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Sunnyside Coal Mines

This page was last updated on March 8, 2019.

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Overview

The Sunnyside coal mine was located at the mouth of Whitmore Canyon, about 26 miles east of Price, Utah. The first coal mine was opened in Whitmore Canyon in eastern Utah in 1896. At about the same time, that mine became known as the Sunnyside mine.

The coal was of good coking quality, and Sunnyside became the major supplier of coke in the intermountain region. In 1889 the Utah lines of the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railway were reorganized as the Rio Grande Western Railway to finance the conversion to standard gauge. The Rio Grande Western also owned the Utah Fuel Company, which owned the new Sunnyside mines, and these same interests organized the Carbon County Railway on November 20, 1899 to provide transportation for the coal and coke coming from the Sunnyside Mine. This Carbon County Railway of 1899 should not be confused with the company of the same name that operated in the region between 1923 and 1983.

In 1899 the mine was purchased by Utah Fuel Company, as a subsidiary of Rio Grande Western Railway. For the years following, the Sunnyside mine was a major source of coking coal, and coked coal (also known as metallurgical coal, or met coal) for the entire Western United States. By 1909 the Sunnyside mine was mining 3000 tons of coal per day, with most of it feeding the 650 coke ovens that were located adjacent to the mine. During 1914 alone, the coke ovens at Sunnyside furnished over 300,000 tons of coke (7500 car loads, or about 20 cars per day), with most if not all of it being shipped to the copper smelters at Anaconda, Montana.

During the 1920s and 1930s, smelters were updating their processes to allow the direct use of coal, and several iron and steel plants were built that could also use coal directly instead of using coke. By 1942, the coal from Sunnyside was being shipped to either the new U. S. Steel plant at Geneva, Utah, or to the new Kaiser Steel plant in southern California, all to support the war effort.

In 1943, Kaiser Steel directly leased the entire Sunnyside mine from Utah Fuel Company, and in 1950 Kaiser Steel purchased all of Utah Fuel Company, which owned coal mines at Sunnyside, Castle Gate, and Clear Creek, all in Utah. The beehive coke ovens remained in operation until 1958.

Kaiser was one of the first companies to make a deal with the railroads for the movement of coal in a dedicated train set, known as a unit coal train. In mid 1968, three railroads (UP, D&RGW, and AT&SF) got together with Kaiser Steel to move full trains of Sunnyside coal to the steel company's mill at Fontana, California. The production of Kaiser's Sunnyside mine, as much as 5,500 tons per day, was matched to the steel mill's capacity of two 11,000-ton unit trains. The mine loaded an 8,400-ton train every other day, and each train ran on a four-day cycle. The trains continued to run until the the steel manufacturing portion of the Fontana mill shut down in 1983.

A. C. Watts, Chief Engineer for Utah Fuel Company, described in detail the crushing and screening plant at the Sunnyside mine. The plant was capable of furnishing both the commercial market for coal and the preparation of coal for the coking operation at the mine, each without interfering with the operations of the other. The coal vein mined at Sunnyside dipped into the mountain at a ten percent incline. Coal was mined from both the No. 1 and the No. 2 openings and was transported to either of two tipples. The No. 1 mine was located about 100 feet from the Sunnyside tipples, and the opening was on a slope down into the mine. The loaded mine cars were hoisted out of the mine in sixteen-car "trips", or trains, through the use of a Webster, Camp and Lane hoist, each trip averaging about twenty-eight to thirty tons. The opening for the No. 2 mine was on the level and was located on the same seven foot thick coal vein in a side canyon, about one and a half miles east of the tipples. Loaded mine cars were moved from the mine to the tipple with the use a thirteen-ton Jeffery electric main haulage locomotive in trips of forty to fifty loaded cars, each trip averaging 85 to 106 tons. The coal from either the No. 1 or the No. 2 openings was dumped into either the No. 1 dump, for commercial grading, or the No. 2 dump, which was mostly used to crush the coal into slack and pea (less than 3/8 inch) size for use in the coke ovens, but could also grade and process the coal into lumps for the commercial market. The Sunnyside mine also made use of its own slack and pea coal to power its power plant located adjacent to the tipples. (Watts: Utah Fuel, p. 161, citing a 1909 article in Mines & Minerals magazine)

(The A. C. Watts Utah Fuel article in Mines & Minerals magazine also contains very detailed descriptions of the exact methods of crushing and screening the coal at Sunnyside. Also shown was a photo of the Sunnyside tipples, a general layout of the tipple yards, a cross section of the processing plant, and a plan view of the plant.)

