New East Tintic Railway (1896-1900)

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This page was last updated on September 4, 2025.

Overview

The New East Tintic was originally the private property of James A. Cunningham, who sold the road to the Oregon Short Line in November 1900. The Salt Lake Tribune of November 28, 1900 wrote that on November 26, 1900, Cunningham was paid $37,000 in OSL securities for the road.

The OSL continued to operate the road under the New East Tintic name until 1903 when all OSL lines south and west of Salt Lake City were sold to the San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake, which in 1916 dropped the 'San Pedro' from the name. The SPLA&SL did not operate the New East Tintic under its old name, but merged it and the equipment into their own system.

Before the New East Tintic Railway

McIntyre and Cunningham were among the organizers of two earlier attempts to build a railroad between the Mammoth mine and the newly completed, in January 1894, Mammoth mill.

The Tintic Railway was incorporated on January 29, 1891. William McIntyre held 25 of the 10,000 shares. The proposed route was from Provo City, to and through Eureka, in the Tintic Mining District, a distance of about 50 miles. This road was never built, but the two end points of the route was used by the Tintic Range Railway, a road controlled by Rio Grande Western interests, and incorporated on May 11, 1891. The Tintic Range Railway was completed to Eureka in December 1891, and to Silver City in May 1892.

The East Tintic Railway was incorporated on January 16, 1894, with William McIntyre controlling all 500 shares, except for nine qualifying shares held by others. The proposed route was from a point at or near Mammoth, Utah, then along the south side of Mammoth Hollow southwest to Mammoth Mill, then by curve or switchback to a point on the Oregon Short Line & Utah Northern Railway at or near Mammoth Mill Station, a distance of about 2-1/2 miles.

The company is authorized to acquire franchises for and to locate and construct and operate a line of railway, commencing near Mammoth, in Tintic Mining district, and thence running along the southerly side of Mammoth Hollow, in a general southwesterly course, by the route found most practicable to the Mammoth mill; thence on a curve from Mammoth mill to a point on the lines of the Oregon Short Line and Utah Northern railways, and the Tintic Range Railway company, at or near Mammoth mill station. The mode of power contemplated for use for the present is horse power, but it may be changed at any time. The length of the line is two and a half miles, exclusive of spurs and branches. (Salt Lake Herald, January 17, 1894)

(Note that the date of the East Tintic Railway's incorporation, was just two weeks after the date that operation began of the Mammoth mill.)

(Also in January 1894, the Rio Grande Western and UP's Oregon Short Line & Utah Northern, came to a peaceful settlement for access to the Mammoth mill. They agreed to build and maintain joint trackage from the UP crossing of RGW's line, into Mammoth, with a joint spur serving the Mammoth mill.)

Timeline

February 20, 1896
"One of the most important enterprises about to be inaugurated at Mammoth is a standard gauge railroad from the present Union Pacific track terminal at the mills, to continue up to the Mammoth mine, a distance of more than a mile. A branch will be run to the Ajax, and in all probability to the Sioux and other of the near-by mines later. Work will begin very soon upon the roadbed and it is expected that within thirty days thereafter the track will be down and cars running. A locomotive of the Shea cog pattern, similar to that in use on the Salt Lake & Mercur road, will furnish the propelling power. J. A. Cunningham, one of the principle owners of the Mammoth mine, is the promoter, and we consider it an excellent business proposition." (Salt Lake Tribune, February 20, 1896)

-- James Cunningham had earlier been involved in the East Tintic Railway of January 1894, which was an earlier attempt at organizing, together with Samuel and William McIntyre, a company to build a rail line along the same route. (Utah corporation number 1408)

-- Cunningham and the McIntyre brothers were also involved in the Tintic Railway of January 1891 that was projected to build from Provo to the Tintic mining district. (Utah corporation number 820 and 4356)

-- The plans for the Tintic Railway were abandoned because in May 1891 the Rio Grande Western organized its Tintic Range Railway and completed the line between Springville and Silver City in early 1892.

