Locomotives of the Oregon Short Line & Utah Northern Railway (Standard Gauge), and Predecessor Companies (1869 - 1897)
... with Some Notes on Oregon Short Line Railroad locomotives, 1897 - 1902.
By George E. Pitchard
This page was last updated on May 26, 2004.
(Return to George Pitchard Archive index page)
The Oregon Short Line & Utah Northern Railway Company was the "consolidation, August 1, 1889, of the Oregon Short Line, the Utah & Northern, the Salt Lake & Western, the Utah Central, the Utah & Nevada, the Ogden & Syracuse, the Idaho Central and the Nevada Pacific railway companies," according to a note in the Union Pacific's Annual Report for the year ending December 31, 1889, page 124. Of these several companies, the Ogden & Syracuse owned no locomotives, and the Nevada Pacific was purely a 'paper' company; two of the aforesaid companies, the Utah & Northern and the Utah & Nevada, had narrow gauge equipment - which has been dealt with elsewhere; it is the purpose of this paper to consider the standard gauge locomotives of the OSL&UN Ry, and its predecessors - such of them as actually had standard gauge motive power.
Alone among the companies preceding the OSL&UN, the Utah Central Railway Co. was itself the merger of three predecessor companies, effective July 1, 1881, of the Utah Central Rail Road Co. of 1869, the Utah Southern Railroad Co. of 1871, and the Utah Southern Railroad Extension Co. of 1879. Of the other companies, the Utah & Northern Railway Co. was an 1878 reorganization of the Utah Northern Railroad Co. of 1871; the Salt Lake & Western Railway, and the Oregon Short Line Railway were created in 1881; the Ogden & Syracuse and the Idaho Central, in 1887.
At date of consolidation, August 1st, 1889, those companies actually owning locomotives had anywhere from one locomotive (e.g., the Salt Lake & Western, and the Idaho Central) to 40 locomotives (the Oregon Short Line), with the Utah & Northern and the Utah Central each having 20 locomotives to contribute to the consolidated roster. The U. P. annual report for the year ending December 31, 1889 shows the new OSL&UN Ry with 82 locomotives as of that date, and it supplies the useful information that had the OSL&UN existed at December 31, 1888, it would have had 82 locomotives at that date as well. This shows that the merged roads underwent no changes in the year 1889 - nothing added, nothing dropped; as it is known that nothing was added in 1889, nothing can be dropped, either, and still have the same number (82) at beginning of year and at end of year.
The Union Pacific system roster, dated June 1, 1889, shows the 40 locomotives of the OSL, the 20 locomotives of the Utah & Northern, and the one (1) locomotive of the Salt Lake & Western - a total of 61 of the 82 locomotives making up the merged roster of the OSL&UN. Since the Idaho Central had one (1) locomotive in the merged roster, the balance of 20 locomotives must come from the only other locomotive owning predecessor of the OSL&UN, the Utah Central Railway. It is these 21 locomotives, the one of the Idaho Central, and the 20 of the Utah Central, that are most in need of identification, since they do not appear in the U.P. system roster of June 1, 1889 - or in any other 'official' roster, so far as is known.
The Idaho Central's one engine is identified in a U. P. Boston General Office general journal entry in August of 1887, which notes that U.P. engine No. 402 (and some other rolling stock) was sold in that month to the new Idaho Central Railway; this engine is shown in the U.P. system roster of June 1, 1885, page 33, Kansas Pacific division, and there shown to have been Kansas Pacific No. 61, prior to renumbering, and of Baldwin manufacture. It is then a simple task to look it up in the Baldwin records, and find that Kansas Pacific No. 61 was Baldwin c/n 2192, 7/23/1870, class 27½C-166, having 16x24" cylinders, 60" drivers, soft coal fuel, etc., and costing new $11,500.00. The aforementioned system roster of June 1, 1885 gives this engine an engine weight, in working order, of 66,740 lbs. On the Idaho Central, this engine was given the road number 1.
We now pass to the task of identifying the 20 locomotives that the Utah Central Railway contributed to the OSL&UN roster at August 1, 1889. The Utah Central's roster, no 'official' one of which is known to exist at this time, can now be reconstructed reasonably well, using as a base the information contained in a Utah Central Railway ledger that covers the entire history of the Utah Central Ry., July 1, 1881 through July 31, 1889; one of the few accounting books of any predecessor company of the 1897 OSL RR Co to survive a January 1912 office fire (in New York City), it is (or was, in 1989) in the huge Union Pacific collection at Nebraska State Historical Society (MS 3761, SG 130, Vol. 1), and was then coverless, burnt at the edges, and positively reeking of smoke some 77 years after the fact! However, still readable, and in addition to much material of no especial interest, it does contain pages of entries, for each locomotive individually, for maintenance and service expenses by months, every month, July 1881 through July 1889, inclusive. When additional locomotives are put into service, they too begin showing the monthly figures. So, we see by this ledger that the Utah Central Railway started out in July 1881 with 18 locomotives, numbered from 1 through 18, inclusive; Nos. 19 and 20 appear beginning in April 1882; and No. 22 appears beginning in January 1883. All of these 21 locomotives continue showing expenses of maintenance and service month alter month, every month, through July of 1889 - all, that is, except No. 7, which after January 1887 has more and more 'blank' months, and in 1889 shows no expenses at all; the last entries shown, in 1888, are rather trivial, and may be for the expenses (less whatever credits arise) of scrapping the aged No. 7, which is apparently dropped from the equipment in 1888.
It will be pointedly pointed out here that at no time whatever does there appear in these many pages of maintenance and service expenses an "Engine No. 21;" what does appear is a page (just one) headed "Construction of Engine No. 21" (note the 'of' in that heading), which was apparently intended to be a fast passenger engine having a 17" cylinder and 70" drivers, some work on which was done at the Salt Lake City shops of the Utah Central in early 1883 (several newspaper items occur, mostly in the Salt Lake Tribune, at that time); entries for the expenses of building this engine commence in December 1882, and continue through December 1883, with most of them in January to June, 1883, and total $6,305.39. This home-made locomotive is not believed to have been completed, in spite of the thousands spent on it, since no maintenance/service expenses ever appear for an 'Engine No. 21' in this ledger.