Timeline

(These events focus on the mines at Sunnyside.)

(Read more about the history of Utah Fuel Company)

The Utah Fuel Co. first erected ovens at Castle Gate in 1888. But after a brief period of operation, it was found that the coking property of the coal was rapidly deteriorating as the mine developed. An exhaustive examination of the entire property controlled by the Utah Fuel Co. resulted in the discovery of coking coal at Sunnyside. Coal from Sunnyside does not possess uniform coking qualities, and it is necessary to disintegrate the slack to a fineness of less than 1/8 inch before the best results can be obtained. Slack from this mine is low in impurity, yielding coke carrying about 12 percent ash. (AIME Transactions, Volume 61, 1918-1919, page 430)

The first coal mine in the Sunnyside area was opened early in 1896 by Jefferson Tidwell and his sons, John, Jeff, and William. Early in 1897 George Holladay became a partner and the coal mine became known as the Tidwell-Holladay coal mine. The Pleasant Valley Coal Company bought the rights to the property in late 1898. (Zehnder, Chuck. A Guide To Carbon County Coal Camps And Ghost Towns, page 39)

February 25, 1897
"Wellington" "Geo. Holladay and Doss Tidwell came in from their asphaltum mine in Whitmore canyon on Saturday. They have six men at work doing development work. They report the prospects for a paying proposition as good. The gentlemen say there is more snow in Clark's valley than there has been in many years." (Eastern Utah Advocate, February 25, 1897, page 1)

March 30, 1897
"Holladay Coal Company. -- A Salt Lake Concern to Operate in Carbon County. -- The Holladay Coal company filed articles of incorcoration at the county clerk's office yesterday. The incorporators being George T. Holladay, Thomas S. Holladay, Alveretta C. Holladay, Robert N. Baskin, Enos Hoge, H. P. Mason, E. L. Mason and James H. Jones, all residents of Salt Lake, except James H. Jones, who resides at Hooper, Weber county; W. J. Tidwell, W. S. Ronigue, Jefferson Tidwell, John F. Tidwell, Joseph R. Tidwell, Sarah Tidwell and Hiram Tidwell, all of Wellington, Carbon county; Orange Seeley, Castledale. The capital stock has been placed at $200,000 in shares of $1 each, and the concern will operate in Carbon county, where extensive coal lands are owned, the particular property described being immediately east of what is known as the Whitmore winter ranch above and on the first right-hand fork of Grassy Trail creek. Robert N. Baskin is president, George T. Holladay vice-president, Robert N. Baskin treasurer, and Enos Hoge secretary." (Salt Lake Herald Republican, March 30, 1897)

April 15, 1897
"The Holladay Coal Company which was recently incorporated in Salt Lake City, and whose claims are located in this county, some nine miles from Sunnyside, is working to make a shipment of four cars right away. The coal is said to be a good anthracite and bring $7.70 a ton on the Salt Lake market. Most of the incorporators are residents of Wellington and their enterprise deserves success. We understand the company intends making another road as soon as practicable to shorten the distance of hauling. As it is now the road is some fourteen miles long and this can be cut down some five miles. The seams of coal are 9-1/2 feet and four feet and are separated only by a thin strain of rock." (Eastern Utah Advocate, April 15, 1897, page 4)

George Thomas Holladay was born on January 10, 1857, at San Bernardino, California. He was active in mining at Park City and St. George, after which he became a permanent resident of Salt Lake City. "In 1898 he opened a coal mine and organized the Holladay Coal Company, now known as the Sunnyside Coal mine." (Andrew Jenson, Latter-Day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, Volume 2, page 397-398)

