Denver & Rio Grande Western Railway (1881-1889)

This page was last updated on January 27, 2024.

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The Narrow Gauge Years

Timeline

December 1880
Doctor William Bell, friend and close business associate of Palmer, organized Sevier Valley Railway in Utah to build from Ogden south to Arizona, with another route over Salina Pass and across Castle Valley to the Green River and the Colorado line. (Athearn, p. 115)

Dr. William Bell

"Born in County Tipperary, Ireland, April 26, 1841, Willie Bell grew up in England where his father, Dr. William Bell Sr. was physician to high society in London. Bell Jr. finished his own medical training at Cambridge University, but he preferred adventure to ailments, so Bell Sr. sent his son to St. Louis to learn about the new homeopathic treatments."

In 1867, at the age of 26, Bell applied for a job on the Kansas Pacific railroad survey. He was hired as a photographer. "He spent three days learning how to use the cumbersome contraption called a camera. The next nine months were loaded with adventure, from the extremes of weather to Indian battles to lost trails. Bell shrugged off the hardships with afternoon tea. And in August 1867, he met a kindred soul who would be his partner and closest friend for life: William J. Palmer. Bell wrote a book describing the Kansas-Pacific survey."

Dr. Bell was a vice president of D&RG for many years. Together, Palmer and Bell founded Colorado Springs in 1871. Bell was an Englishman who served as a connection to English investors for Palmer's businesses. Bell founded Manitou Springs in 1873, and built Briarhurst Manor, his personal estate in Manitou Springs. After Palmer's death in 1909, he moved to New York City. Bell died in June 1921 in England.

(Information taken from several web sites, especially a history of El Paso County at the Campus Press site of University of Colorado at Boulder.)

December 7, 1880
Sevier Valley Railway was incorporated to build south from Ogden to the north boundary of Arizona Territory, by way of Salt Lake City, Provo, Nephi, Salt Creek Canyon, and Salina, also to build east from Salina to the west boundary of the State of Colorado to meet the westward building D&RG. (from file for Utah corporation index 15038, approval for the D&RGW of 1921)

Summary of the 1880s
The 1880s were turbulent times for the Rio Grande. After D&RGW entered Ogden in May 1883, and for the next year, there began a series of serious disagreements among the men who were officers and directors of the two D&RG and D&RGW companies over the Colorado company's lease and operation of the Utah company. The fight climaxed on July 3, 1884 when the president of D&RG ordered the line to be cut, which resulted in a mile of trackage being taken up just east of the Utah/Colorado line. Both companies knew, both before and after, how important they were to each other, but each side felt that a point had to be made. The break in the line lasted only two weeks. The courts forced both companies into receivership, with the D&RG emerging with new leadership in July 1886. The D&RGW recovered in August 1886, with Palmer still in control. During 1886, western Colorado was alive with railroad surveyors, and the two companies needed to cooperate against new competition. Union Pacific had location engineers driving stakes in the region, and the Burlington Route was also showing interest. J. J. Hagerman's standard gauge Colorado Midland built into D&RG's territory at Leadville in September 1886, and was headed for Aspen.

1881
For the year 1881, LeMassena wrote, on page 83:

The D&RGW Railway Company filed its Articles of Association in the Territory of Utah on July 21. Its proposed capitalization of $48-million was to be used for the construction of a narrow-gauge railroad from Salt Lake City to a connection with the Denver & Rio Grande Railway at the Utah-Colorado line, plus fifteen branches, totaling some 3,000 miles. Its first (and only) president was the indefatigable General William J. Palmer, who was also president of the D&RG.

Before building any track of its own, the D&RGW absorbed two existing and operating railroads which were located in the midst of a domain dominated by Union Pacific railroad interests. How this consolidation was accomplished was not revealed until a court case in 1916. The evidence showed that these two railroad companies had concocted a fraudulent combination in 1879 for the purpose of selling additional bonds, with the unannounced intention of defaulting upon their original ones. As was to be expected, the two companies were foreclosed and sold, Palmer and his associates purchasing them. The court records did not disclose who perpetrated this nefarious scheme, but it smacks of the crafty Jay Gould, who had obtained a controlling interest in Palmer's D&RG during 1878 and 1879.

March 27, 1881
Denver & Rio Grande railroad purchased sixty acres on Second South in Salt Lake City to serve as its depot grounds. (Salt Lake Tribune, March 27, 1881)

April 12, 1881
The D.& R.G. began grading on Monday in the narrows near the Jordan River, at the Point of the Mountain. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, April 12, 1881)

May 1881
Construction started on D&RG grade in lower Price River Canyon. The route was surveyed starting in March 1881, and within 30 days, contractors had been hired and placed along the route. Work continued all through the summer of 1881. In mid August some of the grading contractors were moved to a spot near present-day Gilluly, on the west slope of Soldiers Summit to start work on a connection with the existing Utah & Pleasant Valley. (see "In the Mountains of Utah" by Jackson Thode and James L. Ozment, in Dreams, Visions and Visionaries, Colorado Rail Annual No. 20, 1993, ISBN 0-918654-20-3)

Soldiers Summit

On Sept. 11, 1776, two Franciscan priests, Father Escalante and Father Dominguez entered what is now the State of Utah and several weeks later camped in a mountain pass. It is believed that the fathers gave the pass its first name, calling it Grassy Pass. The name was changed to Soldier Pass when Johnson's Army at Camp Floyd was ordered east in 1861, about 40 officers and enlisted men from the southern states were given permission to leave the U.S. Army and go south to join the Confederate Army. They arrived at Grassy Pass in a blizzard. Six or seven men and a fourteen year old boy were frozen to death and were buried by a spring near the summit of the pass. More than twenty years later, in 1883, the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad Company named the pass Soldier Summit in its first time table. (Steve Seguine, email to Utah Railroading Yahoo discussion group, May 11, 2002)

May 14, 1881
"The headquarters of the Utah branch of the Denver & Rio Grande railroad will be located in Provo this week." (Omaha Daily Bee, May 14, 1881)

June 1881
D&RG organized the Rio Grande Western Construction Company to build the line into Utah, replacing the dissolved Rio Grande Extension Company. Contract for the construction was signed on August 1, 1881. (Wilson, p. 71)

July 1881
When Denver & Rio Grande Railway changed its destination from El Paso to Salt Lake City in 1880 it soon found that the only practical and construction-cost effective route open to it from Denver to Salt Lake City was by way of the Price River Canyon.

To accomplish all of the construction in the territory of Utah, a new company by the name of Denver & Rio Grande Western Railway was organized in July 1881. To shorten the construction time needed to reach Salt Lake City the D&RGW made a deal with C. W. Scofield to take over his three railroads - the Utah & Pleasant Valley to shorten the line and the Wasatch & Jordan Valley and Bingham Canyon & Camp Floyd lines to provide it with ready sources of traffic when it got to Salt Lake City. The three Scofield lines were purchased in December 1881 and the Rio Grande's rails reached Salt Lake City in June 1882. (Reeder, p. 387, from D&RG ICC valuation reports, pp. 806, 896, 901)

(Read more about the three Scofield roads after they were sold in 1881 and 1882 to William Palmer and his Denver & Rio Grande Western)

July 21, 1881
Articles of Incorporation for the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railway Company were filed on Thursday, July 21, 1881. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, July 23, 1881)

July 21, 1881
Denver & Rio Grande Western Railway organized to take over interests of Sevier Valley Railway and Salt Lake & Park City Railway. (Athearn, p. 115)

In Colorado

After completing their line to Leadville, Denver & Rio Grande began an extension of their line west from Salida, where the line to Leadville turned north, Palmer began construction of a line west to Gunnison, by way of Marshall Pass. Construction was pushed at a rapid pace to beat out the competition that Palmer saw coming from Denver, South Park & Pacific. (Athearn, p. 106; Wilson, p. 70) The first train steamed into Gunnison on August 8, 1881. Denver & Rio Grande also completed its San Juan extension from Alamosa to Durango in August 1881. (Athearn, p. 104)

August 14, 1881
Construction crews of the Denver & Rio Grande were camped at Cottonwood Springs, twenty miles from the Green River, when a sudden cloudburst and resulting waist-deep flash flood swept away most of the tools and supplies, and camp itself. Plow, scrapers and provisions were swept away, as was a portion of the completed railroad grade. A force of 2,000 men were reported as being at work on the grade in the Castle Valley, with a large amount of grade ready for ties. (Salt Lake Tribune, August 20, 1881)

October 16, 1881
From the Provo Enquirer of the 15th: Twenty carloads of steel rails have arrived this week at the depot, for the D. & R. G. Western line between Provo and Salt Lake City. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, October 16, 1881)

October 20, 1881
The D&RGW received an engine from the east yesterday, Thursday. (Salt Lake Herald, October 20, 1881)

October 21, 1881
The engine the D&RGW received Wednesday was taken south "yesterday," Thursday. (Salt Lake Herald, October 21, 1881)

October 22, 1881
"An engine for the D.& R.G. arrived in Salt Lake on Wednesday last." (Wednesday was the 19 of October 1881.) (The Territorial Enquirer, Provo, October 22, 1881)

November 6, 1881
The D&RGW has received an engine; another was shipped October 25, 1881, as also 60 flats, from Denver; the Bingham line owned by the D&RGW and has been for some time. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, November 6, 1881)

November 12, 1881
"Another engine arrived yesterday for use in construction on the D&RGW. Thirty-six freight cars have also been received from Denver, and 24 more are expected, making a total of 60." (The Territorial Enquirer, Provo, November 12, 1881)

November 16, 1881
The D&RGW is laying track in Salt Lake City, and has a construction train about ready to go. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, November 16, 1881)

November 27, 1881
D&RGW received cars purchased second-hand from the Utah & Northern. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, November 27, 1881)

(Locomotives used by D&RGW were borrowed from the D&RG.)

December 31, 1881
D&RGW bought the Wasatch & Jordan Valley (which was the 1879 consolidation of the old Wasatch & Jordan Valley and the Bingham Canyon & Camp Floyd) (Reeder, p. 192)

(Athearn, on pages 115 and 116, says D&RGW bought the Bingham Canyon & Camp Floyd and Wasatch & Jordan Valley "Toward the end of the year...")

1882
For the year 1882, LeMassena wrote, on page 83:

This was a busy year for the D&RGW. It picked up another railroad at a foreclosure sale and tied together its three pieces of acquired trackage. Then, it struck out eastward across the mountains and desert toward a connection with the D&RG at the Utah-Colorado border. On August 1, it leased its properties to the D&RG, which would operate them.

Rumors persisted that Palmer was either interested in, or had purchased control of the Scofield roads as early as October 1880, although formal possession did not occur until June 14, 1882 upon completion of the D&RGW tracks into Salt Lake City. The Utah lines, called Denver & Rio Grande Western Railway, connected with the Colorado lines, called Denver & Rio Grande Railway, on March 30, 1883, with the actual traffic beginning on April 1, 1883. D&RG had formally leased the D&RGW a year earlier, in April 1882. (Wilson, pp. 71-76)

D&RGW had surveyors on the ground, looking for possible routes along the Price River as early as April 1881, with the surveys showing connection with Utah & Pleasant Valley at what later became Pleasant Valley Junction. Construction by Mormon crews began at almost the same time, as soon as survey crews located the route. Progress was rapid on the easier portions. "The Denver and Rio Grande railroad company had got possession of this road [Utah & Pleasant Valley] some months before [in relation to mid November 1881]. It was in mid November 1881, that Frank Hodgman was instructed by telegram to move his crews to Clear Creek on the U&PV and begin construction of the new D&RGW line over Soldier Summit. ("Into The Mountain Of Utah" by Jackson Thode and James L. Ozment, in Dreams, Visions and Visionaries, Colorado Rail Annual Number 20, Colorado Railroad Museum, 1993)

In Colorado

In the fall of 1881, Denver & Rio Grande's expansion efforts to beat the competition to reach any potential traffic had the road building into the region west of Gunnison. The transportation of agricultural products from the Mormon communities in Utah was traffic that the road wanted, along with the mineral traffic that was developing in Utah.