April 25, 1896
"Grading has commenced on the Mammoth railway, which is being constructed by James Cunningham and associates to connect the Mammoth mine and adjoining properties with the mill. The road is standard gauge and will be three mileslong." (Salt Lake Tribune, April 25, 1896)

May 16, 1896
"Work is progressing nicely in grading for the broad-gauge track between Mammoth mill and the Mammoth mine. The distance by wagon road is only one and a quarter miles, while the railroad will be over two miles, being elongated by several zigzags made necessary to overcome the heavy grade. J. A. Cunningham is building this road and will operate it for a term of several years under a contract to haul ore from the mine to the mill and take up all supplies, machinery, fuel, etc,, required at either the mine or mill. Broad-gauge cars and a thirty-ton Shay engine will be used. At the mine one track will run to the new 1700-ton orehouse, having four loading chutes, while another track will reach the tunned level much higher for taking in fuel, timber, etc., for use at the mine. An important change is to be made in handling ore. Two Blake crushers will be moved from the mill to the orehouse and all the rock-breaking will he done there. Of course an engine will be put in for that purpose. This will do away with crushing at the mill and permit the construction there of storage bins to aid in accumulating surplus ore to draw from and not have to shut down the mill, as has sometimes been the case, from teams being unable to furnish ore because of bad roads. Then it does away with the crushers now used at the top of the mill. Altogether this is going to be an important improvement for the Mammoth company." (Salt Lake Tribune, May 16, 1896)

May 20, 1896
The New East Tintic Railway was organized by James Cunningham and his associates to build a rail line from Mammoth Station, on the OSL&UN, east up Mammoth Hollow, past the Mammoth Mill, the Sioux Mill, the Ajax Mine, and the Mammoth Mine to the Sioux Mine at the east end of the Hollow. The corporation was filed on the May 22nd. (Utah corporation number 1439 and 4368)

From the articles of incorporation: "To construct, equip, maintain and operate a line of railroad from a connection with the lines of railway of the Oregon Short Line & Utah Northern Railway and the Rio Grande Western Railway, at Mammoth Station near Mammoth Mill at the mouth of Mammoth Hollow in the Tintic Mining District, Juab County, Utah, and running thence in a general easterly course up Mammoth Hollow by way of the Mammoth Mill and the Sioux Mill, the Mammoth Mine and the Ajax Mine, to the Sioux Mine, east of the head of said hollow, in the same mining district, and also a switch of spur therefrom to the Grand Central Mine on the southerly side of Eureka Peak, in the same mining district, a total length of about five miles."

Of the 500 shares of the company issued, Cunningham held 494 shares, with six other individuals each holding one share, in accordance with Utah law. Directors of the company were Cunningham, his son J. A. Cunningham Jr., Frank B. Cook, Hyrum S. Young, and William H. Bradley. These last four persons also held four of the six qualifying shares of stock in the company.

(SPLA&SL corporate history says that the company was incorporated on May 23, 1896.)

May 23, 1896
"Another New Road. -- The secretary of state yesterday issued to the New East Tintic Railway company a certificate of incorporation, the articles having been filed with the state auditor earlier in the day. The road is five miles in length and is to connect the Union Pacific and Rio Grande Western lines at Mammoth station in the Tintic district. The capital stock is $50,000 divided into 500 shares of $100 each. The incorporators are James A. Cunningham, James A. Cunningham, Jr., Frank B. Cook, Hyrum S. Young and William M. Bradley. James A. Cunningham owns 494 shares of the stock, the balance being held by the others of the company, l share each. The articles provide that the line may be operated by either horse, steam or electric power." (Salt Lake Herald, May 24, 1896)

May 24, 1896
"The Shay engine for the New East Tintic railroad will be received next week." (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, May 24, 1896)

(The Shay had Lima construction number 511. The dates of incorporation and announcement of purchasing the locomotive, May 23rd and 24th, 1896, and the date the locomotive was shipped from the Lima factory, June 6th, suggests that the locomotive was purchased from Lima stock on-hand. Lima records show that the locomotive was shipped from the factory on June 6, 1896.)

May 25, 1896
The newly installed 20 stamps have been completed at the Mammoth mill, but were not yet in service. The new stamps would not be used until the railroad was completed between the mine and mill. (Deseret News, May 25, 1896)

(No reference has been found in available online newspapers for the arrival of the New East Tintic's new locomotive, but with the date that it left the factory in Ohio on June 6th, the locomotive likley arrived in Utah in late June or early July 1896.)

August 15, 1896
The following comes from the August 15, 1896 issue of the Salt Lake Herald.

The completion of the New East Tintic railroad, that will place the town of Mammoth and the great mine of that name in railroad connection with the outside world, is in sight, and it is expected that by the first of the coming week the rails will be all down upon the main line and by the last of the month most of the switches and spurs will be laid.

Although this line is a trifle less than two miles in length from the connection with the Union Pacific track near the Mammoth mill to the mine, it has required a large amount of engineering skill to overcome the many obstacles of grade and curvature and bring the road within the minimum distance. Surveyor Burton has accomplished this part of the work in a most satisfactory manner. It is safe to say there is scarcely a straight rail in nearly a mile of the road after leaving the first switch-back, the compensation, however, has been so nicely worked out that no curves will exceed thirty degrees and the grade is maintained at an average not to exceed 5 per cent. Of course the curvature could have been greatly reduced by heavy cuts, but this was not deemed advisable owing to the difficulty in keeping the road open in winter.