April 15, 1897
"Wellington" "A number of our boys are at the Tidwell-Holladay mine digging coal and making a road to Sunnyside over which the coal is to be hauled. This mine will be a heavy shipper in the future." (Eastern Utah Advocate, April 15, 1897, page 1)

July 18, 1897
"Whitemore Canyon Coal -- Probable Sale to the Pleasant Valley Coal Company -- Price, Utah, July 17. -- W. J. Tidwell, county assessor of this county, has just returned from the Holladay coal mines in Whitmore canyon, in which he is interested, and states that he expects a sale of the property will soon be made to the Pleasant Valley Coal company, as they have tested the coking coal, as well as what they term natural coke, and are well pleased with it." "They have men getting out a carload to be shipped to Castle Gate for further tests and examination." "Mr. Robert Forrester, mine foreman, is at the mine overseeing the shipment of this car. This is his third trip to examine the property." (Salt Lake Herald Republican, July 18, 1897)

November 18, 1897
"The interests of the Holladay Tidwell coal mine held by the Tidwells was sold to Castle Gate parties last week for the sum of seventeen hundred dollars." (Eastern Utah Advocate, November 18, 1897)

1898
Coal was discovered in the vicinity of Whitmore canyon in 1898 by cattlemen from Wellington. The land for the Sunnyside mine was purchased by Robert Forrester for Utah Fuel Company for $250.00. The excellent coking properties of the Sunnyside coal was discovered when Forrester sent a sample to the coke ovens at Castle Gate. Work began on the Sunnyside mine in 1898. (Madsen, p. 52)

June 19, 1899
Sunnyside station of Rio Grande Western mainline changed to Mounds. "Change Station Names -- Mud Creek Becomes Clear Creek and Latter is Tucker -- Several changes will soon be made in the names of stations on the Rio Grande Western. Clear Creek will bear the name Tucker and Mud Creek will be changed to Clear Creek. The Sunnyside station on the main line will be abolished and Mounds will be the main station in the neighborhood. The name Sunnyside will be given to the terminus of the new line in Whitmore canyon." (Salt Lake Tribune, June 19, 1899)

July 29, 1899
Sunnyside branch has 10 miles of line graded , and 3-1/2 miles laid with rail. (Salt Lake Tribune, July 29, 1899)

September 2, 1899
The RGW branch, Mounds to Sunnyside, was to be finished in a few days. (Salt Lake Tribune, July 29, 1899)

November 19, 1899
The first coal was shipped on November 19, 1899, the first day of railroad operations from the coal camp. (Gibson: Sunnyside, p. 203)

November 7, 1899
The branchline was completed between Mounds and Sunnyside on November 7, 1899. (Salt Lake Herald, December 31, 1899)

August 15, 1900
Royal C. Peabody, treasurer of the Rio Grande Western Railway, purchased 6,130 acres of coal lands located at Sunnyside. The purchase price was reported as $47,235.20, and the lands were purchased from Orange Seely, John T. Tidwell, W. J. Tidwell, and others. (Salt Lake Mining Review, August 15, 1900)

(In a desposition taken in January 1908, Peabody confessed that in all the coal land sale papers he signed, he had never seen the land, and did not read the papers he signed, which he signed at the request of a brother who was an "attache" of the coal company.)

December 15, 1900
Rio Grande Western operated its largest coal train to date. Thirty-six cars with 2 million pounds (1,000 tons) of coal was shipped east from the Sunnyside mine number 3. The train had 2,000,000 pounds of coal, making 55,555 pounds of coal in each of the thirty-six cars (approximately 27.5 tons per car). (Salt Lake Tribune, December 17, 1900)

1901
About thirty miners were used in the Sunnyside No. 1 mine, producing 350 tons per day, and about 200 miners worked in the No. 2 mine, producing about 1,000 tons per day. Sunnyside No. 1 was located in the main Whitmore canyon. Sunnyside No. 2 mine was originally located about 400 yards up the side canyon. (Higgins: Industries, p. 12)

Late 1901
Slack coal from the Sunnyside mine was shipped to Utah Fuel's Castle Gate mine and used in the 201 coke ovens there to produce about 5,000 tons of coke per month. (Higgins: Industries, p. 14)