Using a number of reliable sources, such as U. P. records and rosters, photographs and so forth, and the R&LHS builders lists, as well as the 'accepted' Union Pacific early-days loco roster (see Best, 'Iron Horses to Promontory', some newspaper items, and the like, a decent amount of 'flesh' can be hung on the 'bare-bones' list of numbers provided by the Utah Central ledger, which we shall now proceed to do. Of the 18 locomotives with which the Utah Central Railway began its life on July 1, 1881, six were formerly Utah Central Railroad engines, and the balance being either Utah Southern Railroad engines, or Utah Southern Railroad Extension Co. engines - the five engines generally considered to be Extension company engines, acquired in 1879-1880 from the Union Pacific, show up in U.P. records as being sold to the Utah Southern Railroad, without the Extension qualifier.
The six (6) Utah Central engines: No. 1, received October 12 or 13, 1869, was a 4-4-0, formerly U.P. No. 15, part of what the U.P. turned over to Brigham Young, et al., in tardy payment to Young and his followers for grading contracts, ties, and so forth, provided to the U. P. in 1868-1869. Following that, in early 1870 the Utah Central acquired three (3) new Schenectady 4-4-0 locomotives, Nos. 2, 3 and 4. New No. 5 was another 4-4-0 from the same builder in mid-1871; and the Utah Central Railroad's sixth and final locomotive was yet another 4-4-0, this one from Hinkley & Williams, Boston, and received in November 1872, and numbered 6.
The seven (7) Utah Southern engines: No. 1, received in 1871 (probably May), was formerly U. P. No. 14, of course a 4-4-0; Nos. 2 and 3, formerly U.P. 49 and 144 and also of the 4-4-0 type, appear to have been received in 1873; No. 4 was new, from Schenectady in 1878, as was No. 5 in 1880, and both again 4-4-0 engines, but Nos. 6 and 7, received in June 1881, were Taunton 4-6-0 engines.
The five (5) engines generally considered to be Utah Southern Railroad Extension Co. engines were received in 1879 and 1880; four 4-4-0 engines, formerly U.P. Nos. 65, 123, 125 and 145, were bought around April-May 1879 at $6,000 each; and one Mogul engine, 2-6-0, formerly U. P. No. 12, bought in May 1880 for $7,500; in July of 1880, the U. P. refunded $3,750 to the Utah Southern 'on 5 locomotives sold' to that company. These five engines, Nos. 12, 65, 123, 125 and 145, appear to have been operated in Utah without being renumbered from U.P. numbers (prior to the Utah Central Railway renumbering).
With these 18 locomotives the Utah Central Railway began in July, 1881; Utah Central Rail Road Nos. 1 - 6 becoming Utah Central Railway Nos. 1 - 6; Utah Southern Railroad Nos. 1 - 7 becoming Utah Central Railway Nos. 7-13; and Utah Southern Railroad Extension Co. Nos. 12, 65, 123, 125, and 145 becoming Utah Central Railway Nos. 14 - 18, all in 'straight-across' order, apparently. To these, the Utah Central Railway added a pair of new Taunton 4-6-0 locomotives in April of 1882, Nos. 19 and 20; in late 1882, the Utah Central assigned No. 21 to an engine to be built at the U.C. shops (but which would not be completed); and finally, the U.C. bought U.P. Taunton 4-6-0 (2nd) No. 65 in December of 1882, putting it into service in January 1883 as No. 22. No additional locomotives were to be acquired by the Utah Central Railway during its lifetime of eight years, one month.
Utah Central Railway (1881-1889)
Utah Central Railway was the consolidation on July 1, 1881 of Utah Central Railroad (of 1869), Utah Southern Railroad (of 1871), and Utah Southern Railroad Extension (of 1879).
| Road No. |
Former No. |
Origin | When Received |
Type | Builder | C/N | Date | Cylinder | Drivers | Engine Weight |
OSL&UN 1889 No. |
| 1 | UCRR 1 | UP 15 | 12 Oct 1869 | 4-4-0 | H&W | 1866 | 15x24 | 60 | 60,000 | 312 | |
| 2 | UCRR 2 | (new) | 1870 | 4-4-0 | Schenectady | 609 | Jan 1870 | 15x24 | 60 | "27-Ton" | 316 |
| 3 | UCRR 3 | (new) | 7 Feb 1870 | 4-4-0 | Schenectady | 610 | Jan 1870 | 15x24 | 60 | "27-Ton" | 317 |
| 4 | UCRR 4 | (new) | 7 Feb 1870 | 4-4-0 | Schenectady | 611 | Jan 1870 | 15x24 | 60 | "27-Ton" | 318 |
| 5 | UCRR 5 | (new) | 1871 | 4-4-0 | Schenectady | 680 | Apr 1871 | 15x24 | 60 | "27-Ton" | 319 |
