Union Pacific Controlled Railroads In Utah

Index For This Page

This page was last updated on July 21, 2016.

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Utah Companies

Notes from the 1880 U. S. Census, from research by George Pitchard, September 1, 2003

Utah Central Railroad was a separate corporation until April 30, 1880, after which it was controlled by Union Pacific Railway
Utah Southern Railroad was a separate coporation until December 31, 1879, after which it was controlled by Union Pacific Railway
Utah Southern Railroad Extension was a separate corporation until May 31, 1880, after which it was controlled by Union Pacific Railway

(listed chronologcally by construction date)

Utah Central Rail Road 1869-1881 -- Information about Utah's pioneer railroad between Ogden and Salt Lake City.

Utah Southern Railroad 1870-1881 -- Information about the pioneering railroad built south from Salt Lake City.

Utah Northern Railroad 1871-1878 -- Information about the pioneering narrow gauge line that was built north from Ogden and into Idaho.

Summit County Railroad 1871-1881 -- Information about the narrow gauge predecessor to UP's Park City Branch.

Utah Western Railroad 1874-1881 -- Information about the narrow gauge railroad that was built west from Salt Lake City.

Utah & Northern Railway 1878-1889 -- Information about the UP-controlled narrow gauge railroad between Ogden and the Montana mines.

Utah Southern Railroad Extension 1879-1881 -- Information about the UP-controlled line between Salt Lake City and the mines at Frisco.

Utah Eastern Railroad 1879-1887 -- Information about the narrow gauge railroad that competed with UP's Summit County Railway between Coalville and Park City, and which UP later controlled and shut down in 1883, then tore up in 1887.

Utah Central Railway 1881-1889 -- Information about the UP-controlled consolidated company that extended between Ogden and Frisco in west central Utah, made up of Utah Central Railroad, Utah Southern Railroad, and Utah Southern Railroad Extension.

Utah & Nevada Railway 1881-1889 -- Information about the UP-controlled narrow gauge railroad west from Salt Lake City.

Salt Lake & Western Railway 1881-1889 -- Information about the predecessor to UP's early Tintic Branch between Lehi and Tintic

Echo & Park City Railway 1881-1898 -- Information about the predecessor to UP's Park City Branch.

Ogden & Syracuse Railway 1887-1889 -- Information about UP's branchline to Syracuse in Davis County.

Oregon Short Line & Utah Northern Railway 1889-1897 -- Information about UP's subsidiary in Utah and Idaho.

UP's involvement with the San Pete Valley Railway in central Utah, in 1890-1893.

New East Tintic Railway -- Information about New East Tintic Railway, builder of UP's Mammoth Branch in the Tintic Mining District, and the original operator of Union Pacific's only Shay locomotives.

Utah & Pacific Railroad -- Information about the standard gauge line that was constructed between Milford and the Utah-Nevada state line, in 1898; purchased by Oregon Short Line Railroad in 1901.

Los Angeles & Salt Lake

First completed in 1905 as the San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad, between Salt Lake City and Los Angeles, the SPLA&SL was known as the "Pedro", a name that is still heard today among older employees. Most LA&SL lines in Utah were originally built by Oregon Short Line or its predecessors, and were sold to SPLA&SL in 1903.

Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad (LA&SL) operated all UP lines south and west of Salt Lake City, Utah. LA&SL was a name change in August 1916 from the original 1901 San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad. The SPLA&SL (and the later LA&SL) were controlled by William Clark until 1903, then jointly controlled by Clark and OSL until April 1921, when UP bought Clark's half interest, making LA&SL jointly owned by UP and OSL, which itself was fully controlled by UP. The connection between Salt Lake City, Utah, and Los Angeles, California, was completed on May 26, 1905 at Erie, Nevada.

(A timeline of SPLA&SL and LA&SL, before 1936)

Oregon Short Line

Oregon Short Line Railroad (OSL) operated all UP lines in Idaho, Montana, and northern Utah. OSL was incorporated in February 1897 as a reorganization of Oregon Short Line & Utah Northern Railway, in receivership since October 1893. Oregon Short Line & Utah Northern Railway had been incorporated on August 19, 1889 as a consolidation of the original 1881 Oregon Short Line Railway and six other railroads operating in Utah and Idaho. The original OSL Railway began construction in May 1881 at a connection with UP at Granger, Wyoming and was completed across southern Idaho to Huntington, Oregon by November 1884. All OSL lines in Utah were purchased from predecessor companies. OSL Railway (and later OSL&UN) operated the Oregon Railway & Navigation Company under lease between January 1887 until from October 1893.

(A timeline of OSL Ry, 1881-1889)

(A timeline of OSL&UN Ry, 1889-1897)

(A timeline of OSL RR, 1897-1936, leased to UP in 1936)

Union Pacific

Union Pacific Railroad (UP) operated all UP lines in Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, and Wyoming, and the line into northern Utah that ended at Ogden. UP was incorporated in July 1897 as a reorganization of Union Pacific Railway, which was in receivership since 1893. Union Pacific Railway had been incorporated in January 1880 as a consolidation of the original Union Pacific Railway (chartered in 1862), the Kansas Pacific Railway, and the Denver Pacific Railway & Telegraph Co. It was Union Pacific Railway that connected with Central Pacific in May 1869 at Promontory Summit, Utah. UP lines in Kansas and Colorado were purchased from predecessor companies.

(A timeline of Union Pacific In Utah)

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