically abandoned by owner Anaconda Copper in August 1981. (Extra 2200 South, Issue 80, May 1984, page 33; Pacific News, Issue 233, January 1982, page 24)

August 1981:
Tooele Valley Railway ceased operations in August 1981. TV SW900 104 in storage on SLG&W at Salt Lake City. (Pacific News, Issue 242, October 1982, page 21)

August 28, 1982:
Tooele Valley operation ceased on August 26, 1982. (information from Larry Deppe; T he Mixed Train, September 1982, page 14)

Tooele Valley 104 sold to Minnesota Corn Producers. (CTC Board, July 1984, page 43) Minnesota Corn Processors, Marshall, Minn. 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, page 11)

Steam Locomotive Roster

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	Apr 1910	51 in.	21x28 in.	Apr 1912		6
12	2-8-0	Brooks	47765	Apr 1910	51 in.	21x28 in.	Apr 1912	May 1956	7

Notes:

1.	TVRy. 1 was built for Hines Consolidated Mining Co. 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. (1962 photo on Don Ross's web site)
2.	TVRy. 2 was ex Butte, Anaconda & Pacific 13, nee B,A&P 24; sold in May 1929
3.	TVRy. 3 was ex Butte, Anaconda & Pacific 3, nee Great Northern 252; sold in May 1929
4.	TVRy. 9 was ex Buttte, Anaconda & Pacific 29
5.	TVRy. 10 was ex Butte, Anaconda & Pacific 28
6.	TVRy. 11 was built as Buffalo & Susquehanna Railway No. 169, order canceled in April 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)
7.	TVRy. 12 was built as Buffalo & Susquehanna Railway No. 170, order canceled in April 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.
	Side Note: Utah Railway No. 4, ex Southern Utah 104, builder number 47772, was another of the same group of locomotives built for Buffalo & Susquehanna Railway, but not delivered to them.

Diesel Locomotive Roster

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

General Notes:

a.	TVRy 100 operating weight was 228,000 pounds
b.	TVRy 104 operating weight was 200,000 pounds
	TVRy 100 had frame number 4311-1!
c.	TVRy 104 had frame number 4427-2!
d.	TVRy 104 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.
e.	TVRy 104 was seen "for sale" at UP&L's Gadsby plant on September 20, 1982.
f.	TVRy 104 was seen en route to new owner west of UP's Salt Lake City depot on March 17, 1983
g.	TVRy 104 was seen en route to new owner, eastbound at Council Bluffs, Iowa, by George Cockle on March 30, 1983.
h.	Source: Extra 2200 South, October/November/December 1971, page 6 (roster)
i.	Source: Railroad Magazine, December 1970 (roster) (also in Sy Reich's Diesel Locomotive Rosters, page 168)

Notes:

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, Mont.
2.	TVRy 104 was sold to Minnesota Corn Processors 104, Marshall, Minn., in about March 1983; by June 1993 the unit was being used at MCP plant in Columbus, Neb. (1993 update from Locomotive Notes II, Number 187, October 1995, page 15, with photo)