| 6 | UCRR 6 | (new) | Nov 1872 | 4-4-0 | H&W | 1120 | Oct 1872 | 16x24 | 60 | "31-Ton" | 434 |
| 7 | USRR 1 | UP 14 | 1871 | 4-4-0 | H&W | 1866 | 15x24 | 60 | 60,000 | (note a.) | |
| 8 | USRR 2 | UP 49 | 1873 | 4-4-0 | Grant | 1867 | 16x24 | 61 | 68,600 | 435 | |
| 9 | USRR 3 | UP 144 | 1873 | 4-4-0 | Schenectady | 547 | Mar 1869 | 16x24 | 54 | 68,600 | 367 |
| 10 | USRR 4 | (new) | Apr 1878 | 4-4-0 | Schenectady | 1092 | Mar 1878 | 16x24 | 60 | 64,000 | 436 |
| 11 | USRR 5 | (new) | Mar 1880 | 4-4-0 | Schenectady | 1215 | Feb 1880 | 16x24 | 60 | 64,600 | 437 |
| 12 | USRR 6 | (new) | 8 Jun 1881 | 4-6-0 | Taunton | 779 | 6 Apr 1881 | 18x24 | 54 | 84,000 | 1027 |
| 13 | USRR 7 | (new) | 28 Jun 1881 | 4-6-0 | Taunton | 782 | 30 Apr 1881 | 18x24 | 54 | 84,000 | 1028 |
| 14 | USRRE 12 | UP 12 | May 1880 | 2-6-0 | Danforth | 1866 | 18x22 | 54 | 70,000 | 1206 | |
| 15 | USRRE 65 | UP 65 | 1879 | 4-4-0 | Schenectady | 503 | Aug 1868 | 16x24 | 54 | 68,600 | 368 |
| 16 | USRRE 123 | UP 123 | 1879 | 4-4-0 | Schenectady | 525 | Nov 1868 | 16x24 | 54 | 68,600 | 369 |
| 17 | USRRE 125 | UP 125 | 1879 | 4-4-0 | Schenectady | 529 | Dec 1868 | 16x24 | 54 | 68,600 | 370 |
| 18 | USRRE 145 | UP 145 | 1879 | 4-4-0 | Schenectady | 548 | Mar 1869 | 16x24 | 54 | 68,600 | 371 |
| 19 | --- | (new) | Apr 1882 | 4-6-0 | Taunton | 840 | 16 Mar 1882 | 18x24 | 54 | 84,000 | 1029 |
| 20 | --- | (new) | Apr 1882 | 4-6-0 | Taunton | 841 | 16 Mar 1882 | 18x24 | 54 | 84,000 | 1030 |
| 21 | --- | --- | --- | (4-4-0) | UCRy | 1883 | 17x (?) | 70 | (?) | (note b.) | |
| 22 | --- | UP 65 (2nd) | 3 Jan 1883 | 4-6-0 | Taunton | 865 | 31 Aug 1882 | 18x24 | 54 | 71,900 | 1031 |
General Notes:
- No. 7 appears to have been dropped from Equipment in 1888, so there would not be a corresponding number in the OSL&UN 1889 roster.
- No. 21 was commenced, but not completed, and not put in service.
- H&W in the Builder column above denotes Hinkley & Williams.
While the rosters of the 1881-1889 OSL Ry, and of the Utah & Northern standard gauge engines, can be found elsewhere (e.g., Kratville), 'condensed' rosters of same will be here presented, for the convenience of the reader, commencing on the next page. The one locomotive of the Idaho Central has been adequately described in a previous paragraph concerning same, above.
Salt Lake & Western No. 1 -- The one locomotive of the Salt Lake & Western was acquired in November 1882 from the Union Pacific, as their second No. 54, a Taunton 4-6-0, c/n 863, 8/17/1882, and shown in the system roster of June 1, 1889 as having 18 x 24" cylinders, 57" drivers, and an engine weight of 86,350 lbs. The tender held 2,400 gallons of water and 8 tons of coal. When sold to the S L & W in 11/1882 for $13,750, it became SL&W No. 1, renumbered to No. 984 in the 1885 system renumbering.
Oregon Short Line Railway (1881-1889)
Although construction on the O.S.L. began in 1881, it did not officially acquire locomotives until November 1882, when the Union Pacific (whose property the OSL was) sold it the first group of 10 old UP engines, of an eventual total of 29 old U.P. engines sold to the OSL, 15 "8-Wheel" or 4-4-0 engines, and 14 "10-Wheel" or 4-6-0 engines, at truly stunning prices - $9,500 each for 4-4-0 engines, and $13,750 for each of the 4-6-0 engines; U.P. No. 184, sold to OSL in June 1883, had cost the U.P. all of $7,800 new in 1879 - a $5,950 profit on a four-year-old engine! Similarly, not a one of the 4-4-0 engines was less than 15 years old when sold to the OSL, and some as much as 18 years old - and all at $9,500 each, every one.
O.S.L. locomotives in the 550-552, 558-560 and 586-594 groups were all 8-Wheel 4-4-0 engines, having 17 x 24" cylinders; numbers 550-552 had 64" drivers and an engine weight of 73,700 lbs; numbers 558-560 had 62" drivers (No. 559, 64"drivers) and an engine weight of 74,400 lbs; and numbers 586-594 had 62" drivers (No. 587, 64" drivers) and an engine weight of 74,900 lbs - all according to the June 1, 1889 system roster. In the following, the 'Date Purchased' is from journal entries in the UP's Boston General Office general journal, O.S.L. equipment account; the rebuild dates and the condition at September 1, 1887 are from the 1887 report of the Pacific Railway Commission.