Mr. S. N. Hornbuckle, a builder of large experience, is superintendent of construction, and the trackage, although in an unfinished condition, proves that he knows how to build railroads. We congratulate the promoters and all concerned upon the success of the important enterprise.

September 8, 1896
"The New East Tintic railway, connecting Mammoth Junction on the Union Pacific with the Mammoth mining property, has been finished and although only a few miles in length, the road has some heavy grades." (Salt Lake Tribune, September 8, 1896)

September 20, 1896
"Robinson, Sept. 21st, 1896 -- The New East Tintic railway is now in working order and Mr. S. N. Hornbuckle reports that all work was completed yesterday morning. Mr. Hornbuckle and his staff of workmen leave for Salt Lake today. Yesterday the company brought down from the Mammoth mine four carloads of ore weighing 175 tons. Two carloads will be brought from the mine today to feed the ore bins at the Mammoth mill." (Deseret News, September 22, 1896)

(Simon N. Hornbuckle, by 1904, was foreman of construction work of the Rio Grande Western railroad. By 1910, he has a similar position with the SPLA&SL railroad. In 1869 he was a resident of Mason City, Illinois, and was elected as city marshal. At some point before 1910, he moved from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles, then to Santa Barbara, then to Pasadena.)

September 20, 1896
"Superintendent S. N. Hornbuckle, who has demonstrated his ability as a railroad builder, will leave for his home in Salt Lake tomorrow. We venture the assertion that there is no better piece of mine railroad trackage in the State than the 'little giant' road just completed at-Mammoth. -- Eureka Democrat." (Salt Lake Tribune, September 20, 1896)

The New East Tintic Railway completed their 1.99-mile line from the Mammoth station, near the Mammoth Mill, to the Mammoth Mine, by using a switchback, 6 percent grades, and curves as sharp as 30 and 31 degrees.

September 25, 1896
The New East Tintic railroad sent its first four cars of concentrate from the Mammoth mill to market on Sunday September 20th, then two more cars of concentrate on Monday September 21st, then two more cars on Thursday September 24th. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, September 25, 1896)

October 25, 1896
The New East Tintic railroad was delivering 225 tons per day to the Mammoth mill, allowing the mill to start full production using all 60 stamps on October 19th, including the 20 newest stamps completed in May. (Salt Lake Tribune, October 25, 1896)

November 11, 1896
"Four hundred tons of ore were delivered at the Mammoth mill from the mine in one day last week over the New East Tintic railroad." (Deseret News, November 11, 1896)

December 2, 1896
"During the month of November about 6,000 tons of milling ore have been transported from the Mammoth mine to the mill over the New East Tintic -- Mammoth Record." (Provo Daily Enquirer, December 2, 1896)

December 2, 1896
"Yesterday the New East Tintic began hauling the high-grade ore from the Mammoth mine to the [Mammoth] Union depot." (Salt Lake Tribune, December 3, 1896)

(There were two grades of ore extracted from all mines. "Shipping" ore was high-grade, high-value ore that could be shipped directly to the smelters. "Milling" ore was low-grade, low-value ore that needed to be concentrated at the mills, to make it marketable to the smelters.)

(The Mammoth "Union" depot was in fact a small wooden depot building operated jointly by the Rio Grande Western and, at that time, the Oregon Short Line & Utah Northern. The joint trackage was also where the New East Tintic line interchanged with the other two railroads.)

December 3, 1896
The ore coming from the Grand Central mine during its development work was low-grade milling ore. As soon as the high-grade shipping ore was struck, the New East Tintic railroad "will be extended to the property. It will be necessary to build about one mile of track in order to attain sufficient altitude to enable the road to be built on a 6 per cent grade." (Deseret News, December 3, 1896)

(The Grand Central mine had only struck its first ore in late November. There is no indication that this spur was ever completed. Instead, an aerial tramway was later built and a spur of the Oregon Short Line railroad was built to serve the tramway's lower terminal.)