January 16, 1902
One hundred coke ovens were being built at Sunnyside, to replace those at Castle Gate. This will reduce costs by not having to send Sunnyside coal to Castle Gate to be made into coke. "The present capacity of the company is 240 ovens." (Salt Lake Herald, January 16, 1902)

All coal from Sunnyside from 1899 to 1902 was sent to Castle Gate to be made into coke. In the years 1902-1903, 480 coke ovens were built at Sunnyside. These were increased to 550 in 1912, to 624 in 1914, and again to 713 ovens in 1917, although not all ovens were in operation at the same time. The first coke was produced at Sunnyside in April 1902, and the volume grew steadily until the late 1920s. At its peak in the 1920s, there were 1,100 men on the Utah Fuel payroll at Sunnyside. In 1929 coking operations were practically suspended. Coke production was suspended at Castle Gate in 1905. (Madsen, p. 53)

July 30, 1904
The Utah Fuel Company was furnishing 100 to 200 tons of coke per day from Sunnyside to the Anaconda smelter in Montana. (Salt Lake Mining Review, July 30, 1904, p. 30)

Utah Fuel opened the Somerset, Colorado mine in 1905. (Gibson: Sunnyside, p. 205)

October 26, 1905
A fire destroyed the crusher and tipple at Sunnyside. The fire stopped mine production, which in-turn stopped coke production at both Sunnyside and Castle Gate, which received its crushed coal from Sunnyside. To continue coke production at Sunnyside, mine tracks were to be temporarily run direct to the coke ovens and run-of-mine coal would be used to make coke. The fire would have a significant impact of the production of coke, with Pleasant Valley Coal company and Utah Fuel company selling 500 to 750 tons of coke per day to the Salt Lake Valley smelters. (Eastern Utah Advocate, November 2, 1905, "last Thursday")

November 23, 1907
A report in 1907 stated that Utah Fuel Company "disposes of the larger part of output to local consumers for domestic and steam purposes ... It has been shipping approximately 15 percent to neighboring states ... has been shipping 350 tons of coke daily to Anaconda." (Engineering and Mining Journal, Volume 84, November 23, 1907, p. 980)

March 3, 1908
"Coal Hearing Witnesses. -- Government Places Four on Stand to Prove Its Contentions. -- Four witnesses testified for the government. yesterday in the coal land hearing of the United States against the Pleasant Valley Coat company. One was Joseph A. Curtis, who said he had lived in the Sunnyside district before there was any Sunnyside, and that the land had always been regarded as coal land. James E. Randall and Edward Stewart are practical stockmen and acquainted with range conditions. They said the land had been regarded as practically worthless for grazing purposes. John E. Chapson is the government surveyor who ran the lines in the district. He upheld the contention that the land was coal in character." (Salt Lake Herald, March 3, 1908)

January 28, 1909
Sunnyside in 1909 was working six days per week, producing coke in 480 coke ovens. (Coal Index: Eastern Utah Advocate, January 28, 1909, p. 5)

October 1909
Utah Fuel Company's Sunnyside mines No. 1 and No. 2 produced 3,000 tons per day, for commercial use and to furnish pulverized coal for coking. (Mines & Minerals, October 1909, p. 161)

"A capacity of 3,000 tons a day, the fine crushing of the coal, the ability to load various sizes of commercial coal without interfering with the preparation of the coal for the coke ovens, and the division of the plant into two parts which could be operated independently of each other or as a single unit were the results sought to be attained." (Mines & Minerals, October 1909, page 161)

The 650 coke ovens at Sunnyside were fed with coal that would pass through a 3/8 inch screen. During 1912, the Sunnyside coke ovens produced 347,356 tons (about 6,900 carloads) of coke, an almost forty percent increase over 1911's production. (Watts: Carbon County, p. 404)