| OSL 1885 Number |
First OSL Number |
Old UP Number |
Date Purchased |
Builder | Built | When Rebuilt |
Condition On 1 Sep 1887 |
| 550 | 24 | 5 | Jun 1883 | Norris | 1865 | Feb 1883 | Good |
| 551 | 29 | 4 | Jul 1883 | Norris | 1865 | Aug 1882 | Fair |
| 552 | 26 | 11 | Jun 1883 | Danforth & Cooke | 1866 | Jun 1880 | Good |
| 558 | 19 | 34 | Apr 1883 | Hinkley & Williams | 1867 | Feb 1882 | Good |
| 559 | 20 | 35 | Apr 1883 | Hinkley & Williams | 1867 | Feb 1885 | Good |
| 560 | 25 | 33 | Jun 1883 | Hinkley & Williams | 1867 | Dec 1882 | Good |
| 586 | 1 | 19 | Nov 1882 | Grant | 1866 | Jul 1882 | Good |
| 587 | 2 | 20 | Nov 1882 | Grant | 1866 | Nov 1885 | Good |
| 588 | 3 | 16 | Nov 1882 | Grant | 1866 | May 1881 | Good |
| 589 | 4 | 43 | Nov 1882 | Grant | 1867 | Nov 1879 | Good |
| 590 | 5 | 44 | Nov 1882 | Grant | 1867 | Jun 1880 | Good |
| 591 | 6 | 45 | Nov 1882 | Grant | 1867 | Sep 1879 | Good |
| 592 | 9 | 47 | Nov 1882 | Grant | 1867 | Apr 1880 | General Repairs |
| 593 | 10 | 18 | Nov 1882 | Grant | 1866 | Nov 1880 | Fair |
| 594 | 23 | 58 | Jun 1883 | Grant | 1867 | Jul 1885 | Good |
O.S.L. locomotives 746-750 were 8-Wheel 4-4-0 engines built by Baldwin in March 1887, having 18 x 26" cylinders, 62" drivers, and an engine weight of 99,000 pounds-, in the 6/1/1889 roster; Baldwin records indicate 63" drivers as built, and a cost per engine of $8,700, plus $35 for the Westinghouse-train signal attachment. Construction numbers, in order, were-8409, 3/2/87; 8411 and 8410, 3/4/87; 8423, 3/9/87; and 8424, 3/10/87. At 9/1/87, all are in 'Good' condition.
O.S.L. locomotives 964-983 were-10-Wheel 4-6-0 engines, all built by Taunton Loco Wks., Taunton, Mass.; engines 964-977 were acquired second-hand from the Union Pacific, while engines 978-983 were bought direct, new, from Taunton. In the roster of 6/1/1889, all have 18 x 24" cylinders and 57" drivers, with engine weights varying slightly, 83,110 lbs., 86,350 lbs., or 86,600 lbs.
| 1885 Number |
First OSL Number |
Origin | Date Purchased |
Construction Number |
Construction Date |
Condition at 1 Sep 1887 |
| 964 | 7 | UP 55* | Nov 1882 | 864 | 17 Aug 1882 | Good |
| 965 | 8 | UP 51* | Dec 1882 | 862 | 7 Aug 1882 | Good |
| 966 | 11 | UP 235 | Dec 1882 | 776 | 28 Mar 1881 | Good |
| 967 | 12 | UP 49* | Dec 1882 | 861 | 7 Aug 1882 | Good |
| 968 | 13 | UP 123* | Dec 1882 | 866 | 31 Aug 1882 | Good |
| 969 | 14 | UP 140 | Dec 1882 | 648 | 9 Nov 1874 | Good |
| 970 | 15 | UP 139 | Feb 1883 | 647 | 9 Nov 1874 | Good |
| 971 | 16 | UP 134 | Feb 1883 | 640 | Jul 1874 | General repairs |
| 972 | 17 | UP 234 | Mar 1883 | 775 | 15 Mar 1881 | Good |
| 973 | 18 | UP 246 | Mar 1883 | 792 | 27 Jun 1881 | Good |
| 974 | 21 | UP 133 | Jun 1883 | 639 | Jul 1874 | General repairs |
| 975 | 22 | UP 184 | Jun 1883 | 703 | 28 Jun 1879 | Good |
| 976 | 27 | UP 136 | Jul 1883 | 644 | 10 Sep 1874 | Good |
| 977 | 28 | UP 199 | Aug 1883 | 732 | 14 Apr 1880 | Fair |
| 978 | 30 | (new) | Dec 1883 | 897 | 19 Nov 1883 | Good |
| 979 | 31 | (new) | Dec 1883 | 898 | 19 Nov 1883 | Light repairs |
| 980 | 32 | (new) | Dec 1883 | 899 | 3 Dec 1883 | Good |
| 981 | 33 | (new) | Dec 1883 | 900 | 3 Dec 1883 | Good |
| 982 | 34 | (new) | Dec 1883 | 901 | 18 Dec 1883 | Light repairs |
| 983 | 35 | (new) | Dec 1883 | 902 | 18 Dec 1883 | Good |
Which brings us to the 20 standard-gauge locomotives of the Utah & Northern Ry., all of which were 8-Wheel 4-4-0 engines, with 18 x 26" cylinders, 62" drivers, and an engine weight of 99,000 lbs, in the 6/1/1889 roster. In two groups of 10 each, Nos. 726-735 were built by Baldwin in February 1887; and Nos. 751-760 by the Grant works in May-July 1887. The Baldwins cost $8,700, with $35.00 extra for the Westinghouse train signal attachment, same as the matching O.S.L. engines; the Grant engines cost $9,300 each. Journal entries for the Baldwin and Grant engines appear in March 1887, and September 1887, respectively. The Baldwin engines were all of Baldwin class 8/30C-135 through 8/30C-144; records indicate a 63" driver as built.