In the face of continuing problems, Palmer pushed the Rio Grande on, determined to reach into Utah, and Salt Lake City. The construction of the line into Utah was slowed by the costs of the previous rapid expansion, along with the costs of maneuvers to thwart Jay Gould and Union Pacific's expansion along Rio Grande's eastern flank between Denver and Pueblo.

In the 1881 Annual Report, Palmer said that "The primary object of the completion of the link of 618 miles between Pueblo and Salt Lake City is to meet the requirements of the tributary mining districts and the interchange of ores and general traffic between Colorado and Utah". (Athearn, p. 114) Part of that intended "general traffic" was the shipment of agricultural products from the Mormon farms in Utah to the mining camps in Colorado. (Athearn, p. 107) The first load moved east was potatoes from Utah Valley bound for the mining camps at Leadville. (Wilson, p. 76)

1882 -- "The frantic expansion of the past two years had weakened the D&RG's financial resources and had aroused some doubt concerning its ability to carry the ever-increasing load of debt. Consequently, further expansions were curtailed and practically all the railroad's forces were concentrated upon completing the through line to Salt Lake City. On August 1 the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railway, which was building the line across Utah, was leased to D&RG." (LeMassena, p. 41)

1882 (Grand Junction to State Line - 37 miles of narrow gauge) -- "West of Grand Junction the tracks followed the Grand River, but diverged to the northwest where the river headed southwestward into a long deep canyon. The climb away from the river, across the local drainage, necessitated some steep grades and sharp curves. Once the Colorado-Utah state line was crossed, the trackage was part of the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railway, a Utah corporation formed by Palmer in 1881." (LeMassena, p. 41)

March 29, 1882
"On Tuesday fifteen car loads of rails for the Denver and Rio Grande were received over the Utah Central. Eight of the number were taken to the Denver and Rio Grande depot grounds last evening." (Salt Lake Daily Herald, March 29, 1882)

April-June 1882
D&RGW completed its line between American Fork and Salt Lake City by building through the narrows of the Jordan River to Midvale, and a connection with the Bingham & Camp Floyd and the Wasatch & Jordan Valley roads. Construction continued north into Salt Lake City.

April 15, 1882
Construction of D&RGW tracks reached American Fork on April 15, 1882, by building north from a connection with Utah & Pleasant Valley at Provo. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, April 16, 1882)

April 16, 1882
The D&RGW track has reached American Fork. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, April 16, 1882)

April 26, 1882
"A Difficulty" between the Utah Central and the D. & R. G.; "The Denver and Rio Grande purchased the Pleasant Valley railroad,..., and it is proposed to make this a portion of the main line." The difficulty is with the Utah Central, whose survey of their Pleasant Valley Branch infringes upon that of the Utah & Pleasant Valley railroad in several places. The two roads have been in court already over the matter. (Salt Lake Daily Herald, April 26, 1882)

May 11, 1882
The gap in the D&RGW track between Salt Lake City and Provo is now less than 20 miles; work continues from both ends. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, May 11, 1882)

May 18, 1882
"The construction gang of the Denver and Rio Grande Railway are laying track at the narrows by the Point of the Mountain south." (Salt Lake Daily Herald, May 18, 1882)

May 28, 1882
There are now some 14 miles remaining to be built in the D & R G Western line between Salt Lake and Provo. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, May 28, 1882)

May 31, 1882
"NOTICE" "Denver and Rio Grande Western Railway." "Seventy-five men wanted to lay track on the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railway, west of Draper." "Wages, $2.25 per day; Board, .75 per day Transportation Free." "Inquire at office on Main Street, Salt Lake City. May 26, 1882 Geo. Goss" (Salt Lake Daily Herald, May 31, 1882)

June 3, 1882
D. & R. G. W. tracklayers have reached Sandy. (Salt Lake Daily Herald, June 3, 1882)

June 10, 1882
"The D. & R. G." "The Denver and Rio Grande Railway Co. is laying switches and making preparations to build a station house, machine shops, etc., where the line crosses the Bingham Canyon Railway track, near Cooper's, West Jordan, when the line is completed to Salt Lake. All traffic to Bingham and Alta will change at this point instead of Bingham and Sandy. Superintendent Goss bought up quite a bit of land there, and the people look for a small boom." (Salt Lake Daily Herald, June 10, 1882)

June 11, 1882
As of last evening, only 2-1/2 miles remain to be built. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, June 11, 1882)

June 12, 1882
"Railroad Sale" at Provo yesterday (Monday, the 12th), being the public sale of the Utah & Pleasant Valley, as ordered by the Court. "It is no secret that the purchase is made in the interest of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Company, of which Mr. Spackman is the treasurer..." The agent for Wm. M. Spackman was Charles S. Hinchman, who did the actual buying at the sale. The sale was the result of foreclosure action. (Salt Lake Daily Herald, June 13, 1882)

June 12, 1882
Sale held yesterday at the courthouse in Provo, at 2:00pm, of the Utah & Pleasant Valley; it was bid in by Wm. Spackman, in the interest of the Denver & Rio Grande. The D & R G Western folks who went down to Provo yesterday, for the sale of the U & P V., took the Utah Central in the morning, but were able to come back up to Salt Lake in the afternoon on the Western, which had just barely been connected. The line lacks but 1500 feet or so of track in Salt Lake City to connect it with the depot grounds. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, June 13, 1882)

(Both Athearn, p. 116, and Wilson, p. 71, say that the sale was in December 1881.)

(Hilton, on page 530, says "The D&RG bought the bankrupt Bingham Canyon & Camp Floyd in September and the Wasatch & Jordan Valley in December [1881]. The Utah & Pleasant Valley was acquired on June 14, 1882.")

June 13, 1882
First D&RGW train into Salt Lake City. (Reeder, p. 387)

June 14, 1882
"Connected." "The Denver and Rio Grande is now finished to this city and has a continuous line from Salt Lake into Pleasant Valley. The track was completed on Wednesday [June 14] evening, and the construction train passed over it. It is not yet determined when passenger and freight trains will be operated between here and Provo, as there is still quite a little work to do. In a very few days, however, freight will be received and in two weeks, perhaps, passenger trains may be announced." However, the line between SLC and Provo was completed on the 12th, as the party that went to Provo in the morning on the Utah Central, to purchase the Utah & Pleasant Valley, did come back to SLC on the D&RGW, lacking about 1500 feet of track in SLC to get to the depot area. (Salt Lake Herald, June 16, 1882)

June 30, 1882
Next week the D&RGW will begin laying track east from Clear Creek (later known as Tucker, and the beginning of the new line over Soldier Summit.). (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, June 30, 1882)

July 1882
D&RGW received locomotives from D&RG, they were shipped on the 15th. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, July 22, 1882)

July 9, 1882
D&RGW has not yet begun running regular trains out of SLC on new line. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, July 9, 1882)

July 13, 1882
The D&RG shipped material from Colorado to Utah via California, over the Southern Pacific and Central Pacific roads, for the D&RG Western. Two 'very heavy' locomotives and 50 large coal cars have been ordered shipped from Colorado by the above route. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, July 13, 1882)

July 13, 1882
Freight trains were running on the D&RGW line; passenger trains likely next week. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, July 13, 1882)

July 18, 1882
A new passenger coach for the D&RG is at the depot and ready for business. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, July 18, 1882)

July 22, 1882
Narrow gauge locomotives and cars for the Western from the D&RG passed through Trinidad on Saturday last (that was the 15th) en route to Salt Lake City via Deming, New Mexico. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, July 22, 1882)

July 23, 1882
The D&RG Western will begin running regular passenger trains tomorrow (Monday) morning, to Pleasant Valley, Bingham and Alta. For the present, the depot is at 5th West and Tribune avenue. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, July 23, 1882)

July 23, 1882
The first appearance of the following ad:

DENVER & RIO GRANDE RAILWAY

Notice to Passengers

"On and after Monday, 24th of July, 1882, trains will leave and arrive at Salt Lake from temporary station, corner Second South and Fifth West Streets, daily, as follows:

All points between Salt Lake and Pleasant Valley: Leave, 7:00am; Arrive, 6:45pm

All points between Salt Lake and Bingham Branch and Alta Branch: Leave, 7:30am; Arrive: 6:15pm

Henry Wood, General Superintendent. (Salt Lake Herald, July 23, 1882)

July 24, 1882
D&RGW began passenger service, to the coal mines at Pleasant Valley, over the former Utah & Pleasant Valley Railway, and to the mines in Alta and Bingham, over the former, combined, Wasatch & Jordan Valley and Bingham Canyon & Camp Floyd. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, July 23, 1882)

July 28, 1882
Coaches on the Pleasant Valley run only to Clear Creek, where cabooses are substituted. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, July 28, 1882)

August 1, 1882
D&RGW (of Utah) was leased to D&RG (of Colorado) for thirty years. (Athearn, p. 117; LeMassena, p. 41)

In August 1882, D&RGW took formal possession (from Rio Grande Western Construction Co.) of its 105 miles of line between Salt Lake City and the Pleasant Valley coal mines. (Wilson, p. 75)

August 1, 1882
Following its original survey from the previous summer of 1881 by Micajah T. Burgess, D&RGW built a new line between the Utah & Pleasant Valley station at Clear Creek (later known as Tucker), and the point where the Price River is joined by the White River flowing down from Soldier's Summit. The new line crossed Soldier Summit by following the north fork of Soldier Creek up to Soldier Summit, then east down the White River to where it met the Price River. The new D&RGW line over Soldier Summit was completed on August 1, 1882, and had an easier grade, without the double switchbacks of the old Utah & Pleasant Valley line, allowing larger cars to be used. (Watts: First Mine, p. 36)

The number of cars in each train stayed at twelve, but larger cars were used, with capacity increased from five tons to ten tons, giving each train a capacity of about 145 tons compared to the previous 60 tons. (Watts: First Mine, p. 36)

August 10, 1882
In an item headed "Denver & Rio Grande," it is mentioned that during the past few days 50 coal cars of 15 ton capacity were received, as well as two 'immense' locomotives. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, August 10, 1882)

In Colorado

By the end of August 1882 the construction of Denver & Rio Grande had reached beyond Gunnison and through the Black Canyon of the Gunnison River to Cimarron. In October 1882, the rapid construction reached Delta and by Christmas the railroad was completed to the Colorado/Utah line, 462 miles from Denver.

Mid August 1882
For about three weeks between mid August and early September D&RGW was advertising in Salt Lake City newspapers for 150 teams and men to build east from Pleasant Valley.

September 3, 1882
A description of the D&RG Western facilities and buildings in Salt Lake City. The depot block is that bounded by 5th and 6th West streets and 2nd & 3rd South streets. The passenger depot is to be 33 by 76 feet and two stories tall. The freight depot is to be 23 by 320 feet (that's what it says!). The roundhouse will be on the block south of 3rd South, below the depots, and will be of 22 stalls for now, to be enlarged to 44 stalls when needed. Woodworking shop, 53 by 193 feet, on the northwest corner of the roundhouse block, east of which is the machine shop, 74 by 145 feet and having 6 tracks. Nearer to 3rd South was the blacksmith and boiler shop. The coal shed, on the north side of 2nd South, to be 18 by 400 feet, on an east west line. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, September 3, 1882)

September 17, 1882
"The Denver & Rio Grande (Western) has received an addition of two locomotives the past few days. Both are of Baldwin manufacture, weighing thirty tons each, and having eight driving wheels. The road is getting well supplied with rolling stock." (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, September 17, 1882)

September 24, 1882
The D&RGW has received 27 'new' freight cars in the past week. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, September 24, 1882)

October 18, 1882
The new D&RGW line into Pleasant Valley and the coal mines will start at Fish Creek, 15 miles east of Clear Creek, on which the ties are nearly all bedded and the rail will be laid in the next two weeks. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, October 18, 1882)

(Present-day Scofield Branch, connecting with new D&RGW mainline at Colton.)