Coal mining towns in Carbon County in 1912 included: Castle Gate; Clear Creek; Winter Quarters; Sunnyside; Kenilworth; Black Hawk; and Hiawatha. The principle commercial towns in the county were Price, Helper, Scofield, and Wellington. Coal production in Carbon County for 1912 was 2,750,265 tons (about 55,000 carloads), compared to 2,246,055 for 1911 (about 44,900 carloads), a twenty-two percent increase. Two-thirds of the coal production for the state of Utah is consumed within the state. The coal was of a good bituminous variety, with some coking qualities, although only the coal from the Sunnyside mine made good coke. Carbon County coal was known to be hard and clean, and was able to stand up well to storage and shipment without breaking down. (Watts: Carbon County, pp. 400,401)

January 2, 1913
Four new mines were opened during 1912: Neslen, Willow Creek, Panther, and Storrs, where a new method of conveying was being tried (Spring Canyon Coal Company's aerial tramway?). (Coal Index: Eastern Utah Advocate, January 2, 1913, p. 2)

May 30, 1913
The loading tipple of the Sunnyside mine was destroyed by fire. Operations were not be be affected because other loading stations were available. (Salt Lake Mining Review, May 30, 1913)

January 22, 1914
D&RG announced that they would double track the Sunnyside Branch to allow movement of coal to the Pacific Coast, with the opening of the Panama Canal. (Coal Index: Carbon County News, January 22, 1914, p. 1)

April 9, 1914
Due to a reduction in railroad rates for Wyoming coal, Independent was working three to four days per week and Consolidated was working just two days per week. Sunnyside was working six days per week, with all coal production going to coke. (Coal Index: Eastern Utah Advocate, April 9, 1914, p. 1)

Most of the 314,694 tons of coke made at the Sunnyside mine and coke plant in 1914 was shipped to the smelter at Anaconda, Montana. (Lewis, p. 18)

August 17, 1920
Sunnyside No. 2 was closed due to a fire on August 17, 1920. The mine was reopened in late August 1921. (Coal Index: The Sun, September 2, 1921, p. 6)

1926
The Sunnyside No. 2 mine was closed in 1926, and the rails to the coke ovens were removed. The coke ovens were allowed to cool due to lack of demand. At the peak just after World War I, there had been 998 beehive coke ovens operating at Sunnyside.

In June 1931, the Denver & Rio Grande petitioned the Public Service Commission of Utah for permission to close its agency station at Sunnyside. The testimony of a D&RG official gave some interesting details of the decline of Sunnyside's coke business. By the early 1930s the coke business at Sunnyside had "disappeared", and only forty to fifty cars of coke were being shipped per year. From the beginning, the coke from Sunnyside was generally shipped to the Salt Lake smelters and to the Anaconda smelter in Butte, Montana. At times, Sunnyside coke was also shipped to the Leadville, Colorado smelters if the Colorado coke fields couldn't produce enough. Up until about 1915 the Sunnyside mine was shipping fifteen to eighteen cars of coke to the Anaconda smelter. The drop in business in about 1928 was attributed the Columbia Steel Corporation beginning to sell its excess coke to the Salt Lake valley smelters, and Sunnyside lost a great deal of its business at that time. (Public Service Commission of Utah, case 1213)

April 23, 1942
Utah Fuel announced "today" that it would spend $1 million to increase production of coal, and to refurbish existing coke ovens at Sunnyside to produce coke for a new pig iron plant being built by the Kaiser Company in California. As part of the increase in production, Utah Fuel was to lay about four miles of track inside and outside the mine. The mine would receive new motors and 40 new 16-ton mine cars. The old 1200-tons-per-day tipple would be torn down and a new screening tipple would be built, supplying up to 5000 tons per day. (Ogden Stanard Examiner, April 23, 1942)

June 11, 1942
Almost all of the output of the Sunnyside mine during mid 1942 was to go to supply coking fuel for a new pig iron plant in California, to produce steel plate for the U. S. Navy. (Coal Index: Sun Advocate, June 11, 1942, p. 14)

June 14, 1942
Utah Fuel was refurbishing a total of about 300 coke ovens (of a one-time total of 998) at Sunnyside to furnish coke for a new pig iron plant in California. Of the planned 300 ovens, about 40 were already in operation.