Now, to put these 82 locomotives into some sort of coherent order, as the OSL&UN Ry's initial roster, reconstructed, as of August 1, 1889:
| Qty. | Type | OSL&UN Nos. | Formerly | Qty. |
| 55 | '8-Wheel' (4-4-0) | 312, 316-319 | U C Ry Nos. 1-5, respectively | 5 |
| 367-371 | U C Ry Nos.9, 15-18, respectively | 5 | ||
| 402 (?) | Idaho Central Ry No. 1 | 1 | ||
| 434-437 | U C Ry Nos. 6, 8, 10 & 11, respectively | 4 | ||
| 550-552, 558-560, 586-594 | O S L Ry, same numbers | 15 | ||
| 746-750 | O S L Ry, same numbers | 5 | ||
| 726-735, 751-760 | Utah & Northern Ry, same numbers | 20 | ||
| 26 | '10-Whee1' (4-6-0) | 964-983 | O S L Ry, same numbers | 20 |
| 984 | Salt Lake & Western Ry, same number | 1 | ||
| 1027-1031 | U C Ry, Nos. 12, 13, 19, 20 & 22, respectively | 5 | ||
| 1 | 'Mogul' (2-6-0) | 1206 | U C Ry, No. 14 | 1 |
| 82 | 82 |
As mentioned earlier in this paper, the U.P. Annual Report for the year ending December 31, 1889 shows the OSL&UN Ry as having 82 "Broad Gauge" locomotives, as above; and the same for the year ending December 31, 1890. However, the report for the year ending December 31, 1891 shows the OSL&UN with 123 locomotives "on hand" and two (2) as "Vacant"; the report for December 31, 1892 reports the same numbers as 1891, but labels the 123 as "Available" and the two (2) as "Unavailable or Dismantled." This significant increase is the result of the arrival, in 1891, of 43 new 10-Wheel (4-6-0) engines, 37 from the Rhode Island Locomotive Works and six (6) from the Cooke Locomotive & Machine Co., Paterson, New Jersey. These 43 locomotives were of essentially identical specifications, having 19" x 24" cylinders, 62" drivers, and an engine weight of 131,200 lbs; or so it appears. Information at hand indicates the foregoing to be the 'as-built' specs, but within a very short time, all the OSL&UN locos of this class seem to have 19½" x 24" cylinders, and many have 51" drivers. Identical locomotives on the parent Union Pacific undergo similar changes.
And, be it noted, the engines for the OSL&UN here were part of larger orders, split between the Union Pacific and its subsidiary OSL&UN Ry., the Rhode Island engines, for example, being part of two orders for a total of 60 engines, 37 of which became OSL&UN, the balance Union Pacific.
The OSL&UN's 37 engines from Rhode Island were numbered 1416-1428 and 1441-1464, and were Rhode Island construction numbers 2475-2511, inclusive, in order, and dated December 10, 1890 through February 25, 1891; the Cooke engines were OSL&UN numbers 1465-1470, construction numbers 2071-2076, three each in February and March, 1891. The Rhode Island engines were contracted for on December 4, 1890; at $11,140.00 each, to be delivered (at Chicago) in December 1890 and January and February 1891.
The observant reader will have noted that the addition of 43 locomotives in 1891 to the 82 locomotives 'on hand' at the beginning of that year results in a total of 125 locomotives - which is what the annual report at December 31, 1891 shows, as 123 "on hand" and two (2) "Vacant." This, as previously noted, is essentially repeated in December 31, 1892, with only a change in the labeling; however, at December 31, 1893, the OSL&UN's "Available" locomotive total is given as 122, and comment on 'Vacant, unavailable or dismantled' is discontinued. In any case, another locomotive has evidently been dropped from the Equipment in 1893, in addition to the two dropped in the year ending December 31, 1891. The total of locomotives "Available" at December 31, 1893, 122, will remain at that figure through December 31, 1896.
No doubt you, the reader, are curious as to the identity of the three (3) locomotives vacated in 1891 and 1893; so is this writer. The question can be partially answered, at least: one of the two engines "Vacant" at December 31, 1891 was the Mogul, No. 1206; and the other of these two was almost certainly an '8-Wheel' (4-4-0) engine, but the information available here does not permit a precise identification at this time. Likewise, the engine dropped from Equipment in 1893 almost certainly had to be an '8-Wheel' engine also, and again information at hand will not admit of a precise identification. Even this level of 'certainty,' poor though it be, is arrived at only by way of a rather back-handed approach - using the "Locomotive Equipment" tables in the several annual reports, and 'back-dating' from the information given at December 31, 1896. By this process, it can be determined that the OSL&UN Ry's lone Mogul, No. 1206, has to be vacated in 1891; and as it appears to be the case that all 69 of the OSL&UN's "10-Wheel" (4-6-0) engines (26 old and 43 new ones) remain 'on hand' through December 31, 1896, then the other engine vacated in 1891, as well as the one vacated in 1893, by default 'must be' 8-Wheel (4-4-0) engines, there being nothing else available to drop! This back-handed reasoning can be carried a step further, too: since a roster of the successor Oregon Short Line RR, at September 1, 1899, does exist, and by it, together with a journal entry in October 1898, we see that all 15 of the OSL&UN's 500-series 17x24" 8-Wheel engines survived to become OSL Nos. 200-214, and likewise the entire class of 700-series 18x26" 8-Wheel engines survived to become OSL Nos. 300-324, then it is apparent that the two 8-Wheel engines vacated in 1891 and 1893 would have to come from OSL&UN 300-series and 400-series 8-Wheel engines, i.e., Nos. 312, 316-319, 367-371, 402(?), and 434-437. From this lot of 15 engines, Nos. 319, 368, 402(?), 434, 436 and 437 can be eliminated (319 and 368 were rebuilt in 1891, and the four 400-series engines will appear hereafter), so the 'short list' for the two vacated in 1891 and 1893 contains nine (9) locomotives: 312, 316, 317, 318, 367, 369, 370, 371, and 435. All of which, of course, assumes this line of reasoning is not in some way seriously (but not evidently) flawed. Given that assumption, then the 122 locomotives of the OSL&UN Ry, December 31, 1893 through December 31, 1896, were 53 8-Wheel and 69 10-Wheel locomotives.
The OSL RR roster at September 1, 1899 reveals a curiosity which should be dealt with here, and that is OSL engine No. 405, an 8-Wheel (4-4-0), having 18x26" cylinders and 69" drivers, an engine weight of 107,000 lbs., and said to be "U.P. Build, Dec., 1892." That it was not one of the 1887 engines is evident from the presence of all 25 of that class on the September 1, 1899 roster, not counting the 405. The notation as to its being "U.P. build, Dec., 1892," indicates it is (or was) one of the many 4-4-0 locomotives rebuilt by the Union Pacific in the late 1880s and early 1890s, engines rebuilt from older locomotives, to be sure, but so thoroughly rebuilt as to be in effect new locomotives, and given numbers in the 800 series. The one clue at hand to this engine's origin is in the Salt Lake Tribune, April 15, 1897, which notes that "the big 843" is soon to be renumbered 400 (which is slightly wrong, of course, but at least they got it in the right series!) It would seem, therefore, that an older OSL&UN 8-Wheel locomotive (likely one of the nine (9) in the list above) was quite thoroughly rebuilt in 1892, renumbered 843, and in 1897 became OSL No. 405.