October 25, 1882
Two snow plows en route from Denver for the Western. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, October 25, 1882)

October 25, 1882
The D&RGW roundhouse in Salt Lake City is now roofed, but not entirely completed otherwise. The rest of the shop buildings are walled up to the square; gable ends and roofs about to be commenced. The large chimney is 11' x 11' at the base, 6' x 6' at the top, and 90 feet high. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, October 25, 1882)

October 27, 1882
Price River & Pleasant Valley Railway was incorporated to build a 25-mile railroad up Fish Creek, from its confluence with the White River which forms the Price River at today's Colton, to the coal mines at the head of Pleasant Valley. (Utah corporation numbers 163, 4316)

The Price River & Pleasant Valley's principle organizer was William F. Colton, an associate of William Palmer in other railroads in Utah, and for whom today's Colton station is named.

(Read more about William F. Colton)

November 1882
The townsite of Price was surveyed and laid out. The post office was opened on August 30, 1883. (Centennial Echos of Carbon County, page 85)

November 15, 1882
Reference to Pleasant Valley Junction, formerly Fish Creek; trains still running on the old switchback U&PV line, but new line to be done in a few days. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, November 15, 1882)

November 19, 1882
Item on D&RGW indicates that laying rail on new line Pleasant Valley Junction to Scofield coal mines has been completed. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, November 19, 1882)

November 23, 1882
"The new branch railroad from Fish Creek (Pleasant Valley Junction) to Pleasant Valley coal mines, formerly running from Clear Creek, will get into operation today. As soon as this branch is finished, all the laborers will be sent back to Camp Farnham to continue the building of the D.&R.G.R.R., toward the Colorado line." (Salt Lake Tribune, November 23, 1882)

November 23, 1882
The Price River & Pleasant Valley Railway was completed on November 23, 1882 and placed into operation as D&RGW's Pleasant Valley Branch, replacing the old Utah & Pleasant Valley line, with its switchbacks, between Clear Creek and the Pleasant Valley mines. Clear Creek was later renamed as Tucker. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, October 18, 1882, "rail to be laid in two weeks"; November 15, 1882, "new line to be done in few days"; November 19, 1882, "laying of rail completed"; November 23, 1882, "into operation today"; LeMassena, p. 85)

(It appears that the connection from Tucker and over Soldier Summit to "Fish Creek" (later Pleasant Valley Junction, later Colton) was completed in late July or early August 1882. D&RGW was advertising for men and teams for grading east of Pleasant Valley beginning in mid August 1882. The new line along the upper Price River from Pleasant Valley Junction to Scofield was completed in November 1882 as the separate Price River & Pleasant Valley Railway.)

(The next question is when was the line in Price canyon completed, east along the Price River from Pleasant Valley Junction to Price.)

November 27, 1882
"Opening of the New Freight Depot." "The new freight depot which the D.& R. G. Railway have been building for the last three months, is finally completed and will be formally opened to-morrow (Tuesday) morning. The station, which is built of wood, and the platform occupy a space covering 58 by 320 feet. The station comprises a freight house and a nicely fitted-up office for the use of agent and clerks. Freight will be received up to 6 o'clock p.m., instead of up to 5 p.m. as formerly." (Salt Lake Evening Chronicle, November 27, 1882)

November 28, 1882
The D&RGW's new Salt Lake City freight depot to be opened today. (Salt Lake Herald, November 28, 1882)

November 28, 1882
"Description of the D & R G W Depot." The freight depot is 32' x 75', in which A. J. Lamborn, the Assistant Freight and Passenger Agent, has an office of 16' x 32'. The platform around this building measures 59 x 300 feet. The blacksmith shop is 52 x 144 feet; the machine shop 62 x 144 feet, with a boiler and engine room therein of 25 feet square. Roundhouse will be one of 22 stalls, the master mechanic W. J. Brockaw; the planned wood shop will be 52 x 190 feet. (Deseret Evening News, November 28, 1882)

December 1, 1882
The operation officially of the new D&RGW Pleasant Valley Branch began on December 1, 1882. The new line connected with the old Utah & Pleasant Valley line at a point about two and a half miles north of Scofield. Upon completion of the D&RGW line between Pleasant Valley Junction and the Utah/Colorado line on April 8, 1883, Pleasant Valley Junction became one of two division terminals in Utah and was the location of an eleven-stall brick roundhouse. (Madsen, pp. 14, 15) (The other division terminal was at Green River.)

Pleasant Valley Junction was abandoned as a division terminal with the completion of the new division terminal at Helper in 1891 or 1892. (Madsen, p. 15)

December 2, 1882
Itemized Railroad Notes: Some dimensions of D.& R. G. (Western) depot buildings, at Salt Lake City: freight room, 16 x 32; freight house, 32 x 75; platform, 59 x 300 feet. Stack (shops), 12 feet square at base, six feet square at top, 95 feet high. Blacksmith shop & boiler room, 52 x 144 feet; engine & boiler room, 25 feet square; machine shop, 62 x 144 feet; woodworking shop, 52 x 190 feet. Turntable, 50 feet diameter. (Salt Lake Evening Chronicle, December 2, 1882)

December 8, 1882
"Hauling a Train by Mule Power." "Yesterday morning an engine attached to a train of passenger cars, going down to Bingham Canyon, gave way by the bursting of some part of its machinery. (The)...passengers...were placed in a car and hauled to their destination by means of mule power." "The engine is a very old one, and almost unfit for use for any purpose whatsoever." (Salt Lake Evening Chronicle, December 8, 1882)

December 10, 1882
"A new engine for the Denver and Rio Grande, arrived in this city on Saturday. It is No. 77." Saturday was the 9th. (Salt Lake Herald, December 10, 1882)

December 11, 1882
Railroad Chat: "A new locomotive for the Denver & Rio Grande road arrived at the company's depot, in this city, on Saturday. It is dubbed No. 77." (Saturday was 9 December 1882.) (Salt Lake Evening Chronicle, December 11, 1882)

In Colorado

D&RG was completed to the Colorado-Utah line on December 12, 1882, having reached Cimarron in August and Delta in October. (Athearn, p. 115; Salt Lake Daily Tribune, December 13, 1882)

December 12, 1882
The first D&RG locomotive to pass over the state line, west of Grand Junction. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, December 13, 1882, "yesterday")

December 13, 1882
City Gleanings: "A new engine and tender for the Denver and Rio Grande road came to hand yesterday at the company's depot in this city." (Salt Lake Evening Chronicle, December 13, 1882)

December 14, 1882
"The D.& R.G. R. R. Co. are now preparing their new engine No. 77, for active work." (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, December 14, 1882)

1883
"The D&RGW completed the through line to Salt Lake City on March 30, and dispatched the first passenger train from Salt Lake City on April 8. Palmer resigned as president of D&RG shortly thereafter, since the new Board of Directors was composed primarily of Easterners who were hostile to Palmer's policy of expansion. However, he remained as President of D&RGW, while Frederick Lovejoy replaced him on the D&RG. As was to be expected, new construction came to a virtual stop, only revenue-producing line completed." (LeMassena, p. 41)

January 1883
Four D&RG board members loyal to Palmer resigned from the D&RG Board of Directors, over the board's displeasure with the lease of the D&RGW, when the D&RG couldn't even pay an annual dividend. (Athearn, p. 133)

January 1, 1883
The new Pleasant Valley Junction, formerly Fish Creek, currently has a population of about 150. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, January 1, 1883)

January 24, 1883
On D&RGW, an engine wrecked seven miles east of Pleasant Valley Junction; killed were R. L. Jameson, engineer, and Wm. Lawrence, brakeman. Wreck was in the afternoon about 2:00pm. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, January 25, 1883, "yesterday")

February 25, 1883
"The Denver & Rio Grande, Utah division, has sixteen locomotives operating." (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, February 25, 1883)

March 13, 1883
D&RG was using a temporary depot in Salt Lake City, and further states that the new two story building is now being built in Denver and will be shipped to Salt Lake City "next month." (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, March 13, 1883)

March 27, 1883
D&RG was completed to Green River from the east on March 27, 1883. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, March 28, 1883)

Construction was proceeding westward to a connection with D&RGW, which was building along the Price River south from Pleasant Valley Junction. By the end of 1882, D&RGW crews had reached Grassy Trail (today known as Grassy), 58 miles southeast of Pleasant Valley Junction. (LeMassena, p. 83)

March 28, 1883
The first engine crossed the Green River yesterday, on D&RG line. The Denver 'Republican' will put out a special issue upon completion of the line to Salt Lake City. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, March 28, 1883)

March 29, 1883
"Completed by Tomorrow Night." "Telegraphic messages received at the Denver & Rio Grande offices this morning, state that the bridge over Green River was completed on Tuesday night. Five miles of track were laid yesterday, and this morning work was commenced on the eight-mile gap. By to-morrow night the road will be-completed, and the first train will be run on Saturday. Col. D. C. Dodge has already left Denver and will reach Salt Lake over the "Little Giant" road by Saturday afternoon." (Salt Lake Evening Chronicle, March 29, 1883; "Tuesday" was March 27th)

March 30, 1883
"At Last." "The last spike on the fine of the Denver & Rio Grande Railway, between Denver and Salt Lake City, was driven at four o'clock this afternoon." Friday, 30 March 1883; location not given. (Salt Lake Evening Chronicle, March 30, 1883)

March 30, 1883
"The Last Spike" to be driven today on the D & R G Western. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, March 30, 1883)

March 30, 1883
D&RGW and D&RG crews met at a a point a few miles west of Green River, completing their combined line from Denver to Salt Lake City. (Athearn, p. 122)

D&RGW had completed their narrow gauge line from Salt Lake City by new construction between Salt Lake and Provo and from Tucker over Soldier Summit to the D&RG connection west of Green River. The portion of the line from Provo to Tucker was constructed by the Utah & Pleasant Valley Railway and was purchased by the D&RGW in June 1882. The D&RGW's new line between Salt Lake and Provo connected with the Wasatch & Jordan Valley and Bingham Canyon & Camp Floyd feeder lines at Bingham Junction in the Salt Lake Valley. (Reeder, p. 387)

"The Last Lick" - at 4:00pm yesterday afternoon, the last spike was driven. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, March 31, 1883)

"The First Trains." "A dispatch from Denver states that freight trains on the Denver & Rio Grande will commence running between Denver and Salt Lake on April 2d and passenger trains on April 8th. The construction force will be transferred to the gap between Salt Lake and Ogden, ..., the intention being to have through trains running between Denver, Pueblo and Ogden May 1st." (Salt Lake Evening Chronicle, March 31, 1883)

On March 30, 1883 when the construction forces of D&RGW (of Utah) and D&RG (of Colorado) met at the point later named Desert Switch (now known simply as Desert), about half way between Green River and Woodside, Utah, the entire portion of the D&RG track west of a station called State Line was actually D&RGW track, constructed by D&RG for the benefit of D&RGW. The legal ownership of the track itself became sort of a moot point when D&RG formally leased D&RGW on or about May 1, 1883, but LeMassena says on page 41 that, "Once the Colorado-Utah state line was crossed, the trackage was part of the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railway, a Utah company formed by Palmer in 1881."

