Union Pacific Subsidiaries

Encampment Branch, Wyoming Division

This page was last updated on January 30, 2010.

Saratoga & Encampment Valley Railroad

UP's Encampment Branch was built by the Saratoga & Encampment Railway in 1906 as a subsidiary of the United Smelters, Railway & Copper Company which built, owned and operated a copper reduction plant at Encampment, Wyoming.

S&ERy was completed in 1908 between Walcott and Encampment, Wyoming, a distance of 44.4 miles. The copper was mined in the nearby Sierra Madre Mountains and was transported to the smelter at Encampment by way of a 16-mile aerial tramway. The copper company went bankrupt in 1908-1910 soon after after the railroad reached Encampment, and the road served the local lumber and ranching industry as an independent company until November 1921 when the line was leased to Union Pacific for operation. The S&ERy owned and operated two steam locomotives, numbered 101 and 102.

UP's lease remained in place until October 1926 when the S&ERy declared bankruptcy. The company was reorganized as the Saratoga & Encampment Valley Railroad in May 1928, at which time UP retired the two S&EVRR locomotives. Union Pacific controlled the new company except for a small percentage of local owners. After 1928 the line was operated using Union Pacific locomotives and crews.

By mid 1951 the local owners had sold their interest to UP and on August 1, 1951 the line was merged with Union Pacific, becoming UP's Encampment Branch.

In November 1987 Union Pacific sold the 24-mile Encampment Branch to Wyoming & Colorado Railroad and short line service between Walcott and Saratoga started on December 19, 1987. In 2003, the Louisana Pacific sawmill at Saratoga closed and Wyoming & Colorado abandoned the line; work to remove the tracks began in June 2007.

Saratoga & Encampment Valley Railroad 4-6-0 -- 2 locomotives

S&ERy
Number		 First
Number		 Second
Number		 Date To
S&ERy		 Builder Builder
Number		 Date
Built		 Date
Vacated
S&E 101 CRR&B 165 CoG 1321 1905 Baldwin 7904 Apr 1886 Jul 1928
S&E 102 CRR&B 145 CoG 1309 1908 Baldwin 7440 Sep 1884 Jul 1928

Description:

  • Drive Wheel Diameter: 56 inches
  • Cylinders: 18x24 inches

General Notes:

  1. Union Pacific Encampment Branch
  2. Saratoga & Encampment Railway 101 and 102 were purchased second-hand from Central Railway of Georgia (built as Central Railroad & Banking of Georgia); S&ERy 101 was purchased in 1906 and S&ERy 102 was purchased in 1908
  3. S&ERy 101 and 102 were retired by UP after UP gained control of S&ERy as the new Saratoga & Encampment Valley Railroad in July 1928; both loconotives were sold to Morse Brothers Machinery and Salvage Company
  4. S&ERy leased OSL 4-6-0 1502 in 1917-1919
  5. UP 4-6-0 1243 was assigned to UP subsidiary Saratoga & Encampment Valley Railroad as early as 1931, and until retirement in 1955.

###