Another OSL&UN Ry engine seems also to have been the subject of a U. P. rebuilding of some consequence: OSL 10-Wheel No. 523 appears in the roster at September 1, 1899 as "U.P. build, Feb., 1894," and while having the same size cylinders and drivers as all the old Taunton-built engines, it (the 523) is noticeably larger in the boiler and frame dimensions. Which engine was rebuilt does not seem to be known; neither does it seem to be known if it was renumbered after rebuilding, as was done with the 8-Wheel engines.
And with which, there seems to have been little else done to (or with) OSL&UN motive power during the remainder of that road's existence, which may be due in part to the road being in receivership (as was the entire U P System) on October 13, 1893, through to reorganization as the Oregon Short Line Railroad, which took over the Oregon Short Line & Utah Northern Railway on March 16, 1897. (ed. note: Some sources show that a separate receiver was assigned to OSL&UN in either spring or summer 1895, but this is not correct. The financial fortunes of UP and OSL&UN were always very closely tied together.)
The Third Annual Report of the Union Pacific Railroad Co., for the year ending June 30, 1900, included a detailed report for the Oregon Short Line Railroad Co., which, although a separate company, was still part of the U. P. system; and part of the OSL's report was a table of "Locomotive Equipment," a "Statement of Locomotives Owned March 16, 1897, June 30, 1899 and June 30, 1900." This table gives totals of locomotives by types and cylinder sizes, at each of the three dates named, the most immediately useful one of which is that for March 16, 1897, the first day of the new O. S. L. RR. Co., which shows that at that date the new OSL had 112 "broad gauge" locomotives, as follows:
| 45 8-Wheel | 4 | 16x24" | |
| 15 | 17x24" | (one of which, number unknown, was classed as 'switch' | |
| 26 | 18x26" | ||
| 67 10-Wheel | 24 | 18x24" | (six of which, numbers unknown, were classed as 'switch' |
| 43 | 19½x24" | ||
| 112 | 112 |
The reader has no doubt noted that this total of 112 locomotives is 10 less than the total of 122 locomotives reported by the OSL&UN Ry as recently as December 31, 1896, a mere two and one-half months prior to this list of March 16, 1897. The 10 locomotives not taken into the OSL roster at March 16, 1897 include two of the 18x24" Taunton 4-6-0 "10-Wheel" engines, and eight 4-4-0 "8-Wheel" engines, a number that would include all remaining 15x24" engines, as well as several 16x24" engines. Identification of the 10 locomotives dropped at March 16, 1897 is almost possible, since with the September 1, 1899 roster, and sundry journal entries, one can do a fair reconstruction of the numbers assigned by the OSL to the above 112 locomotives, so:
| 4 - 16x24" engines, Nos. 100-103 |
| 15 - 17x24" engines, Nos. 200-214 |
| 26 - 18x26" engines, Nos. 300-324 and No. 405 |
| 24 - 18x24" engines, Nos. 500-523 |
| 43 - 19½x24" engines, Nos. 600-642 |
Now, as to what these had been on the OSL&UN.... for three of the five classes, that is fairly simple: the 15 OSL&UN engines of 17x24" cylinders, their 500 series (550-552, 558-560, 586-594), being the only 15x24" engines on the OSL&UN, clearly become OSL Nos. 200-214 - BUT the renumbering apparently was not in order, so doing a 'one-to-one' chart on these is not possible (yet); the 26 OSL engines of 18x26" cylinders had been the 25 OSL&UN engines in the 700 series (726-735 and 746-760), as well as 'rebuild' No. 843, apparently - and these do appear to have been renumbered in order; and finally the 43 engines of 19½x24" cylinders, formerly OSL&UN Nos. 1416-1428 and 1441-1470, became OSL Nos. 600-642, BUT again, apparently not in order---modifications had been made to some, it seems, notably in drivers, and it appears that the OSL regrouped according to driver size before renumbering these engines.
And the other two classes on the OSL... there had been 26 of the 18x24" '10-Wheel' engines on the OSL&UN, so clearly two are gone at 3/16/1897, and one had been rebuilt in 1894, which in 1897 becomes No. 523, the 23 others becoming OSL numbers 500-522 -- but, since the two dropped are not known, nor is the number of the one rebuilt, a 'one-to-one' is not possible here, either. So, on to the 16x24" engines on the OSL, all four of them: there had been 10 engines of this cylinder size on the OSL&UN, nine former Utah Central engines, Nos. 367-371 and 434-437, and the one former Idaho Central engine, possibly OSL&UN No. 402; the key to eliminating the 'impossible' engines, as candidates for OSL 100-103, lies in the rigid wheelbase of a 4-4-0 engine, which is of course the distance between driving wheel centers, and a dimension not given to much change short of a change of frame and rods, and for the 10 engines, that dimension is available, by way of the 6/1/1885 U. P. system roster, for seven (7) of the 10 engines under consideration; AND, the September 1, 1899 OSL roster provides that dimension for Nos. 100-103. SO--it can be determined that OSL&UN engines 367-371 had a rigid wheelbase of 8'3", No. 435 had a rigid wheelbase of 8'6", and the onetime 402, 7'6". Turning to the 9/1/99 roster, it is seen that No. 100 had a rigid wheelbase of 7'6", Nos. 101 and 102, 7'8½", and 103, 7'9". From this, it can be seen that old numbers 367-371 and 435 are impossible candidates for any of OSL 100-103, while the erstwhile 402 seems, at first glance, to be a good possibility for OSL 100; especially when one considers that of the three remaining engines, old numbers 434, 436 and 437, two (436 and 437) had been a pair of essentially-identical engines built by Schenectady in 1878 and 1880, as Utah Southern 4 and 5 -- and the September 1, 1899 roster indicates that OSL 101 and 102 were essentially-identical locomotives (all given locomotive specifications being the same); such dimensional data as are available, from Baldwin records, the 6/1/1885 U P roster, and the September 1, 1899 roster, leave little doubt in the reasonable mind that the Idaho Central engine, once upon a time No. 402 and possibly that number on the OSL&UN, is in 1897 OSL 100; and so by default old OSL&UN No. 434, originally Utah Central RR No. 6, a Hinkley of 1872, seems to be OSL No. 103. There are several items in the Salt Lake Tribune in and around the time of these renumberings, most of which are to some extent confused, largely because the writer thereof is going back into the past, and relying on unreliable memory, but one item, in the paper of 10/16/1897, is the result of direct observation of current information, and it notes that OSL No. 102 has on it a plate (whether number or builder is not stated) showing the engine to have been built by Schenectady in 1880 - which fits perfectly with the above lineages.