April 3, 1883
D&RGW items -- the Alta tramway being readied for business; George Goss has been Superintendent of Construction for the Western; and the first through passenger train for the East will depart Salt Lake City the 8th. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, April 3, 1883)

April 3, 1883
First through train for the east will depart on the 8th, Sunday. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, April 3, 1883)

April 4, 1883
An advert for the first passenger train to leave Salt Lake, via D&RG, to be on the 8th of April, 1883. (Salt Lake Evening Chronicle, April 4, 1883)

April 6, 1883
"A train consisting of an engine, mail and express car, two coaches and one sleeping car, arrived yesterday from Denver over the Denver & Rio Grande, in readiness to commence regular passenger service tomorrow, Sunday, April 8th." "The new timetable on the Denver and Rio Grande goes into effect tomorrow." (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, April 7, 1883)

April 7, 1883
"The Difference in Time." "The running time of the D.& R.G. will be Denver time, which is twenty-eight minutes faster than Salt Lake. The train therefore that was announced to leave here at 1:15 tomorrow will leave at 12:47 o'clock' Salt Lake time." (Salt Lake Evening Chronicle, April 7, 1883)

April 8, 1883
"The new timetable on the Denver and Rio Grande goes into effect tomorrow." (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, April 7, 1883)

April 8, 1883
The first train from Salt Lake City to Denver left Salt Lake City on April 8, 1883. (LeMassena, pp. 41, 85)

April 8, 1883
"First Regular Train." left Salt Lake yesterday; lead engine was the "Embuda," W. H. Ryan, Engineer; second engine was the "Rito Alto," George Sheehey, Engineer. Full list of all officials, passengers and crew. (Salt Lake Evening Chronicle, April 9, 1883)

April 10, 1883
"Going East," the first train for which left Sunday, 8th, afternoon, with two engines, the "Embuda" and the "Rito Alta"; one express and baggage car, two coaches, and one Pullman sleeper - it met the first westbound train at Bingham Junction. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, April 10, 1883)

April 14, 1883
The D&RGW is busier than was expected; "Calls for more motive power are made almost daily on the Utah division, and new engines are being sent from the Colorado division to supply the demand." (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, April 14, 1883)

May 1883
D&RGW reached Ogden on the 16th, although the bridge over the Weber River was not yet completed. (Wilson, p. 76)

D&RGW entered Ogden Union Depot on the 19th by laying a third rail on the Central Pacific tracks. (Reeder, p. 388)

(The Utah Central and Union Pacific would not allow the D&RG to cross their tracks to get access to Ogden Union Station.)

May 1883
The lease of the D&RGW to the D&RG went into effect. (Athearn, p. 131)

May 1, 1883
The frame is up for the new D&RGW depot in Salt Lake City. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, May 1, 1883)

May 12, 1883
"A third rail is being laid on the Central Pacific track at Ogden, to give the Denver & Rio Grande access to the depot." (Salt Lake Tribune, May 12, 1883, "City Jottings")

May 12, 1883
"A third rail is being laid in the ground west of the Union Depot Hotel and extending westward in the direction of the Central Pacific shops. It is supposed that this indicates that the Denver and Rio Grande Railway will run trains up to the Union Depot. (Salt Lake Herald, May 12, 1883, "Chip," citing the Ogden Pilot newspaper)

May 17, 1883
"The Railroad Racket at Ogden." "This morning about 10 o'clock the Union Pacific Railway Co. applied for an injunction to restrain the Denver & Rio Grande Ry. Co. from laying tracks in the depot grounds owned jointly by the Union and Central Pacific Ry. Companies. Also to prevent the use of the Union depot at Ogden." (Salt Lake Evening Chronicle, May 17, 1883)

May 17, 1883
Today was to have been the day for the D&RGW to begin operating its trains out of Ogden, but owing to Union Pacific interference, the D&RGW cannot get to the Central Pacific depot, three-quarters of a mile from the end of D&RGW track. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, May 17, 1883)

May 17, 1883
First D&RGW passenger train to leave Ogden did so this morning at 9:47, but as bridge not finished, passengers were transferred over the Weber river to train on other side. (Ogden Herald, May 17, 1883)

May 17, 1883
"THE D. & R. G. R. R." "Notwithstanding all the opposition made by rival roads the 'Baby Giant' has accomplished its object. The first passenger train of the D&RGRR, consisting of engine, two coaches, a pullman sleeper, and baggage car, left Ogden, this morning, at 9:47, for the South. Owing to the fact that the bridge over the Weber River was not completed, the passengers and baggage were transferred by carriages to the other side of the river; but this evening's D&RGRR train from the South was expected to come right into Ogden, at about 5:30, when the ovation which was talked about, some time ago, was to be given the plucky, indomitable, and irrepressible 'Baby' road." (Ogden Standard, May 17, 1883, research by Joshua Bernhard)

May 19, 1883
"The Injunction Suit Amicably Settled." Suit has been 'satisfactorily adjusted,' and D&RG tracks were laid to the depot last evening. (Salt Lake Evening Chronicle, May 19, 1883)

May 19, 1883
The first D&RGW train across Weber bridge yesterday; regular service (passenger) will commence on the 21st, Monday. (Ogden Herald, May 19, 1883)

May 21, 1883
"Finished the Frog" "To-day, the finishing touches -- no slight touches of the sledge hammer either-- were put to the frog at the crossing of the D&RGRR and the broad-gauge Utah Central. It is an exceptionally fine frog. The work was put in under the direction of Mr. M. Gormon of the C.P. Yard. Long may the D&RGRR and U.C. 'leap' that 'frog'." (Ogden Standard, May 21, 1883, research by Joshua Bernhard)

May 21, 1883
"Random References" "A heavy consignment of goods was expressed, this afternoon, over the D&RG, by David Kay. The D&RG and U.C. passenger trains, this forenoon, ran a spirited race with each other, going south." (Ogden Standard, May 21, 1883, research by Joshua Bernhard)

May 26, 1883
"The Central Pacific Coming -- It is reported in railroad circles that inside a month or with some reasonable period the Central Pacific Railroad will lay a third rail over the Denver and Rio Grande track to this city and bring its freight and passengers from the west direct to Salt Lake. The grade of the Denver and Rio Grande is wide enough, and the ties, all of which are heavy are of sufficient length and are laid so that one end of each tie extends a great deal farther beyond the rail on one side than on the other. This leads to the belief that it was premeditated that a third rail should be laid down or that the track should be at some future date made a standard gauge. The report that the Central Pacific freight and passenger trains are to be brought to Salt Lake accounts for the peculiar width of the Denver and Rio Grande track and the manner of its placing its ties between here and Ogden, such a course would practically mean the transfer of its business to Salt Lake and could only be followed by a like move on the part of the Union Pacific." (Salt Lake Herald, May 26, 1883)

May 29, 1883
A table of round-trip passenger fares, D&RG regular trains, from Salt Lake City to: Wood's Cross, 75 cents; Farmington, $1.20; Kaysville, $1.65; Hooper, $2.55; Ogden, $3.00; Francklyn/Germania, 50 cents; Bingham Junction, 85 cents; Sandy, $1.00; Draper, $1.20; Lehi, $2.25; American Fork, $2.50; Battle Creek, $2.70; Lakeview, 3.$10; Provo, $3.40; Springville, $3.85; Spanish Fork, $4.30. (Salt Lake Evening Chronicle, May 29, 1883)

June 2, 1883
D&RG now building brick roundhouse at Grand Junction; depot just completed. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, June 2, 1883)

June 21, 1883
New D&RGW depot at SLC is nearing completion. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, June 21, 1883)

June 21, 1883
There is to be a third rail on D&RGW line Ogden to SLC, for benefit of Central Pacific. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, June 21, 1883)

June 24, 1883
Plasterers are finishing up their work in the new D&RGW depot. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, June 24, 1883)

July 13, 1883
Special rate of $60.00 for round trip to Denver via D&RG, for the Denver Exposition; in effect July 15 through September 25, 1883. (Salt Lake Evening Chronicle, July 13, 1883)

July 18, 1883
The platform at the new D&RGW depot is finished, and in use, although the depot is not in use as yet. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, July 18, 1883)

July 18, 1883
"The track of the Denver & Rio Grande between Ogden and Salt Lake is about ready for the third rail, soon to be laid for use of the Central Pacific." (Salt Lake Tribune, July 18, 1883, "Ogden Items")

July 24, 1883
"Accident on the Bingham Railway" "As is generally understood the passenger train on the Bingham branch runs to the Jordan without an engine, the grade being steep enough for that purpose. When approaching the river last evening, where the locomotive was waiting, the wheels on the passenger car commenced slipping, and all the efforts of the train men to check the speed were unavailing; the result was that the car ran into the locomotive, and several persons who were standing on the front platform were badly, though not seriously, injured. A son of Dan. Clays, of Bingham, had his leg broken, and the conductor was badly bruised." (Salt Lake Daily Herald, July 24, 1883)

August 9, 1883
Palmer resigned as president of the D&RG, and was replaced by Frederick Lovejoy. Palmer retained his seat on Board of Directors. (Athearn, pp. 134, 135)

August 10, 1883
Gen. Palmer has resigned as President of the D. & R. G. RR. Co. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, August 10, 1883)

August 10, 1883
Mail service on D&RG and Western began between Salida and Ogden, and is referred to in paper as 'Salida & Ogden RPO' (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, August 11, 1883, "yesterday")

August 14, 1883
"The Denver & Rio Grande are constructing forty fruit cars for use on their line, twenty-eight of which are completed. They are provided with ventilators and every convenience for keeping fruit in good condition in transit. These cars were arranged in the shops in this city, by changing a portion and building others." (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, August 14, 1883)

August 15, 1883
"Better Accommodations Wanted" "Passengers on the Wasatch and Jordan Valley Railroad complain of the lack of accommodation. They say the cars are very small, and are sometimes so crowded that people are forced to stand all the way, while there are no accommodations for women with children. It is said the road used to be sprinkled partially in former years, but now even that is not done, and the dust is sometimes intolerable." (Salt Lake Daily Herald, August 15, 1883)

September 2, 1883
As of today, there are emigrant sleepers on all D&RG-D&RGW through passenger trains. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, September 2, 1883)

September 5, 1883
"The D. & R. G. now runs emigrant sleepers." (Salt Lake Daily Herald, September 5, 1883)

September 16, 1883
The D&RGW has in process of erection a fine class of small depots at Wood's Cross, Farmington, Kaysville and Hooper. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, September 16, 1883)

September 20, 1883
Henry Wood, Superintendent of Utah Division D&RG for past 16 months, has resigned; he is going to the Little Rock, Mississippi River & Texas Railway. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, September 20, 1883)

September 23, 1883
Item on "Steam Shovel", which has been in use at D&RGW gravel banks north of Salt Lake City; W. H. Lucas, engineer of the shovel, has just taken it apart, to be put in storage for the winter. While in operation, the shovel loaded gravel at rate of nearly 100 cars per day. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, September 23, 1883)

September 25, 1883
New D&RGW depot at Salt Lake City is nearly ready for occupancy. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, September 25, 1883)

October 11, 1883
The new D&RGW depot, in SLC, is rapidly nearing completion, and will probably be occupied within the next week. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, October 11, 1883)

October 13, 1883
"The Denver & Rio Grande officials and employees will begin to move into the new offices at the depot to-day." (Salt Lake Daily Herald, October 13, 1883)

October 20, 1883
"Death on the Rail." Eastbound passenger train wrecked 4 miles below Escalante, 98 miles west of Gunnison, on D.& R.G.; engineer Edwin H. Godfrey killed. "The engine was the ill-fated 107, which went into the river last spring with engineer Duncan, and by which accident Duncan and two firemen lost their lives." The mail car was "splintered almost to kindling..." The engine hit a rock on a rainy night, left cylinder " torn off, &c. (Salt Lake Evening Chronicle, October 20, 1883)

