UtahRails Manuscripts
This page was last updated on June 18, 2024.
This page has links to scanned versions of the important works (published and unpublished) that have been completed about Utah railroads. Each has been scanned and formatted for electronic publication.
Unpublished Academic Works
Adkins -- Marlowe C. Adkins' "A History Of John W. Young's Utah Railroads, 1884-1894," completed in 1978.
Johnson -- David F. Johnson's "The History And Economics Of Utah Railroads," completed in 1947.
The Johnson thesis was done in 1947, and attempts to cover the development of Utah railroads up to that time. In my early research, I found that there are several problems with the names of the companies that Johnson uses, but all in all, it's a good work. It was published as part of the three-volume Centennial set on Utah history, so you may find the three volumes in a library somewhere. It was the problems in the Johnson thesis that really got me started doing my own research. I realized that there was no complete list of all of Utah's railroads, so I started one.
Reeder -- Clarence A. Reeder's "The History Of Utah's Railroads, 1869 - 1883," completed in 1970.
The Reeder dissertation is fantastic. While he stops at 1883 and the completion of the D&RGW, his story telling style is very entertaining, and he gives an excellent history of how and why railroads came to Utah, including the whole Mormon, non-Mormon story. This dissertation was recommended to me by Dean Gray way back in 1978, and along with John Bromley's recommendation of Arrington's Great Basin Kingdom, is what got me started in researching Utah's railroads.
Other Works
Pitchard -- Research completed by George Pitchard during the 1980s and 1990s, and self-published as his "Utah Railroads Scrap Book" project. (All of George Pitchard's research has been fully incorporated into the applicable pages here at UtahRails.net)
Ira Swett's Interurbans of Utah -- A digital version of Ira Swett's classic work that documented Utah electric interurban railroads. (Sorry, no photos)
Papers by Don Strack
Don Strack attended University of Utah during the early 1980s, receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in Geography and History. Here are some of his research papers.
Union Pacific Land Grants -- A research paper written in March 1982 while attending "Introduction to Expository Writing" during my second quarter.
The Golden Pass; a history of transportation in Parleys Canyon -- A research paper written in March 1983 as a combined project while attending Dean May's "Utah History", Merrill Ridd's "Elements of Cartography", and Albert Fisher's "Utah Geography." A full color map was also included as part of the project, showing all of the railroads and highways in Parleys Canyon.
Railroads of North Africa -- A research paper written in June 1984, while attending James King's "Regions of Africa."
(An associated project was a 40 minute presentation about the TanZam Railway of eastern Africa that connected Tanzania and Zambia for the purposes of moving copper to the east coast of Africa. Sad to say, the presentation was not recorded and the notes have not survived.)
Railroads of Central and Southern Africa -- A research paper written in August 1984 as my senior "Individual Project" with James King as my advisor.
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