And so there you have it - about the best that this writer can do with the information at hand. It is not the purpose of this paper to retell the story that is available elsewhere on 'recent' Union Pacific system motive power. However, there are a few notes worth making, starting with the acquisition, in November of 1897, of former Montana Union 0-6-0 switch engines Nos. 107 and 108, which were renumbered to OSL 550 and 551, and had 18x26" cylinders, 51" drivers, and an engine weight of 93,000 lbs. They were built by the New York Locomotive Works, shop numbers 504 and 505, in June 1889. Then, in early 1898, the OSL added two '10-Wheel' engines to the roster, numbers 524 and 525, 18x24" cylinders, 57" drivers, and engine weight of 120,550 lbs. The September 1, 1899 roster says these two were 'O.S.L. build,' in February and March of 1898, and notice of the event occurs in the Salt Lake Tribune, the paper of 1/30/1898 noting that the OSL is building two engines at Pocatello, to a "six-wheel" design, the boilers and frames for which were bought 'in the East,' the balance of the parts being made at Pocatello; the same paper, date of 3/4/1898, notes that one of the new engines is completed and out of the shop; and in the paper of 3/26/98, notes that one of the new engines has come down to Salt Lade City, and is much admired. All of which would seem to indicate that OSL 524 and 525 were something more than rebuilds of earlier power - especially since there are not two unaccounted-for 'missing' engines in the 500-523 group at that date (i.e., early 1898).
Entirely new engines, the first being of the 2-8-0 type, began to arrive in late 1897, being numbered 800 and 801, large 2-8-0 locomotives, the first such on the road as owned locomotives. A third of this class, No. 802, was added in January 1899. New 10-Wheel engines, numbered 720-727 and 750-757, were added in 1899, as were four yet-larger 2-8-0 engines, numbers 1000-1003, and a class of 4-8-0, or "12-Wheel" engines, numbers 900-906.
The much-used OSL roster of September 1, 1899 (more exactly, those pages of it having to do with the 'broad gauge' locomotives) is provided from the official "Oregon Short Line R.R., List of Officers, Station Agents, Etc., No. 2, January 1, 1900." Note that the 'Engine New' dates are not entirely reliable on any of the older locomotives.
(Note: The following roster shows only some of the data in the original listing; other data columns include boiler diameter, engine and tender wheelbase and length, and engine and tender weights and capacities.)
| From Number |
To Number |
Type | Qty. | Cylinders (inches) |
Engine New |
Notes |
| --- | 100 | 8-W. | 1 | 16x24 | Aug 1870 | |
| --- | 101 | 8-W. | 1 | 16x24 | Aug 1879 | |
| --- | 102 | 8-W. | 1 | 16x24 | Aug 1879 | |
| --- | 103 | 8-W. | 1 | 16x24 | Aug 1873 | |
| --- | 200 | 8-W. | 1 | 17x24 | Sep 1878 | |
| --- | 203 | 8-W. | 1 | 17x24 | Apr 1867 | |
| --- | 204 | 8-W. | 1 | 17x24 | Apr 1867 | |
| --- | 205 | 8-W. | 1 | 17x24 | Jul 1867 | |
| --- | 206 | 8-W. | 1 | 17x24 | Jul 1867 | |
| --- | 207 | 8-W. | 1 | 17x24 | Aug 1867 | |
| --- | 208 | 8-W. | 1 | 17x24 | Apr 1867 | |
| --- | 209 | 8-W. | 1 | 17x24 | Jul 1867 | |
| --- | 210 | 8-W. | 1 | 17x24 | Dec 1882 | |
| --- | 211 | 8-W. | 1 | 17x24 | Jun 1868 | |
| --- | 212 | 8-W. | 1 | 17x24 | Apr 1881 | |
| --- | 213 | 8-W. | 1 | 17x24 | Apr 1867 | |
| --- | 214 | 8-W. | 1 | 17x24 | Jul 1867 | |
| 301 | 304 | 8-W. | 4 | 18x26 | Mar 1887 | |
| --- | 305 | 8-W. | 1 | 18x26 | Mar 1887 | |
| --- | 308 | 8-W. | 1 | 18x26 | Mar 1887 | |
| 309 | 315 | 8-W. | 7 | 18x26 | Mar 1887 | |
| 316 | 318 | 8-W. | 3 | 18x26 | Mar 1887 | |
| 319 | 323 | 8-W. | 5 | 18x26 | Mar 1887 | |
| --- | 400 | 8-W. | 1 | 18x26 | Jun 1887 | |
| --- | 401 | 8-W. | 1 | 18x26 | Feb 1887 | |
| 402 | 403 | 8-W. | 2 | 18x26 | Mar 1887 | |