October 27, 1883
"New Superintendent Appointed" on the D.& R.G. Western; Henry Wood has resigned, and W. H. Bancroft takes his place. (Salt Lake Evening Chronicle, October 27, 1883)

October 31, 1883
"Mr. Bancroft and Party" "At 4 o'clock yesterday afternoon a special train arrived from the East over the Denver & Rio Grande road, bringing Mr. W. H. Bancroft, the recently appointed superintendent of the fifth and sixth divisions, and his party. The train consisted of Mr. Bancroft's special car and a new buffet Pullman sleeper,..." (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, October 31, 1883)

October 31, 1883
"The Salt Lake Pullman" "The buffet Pullman sleeper which arrived at the Denver & Rio Grande depot yesterday by special train bears the name of 'salt Lake.' It is not only a gem in the eyes of all railroad men who have seen it, but it is by far the most beautiful and complete railroad coach ever introduced in the West for public travel. It is fifty-three feet long, weighs twenty-one tons and is elegantly fitted and finished both inside and out. One of the special features of it is the buffet or side board, which, in a space of four by six feet, constitutes a complete kitchen, cupboard and larder, from which the porter can serve up a bounteous and refreshing meal on short notice. An enunciator at each section places a passenger in a position to summon the porter without having to stumble through the car in search of him. The finish of the interior is highly artistic in general appearance and in detail, and aside from these special points of excellence has quite as much room and as many conveniences as are found on the ordinary Pullman car. No other road except the Missouri Pacific has the buffet sleeper. It will be some pleasure for D. & R. G. passengers to ride in that coach, and Salt Lake people in particular, as it bears the name of their city." (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, October 31, 1883)

November 1883
W. H. Bancroft became Superintendent of the D&RGW, called the "Utah Division", replacing Henry Wood who quit in September to take another job in Arkansas. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, September 20, 1883)

November 1, 1883
The new D&RGW depot at Salt Lake City 'is just completed', and will be occupied in a few days. The size of the building is about 40x80', and 2-1/2 stories high. Interior finished in natural oak. South of main entrance is the baggage room, and south of that is express office. North of main entrance is divided into two waiting rooms, one ladies and one gents, with ticket office between. The telegraph office is on the second floor, as are offices in general, with a three-room office for the superintendent. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, November 1, 1883) Under construction since April. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, May 1, 1883)

November 2, 1883
"Arrival of President Lovejoy" of the D.& R.G. in Salt Lake City yesterday, and is staying at the Walker House. Returns to Denver in a few days. (Salt Lake Evening Chronicle, November 2, 1883)

November 6, 1883
"New Sleeping Cars." "Six Pullman sleeping cars, of a new pattern, will shortly be placed on the Denver & Rio Grande road. These new cars are fifty-three feet in length - six feet longer than those now in use on the line.- and are fitted with all the latest improvements. They are of the same width as the ordinary broad-gauge car, and in addition to sleeping accommodations, contain rooms where everything required to brace the inner man can be obtained; that necessary adjunct, a smoking apartment, is also one of the attachments. With such accommodations the D.& R.G. must soon become a favorite road with the traveling public." (Salt Lake Evening Chronicle, November 6, 1883)

November 26, 1883
"The Time Standard." "Adopted on All Lines of the Denver & Rio Grande." "The following order has been issued from the office of the General Superintendent of the Denver & Rio Grande Railway Company: "Commencing at 6 o'clock a.m. on Saturday, December 1st, 1883, the standard of time for this railroad will be the 105th meridian (mountain time), which is six minutes slower than the present standard. All employees of the operating department will, at 9 a.m. on that day, set back their watches and clocks six minutes, and at 10 o'clock a.m. the new standard time will be given from the Denver office. Employees must be particular to ascertain the correct time." (Salt Lake Evening Chronicle, November 26, 1883)

December 11, 1883
'Castle Valley Station' will be changed to 'Price' in the new timetable. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, December 11, 1883)

December 15, 1883
New D&RGW timetable to appear, effective Wednesday December 19, 1883. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, December 15, 1883)

December 16, 1883
New timetable on the D. & R. G. effective Wednesday 19 December 1883. (Salt Lake Daily Herald, December 16, 1883)

December 21, 1883
"Buffet cars will be placed on the D. & R. G. road between Denver and Salt Lake, on January 1st, 1884." They will be the only buffet cars on any line west of the Missouri River. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, December 21, 1883)

January 5, 1884
The Railroads: "One of the new buffet cars recently manufactured for the Denver & Rio Grande is now in use on the line. It is fifty-six feet in length and weighs twenty-two tons. It has a lunch counter and bar in one end, and each berth has an electric enunciator connecting it with the porter's room. This enables occupants of the berths to call the porter at any time his services may be needed, night or day. The carpeting is of the finest, and the furniture of the richest kind. The car is so long and wide that the snow sheds had to be widened at places and curves lengthened to permit it to run on the line." (Salt Lake Evening Chronicle, January 5, 1884)

January 12, 1884
The use of the buffet-sleepers is delayed somewhat, and will commence on Tuesday January 15th. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, January 12, 1884)

January 13, 1884
Bancroft has "Just issued" a circular stating that 'Castle Valley' has been changed to 'Price'. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, January 13, 1884)

January 16, 1884
"The buffet cars were yesterday introduced on the D. & R. G. lines, and proved to be quite a success and a great convenience to passengers." (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, January 16, 1884)

January 24, 1884
"The buffet cars on the D. & R. G. are highly spoken of..." (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, January 24, 1884)

January 25, 1884
"When the D.& R.G. train left this morning the Buffet car was completely filled." (Salt Lake Evening Chronicle, January 25, 1884)

February 4, 1884
Wreck of train on D.& R.G. Western, about four miles south of Ogden, yesterday morning; engine wrecked and mail car smashed; Jackson E. Orr, messenger in mail car, died of injuries. (Salt Lake Evening Chronicle, February 4, 1884)

February 5, 1884
Passenger train on the D. & R. G. turned over Sunday, about three or four miles below Ogden, account of soft roadbed. Mail car was badly smashed, and Jackson Orr, messenger therein, died of injuries. (Salt Lake Daily Herald, February 5, 1884)

February 9, 1884
An item on a wreck on the D & R G Western, on the 8th, about seven miles east of Pleasant Valley Junction, in which an engine turned over, and the fireman, Charles White, was killed almost instantly. At least two of his brothers are in Utah; Harry White, editor of the Park Mining Record (and the reason this accident appears in this paper); and Ed. White, a clerk in the post office. Charles was employed on the Utah Eastern, until recently. (Park Mining Record, Park City, February 9, 1884)

February 10, 1884
Accident near Pleasant Valley, on the 8th, in which the engine and about a dozen coal cars went over the bank. Fireman Charles White was killed outright. Engineer Todd and brakeman Keeler were injured, but not seriously so. (Salt Lake Daily Herald, February 10, 1884)

March 1884
D&RG president Lovejoy tried to replace Dodge as General Superintendent of D&RGW. Palmer wouldn't allow it. W. H. Bancroft was Superintendent of D&RGW. (Athearn, p. 137)

April 1884
Dodge resigned as General Manager of D&RG. (Athearn, p. 137) David H. Moffat was elected to D&RG board. (Athearn, p. 140) D&RGW obtained injunction restraining the D&RG from interfering in operation and management of D&RGW. (Athearn, p. 140)

April 2, 1884
"The directors of the Eastern division of the Denver & Rio Grande have no control over the actions of the Western division. The former have dismissed Col. Dodge, but the latter prefer to keep him." (Salt Lake Evening Chronicle, April 2, 1884)

April 5, 1884
"D. & R. G." "Colonel D. C. Dodge Issues a New Order to the Officials and Employees of the Company." "Some facts were recently given in the Chronicle regarding the announced dismissal of Col. Dodge, manager of this road, and as the matter is growing very interesting to the public we give herewith a copy of an order received from Col. Dodge last evening from Denver. (Salt Lake Evening Chronicle, April 5, 1884)

Office of D. C. Dodge, Manager, under the Lease, of the Line of the D. & R. G. Western.

Denver, Col., April 4, 1884.

General Order No. 1

To the Superintendent and all Officers, Agents and Employees:

All Officers, Superintendent, Agents and Employees on the line of the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railway Company in Utah, are notified that the undersigned D. C. Dodge is Manager of those lines of railways and that reports must be made to him in the usual course of business or as he shall direct.

(Long part on his rights as duly appointed manager under article 10 of the lease, here omitted.)

Notice is therefore given that any orders by Frederick Lovejoy, President of the Denver & Rio Grande Railway Company, or any other officer thereof, assuming to exercise or interfere with the powers confided in the undersigned, will be considered an attempt at usurpation and must be disregarded.

Mr. W. H. Bancroft, with headquarters at Salt Lake City, is continued in office as Superintendent of the lines of the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railway Company in Utah, under the authority of the undersigned; and all subordinate officers, agents and employees will report to him.

(s) D. C. DODGE, Manager under the lease.

April 6, 1884
Paper prints the text of the General Order, dated April 4, 1884, in the which D. C. Dodge asserts his authority to run, as General Manager, the D. & R. G. Western Railway in Utah, per article 10 of the lease. (Salt Lake Daily Herald, April 6, 1884)

April 9, 1884
The London Bank of Utah, in the news of late owing to financial trouble, provided this paper with a list of accounts receivable, now considered uncollectable, a total of $76,998.53. Included are notes issued to Wasatch & Jordan Valley Railroad, in the amount of $10,000.00; overdrafts issued to Wasatch & Jordan Valley Railroad, in the amount of $3,907.00. (Salt Lake Evening Chronicle, April 9, 1884)

April 15, 1884
D. & R. G. Timetable #27 in effect at 12:01 a.m. today. (Salt Lake Daily Herald, April 15, 1884)

April 15, 1884
D. & R. G. Timetable #27, in effect at 12:01 a.m. this morning. (Salt Lake Evening Chronicle, April 15, 1884; Salt Lake Daily Tribune, April 15, 1884)

April 16, 1884
"An injunction was yesterday issued by the Third District Court, prohibiting the Denver & Rio Grande Railway Company from interfering with the rights and powers of Col. D. C. Dodge as Manager under the lease of the D. & R. G. Western Railway of Utah Territory." "It is not thought that this action will affect the operation of the road in the least particular." (Salt Lake Evening Chronicle, April 16, 1884)

April 16, 1884
An injunction obtained yesterday in Third District Court prohibits the D&RG (Colorado company) or its officers from interfering with Col. Dodge's management of the D&RGW (Utah company). (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, April 16, 1884)

April 17, 1884
Gen. W. J. Palmer arrived in Salt Lake City, yesterday, in company with Lyman Bass, Esq., General Attorney of the D. & R. G. Western Rwy. Co. (Salt Lake Evening Chronicle, April 17, 1884)

April 28, 1884
Item reports that a man was run over yesterday at Bingham Junction, by D. & R. G. engine No. 85. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, April 28, 1884)

May 1, 1884
Extracts from D&RG annual report, to December 31, 1883; mostly dry, but listed the equipment. The earnings of the D&RGW were $805,767; expenses $802,026; for a net of $3,741.00; less rental of 40 percent of gross earnings, or a sum of $322,307.00, leaving a deficit of $318,566.00 for the year. (Ogden Herald, May 1, 1884)

May 3, 1884
"The railroads throughout Utah, and the city of Salt Lake, adopted standard time on the 1st. The time is twenty-seven minutes faster than Park City time." (Park Mining Record, Park City, May 3, 1884)

May 6, 1884
On Friday, May 2, engine 275 was wrecked between Pleasant Valley Junction and Price; on Monday the 5th engine 60 was wrecked on the Pleasant Valley branch. (See also: Park Record, 10 May 1884.) (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, May 6, 1884)

