Union Pacific's Utah Division

Index For This Page

This page was last updated on February 26, 2023.

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Overview

(Read more about how and why employee timetables were used by railroads)

Utah Division History

(Note: Only lines in Utah, and lines in each Utah Division timetable, are covered.)

Union Pacific in Utah consisted of three segments:

In August 1909, as shown in Union Pacific Railroad timetable No. 45, dated August 22, 1909, the portion of UP in Utah was shown as the Ninth District, Evanston to Ogden. The portion of Union Pacific designated as the Utah Division encompassed 347 miles from Rawlins to Ogden. Rawlins to Green River was the Seventh District; and Green River to Evanston was the Eighth District. This was before any of the double track was added to the Ogden to Wahsatch grade in Weber and Echo canyons. This same timetable covered the entire railroad, and included the Nebraska Division (Omaha to North Platte, 787 miles), the Wyoming Division (North Platte to Rawlins, 461 miles); the Kansas Division (Kansas City to Ellis, 750 miles); the Colorado Division (Ellis to Denver and Cheyenne, 749 miles); and as mentioned, the Utah Division. At this time, the OSL, OR&N and SPLA&SL were each operationally separate from UP.

For a brief period in 1900 to 1903, the OSL extended south from Salt Lake City to the Utah-Nevada line. In 1903 this portion was sold to the LA&SL. The LA&SL from 1903 to 1921 was only half-owned by UP, through its OSL subsidiary. In 1921, Union Pacific bought the other half from the Clark interests, giving it full control of the LA&SL.

1921 Changes

-- UP made a public announcement that the Clark deal had been accomplished on May 26, 1921.

-- Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad System timetable No. 60 was dated May 29, 1921.

-- Union Pacific System, Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad, Los Angeles Division timetable No. 61 and Salt Lake Division No. 61 were both issued on March 26, 1922.

-- The two divisions lasted until 1931, with Caliente as the separation point. In 1931 the two were combined into a single division, the Los Angeles Division. The Salt Lake Division was dissolved.

-- The last separate LA&SL Salt Lake Division timetable was No. 83 dated Nov. 23, 1930.

-- The last separate LA&SL Los Angeles Division timetable was No. 81 dated Nov. 9, 1930.

1931 Changes

-- Union Pacific System, Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad, Salt Lake and Los Angeles divisions were combined with timetable No. 84, issued May 3, 1931. Supplement No. 1 was issued on September 20, 1931.

-- Union Pacific System, Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad, timetable No. 1 was dated March 13, 1932.

-- Union Pacific System, Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad timetables continued through No. 8, dated April 1, 1935. Special Rules No. 2 was dated July 14, 1935.

1936 Changes

With the formal lease of both the OSL and the LA&SL on January 1, 1936, the operational changes included the designation of the OSL as the Central District, and the LA&SL as the Southwestern District.

-- Union Pacific Railroad, Southwestern District, timetables No. 9 was dated June 14, 1936.

-- Union Pacific Railroad, Southwestern District, timetable No. 12 was dated March 7, 1937.

(Read more about UP's 1936 lease of OSL and LA&SL)

(Read more about the creation of operating districts on Union Pacific in 1936-1937)

1937 Changes

In April 1937, the southern part of Central District (former OSL) south of Salt Lake City was combined with the Southwestern District (former LA&SL) to form the Los Angeles Division, as part of the new South-Central District.

April 13, 1937
"Railroad Enlarges Official's District -- Extension of the operating jurisdiction of H. J. Plumhof, general manager of the Union Pacific in Salt Lake City, to Los Angeles, was announced today. Plumhof's jurisdiction now covers only the Central district. The new plan consolidates the Central with the Southwestern into what is to he known as the South-Central district, all under Plumhof." (Ogden Standard Examiner, April 13, 1937)

At the same time in April 1937, the north-south portion of the Central District (former OSL) in northern Utah and Idaho, north from Salt Lake City to McCammon, then from Pocatello to Butte, became the Utah Division, part of the South-Central District.

