Deep Creek Railroad, November 1938
This page was last updated on March 3, 2007.
From Ogden Standard Examiner, November 6, 1938:
Courtesy Marks Operation of Lonely Line
Railroad Runs To Ghost Town
Executive Has Served As Jack of All Trades 19 Years
[caption for two photos] ONLY ONE OF KIND ... Utah's most unusual railroad is the deep Creek, a 45-mile line in the southwestern part of the state. Its single weekly train is operated by Mason Moore, left, above, and Percy T. Hewitt, right, engineer. Moore is manager, superintendent, roadmaster, conductor, clerk, stenographer, and track repairman all in one. He believes in accommodation service, and stops the train anytime and anywhere to serve the railroad's patrons. Seen also is a rear view of the train as it heads toward Gold Hill, ghost mining town, its southern terminus. The photos were sent to The Standard-Examiner by Mr. Moore.
The Deep Creek railroad, which operates along the west side of Utah's great salt deseret, from Wendover to Gold Hill, is strictly an accommodation railroad, according to Mason "Mace" Moore, its manager.
For 45 miles the railroad traverses sparsely settled territory past a few ranches and miners places, to Gold Hill, once a promising mining center, now almost a ghost town.
Mr. Moore has been with this unusual railroad for 19 years, he says in a letter, and his jobs are many. besides being manager, he's also superintendent, roadmaster, conductor of the the road's one weekly train, clerk, stenographer, and, he says, all too often a track laborer.
The "train" consists of an 1890 Baldwin locomotive and usually a coach, the latter being probably a relic of the old central pacific and older than the engine. It is still heated by two pot-bellied stoves, one at each end.
"I have been here so long I know most all the people in western Utah and eastern Nevada," writes MMr. Moore. "In the winter this country fills up with sheep. the sheep men have a hard life, with coyotes, blizzards, deep snow and dry seasons. They sure have my sympathy and I always try to help them, stopping the train near their camps to unload feed, groceries and mail, and the same with miners and prospectors.
"We commonly stopped the train to allow passengers to shoot at jack rabbits. I have wasted lots of ammunition shooting at coyotes while the train was running."
Track Complaints
"I am constantly hearing about what terrible track we have (from outsiders), but federal inspectors and railroad engineers always compliment us on the condition of our track. Of course, I am knocking on wood as I say it, but we have not had a derailment of any kind in over 10 years, and there has not been a passenger injured since I have been on the road. The rails are dated 1885 and 1886. The railroad began operations March 1, 1917."
###