January 1, 1897
New East Tintic built initial 2-1/2 miles of railroad. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, January 1, 1897)

January 11, 1897
"The New East Tintic railway is reported having broken the record on Monday [January 11], when it hauled 450 tons of ore from the mine to the mill." The road was handling 180 tons every day. By May, the road was handling 200 tons every day. (Salt Lake Tribune, January 14, 1897; January 24, 1897; Deseret News, May 5, 1897)

May 10, 1897
"We are reliably informed that the New East Tintic railway will be extended over the divide from Mammoth to the Star Con. mine. Surveys for the proposed extension are already completed, and President Cunningham says that the branch will be built at once." (Salt Lake Tribune, May 10, 1897)

(Although promised and dreamed of on a regular basis, the extension to the Star Consolidated mine, later known as the North Star mine, was never built. Neither did the mine have its own aerial tramway to reduce its transportation costs. The Star Consolidated mine was located 3/4 mile south-southeast of the Mammoth, at about the same elevation, very near 6800 feet elevation. The extension would have been essentially level from the Mammoth but with numerous curves. There was a wagon road from the Star Consolidated mine, over Diamond Pass at about 6800 feet elevation, to a point on the New East Tintic line, about 1/2 mile below the Mammoth mine and at 6680 feet elevation. This suggests that ore was being freighted to this point on the railroad and there loaded into rail cars. The Star Consolidated [North Star] closed in 1900, thereby taking away all talk of an extension.)

May 15, 1897
"The Mammoth Record says that a large force of teams is now on the way from Cottonwood, and is expected to arrive in the camp today. They will be put to work on the New East Tintic roadbed, straightening out some of the worst curves, after which they will be employed in grading the new branch to the North Star." (The Argus, May 15, 1897)

May 17, 1897
"The work of grading the New East Tintic railway to the North Star mine was commenced yesterday. The contract was let to Bishop Brinten of Cottonwood and a large grading outfit is now at work." (Deseret News, May 17, 1897)

May 20, 1897
"Twenty men and six teams are busy grading on the New East Tintic railroad. As soon as the curves have been straightened work will be commenced on the North Star branch, which will be pushed with all possible speed. Captain S. N. Hornbuckle is expected to arrive in the camp early next week and will have charge of the track laying." (Salt Lake Herald, May 20, 1897)

(On June 5, 1897, the Mammoth mill was shut down for repairs, and as a result the railroad was shut down as well. During the lull in operations, the railroad put contractors to work straightening the worst of the sharp curves. The mill and railroad reopened on or about July 19, 1897. -- numerous newspaper reports of the period, with many complaints of a severe slowdown of business activity in the towns nearby)

August 21, 1897
"During the past week L. G. Burton, deputy United States mineral surveyor, has been making some additional surveys of the proposed line of the New East Tintic railway to the Star Con.'s mine. He also surveyed for a spur to the Ajax. It is reported that work on the construction of the new line will be commenced very soon." (Salt Lake Tribune, August 21, 1897)

August 26, 1897
"The New East Tintic railway is building a switch to connect with the Sioux mill, which is being operated under the management of Mr. F. H. Peyton. The building of the switch means a great deal for the miners of Eureka and Silver City, for the reason it furnishes facilities for the treatment of ores which they have not had heretofore." (Salt Lake Herald, August 26, 1897)

November 12, 1899
The Mammoth mill was closed due to the Shay engine of the New East Tintic railway suffering a burned boiler crown sheet. The railroad borrowed Salt Lake & Mercur Shay No. 1, but it was barely powerful enough to move a half-car of coal up to the mine, and one car of smelter ore down to Mammoth station. It was completely unable to pull a single car of concentrates from the mill, forcing the mill to close. The New East Tintic's Shay would be out of service for two weeks while the boiler was repaired, with the railroad taking the opportunity to install new cog gears on the locomotive. The railroad was able to deliver one car of milling ore at a time using the Mercur engine, severely reducing the output of the mill. The locomotive was returned to service on November 23rd, and all was well for the Mammoth. (Salt Lake Herald, November 13, 1899; November 15, 1899; November 20, 1899; Salt Lake Tribune, November 24, 1899; Deseret News, November 24, 1899)

December 31, 1899
New East Tintic -- the private property of J. A. Cunningham; has one Shay engine; about 2-1/2 miles long. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, December 31, 1899)

January 1, 1900
The following comes from the January 1, 1900 issue of the Salt Lake Tribune.

The New East Tintic Railroad. -- This road of about two and a half miles in length with a rise of 600 feet handled freight the past year as follows:

Mill ore -- 38,600 tons
Shipping ore -- 16,769 tons
Coal -- 2,823 tons
Timbers -- 1,598
Candles -- 12 tons
Total -- 59,802 tons

Besides this it did switching, concentrates, salt, etc., 187 cars of an average of twenty-five tons each car.