The east-west portion of the Central District (former OSL) from Granger, Wyoming, to McCammon and Pocatello, and westward to Huntington, Oregon, became the Idaho Division, part of the South-Central District.

The first timetable showing the former LA&SL as part of the South-Central District was Los Angeles Division timetable No. 13, dated November 21, 1937.

The first timetable showing the former OSL as part of the South-Central District was Utah Division timetable No. 248, dated November 28, 1937.

The first timetable showing the former OSL as part of the South-Central District was Idaho Division timetable No. 143, dated November 28, 1937.

-- Union Pacific Railroad, South-Central District, Los Angeles Division, timetables No. 13 (dated November 21, 1937) through 1948

-- Union Pacific Railroad, South-Central District, Utah Division, timetable No. 100 (dated August 1, 1941) through 1973

1941 Changes

On August 1, 1941, the Los Angeles Division was cut back to end at Caliente. At the same time, the Utah Division was enlarged to include the former LA&SL to Caliente. The portion of the Utah Division north of McCammon became part of the Idaho Division, as part of the Northwestern District.

Utah Division, South-Central District employee time-table No. 112, dated September 1, 1947

1948 Changes

"A major realignment and consolidation of divisions had just taken place and effective February 29, 1948, the Union Pacific eliminated two divisions. The Colorado Division was spun off into the Kansas and Wyoming Divisions and the Washington Division was consolidated with the Oregon Division. At the same time, the company started anew the sequential numbers for each division with No.1. (with the exception of the Bridge Subdivision.) It is interesting to note that these divisions created in 1948 remained basically unchanged until about 1980." (Art Riordan, from the introduction of the Union Pacific Historical Society's reprint of the entire set of UP employee timetables, dated February 29, 1948)

On January 1, 1948 the Utah Division was cut back to include just the former OSL north from Salt Lake City to McCammon. The California Division was extended to Salt Lake City, with the Salt Lake City to Lynndyl portion being designated as the First Subdivision, and the newer Salt Lake City to Lynndyl portion (by way of the Leamington Cutoff) being designated as the Second Subdivision. The Lynndyl to Milford line became the Third Subdivision, and the Milford to Caliente line became the Fourth Subdivision. All as part of the expanded California Division.

At the same time, the Utah Division was expanded east to Green River, cutting back the Wyoming Division. The Utah Division was also expanded north to Pocatello, and on to Butte, cutting back the Idaho Division to Pocatello. New No. 1 timetables for each division were issued on February 29, 1948 reflecting these changes.

Utah Division Timetable No. 1, dated February 29, 1948

California Division Timetable No. 1, dated February 29, 1948

Full Dieselization, 1949

On September 11, 1949, the three districts (Eastern, Northwestern and South-Central) were reorganized to reflect the dieselization of the South-Central and Northwestern districts:

1949 to 1975

The Utah Division, South-Central District, remained unchanged from September 1949 to November 1983, when the operations of the former WP were officially added to the Utah Division.

Timetables, After 1975

South-Central District Timetable No. 1, dated January 12, 1975

Eastern District Timetable No. 1, dated May 15, 1976

System Timetable No. 1, dated February 12, 1978

System Timetable No. 2, dated December 10, 1978 (no change for Utah Division)

System Timetable No. 3, dated March 9, 1980 (no change for Utah Division)

System Timetable No. 4, dated October 26, 1980 (no change for Utah Division)

System Timetable No. 5, dated May 31, 1981 (no change for Utah Division)

System Timetable No. 6, dated May 23, 1982 (no change for Utah Division)

(UP control of WP was granted on December 22, 1982, with an effective date of January 1, 1983; the two were formally merged on June 17, 1987.)