May 10, 1884
"Poor Accommodations" "People who have occasion to travel over the D. & R. G. between P. V. Junction and the coal mines are loud in their censure of the company for not providing better accommodations. The car used between the two places is said to be of the very poorest, and resembles an old played out freight car more than a passenger coach; it is odious, too, and several persons of veracity have assured the writer that it is unfit in every way to be used as it is." (Salt Lake Daily Herald, May 10, 1884)

May 10, 1884
Two accidents on the D&RGW - Engine 275 on May 2, 1884, 'tipped completely over' somewhere between P. V. Junction and Price; Jesse Brown, engineer and Engine 60 off on the line to Pleasant Valley, on the 4th. (Park Mining Record, Park City, May 10, 1884)

May 14, 1884
D & R G engine 49 in wreck one-half mile west of Thistle tank, yesterday morning; engine into the river, and engineer James McCabe killed, the brakeman seriously injured. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, May 14, 1884) Brakeman in 49 wreck, Henry Hargraves, died yesterday afternoon in the hospital. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, May 15, 1884)

May 17, 1884
D&RGW engine 49 hit a soft spot on the 13th, 1/2 mile west of Thistle water tank, turned over into the creek, at runoff, Engineer James McCabe (?) drowned; brakeman Hargreen died later of injuries; the engine was badly damaged. (Park Mining Record, Park City, May 17, 1884)

May 22, 1884
The D&RG (Colorado) filed its answer to the D&RGW (Utah) complaint in Third District Court yesterday. Said answer is some 161 pages long, and while it appears that it is largely the expected mumbo-jumbo, the D&RG's main point is that as the meetings which approved the lease of the D&RGW were not properly called, any business transacted thereat (and especially the lease) is entirely null and void, and without effect. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, May 22, 1884)

end of May 1884
D&RG went to court to break its lease of the D&RGW. (Athearn, p. 143)

June 1884
Palmer resigns as member of board of D&RG. (Athearn, p. 145)

June 10, 1884
D&RGW timetable #28 effective June 8, 1884. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, June 10, 1884)

June 17, 1884
Bancroft received a wire yesterday afternoon, telling him that the Robideau bridge, on D&RG east of Grand Junction, is out. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, June 17, 1884)

June 20, 1884
About 2-1/2 columns on 'The Railroad Row', between D&RG and D&RGW. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, June 20, 1884)

July 2, 1884
D&RGW files to have a receiver appointed for D&RG because D&RG has failed to pay the rent. (Athearn, p. 145)

July 3, 1884
Lovejoy "cuts the line" by having D&RG crews tear up a mile of track just east of the Colorado-Utah line. (Athearn, p. 145; LeMassena, p. 87)

July 3, 1884
Petition for receiver for the D & R G W was filed in court yesterday. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, July 3, 1884)

July 3, 1884
A mile or two of track torn up by D&RG east of state line. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, July 4, 1884, "yesterday")

July 6, 1884
Grand Junction is isolated, with track torn up west of town, and a major bridge gone east of town; Bancroft wired to Grand Junction that he would have supplies teamed to town from the end of his road, at the state line, while the mayor wired back that he and others would be only too happy to come and get the supplies themselves. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, July 6, 1884)

July 8, 1884
Prices in Grand Junction have doubled. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, July 8, 1884)

In Colorado

D&RG was placed into receivership on July 9, 1884, with W. S. Jackson appointed as receiver. Jackson ordered that the two lines be re-connected at the point where they were cut by Lovejoy, near Grand Junction. (Athearn, p. 146) The receiver took control on July 12, 1884. (LeMassena, p. 43)

July 18, 1884
"Among railroad men it is expected that as soon as all matters now in dispute between D&RG and D&RGW, are settled, that a third rail will be laid between Ogden and Salt Lake, so that C. P. broad gauge cars can be run direct to this city. Should this be done it will save breaking bulk at Ogden." (Salt Lake Tribune. July 18, 1884, "Local Railroad Notes")

July 27, 1884
Petition for receiver for D&RGW, withdrawn earlier, is renewed. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, July 27, 1884)

July 29, 1884
D&RG car "A" going north over the Utah & Northern, with General Schofield, U. S. Army, who likes the car and doesn't want to change. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, July 29, 1884)

July 29, 1884
Last night General Schofield and party went north over U&N, in D&RG director's car. (Ogden Herald, July 29, 1884)

August 2, 1884
There will be a new timetable on the D&RGW on the 17th. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, August 2, 1884)

August 12, 1884
D&RGW was placed into receivership, with W. H. Bancroft appointed receiver. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, August 13, 1884; Rebel p. 147)

August 13, 1884
Two columns on 'Receiver Bancroft', appointed yesterday. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, August 13, 1884)

August 13, 1884
"Motion Granted" "Judge Hunter appoints a Receiver for the Western." "In District Court yesterday, W. H. Bancroft is appointed the Receiver of the D. & R. G. Western Railway, in the fight between the two roads over the validity of the lease. Col. D. C. Dodge made the following affidavit. (Salt Lake Daily Herald, August 13, 1884)

"I am one of the plaintiffs in this action. I have heard, read and know the contents of the affidavit of Wm. S. Jackson made in this action, dated and verified August 2nd, 1884, in which among other things it is set forth that on or about July 11th, 1884, the said Jackson as Receiver of defendant company took possession and control of the rolling stock theretofore and still used in the operation of the line of railway of the plaintiff company in the Territory of Utah; and that he is still in possession of said rolling stock, subject only to the temporary arrangement for the use thereof made with me as general manager of the D. & R. G. W. Co. as thereafter set forth in said affidavit. On the 11th day of July, 1884, and for a long time prior thereto and ever since that day, said rolling stock has been and is on the lines of railway of the plaintiff company in Utah, leased to the defendant company under the instruments of lease set forth in the pleadings herein, and has been and is used in operating said lines for the defendant company; and since the construction of said lines of railway I have been continuously managing the operation thereof as manager under said instruments of lease, and said rolling stock has been continuously used on said lines by operatives employed by me and using said rolling stock under my direction as such manager, and not otherwise. So far as I know and believe, the said Jackson has not been in Utah since he was appointed receiver, and I have never known that he has sent any agent or person, by him authorized, to Utah to demand or receive said rolling stock. And no demand therefore has been made upon me, and I have no knowledge of any demand on any employee using the rolling stock or any part of it."

"Through persons employed by me as manager under the lease, I have had the continuous, undisturbed, actual charge and control of said rolling stock."

"The statement, or inferential statement in said affidavit, of W. S. Jackson that the temporary arrangement mentioned by him, was made with me, as general manager of the plaintiff company, is a mistake. I had long before that time resigned as general manager of the D. & R. G. W. and my resignation had been accepted by the Board of Directors. At that date I was not nor have I at any time since been an officer of the D. & R. G. Western or had or held any appointment, agency or authority of any kind whatever from said company, other than the joint power of the two companies given by article 10, of said lease of July 10th, 1882."

"At the conference which led to the temporary proposition set forth in Jackson's affidavit, there were present Judge Hallett, W. S. Jackson and myself. The through line had been disconnected by tearing up a portion of the track, and by reason of floods in Colorado trains could not have run through, even if the track was relaid. Judge Hallett expressed the idea that he could not then recognize the lease, and advised Mr. Jackson to relay the torn up tracks and advised us both to make some temporary arrangement for a through operation over both lines, and that the Utah line should be operated so far as Grand Junction, in Colorado, until the Colorado road east of that point should be repaired and opened. I said that if the lease was not recognized, I had no authority from the Utah company, and no power to bind or compromise it, and this led to the advice of Judge Hallett as aforesaid; accordingly I made the proposal set forth in the affidavit of Mr. Jackson. But it was distinctly stated by me that I had no authority from the Utah company."

"I did not sign the proposal because I had no authority to do so from the plaintiff company, and I supposed I would not be recognized as manager under the lease by said Receiver Jackson. The proposal and temporary operation under it I supposed and I thought Mr. Jackson understood, arose out of the necessity of the situation, and was without prejudice and only intended to secure a practical operation of the lines of railway. I have ever since operated the Utah lines as manager under the lease, and all accounts, vouchers, etc., so far as I know, have been made in the name of D. C. Dodge, manager under the lease. In the conference referred to when I said I had no authority from the Utah company, Judge Hallett further said he did not wish anything to be done to compromise the rights of the company under the lease." (signed) D. C. Dodge."

October 11, 1884
D&RGW timetable #30 effective 12 October 12, 1884. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, October 11, 1884)

November 15, 1884
"Receiver Wm. H. Bancroft and Traffic Manager S. W. Eccles, of the D. & R. G. Western, went to Ogden this morning on a special train. The object of their visit was to make an inspection of the work done on an extension of their road from the Ogden depot to the central part of town, where a freight depot is to be built for the convenience of the Ogden merchants." (Salt Lake Evening Chronicle, November 15, 1884)

December 6, 1884
Railroad Notes: "The Philadelphia and Erie Trust Company is building '200 freight cars to be used on the D. & R. G. Western." (Salt Lake Evening Chronicle, December 6, 1884)

December 10, 1884
A D&RGW passenger train, including engine, was blown over near Farmington, this morning. (Salt Lake Evening Chronicle, December 10, 1884)

December 10, 1884
A train blown over on the D&RGW near Wood's Cross. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, December 11, 1884, "yesterday")

December 20, 1884
Jury verdict in the inquest of the Pole Canyon wreck, near Thistle: "...a collision of freight train No. 21, bound west, and work train engine No. 29, bound east, on the D. & R. G. Western, at a certain curve on said road about three miles below Thistle station, west, on the 17th day of December, at about 10:20 a.m...." Deceased: Alex Wallace, O. Larrissey, Ed Worley. (Salt Lake Evening Chronicle, December 20, 1884)

January 15, 1885
"A number of large photographic views of the Denver & Rio Grande scenery have been received and placed on exhibition at the City office of the D. & R. G. They are taken by Jackson of Denver, and Savage of this city. A fine view of the Salt Lake depot is among the latter's pictures." (Salt Lake Evening Chronicle, January 15, 1885)

March 14, 1885
"The D. & R. G. W. Park." "The D. & R. G. Western are going to prepare the little square of land just north of the passenger depot into a model park for the comfort of travelers as well as to beautify the surroundings. After the grounds are shaped, pretty shade trees will be planted, rustic seats put in, graveled walks made throughout, a fine modern water fountain placed in the center, which will be supplied from the tank, and everything added to make this in comparison with their .improvements along all the lines operated. (Salt Lake Evening Chronicle, March 14, 1885)

April 10, 1885
"The D. & R. G. Western have purchased several reclining chair cars to be used between Salt Lake and Ogden." (Salt Lake Evening Chronicle, April 10, 1885)

April 11, 1885
D&RGW now has 'several' reclining chair cars in use on line SLC to Ogden. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, April 11, 1885)

April 14, 1885
Twelve pictures of scenes along the D&RG on display at the White House hotel. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, April 14, 1885)

April 18, 1885
"The new reclining chair cars, in use on the Rio Grande between here and Ogden, are becoming very popular among the traveling public." (Salt Lake Evening Chronicle, April 18, 1885)

May 1, 1885
Another chair car received from Denver for use on the Western line. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, May 1, 1885)

May 13, 1885
Jackson photos are displayed in the chair cars now running on the D&RGW between Salt Lake City and Ogden. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, May 13, 1885)

July 25, 1885
An abstract is published of Judge Zane's opinion, in the D&RG vs. D&RGW suit. The judge is of the opinion that the lease is entirely valid, and therefore the D&RGW has been injured by the conduct of the D&RG. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, July 25, 1885)