July 2, 1942
D&RGW announced that they had purchased twelve new locomotives and 1,500 new gondola cars to support a 200 percent increase in coal traffic from Sunnyside to two Kaiser plants, one at Geneva and the other near San Bernardino, California. (Coal Index: Sun-Advocate, July 2, 1942, p. 12)

July 1942
Construction started on a new coal washing and screening plant at Sunnyside, which received coal from both the No. 1 and No. mines. (Coal Age magazine, July 1944, page 71)

September 24, 1942
Construction of the new Kaiser steel plant in Fontana, California, was progressing rapidly. Operations were expected to begin in about one month, meaning that coal from Sunnyside would very soon begin moving to California to feed the coking furnaces there. Steel production was expected to begin in December. (Helper Journal, September 24, 1942)

December 12, 1942
A news item mentioned that Kaiser had a 10-year lease on the Utah Fuel property at Sunnyside. On December 11th, Kaiser had opened an office with 12 employees in Price to manage its operations at Sunnyside. The office was to be moved to Sunnyside when space was available. The new tipple at Sunnyside was almost complete, as were the 300 houses for workers. (Helper Journal, December 12, 1942)

December 30, 1942
Steel production of steel plate started at the Fontana steel plant on December 30, 1942. Coke was already being produced at Fontana, using coal shipped from Sunnyside. (Provo Daily Herald, December 30, 1942)

March 11, 1943
Many improvements were made at Sunnyside during the war years, including a new machine shop. (Coal Index: Sun Advocate, March 11, 1943, p. 14)

In 1943 Henry J. Kaiser leased Sunnyside No. 2 mine from Utah Fuel Company, to furnish coking coal for new steel mill at Fontana, California. The mine had been closed since 1921 because of a fire. After extinguishing the fire, the mine was closed due to low market demand for coal. (Gibson: Kaiser, p. 261)

November 1943
Testing started at the new coal washing and screening plant at Sunnyside, which received coal from both Utah Fuel's No. 1 mine, and the No. 2 mine leased to the Kaiser Company. (Coal Age magazine, July 1944, page 71)

Sunnyside Coke

Mark Hemphill wrote on October 3, 2018:

December 1915
There were 726 coke ovens at Utah Fuel's Sunnyside mine. Each coke oven was 12 feet in diameter. (Colorado School of Mines magazine, December 1915, Volume 2, Number 12, page 240)

In the early 1940s Kaiser began the operation of 297 beehive coke ovens at Sunnyside. The ovens were operated continuously until 1958, when Kaiser closed them down. In 1942 Kaiser leased a portion of the Sunnyside mine from Utah Fuel. In 1950 Kaiser bought Utah Fuel, and operated the properties at Sunnyside, Clear Creek and Castle Gate as the Utah Fuel Division of Kaiser Steel. Kaiser later sold the Castle Gate and Clear Creek operations to Independent Coal & Coke, which later sold both operations to North American Coal Company. North American later sold the Castle Gate property to McCulloch Oil Company, and the Clear Creek property to Valley Camp Coal Company. (Sun Advocate & Helper Journal, Special Edition, January 2, 1975, p. 5)

1948
At their peak of operation, before being closed in 1921, there were over 800 beehive coke ovens at Sunnyside. Coal that makes good coke doesn't necessarily make good domestic fuel, the carbon content and moisture content being different. In 1948 there wasn't much demand for Sunnyside coking coal, with the output of the Sunnyside No. 1 mine mostly going to the D&RGW railroad for use in their locomotives, and being used as fuel for industrial purposes. The market for coking coal had been taken over by the steel companies which were making coke in by-product ovens, using coal from their own coal mines. (Arthur E. Gibson, "Sunnyside", Centennial Echos from Carbon County, 1948, page 207-208)

The Kaiser Years (1943-1994)

Kaiser Coal Company at Sunnyside -- After Kaiser bought the Sunnyside mine in 1943, it became a dedicated coal mine that furnished coal solely to Kaiser Steel Company.

More Information

Sunnyside at Wikipedia

Sunnyside History at OnlineUtah.com

Utah Fuel Company -- Information about the history of Utah Fuel Company, originally a subsidiary of D&RGW railroad.

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