(The last WP timetable was No. 10, issued on October 31, 1982)

System Timetable No. 7, dated June 12, 1983 (WP added as Western District, Eastern and Western Divisions) (pink cover)

System Timetable No. 7, dated July 17, 1983 (WP added as Western District, Eastern and Western Divisions) (white cover)

System Timetable No. 8, dated November 20, 1983 (WP west of Winnemucca added as Western Division, South-Central District)

January 1, 1985
The following division changes were made on January 1, 1985. (Union Pacific INFO magazine, January 1985, page 4)

System Timetable No. 1, dated April 28, 1985 (no change for Utah Division trackage)

System Timetable No. 2, dated October 27, 1985 (Missouri Pacific Railroad only; no Utah Division information)

(January 1, 1986 -- The operating departments of Union Pacific and Missouri Pacific were combined into a single organization.)

System Timetable No. 3, dated April 27, 1986 (first with named subdivisions) (MP added as Southern Region; first with named subdivisions)

On April 29, 1986, the Utah Division was eliminated. (Union Pacific Salt Lake Route, page 45)

System Timetable No. 4, dated October 26, 1986 (no Utah Division)

System Timetable No. 5, dated April 5, 1987 (Granger Subdivision changed to Salt Lake Subdivision) (no Utah Division)

System Timetable No. 6, dated May 15, 1988 (Utah Division reinstated)

(August 12, 1988 -- Union Pacific's control of MKT took effect.)

System Timetable No. 7, dated October 29, 1989 (first with MKT)

System Timetable No. 8, dated April 7, 1991 (Red, white and blue cover to commemorate Operation Desert Storm)

System Timetable No. 1, dated April 10, 1994 (Service Units)

(May 1, 1995 -- UP purchase and control of C&NW became effective; UP took full control of C&NW on October 1, 1995.)

System Timetable No. 2, dated October 29, 1995 (first with C&NW) (no change for Utah Division)

(October 1, 1996 -- UP control of SP became effective; the merger became final on February 1, 1998.)

1997 Changes

January 17, 1997
"Union Pacific has recently changed the boundaries, and in a couple cases, the names of the four regions comprising the system. The old Midwest Region and part of the Western Region is now called the Northern region. Beginning at Ogden, UT and McCammon, ID, it extends east covering the states of WY, CO, NE, IA, MN, WI and northern IL. The old Eastern Region is now call the Central Region covering southern IL, MO, northern AR, KS, OK, west TX, NM and AZ. The Southern Region is track south of Little Rock, AR and Ft. Worth, TX to the Gulf of Mexico and west to Alpine, TX. The Western Region consist of all states from UT and ID to the West Coast." (Update Line, Union Pacific Communications Department, January 16, 1997; last day was January 17, 1997)

1998 Changes

On October 25, 1998, the entire railroad was reorganized into 18 service units, in three regions. This followed the merger of UP and SP, with an effective date of October 1, 1996, and the merger becoming final on February 1, 1998.

November 2, 1998
The new Salt Lake City Service Unit took over the operations from the previous service units, known as the "cut over" date. (UP Online, Volume 4, Number 179, August 27, 1998; Volume 4, Number 180, August 28, 1998; Volume 4, Number 189, September 11, 1998)

2004 Changes

February 1, 2004
UP's Cheyenne and Denver service units were combined, with new headquarters being located in Denver. The new service unit included all former D&RGW lines in Colorado, as well as the old Kansas Pacific across Kansas, along with assorted branches in Colorado and the old UP mainline and associated branches across Nebraska (from O'Fallons) and Wyoming, west to Ogden, Utah. (David Blazejewski, email dated January 20, 2004)

More Information

Summary of the changes to UP in Utah in September 1998

(See also: The Streamliner, Vol. 4, Number 2, page 28 for a summary of the history of UP in Utah.)

Sources

Union Pacific employee timetables in the UtahRails collection

Loren Johnson email posted to Union Pacific group at YahooGroups, August 31, 2003

Copies of various UP Wyoming division timetables furnished by Tim Zukas

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