Local Utah Reporting Marks
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This page was last updated on July 5, 2015.
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UTOX Reporting Mark
Back in the 1990s, Walthers produced a tank car painted metallic gray, with a Standard logo and UTOX reporting mark, car number 10325. It includes a weigh date of "L.A. 1-37". UTOX has been taken locally here in Utah as meaning Utah Oil Company, which Standard of Indiana bought in 1921.
(Read more about Utah Oil Company)
A comment from freight car historian Richard Hendricks was not encouraging as to either the UTOX mark, or the accuracy of the Walthers paint scheme in general. He suggested that Union Tank Car's UTCX mark may have been misread as UTOX. Numerous online lists of reporting marks also do not show a UTOX mark.
Richard's comment about the accuracy of the Walthers model rings with a bit of truth, since the "torch" logo they used was not used by Standard until 1946, which may or may not match the 1-37 weigh date.
A check of the January 1940 ORER on Westerfield's CD finds a group of 6,088 cars numbered through 12745 that would include UTCX 10325.
Ralph Gochnour recalls that there was a UTOX reporting mark used by Utah Oil Refining Company. Research in the various databases that are themselves based on information published in contemporary issues of the Official Railway Equipment Register, shows that there was no UTOX reporting mark. Research is needed to confirm how and when the UTOX mark was used, and for how long.
There was also a possible AMOX reporting mark seen on tank cars in Utah. This mark was assigned to the American Oil Company in 1920, and was transferred to Amoco, Inc. in 1973.
WOX / IRX Reporting Marks
There may have also been tank cars operated by the local Wasatch Oil Company, which Phillips bought in 1947. One local source has said that both Utah Oil and Wasatch Oil operated their own tanks cars throughout Utah and Idaho, and would have competed locally with products from Sinclair in Wyoming. Utah Oil's refinery north of Salt Lake City was opened in 1909 and grew from there, until in the 1960s it was the largest refinery in the Intermountain West. Wasatch Oil's refinery further north in Woods Cross was opened in 1932, and very soon became number two in size.
(Read more about Wasatch Oil Company)
The January 1953 Official Railway Equipment Register lists the Wasatch Oil Company, Idaho division, under General American Transportation Corporation with the reporting marks as W.O.X. It can be found on page 572.
Here is what Ian Cranstone shows on his AAR reporting marks web site:
WOX -- General American Transportation Corp. -- 1/1950-1/1952; eliminated 10/1953
This helps explain WOX being included in the 1953 issue.
WOX was apparently changed to IRX in January 1952. Here is what is shown on the NRHS web site (no longer available):
Wasatch Oil Co., Idaho Division -- IRX -- Jan-52
Idaho Refining Company was sold to Wasatch Oil in 1937.
"The Wasatch company expanded with a new refinery (Idaho Refining Co.) in Pocatello, Idaho in 1937, and another in Spokane, Washington, (Inland Empire Refineries) in 1938. In 1947-1948, Phillips Petroleum bought the interests and assets of Wasatch Oil Company, including the Woods Cross refinery."
Richard Hendricks comment: "Idaho Refining Company used the IRX reporting mark, with available information showing that the IRX mark was active from January 1941 until April 1947, and again as Wasatch Oil Company, Idaho Division, from January 1950 to July 1954."
The P&WRR Club AAR reporting mark web site shows that the WOX mark was first used by Warren Oil Company of Pennsylvania, then later by General American Transportation Corp.
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