UP-Oregon Short Line Malad Branch

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This page was last updated on January 31, 2026.

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OSL Malad Branch

November 25, 1902
The Malad Valley Railroad was incorporated. Built and operated by Oregon Short Line.

OSL and Malad Valley Railroad signed an agreement with Bear River Water Company, on November 25, 1902, to construct a line from Corinne, north to a construction site of a new sugar factory to be built by Bear River Water Company, a distance of 12 miles (later known as Garland). The new construction included a new connecting line between the OSL at Brigham City, and a connection with Central Pacific at a point near Corinne, then into and through Corinne to a connection with Malad Valley Railroad. The water company agreed to acquire all needed property and right of way, and then to pass all rights and ownership of said property and right of way to OSL and Malad Valley Railroad.

In return, in a separate agreement on the same day, OSL and Malad Valley Railroad agreed provide transportation services for the sugar factory, at a rate that was the same or lower than any rate that the sugar company might obtain from any competing railroad.

From Brigham City to Corinne Junction was called the "Brigham City Cutoff".

In November 1902 OSL completed construction of the 4.09-mile "Brigham City Cut-off", between Brigham City and a connection with the Central Pacific line at Corinne Junction, about 1.5 miles east of Corinne.

Construction had begun on April 6, 1903 at Corinne, at a connection with the Central Pacific's line to Promontory.

The land companies involved in the development of the agricultural land adjacent to the new Malad Branch included the Bear River Land, Orchard and Sugar Beet Company, and the Bear River Valley Land Company, which was in receivership and was sold to the Malad Valley Railroad in April 1903.

July 1, 1903
OSL began service to Garland sugar factory, operating over their own line between Brigham City and Corinne Junction, over the Central Pacific between Corinne Junction and Corinne, and over the Malad Valley Railroad between Corinne and Garland. (OSL corporate history)

(Recall that at this time, Union Pacific, Central Pacific and Oregon Short Line were all under common control and ownership of E. H. Harriman and his associates.)

July 16, 1903
Malad Valley Railroad completed 14.57 miles of line from Corinne and Garland. The company was incorporated on November 25, 1902. (OSL corporate history) (Utah Index 4050)

July 26, 1903
OSL and Central Pacific signed a trackage rights agreement that allowed OSL to operate trains over the 1.55-mile section of the Central Pacific's main line between Corinne Junction and Corinne. (OSL corporate history)

SP Milestones

Malad Valley Railroad

(from OSL corporate history, page 57)

Brigham City to Garland.

Garland to Malad

December 22, 1905
Malad Valley Railroad completed the 31.83-mile extension from Garland to Malad, Idaho. The entire 46.38-mile Malad Valley line from Corinne to Malad was formally leased to OSL for operation on July 1, 1906, although they had been operating the line since its completion to Garland in June 1903. (OSL corporate history)

July 1, 1906
The lease of the Malad Valley Railroad, Corinne to Malad, was put into effect, becoming the OSL's Malad Branch. (OSL Corporate History, page 57)

October 31, 1910
Oregon Short Line took possession of its seven branch feeder lines, comprising 390.5 miles of trackage, mostly in southern Idaho. Included was the 46.4-mile Malad Valley Railroad, which had completed its line from Corinne, Utah to Malad, Idaho in 1905. The Malad Valley Railroad corporation was dissolved on June 24, 1911. (Poor's, 1929, p. 1051; OSL corporate history)

Malad Branch Station Changes

OSL owned and operated the Brigham City to Corinne Junction segment. From Corinne Junction to Corinne, 1.55 miles, OSL used trackage rights by way of Central Pacific (SP) granted in 1903. From Corinne north to Malad, OSL owned and operated its own line.

OSL/UP leased all of the former Central Pacific facilities, trackage and right-of-way between Corinne Junction and Corinne on June 5, 1945, effective on March 16, 1945, with a right to purchase. The trackage and property was purchased on October 16, 1947.

Union Pacific bought the 1.55-mile Corinne Junction to Corinne portion of the old Central Pacific from SP on October 16, 1947, and took possession on November 14, 1947 after the Southern Pacific Promontory Branch was abandoned in 1942.

(from UP AFE 14, dated March 20, 1947)

March-June 1968
On a date in the three-month period between March 10, 1968, and June 30, 1968 (the dates of the applicable Union Pacific public timetables), the mixed train local service the Malad Branch was discontinued. The Malad mixed train was UP Trains 311 and 312, and was shown in the March 10, 1968 public timetable, but not in the June 30, 1968 public timetable.

Sources

Compiled from handwritten notes, dating from 1978-1988, with recent updates from other material.

Most of the original information here was transcribed from handwritten notes taken while doing research in the files of UP's engineering department during 1982-1983, then compiled as a computer file in 1988, with additions through September 1994. Other updates and additions made after creation of web page in 2015.

The notes from the early 1980s were completed prior to the closure of UP's engineering office in Salt Lake City in about 1984. All files and most personnel were moved to Omaha in 1983-1984. The office was located in the Utah Division offices in the former depot annex building, just south of Union Pacific's Salt Lake City depot. The building was demolished in 1999 to make room for The Gateway Project.

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