Western Pacific in Utah

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This page was last updated on December 8, 2023.

Station Summary (West to East)

Western Pacific referred to its line between Wendover and Salt Lake City as the Eighth Subdivision.

In June 1972, the Eastern and Western divisions were consolidated, and the entire railroad operated with a single Consolidated Timetable No. 1. The crew change point at Wendover was eliminated and crews operated the full distance between Salt Lake City and Elko.

Utah/Nevada state line (MP 805.5)

Wendover (MP 806.3)

Siding, 6,215 feet long, double ended
Five-track yard
Wye
Depot building was a W Type No. 11 style depot, with its drawing dated August 1909, with Wendover being one of four buildings with this plan. The depot had sleeping rooms on its second floor for use by train crews. Stephen Hayes wrote in his book about WP depots, "The restaurant was open to the public until it was closed at the end of World War II, but the sleeping portion of the building was for employees only. The depot was retired in 1966 and replaced with a metal structure. Wendover was closed as a train order office in 1972 and as a crew change area in 1974."
Established in 1907 as a division point 123.7 miles from Roper Yard in Salt Lake City, and 141.2 miles from Elko, Nevada

Blair (MP 808.6)

Industrial spurs

Silsbee (MP 811.6)

Retired after 1937

Salduro (MP 815.4)

Siding, 6,140 feet long, double ended
Agency opened in 1917 to serve the nearby potash and salt plant; agency closed in December 1929

Arinosa (MP 825.16)

Siding, 6,140 feet long, double ended

Barro (MP 834.9)

Siding, 6,160 feet long, double ended

Knolls (MP 845.16)

Siding, 6,150 feet long, double ended
Depot building

Clive (MP 854.20)

Siding, 6,160 feet long, double ended

Argonite (MP 861.5)

Siding, 440 feet long, connected to mainline at east end

Low (MP 866.1)

Siding, 6,145 feet long, double ended
Depot building, 20x32 feet; built in 1909
Agency closed, May 1919

Low Hill

Marblehead (MP 870.8)

Siding, 1,735 feet long, double ended
Connection with Marblehead Branch, 4.7 miles long
(Read more about the Marblehead Branch)

Delle (MP 878.57)

Siding, 8,080 feet long, double ended
Wye at east end
Connection with Delle Branch, later renamed as the Rowley Branch
First known as Hog Back Pass, renamed to Delle in (?)
Depot building, 24x60 feet
Train order office closed in 1953
Delle also had a coaling station and a water tank.
(Read more about the Delle/Rowley Branch)

Timpie (Quarry) (MP 885.77)

Siding, 3,600 feet long, double ended

Ellerbeck (MP 892.9)

Connection with Ellerbeck/Dolomite Branch
(Read more about the Ellerbeck/Dolomite Branch)

Solar (MP 893.3)

Connection with Solar Salt Spur

Burmester (old location; MP 896.7)

Renamed from Spray before 1937
Depot was 22x75 feet; removed circa 1974
Site of abandoned salt works
Moved westward 0.4 mile to MP 897.1 in 1983

Burmester (new location; MP 897.1)

Siding, 6,165 feet long, double ended
Three-track yard
Wye at east end
Connection with Warner/Tooele Branch
Moved westward 0.4 mile from MP 896.7 in 1983

Burmester was the focal point for WP's operation of locals to the Delle/Rowley, Marblehead, Ellerbeck/Dolomite/Flux, and Warner/Tooele branches. By late 2003, UP's Marblehead Local worked the Ellerbeck Branch on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The same local worked the Rowley Branch on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Very rarely did the Marblehead Local go up the Marblehead Branch unless it was to store cars on the branch.

Burmester station and the small yard there were renamed as Stauffer (and Stauffer Yard) in September 2016. The name honors Larry Stauffer, as 47-year employee of WP (and later UP). Larry Stauffer worked on the Wendover local for 30 years.