November 20, 1885
Bancroft has been east looking into 'new engines'; says that some expensive purchases about to be made in that line. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, November 20, 1885)

December 11, 1885
Junius Young has taken a view of the D&RGW depot in Salt Lake City, having the eastbound passenger train in front of the depot and in the foreground of the view. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, December 11, 1885)

March 1886
D&RGW released D&RG from its lease in return for the D&RG surrendering rolling stock being rented by D&RGW. (Athearn, p. 153)

January 1, 1886
Article on the D&RGW says that "...in the past year, two first class passenger engines were added to the rolling stock." (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, January 1, 1886)

January 5, 1886
"The D. & R. G. W. Net Earnings for Eighteen Months" "Nearly Half a Million" (Salt Lake Herald, January 5, 1886):

March 30, 1886
The D&RGW eating house at Green River burned completely yesterday morning at 3:00am. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, March 30, 1886)

May 13, 1886
"On Tuesday morning, Engine No. 113, D&RGW, blew out its boiler head when the steam pressure was only about 80 pounds. This engine is one of the oldest belonging to the road and had come in for repairs, but these repairs had not been made. Engineer Pigman was in the cab at the time and in the act of opening the throttle to start from the yard in this city for Ogden. He was blown into the coal bunker but sustained no injury save a slight cut on the forehead. The fireman was blown out of the cab but not hurt. The damage to the engine was slight." (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, May 13, 1886)

June 25, 1886
"There are three engines repairing in the shops of the D&RG Western road, No.'s 7, 159 and 295. No. 7 has been almost entirely rebuilt. No. 120 is in having her pins filed for new brasses. This engine and 119, the best passenger engines on the road, were bought last December from the Denver Circle Railroad for about the price of one locomotive. The Circle road had bought four from the New York Locomotive Works at Rome, New York, several years ago. But on their reaching Denver they were found too heavy, and the road was also too embarrassed financially to pay the enormous freight charges of $1000 each, so they lay at the Union Pacific freight house until the Western road picked up two, and the Denver, Utah & Pacific road took the rest. No.'s 119 and 120 are fine steamers, economical with coal, and travel like birds, but the Rome people did not put the parts together in very good shape." (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, June 25, 1886)

June 26, 1886
The D&RGW incorporated the Lake Park Resort Company as a destination for passengers on its trains between Salt Lake City and Ogden. The resort was located 2-1/2 miles west of Farmington. The company organizers and officers included W. H. Bancroft, receiver of D&RGW, as president, and Simon Bamberger, as vice president, along with George Goss, Jacob E. Bamberger and C. W. Bennett. The company was located on 120 acres of land that had 3900 feet (240 rods) of frontage along the lake shore. Improvements at the resort included 2000 feet of lakefront platforms and docks, set on piling, along with a pavilion, bath houses, restaurant and bar, along with depot. The resort was opened on July 15, 1886, but was fully finished and equipped for the 1887 season. (part from Salt Lake Herald, June 26, 1886) (Read more about the Lake Park Resort)

June 26, 1886
D&RG let the contract to build the branch that would serve its Lake Park resort. The contract was let to David Sanders of Farmington. Work was to commence on June 28. The article also mentions that as soon as the Lake Park branch was completed, D&RG was to start construction of its branch to Hooperville (today's Hooper). (Salt Lake Herald, June 27, 1886)

July 3, 1886
"Local Railway Notes" "Ten dumps are being built at the D.& R.G.W. shops to go to Bingham." There are 31 engines in service on the D&RGW, and it costs $55,000 a month for coal for them. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, July 3, 1886)

July 7, 1886
"Local Railway Notes" "Experiments have been made on the Denver & Rio Grande Western road with straight smoke stacks on freight engines. It is found that these increase the force of the blast, but do not work well in other respects unless the smoke arches are extended. Then the straight stack works to a charm. On passenger engines the arch being extended does not seem to make so much difference." (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, July 7, 1886)

July 10, 1886
"The D&RG Western folks have a neat way of keeping track of their engines. Colored discs of wood, with the numbers of engines on them, are hung on metal pegs over which is indicated the different subdivisions of the road. Thus by a glance from his desk the master mechanic can locate every engine on the road." (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, July 10, 1886)

In Colorado

Denver & Rio Grande Railway was sold at auction to the bondholders on July 14, 1886 and reorganized as Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. (Athearn, p. 153) (LeMassena, p. 46, says the sale was on July 13, 1886.)

July 16, 1886
"Local Railway Notes" "The Western shops have five of the eight excursion cars under way, the men working thirteen hours a day on them. The side curtains are of handsomely striped creton goods, which would look well in a Pullman car." (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, July 16, 1886)

July 16, 1886
"Local Railway Notes" "The Denver & Rio Grande Railroad is delivering to the Western road rolling stock bought from the former by the latter last spring. The deliveries are 16 engines, 240 gondola cars, 100 box cars, 20 flats, 10 cabooses, 2 combination cars and 1 official car. Some of the above are already on the Western road, so that the transfer in their cases is on paper. Several engines the Western road have been leasing from the Denver & Rio Grande are now being returned. What rolling stock our road needs above its own property will be leased from the Denver & Rio Grande. Master Mechanic Smith and J. G. Graham, the car accountant, are now in Denver effecting the transfer." (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, July 16, 1886)

July 21, 1886
Lake Park resort to open on 28th or 29th. (Salt Lake Herald, July 21, 1886)

July 23, 1886
"Local Railway Notes" "Three excursion cars for Lake Park are to be finished tomorrow, and the rest will be out and ready to run by Wednesday. These cars are painted a Tuscan red and handsomely lettered, and will make an attractive train." (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, July 23, 1886)

July 23, 1886
"Local Railway Notes" "Master Mechanic Smith, who has been at Denver and Grand Junction superintending the transfer of rolling stock between the two roads has returned to Salt Lake." (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, July 23, 1886)

July 24, 1886
A wreck early last evening (which was Friday) on the D&RGW; the lead engine of a double-header cut itself off the train, about 20 miles south of Salt Lake City, and attempted to run ahead of the train, and in so doing overturned on a curve. This morning, the wrecked engine was picked up and brought to Salt Lake roundhouse. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, July 24, 1886)

July 25, 1886
"A Heroic Fireman" was Frank Bairisky, age 23, the fireman of the engine that overturned in the Jordan Narrows on the D&RGW Friday. The engineer was W. C. Barker, and Bairisky "...the fireman of Engine 21, which turned upside down..." Frank Bairisky was also in a wreck at Thistle two years ago, when his engineer was killed. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, July 25, 1886)

July 27, 1886
The D&RGW out this morning with as new timetable, announcing six trains a day to and from their Lake Park resort. (Salt Lake Herald, July 27, 1886)

July 28, 1886
An advertisement/timetable for bathing trains on the D. & R. G. W. to their resort, Lake Park, in effect July 26, 1886. (Salt Lake Herald, 28 July 1886)

July 29, 1886
The first appearance of a very large advertisement in which the D. & R. G. W. announces the opening of LAKE PARK, but the opening is not assigned a date. Also, an article on the resort, by a Herald reporter, in which the size of the various structures is reported. A large pavilion, 60 feet square, is in the center, flanked on the north by a restaurant 30 x 60 feet, and on the south by a saloon of equal size; on the west, a pier of some 150 feet in length, with bath houses north and south of that. The railroad passenger platform was on the east side of the large pavilion. A diagram was included. (Salt Lake Herald, July 29, 1886)

July 30, 1886
The following comes from the Salt Lake Herald, July 30, 1886:

A Road Turned Over.
Mr. Bancroft's Receivership at an End.
D. & R. G. W.'s Solid Standing.
The Receiver Discharged and the Old Western Company Assumes Control Under the Funding Plan.

An entry upon yesterday's court record, though couched in the usual disguise of legal phraseology, conveyed the information that that portion of the Little Giant route known as the Denver & Rio Grande Western, had been handed over by the receiver, W. H. Bancroft, to the company. Desirous of learning whether all the complications that gave rise to Mr. Bancroft's appointment as receiver had been removed, a Herald man called at the D. & R. G. office, and was successful in obtaining an interview with S. W. Eccles, general freight and passenger agent, and J. H. Bennett, auditor of the road.

"The reorganization of the D. & R. G. proper, then, had no connection with the Western?" queried the reporter.

"None whatever," was the reply. "The management goes back into the hands of the same company from whence it went into those of Mr. Bancroft: Wm. J. Palmer is president; Geo. A. Lowe, vice-president; C. W. Drake, secretary and treasurer; W. F. Colton, assistant secretary; J. H. Bennett, auditor; and D. C. Dodge, general manager. The D. & R. G. W. is as distinct from the D. & R. G. as the C. P. from the U. P. They, of course, run in conjunction, and practically are the same route, but the organizations are separate."

"Will the local officers remain?"

"That remains to be seen. There will probably be no changes. Mr. Bancroft will continue to have control until Mr. Dodge arrives per appointment from the Board."

"It will be remembered that Mr. Bancroft assumed control of the road two years ago, when its affairs were plunged into apparently hopeless complication by the eastern company's repudiating its lease of the Western and commencing to tear up the track near the Utah border. That his receivership has been in all ways successful would appear from the showing of the company's affairs on June 1st, when he rendered a statement to the court. The earnings are constantly on the increase, and on the date named the Receiver had to his credit $250,000 in the bank. The company does not owe a dollar, it is stated; all legal complications are removed, and the earnings are constantly on the increase. The future interests on the bonds will be promptly met."

In reply to the reporter's query, Mr. Bennett said: "The matter stands thus: the majority of the bondholders having assented to the funding plan, as proposed by the company, in August 1885, the success of the same is now assured. The earnings of the railway are steadily increasing and prospects for its future are excellent."

July 30, 1886
"The following circulars had just been issued." (Salt Lake Herald, July 30, 1886)

Circular No. 1

Denver & Rio Grande Western Railway Company.

W. H. Bancroft, Receiver.

Salt Lake City, Utah, July 29, 1886

The property of the Company having been turned over to it, and the Receivership terminated, the Railway and property will be operated by the Company after midnight of the 29th day of July, 1886.

W. H. Bancroft, Receiver.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Circular No. 2

Denver & Rio Grande Western Railway Company.

Salt Lake City, Utah, July 29, 1886

Col. D. C. Dodge has been appointed General Manager of the Company, and the undersigned Superintendent. Until orders from the General Manager all employees will continue in their respective positions and report to the General Manager through my office at Salt Lake City.

W. H. Bancroft, Superintendent.

July 30, 1886
Receiver Bancroft of the D&RGW was discharged by the Court yesterday, and the railway turned over to the company; Bancroft will now be superintendent. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, July 30, 1886)

July 30, 1886
D&RGW engine 119, 'one of the smartest on the road,' handled 16 cars on passenger train No. 8 yesterday. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, July 30, 1886)

July 31, 1886
The D&RG lease of D&RGW was terminated. In return for damages while under the lease, ownership of several D&RG locomotives being leased to D&RGW was turned over to D&RGW. (LeMassena, pp. 51, 87)

August 1, 1886
D&RGW released from receivership and Palmer regained control. (Athearn, p. 153)

(The road was completely independent from the D&RG at this time.)