This road is equipped with the Shey cog-geared engines and being broad-gauged it takes cars from other roads at Robinson and lands them at mammoth mill and mine. The road is the private property of J. A. Cunningham and is of great assistance to the several mines in that locality and also to merchants there.

July 15, 1900
Samuel McIntyre offered to buy J. A. Cunningham's interest in the Mammoth Mine and the New East Tintic Railway. The offer was refused and the Mammoth mine commenced to survey and build a tramway to replace the New East Tintic Railway from the Mammoth Mine to the Mammoth Mill. (Salt Lake Mining Review, July 15, 1900)

(Samuel McIntyre, majority owner of the Mammoth mine, made an offer to purchase the New East Tintic railroad in July 1900, to lower his transportation costs. Having been rebuffed in his offer to buy the railroad, McIntyre commenced to survey for an aerial tramway to replace the New East Tintic Railway. A news item in a June 1900 issue of the national trade publication Engineering and Mining Journal gives more detail. Cunningham was charging 30 cents per ton to move ore from the Mammoth mine down to the joint OSL and RGW station at Mammoth. The proposed aerial tramway would move the same 250 tons of ore per day at 6 cents per ton. Particulars for the tramway showed that it would be 4,800 feet long, with a drop of 350 feet. Its construction was pegged at $15,000, with a projected completion date in September 1900. There is no evidence that the tramway was ever actually completed.)

November 28, 1900
"Short Line Gets It." "New East Tintic Line Bought and Will be Extended." "J. H. Young, Division Superintendent of the Oregon Short Line, was down today to Robinson and he closed up the deal to buy the New East Tintic Railway from McIntyre." "The price was $30,000, payable in securities of the company." (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, November 28, 1900)

December 1, 1900
The New East Tintic road is now being operated by the Oregon Short Line. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, December 1, 1900)

December 1900
New East Tintic Railway had finished surveying spurs to serve the Lower Mammoth, Grand Central, and Star Consolidated mines. (Salt Lake Tribune, December 22, 1900)

December 11, 1900
"Supt. J. H. Young of the Oregon Short Line was out to Robinson Tuesday (December 11, 1900), accompanied by Master Mechanic Tollerton and Road Master Dwier. While out Mr. Young examined the New East Tintic Ry. and closed the deal whereby the O.S.L. acquires the property for $30,000. The road will be extended to the Grand Central, Star Cons., Dragon iron mine and other properties, all of which can be reached by an easy grade. It has been believed for some time that the Rio Grande Western would become the purchaser of the New East Tintic under an option secured by A. E. Hyde and Jesse Fox, but the option expired before the deal was closed and the Short Line stepped in and gobbled it up. The road will be a valuable feeder for the Short Line. (Salt Lake Mining Review, December 15, 1900, citing the Tintic Miner newspaper)

August 2, 1901
OSL ordered a 65 ton Shay for the New East Tintic Railway. (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, August 2, 1901)

(New East Tintic no. 11 was built in January 1902, Lima construction number 674)

January 30, 1902
"The Oregon Short Line has received the largest Shay locomotive ever built. It is now being coupled up at the shops and will be used on the Tintic branch in handling the ore shipments of the Star Consolidated." (Deseret News, January 30, 1902)

January 1918
Mammoth Mining Company was complaining of the high rates that LA&SL was charging to ship the ore from the Mammoth Mine down to Mammoth, via the former New East Tintic Railway. In 1917 LA&SL had charged $7,500 to move 40,000 tons of ore in 840 cars over the two-mile line. The mining company threatened to build an aerial tramway from their mine down to the D&RG at Mammoth. (Salt Lake Mining Review, January 30, 1918)

James A. Cunningham Biographical Note

James A. Cunningham (of New East Tintic Railway) was born in 1842 in Quincy, Illinois and came to Utah in an ox-cart party in 1848. He had five children, of which James, Jr. was the oldest. Cunningham died in late March 1918 at age 76. (Salt Lake Mining Review, April 15, 1918)

Map

New East Tintic Railway -- A Google Map of the New East Tintic Railway, purchased by OSL in 1900 and the home of UP's Shay locomotives.

More Information

Corporate information -- Basic corporate history of New East Tintic Railway.

Tintic Railroads -- An updated version of the original text used for an article published as "UP's Tintic Subdivision" in The Streamliner, Volume 19, Number 3, Summer 2005, published by the Union Pacific Historical Society. The article in The Streamliner includes 32 photos (three in color, plus the color cover), and seven maps, along with locomotive diagrams, timetable entries, and track profiles of the branches where UP ran its Shay locomotives.

UP's Shays -- Additional information about Union Pacific's Shay locomotives

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