Grants (MP 896.9)

Depot building

Spray (new location; MP 902.4)

Siding, 40 car capacity

Garfield Pavilion (MP 909.55)

(no information)

Lakepoint (MP 906.3)

Connection with Leslie Salt Spur

Lago (MP 907.7)

Retired

Garfield Pit (Smelter) (MP 911.73)

Two yard tracks
Loadout for crushed slag from Kennecott Copper smelter
Connection with Union Pacific
Connection with Bingham & Garfield
Connection to Linde Air Products Spur
Known as Smelter on Union Pacific

B&G Crossing (MP 912.1)

Siding, 25 car capacity

Garfield (MP 913.15)

Siding, 6,050 feet long, double ended
Small depot building, 10x16 feet; built in 1928; retired in (?)
Connection with spur to phosphate plant south of tracks
Connection with Union Pacific at east end
Buried under Kennecott's new tailings pond after 1998

LA&SL Connection (MP 913.6)

Siding, 14 cars capacity
Buried under Kennecott's new tailings pond after 1998

Saltus (MP 915)

Siding, 3 cars capacity
Site of Morton Salt's former Inland Crystal Salt plant

Fox (MP 920.8)

Terminal (MP 922.07)

Connection with spur to Utah Power & Light
5600 West in Salt Lake City
Spur, access from west, 20 cars capacity

Buena Vista (MP 924.3)

Connection to Buena Vista Spur, north of mainline, spur crossed by Salt Lake Garfield & Western

LA&SL Crossing (MP 926.3)

A direct main line to main line crossing, without any interchange connection.
Replaced in May 1967 by joint two-track operation between WP-UP Junction and Smelter.
Research from Jeff Asay shows that this location may have had fixed indication distant signals, with special instructions telling the train crews to go to a box at the crossing if the home signal failed to clear. "Since this was just a straight main line to main line crossing, there would be no need for a manned tower."

Jordan River (MP 926.4) (not a formal station)

West of river, north track owned by WP, south track owned by UP (LA&SL)
East of river, south track owned by WP, north track owned by UP (OSL)
Tracks parallel between MP 925.2 and MP 926.7
The Jordan River bridge was also the location of the formal junction between LA&SL and OSL, stemming from the 1903 agreement between Harriman and Clark. The WP track was added on 1906.

OSL Crossing (MP 926.7)

Crossing for an OSL industrial spur that accessed a shipper on the south side of the south (WP) track at this location

WP-UP Junction (MP 926.7)

not shown on track profile
Added in May 1967
Two connector tracks between north (UP) track and south (WP) track to allow two-way traffic on shared trackage between Salt Lake City and Smelter. The tracks were spaced too far apart (about 100 feet) to have the junction be a double crossover.
Located at 11th West.

Pollard Junction (MP 927.2) (later shown as 8th West)

Connection with D&RGW line to Ogden
WP freight trains terminated at D&RGW's Salt Lake City yard at Fourth (400) South, and later at D&RGW's Roper Yard at 2100 South

D&RGW Crossing (MP 927.3)

Site of a D&RGW 17-lever manual interlocking to protect D&RGW crossing of OSL at Sixth (700) West and South Temple, and WP's crossing of D&RGW at Sixth (700) West and First (100) South.
Replaced in 1948 by Grant Tower

End of WP track (MP 928.0)

West curb line of Fourth West (500 West), just north of First South (100 South)
Connection with D&RGW passenger line to Union Station
WP passenger line turned south to run along 4th West
Train movements controlled by D&RGW's Grant Tower

Until completion of Grant Tower in 1948, this joint WP-D&RGW trackage was part of the Salt Lake Union Station joint trackage. D&RGW passenger trains used this joint trackage from Union Station to its line to Ogden, running north-south in Sixth West (700 West).

The 1948 construction of Grant Tower moved D&RGW's line east to parallel UP's line, with the connecting and crossing trackage being the purpose of Grant Tower. D&RGW Ogden-bound trains then stayed in Fourth West (500 West), moving past the tower building itself, which was in the middle of a wye. A new track ownership agreement put in place with the completion of Grant Tower, did away with the joint WP-D&RGW trackage that was the south leg of the wye, designating the west curb line of Fourth West (500 West) as the separation point.

Sources

WP track profiles, furnished by John Ryczkowski

UP track profiles, dated January 1985, showing former WP trackage, with WP mile posts

WP Eastern Division Employee Timetables

More Information

WP in Utah, Timeline

WP's Utah Branchline Operations

Grant Tower Interlocking -- Information about the "Grant Tower Interlocking", located just west of UP's Salt Lake City passenger depot.

Grant Tower Interlocking Map -- A Google Map of the Grant Tower Interlocking and WP tracks in the area.

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