| --- | 405 | 8-W. | 1 | 18x26 | Dec 1892 | (UP build) |
| --- | 500 | 10-W. | 1 | 18x24 | Nov 1874 | |
| --- | 501 | 10-W. | 1 | 18x24 | Nov 1874 | |
| --- | 502 | 10-W. | 1 | 18x24 | Aug 1882 | |
| --- | 503 | 10-W. | 1 | 18x24 | Apr 1881 | |
| --- | 504 | 10-W. | 1 | 18x24 | Aug 1874 | |
| --- | 505 | 10-W. | 1 | 18x24 | Sep 1882 | |
| --- | 506 | 10-W. | 1 | 18x24 | Aug 1882 | |
| --- | 508 | 10-W. | 1 | 18x24 | Apr 1880 | |
| --- | 509 | 10-W. | 1 | 18x24 | Mar 1881 | |
| --- | 510 | 10-W. | 1 | 18x24 | Jul 1881 | |
| --- | 511 | 10-W. | 1 | 18x24 | Jul 1879 | |
| --- | 513 | 10-W. | 1 | 18x24 | Aug 1880 | |
| --- | 514 | 10-W. | 1 | 18x24 | Aug 1880 | |
| --- | 516 | 10-W. | 1 | 18x24 | Aug 1880 | |
| --- | 517 | 10-W. | 1 | 18x24 | Aug 1880 | |
| --- | 518 | 10-W. | 1 | 18x24 | Aug 1882 | |
| --- | 519 | 10-W. | 1 | 18x24 | Dec 1883 | |
| --- | 520 | 10-W. | 1 | 18x24 | Dec 1883 | |
| --- | 521 | 10-W. | 1 | 18x24 | Dec 1883 | |
| --- | 522 | 10-W. | 1 | 18x24 | Dec 1883 | |
| --- | 523 | 10-W. | 1 | 18x24 | Feb 1894 | (UP Build) |
| --- | 524 | 10-W. | 1 | 18x24 | Feb 1898 | (OSL Build) |
| --- | 525 | 10-W. | 1 | 18x24 | Mar 1898 | |
| --- | 550 | 6-W. Switch | 1 | 18x26 | Old M.U. 107 | |
| --- | 551 | 6-W. Switch | 1 | 18x26 | Old M.U. 108 | |
| 602 | 604 | 10-W. | 3 | 19½x24 | Dec 1890 | |
| 605 | 606 | 10-W. | 2 | 19½x24 | Dec 1890 | |
| --- | 608 | 10-W. | 1 | 19½x24 | Jan 1891 | |
| 609 | 610 | 10-W. | 2 | 19½x24 | Jan 1891 | |
| 611 | 616 | 10-W. | 6 | 19½x24 | Feb 1891 | |
| --- | 617 | 10-W. | 1 | 19½x24 | Mar 1891 | |
| 618 | 620 | 10-W. | 3 | 19½x24 | Jan 1891 | |
| 621 | 622 | 10-W. | 2 | 19½x24 | Jan 1891 | |
| --- | 623 | 10-W. | 1 | 19½x24 | Jan 1891 | |
| --- | 624 | 10-W. | 1 | 19½x24 | Mar 1891 | |
| --- | 625 | 10-W. | 1 | 19½x24 | Mar 1891 | |
| 626 | 644 | 10-W. | 19 | 19½x24 | Mar 1891 | |
| --- | 645 | 10-W. | 1 | 19½x24 | Dec 1880 | |
| 720 | 723 | 10-W. | 4 | 20x26 | Apr 1899 | |
| 724 | 727 | 10-W. | 4 | 20x26 | Jun 1899 | |
| 750 | 757 | 10-W. | 8 | 20x28 | Aug 1899 | |
| 800 | 801 | Cons. | 2 | 21x28 | Nov 1897 | |
| --- | 802 | Cons. | 1 | 21x28 | Jan 1899 | |
| 900 | 906 | 12-W. | 7 | 21x30 | Sep 1899 | |
| 1000 | 1003 | Cons. | 4 | 21x32 | Sep 1899 |
And finally, some extracts of information on OSL locomotive dispositions, in the March 1897 to September 1902 period, from the O.S.L. RR.'s General Journals, read many years ago at Oregon Historical Society, Portland (while looking for narrow-gauge equipment info, mostly, but made notes on the "broad gauge" engines, too):
9/1898 - Locomotive 507 sold to Utah & Pacific RR, $4,500.00, less repairs 31.08, total: $4,468.92
10/1898 - Locomotives 201 & 202 broken up account worn out.
10/1898 - Tenders removed from (OSL&UN) Engines 312 and 319, to be used as water tanks at Lima and Glenn's Ferry
1/1899 - For difference between cost of work done on U. & P. Engine No. 2, O.S.L. 500, credited Operating Expenses in November 1898, and work done on U. & P. Engine No. 3, O.S.L. 512, as Engine No. 2 was not accepted by the Utah & Pacific RR, and Engine No. 3 was substituted in December 1898.
8/1899 - Locomotive 515 sold to B., N. & O. Ry., $4,000.00 (ed. note: Boise, Nampa & Owyhee Railway)
12/1899 - Locomotive 200 broken up in December
7/1900 - Locomotive 210 broken up in July
10/1900 - Locomotive 519 sold to Pacific & Idaho Northern, 4,000.00
11/1900 - Locomotive 206 broken up in November
12/1900 - Locomotive 516 broken up in December
9/1901 - Locomotives 500 & 501 worn out, broken up in July-Sept 1901
10/1901 - Locomotive 509 broken up in October
10/1901 - Locomotive 304 sold to B N & O Ry, bill No. 19624, 5,600.00
11/1901 - Locomotive 103 broken up account worn out
3/1902 - Locomotives torn down, 211 at 3/27/02, 511 at 3/31/02
8/1902 - Locomotive 205, worn out
9/1902 - Locomotive 212, worn out
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