August 4, 1886
W. H. Bancroft filed a "STATEMENT, Earnings and Expenses, and Assets and Liabilities, July 12th, 1884, to June 30th, 1886." with the court. (Salt Lake Herald, August 4, 1886)

August 12, 1886
Problem with locomotive 71 at Pleasant Valley; left valve stem broke, so main rod dropped and crosshead blocked; the block worked loose, suddenly, piston blew out the rear of the cylinder and made a mess of everything on the left side generally. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, August 12, 1886)

August 18, 1886
"Local Railway Notes" "The Western road is about to build fifteen box cars. Both Rio Grande roads are using all their rolling stock constantly, so heavy is both freight and passenger traffic." (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, August 18, 1886)

August 20, 1886
S. W. Eccles resigns, effective 1 September 1886, from his post as General Freight and Passenger Agent of the D. & R. G. Western. (Salt Lake Herald, August 20, 1886)

August 27, 1886
"Engine No. 9 has been rebuilt at the Western shops and steams out today." "Engine 165, for a long time running between Green River and Grand Junction, is in the local roundhouse for repairs. Her number is being changed to 22." "The transfer of rolling stock from the D&RG to the Western road will be completed this month. The painters are busy adding 'Western' to D&RG on all the stock." "The average life of a locomotive is thirty years. At the end of eleven years, a sum equal to the original cost has been expended upon it. An engine is considered as doing good service if it runs 250 days in the year." (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, August 27, 1886)

September 17, 1886
Car 'Trinidad' has been in the shops, as also engine 70, which came out last evening, almost entirely rebuilt. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, September 17, 1886)

September 18, 1886
Bancroft left yesterday for Denver in the 'Trinidad'. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, September 18, 1886)

September 25, 1886
The turntable at Bingham broke to one side, with engine 72 on it, the natural result being that 72 went into the pit, but was not badly hurt. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, September 25, 1886)

In Colorado

October 1886
D&RG completed construction of line to Glenwood Springs, from Red Cliff, on Tennessee Pass line. (Athearn, p. 161) Begun in April. (Athearn, p. 156)

October 14, 1886
"No. 31, passenger engine of the Western road, is just out of the shops from a thorough overhauling. She looks fine in her fur-lined circular of coal black and varnish, and the red-shaded lettering adds materially to her looks. But she needs her drivers and straight stack painted vermilion 'to complete the picture'." (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, October 14, 1886)

October 23, 1886
D&RGW engine 77 has just been overhauled, at a cost of $800.00; passenger engine 30 now goes in for a? general overhaul. The Western had in service in September 35 engines. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, October 23, 1886)

October 24, 1886
"A coal chute is to be erected at Clear Creek, on the Western. Workmen began yesterday putting in the foundation." (Salt Lake Tribune, October 24, 1886)

November 17, 1886
"Passenger engine No. 30 has been in the Western shops for remodeling, and when out in three days, will be a model machine. New guides, crossheads, yoke, eccentric-gearing, and cylinder heads have been substituted for the old, much to the engine's improvement both in strength and looks. No. 30 is one of the Rome, New York, engines. There are also two heavy freight engines in for rebuilding." (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, November 17, 1886)

December 15, 1886
"The D&RW roundhouse was photographed Monday with an engine on the turntable and the hands standing around just looking their loveliest." (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, December 15, 1886)

December 26, 1886
"Freight engine 102 of the Western road is just out of the shops..." (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, December 26, 1886)

1887
D&RGW completed the two-mile long Lake Park Branch, from its line at Farmington west to Great Salt Lake. (LeMassena, p. 87) Converted from narrow gauge to standard gauge in 1889. (LeMassena, p. 89) The line ran along the immediate north side of today's Clark Lane in Farmington.

1887
D&RGW completed the one-mile Diamond Quarry Spur, from Diamond Junction to Diamond Quarry. Diamond Quarry was a stone quarry at the mouth of Diamond Creek, just west of Thistle. (LeMassena, p. 87) Converted to standard gauge in 1890. (LeMassena, p. 91)

January 1, 1887
The D&RGW has in use 34 locomotives, of which 23 were overhauled in the past year. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, January 1, 1887)

January 16, 1887
Item on snow-fighting on the D&RGW, from interview with Bancroft, in which he stated that three years ago he first saw a flanger in operation, on the Utah Central, liked what it did, and had one built for the D&RGW, their first. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, January 16, 1887)

January 19, 1887
D&RGW freight engines 73 and 110 in being overhauled. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, January 19, 1887)

March 12, 1887
"D. & R. G. Western passenger engine No. 20 is just out of the shops." (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, March 12, 1887)

March 23, 1887
Pullman has built six new cars for the D&RG, six feet longer and a bit wider than the common, with wider upper berths; three of them now in use between Denver and Leadville. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, March 23, 1887)

(This is possibly a belated reference to the narrow gauge buffet-sleepers, as no broad gauge sleepers appear on the D&RG until mid-1889, see Salt Lake Daily Tribune, April 25, 1889.)

April 5, 1887
The D&RGW has one engine with a three-chime whistle, a new thing; others have but one chime. The U.P.'s new engines have the three-chime, as well. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, April 5, 1887)

April 29, 1887
"A Western railroad official on being asked his opinion as to laying a third rail to Kelton from Ogden so as to get into the Wood River country, said there was this to be considered. The Central Pacific might want reciprocation by laying a third rail to Salt Lake City, running its cars here and to the local smelters. Just how this would be is hard to say. At all events the official was harassed by doubts as to any third rail business being done." (Salt Lake Tribune, April 29, 1887, "Local Railway Notes")

April 30, 1887
S. W. Eccles, once General freight & passenger Agent of the D&RG Western, and for the past six months now U. P. freight agent at San Francisco, is in Salt Lake City briefly. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, April 30, 1887)

May 29, 1887
Lake Park opened yesterday for the season, its second. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, May 29, 1887)

July 10, 1887
"Local Railway Notes." "Dolly W., engine 108, was out yesterday to limber up after repairs from her recent trip into the ditch at Sevier crossing, when she knocked the energy out of three or four box cars." (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, July 10, 1887)

July 24, 1887
Pleasant Valley mines supply the coal for the Nevada Central. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, July 24, 1887)

September 14, 1887
Lake Park will close for the season after Saturday, the 17th. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, September 14, 1887)

October 20, 1887
"Local Railway Notes." "Dr. Fowler left on a special at 8:15 a.m., .yesterday, for P. V. Junction... The engineer of the train was Ben Estes, and the engine No. 9, one of the smallest on the road and having only 36-inch drivers." (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, October 20, 1887)

December 7, 1887
"Local Railway Notes." "Revere station has been opened to freight, passenger and express business, with A. O. Davis as agent. This station is on the Bingham road below the mouth of the canyon, and is the shipping point for ores on the side of the Brooklyn, Yosemite, and mines of that locality." (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, December 7, 1887)

December 15, 1887
"Local Railway Notes" "D. & R. G. W. engines Nos. 6 and 20 are having new boilers made, and a new arrangement of 20's springs is being made so that they will be much more accessible than heretofore." (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, December 15, 1887)

December 21, 1887
"The D. & R. G. now runs coal trains over the Salt Lake & Fort Douglas as far as the bluff east of Butcherville. It is a great convenience to the residents of that locality." (Salt Lake Herald, December 21, 1887)

In Colorado

The Colorado Midland reached Aspen in February 1888, and was purchased by Santa Fe interests in September 1890. (Athearn, pp. 164, 173)

February 4, 1888
New D&RGW timetable to take effect 12:01am February 5, 1888. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, February 4, 1888)

February 14, 1888
Item-lifted from a Denver paper about D&RG engine 'Salida', one of new standard gauge engines. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, February 14, 1888)

May 20, 1888
New timetable on the D&RGW effective 12:01 am May 20, 1888. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, May 20, 1888)

July 21, 1888
An item on the air brake instruction car, built this spring by the D&RG, and presently in the D&RGW yard; in charge of C. E. Leeman, instructor. (Salt Lake Herald, July 21, 1888)

August 19, 1888
New timetable on D&RGW to take effect August 20, 1888. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, August 19, 1888)

September 16, 1888
Another new timetable on the D&RGW this morning at 12:01am. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, September 16, 1888)

October 13, 1888
New timetable on the D&RGW in effect 12:01 am Monday October 15, 1888. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, October 13, 1888)

November 30, 1888
Accident yesterday at Pleasant Valley Junction, in that Engine 110 ran through an open switch, turned over and killed fireman David Goodman. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, November 30, 1888)

December 5, 1888
The D&RG has received 12 large standard gauge engines from Baldwin. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, December 5, 1888)

December 23, 1888
D&RGW Timetable No. 50 in effect 12:01am Sunday December 23, 1888. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, December 23, 1888)

LeMassena summarizes 1889 for the RGW on page 89:

The RGW Railway Company was formed on May 16, 1889, as a consolidation of the D&RGW Railway and the State Line & Denver Railway, filing its Articles of Incorporation in both Colorado and Utah on June 24. The D&RGW had been the "Utah Lines" of the D&RG, while the SL&D had been organized to acquire a right-of-way between the Utah-Colorado state line and Glenwood Springs, Colorado, terminus for both the D&RG and the Colorado Midland railroads. Reconstruction and gauge-widening of the former D&RGW N-G line across eastern Utah began immediately at Salt Lake City. During the period of conversion the RGW continued main-line passenger and freight service, apparently transferring persons and merchandise from car to car at the various locations where the track gauge differed. (During the summer and fall S-G trains were composed of N-G cars mounted temporarily on S-G trucks, the locomotives having been N-G power hastily widened to S-G. This interesting expedient ended late in the year when new S-G equipment began to arrive.) In December the RGW leased 17 miles of D&RG track between Grand Junction and Crevasse, Colorado, the new junction point of RGW and D&RG trackage.

1889
"In 1889, Thomas and S.S. Jones contracted to excavate a cut through the Jordan Narrows for the Denver and Rio Grande Railway. Orson Whitney records 'Samuel Stephen Jones was an English convert to the Church .... He also became prominent in Provo, where he resided, engaging in a number of enterprises. He had been a contractor on a large scale, especially in timber, railroad ties, etc. ... With Thomas R. Cutler of Lehi, he contracted with the Denver & Rio Grande Railway to make the big cut at the Point of the Mountain through which the road entered the Salt Lake Valley.' Anyone familiar with this terrain knows that this was no small undertaking, particularly in those days when there were no bulldozers or high-powered trucks. We can only surmise whether this joint venture was profitable for these hard-nosed experienced businessmen." (Jesse R. Smith, Thomas Robinson Cutler: Pioneer, Sugarman, Churchman, 1985, page 27)

March 6, 1889
The D&RG has just received two rotary snow plows from Paterson, N.J. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, March 6, 1889)

March 16, 1889
Bases for standard gauge rails being put into D&RGW's Salt Lake City roundhouse. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, March 16, 1889)

April 25, 1889
Two standard gauge Pullman buffet-sleepers in service on D&RG out of Denver. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, April 25, 1889)

May 3, 1889
Short item notes that there are two new sleepers on the D&RG standard gauge, named 'Poncha' and 'Pinion'. (Salt Lake Herald, May 3, 1889)

May 16, 1889
The Rio Grande Western Railway was incorporated as a reorganization of D&RGW to finance the conversion of the 395 miles in Utah from narrow gauge to standard gauge. (Utah corporation, index number 565)

May 16, 1889
D&RGW completed laying rails to allow both narrow gauge and standard gauge locomotives to be repaired in Salt Lake roundhouse, using four rails (narrow gauge inside of the standard gauge rails). (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, May 16, 1889) Project was begun in March. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, March 16, 1889)

July 6, 1889
Dodge says Denver & Rio Grande Western name changed to Rio Grande Western on June 20, 1889. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, July 6, 1889)

The line from Salt Lake City to Ogden of the Rio Grande Western Railway, as the July 1889 successor to the D&RGW, was changed to standard gauge on March 6, 1890. On June 10, 1890, RGW completed conversion of tracks between Ogden and Grand Junction from narrow gauge to standard gauge. D&RG did not complete its standard gauge connection, via Tennessee Pass and Glenwood Springs, until mid November 1890, by-passing the original narrow gauge route to the south over Marshall Pass. On November 17, 1890 the first standard gauge through train from Denver entered Salt Lake City. (Athearn, pp. 134-173)

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