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Naval Supply Depot (NSD) Clearfield

This page was last updated on June 21, 2024.

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Overview

Clearfield Freeport Center -- Although this UP map is dated 1972, it still shows the enginehouse that was at the north end of the Clearfield Freeport Center. When it was built in April 1943 as the Naval Supply Depot Clearfield, there were U. S. Navy locomotives assigned switching duties, and they were maintained at this enginehouse. A roster listing of Navy locomotives in 1949 showed a total of eight U. S. Navy locomotives assigned to NSD Clearfield, including three GE 65-ton center cabs, and four GE 80-ton center cabs.

The U. S. Navy closed the supply depot in 1962 and in July 1963 it was privatized as a tax-free warehousing district where companies could store goods without concern of inventory taxes. According to various UP press releases, within a few short years and throughout the 1970s, the Clearfield Freeport Center became the #1 source of rail traffic on the entire UP system. During the 1970s, UP kept six of its 10 SD7 locomotives at Clearfield, and in the 1980s, it was home to at least four GP30 locomotives. In the late 1990s, that same assignment is held by similar sets of ex-MoPac GP15-1s.

In July 1963, the New York Times wrote: "The former Naval Supply Depot had been the largest Naval supply depot in the western United States, and as a privately owned warehouse center, represented five percent of the public warehouse space available in the continental Unites States. The purchase included three miles of railroad line and a locomotive roundhouse. The earliest tenants included Whirlpool-Sears, Westinghouse Electric, and California Packing Corporation (Del Monte), along with Roger Brothers, an Idaho company that stored diced, sliced, mashed and dehydrated potatoes."

The Freeport Center is today west of the former D&RGW mainline. It was joint trackage for D&RGW and UP, but UP provided all the switching (possibly by agreement with D&RGW). UP access comes from its Clearfield station and yard, westward on the former Syracuse Branch which crosses the D&RGW main via a crossing diamond controlled by D&RGW, since the Syracuse Branch was built in 1887 as the Ogden & Syracuse Railroad, a couple years after D&RG completed its line between Salt Lake City and Ogden. But UP essentially controlled all the traffic, Rio Grande had little more than a siding for its small portion.

The following comes from some sparse notes taken in 1980 during an informal review of the NSD Clearfield newspaper.

Timeline

(Unless noted, the following information is taken from the history of NSD Clearfield at MarineBarracks.com)

1942
Early in 1942 following the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor it became evident to the Navy that it would need to vastly expand its logistical support network in order to successfully prosecute its wartime campaign against Japan. To do this the Navy would require substantial new warehouse space to be created somewhere in the American West where it would be accessible to major transportation nodes and be out of the reach of enemy air attack.

April 11, 1942
The Navy evaluated several sites before settling on a location in Clearfield, Utah, which was approved by the Secretary of the Navy.

May 26, 1942
The Secretary of the Navy received the approval of President Roosevelt to build a facility at Clearfield, Utah.

June 13, 1942
Judge Tillman D. Johnson granted title and immediate possession of the desired real estate to the Navy during condemnation proceedings which were held in Federal Court in Ogden, Utah. Construction activity shortly followed, but no formal ground breaking ceremonies were held due to reasons of wartime security.

Construction was commenced under a contract which planned for the building of a total of forty-eight storehouses, each 200 feet x 600 feet. These warehouse facilities were intended for general storage of naval parts, stores and equipment to support naval ships, airplanes and personnel. The initial contract allocated funds in the amount of $33.6 million for the construction of the depot. Construction efforts moved ahead swiftly despite shortages of manpower and construction material. With the nation on a war footing the construction of NSD Clearfield had to compete with other urgent wartime requirements and activities.

The construction effort took 10 months, 22 days. When completed in April 1943 the following feats of construction had been accomplished:

• 159,000,000 cubic feet of building construction
• 228,175 cubic yards of concrete
• 7,560,346 square feet of roofing
• 30 miles of railroad, including 145 switches, 80,000 ties and 71,550 cubic yards of fill
• 13.5 miles of road
• 18 miles of water line
• Ground level and overhead water tanks totaling 2.4 million gallons of water
• 7 miles of sanitary sewers
• 18 miles of storm drains
• 6.8 million square feet of automatic sprinkler protection, which required 218 miles of pipe, and 63,450 sprinkler heads
• 5.2 miles of illuminated fence
• 8 miles of overhead electrical distribution system
• 11.4 miles of telephone wiring (10.3 overhead, 1.1 underground)
• 1.7 miles of overhead air raid alarm system
• 11.7 miles of fire alarm systems (10.8 overhead, .9 underground)
• 2.4 miles of underground steam distribution

September 4, 1942
Commander Harry Hines arrived at Clearfield, Utah as Supply Officer in Command.

November 22, 1942
The Administration building was made available for use of Commander Hines and his growing staff, which included 15 Navy Supply Corps Officers, one Medical Corps Officer and three Navy Line Officers.

December 1942
NSD Clearfield received its first shipments of material.

April 10, 1943
Naval Supply Depot Clearfield was commissioned on April 10, 1943. When commissioned it was the second largest Naval Supply Depot in the world, by the end of World War II it had become the largest.

NSD Clearfield covered approximately 871 acres initially covered by 58 warehouses. In a combination of open and covered warehouse space this facility would store logistical requirements and stage war materials needed to support the Pacific campaign.

The Transportation Section of NSD Clearfield maintained a very close relationship with the railroads so as to maximize its effectiveness in speeding its shipments to the West Coast for onward shipment. The Transportation Section of NSD Clearfield had its own railway service, which serviced the sprawling NSD Clearfield complex. This railway service brought incoming shipments to NSD Clearfield and shipped outgoing requirements to the fleet.

Freeport Center

The Naval supply depot at Clearfield was closed in 1962 and privatized as a tax-free warehousing district where companies could store goods without concern of inventory taxes. Today, the Freeport Center is the home of such nationally known companies as Fram automotive filters and Utility truck trailers, along with Arrow Dynamics, builder of those heart stopping coaster rides at many of the world's most famous amusement parks. After Arrow fabricates these rides, with their dramatic loops and sharp turns, they are disassembled and shipped worldwide, starting their journeys at Clearfield, loaded on flat cars handled by Union Pacific. In addition to switching in and around the Freeport Center and Clearfield during the work week, the UP's GP30s also worked daily between Salt Lake City and the Freeport Center, and between Ogden and Freeport. On weekends, the units usually tied up at Salt Lake City for inspections and fuel.

The Clearfield Freeport Center was the No. 1 source of traffic for UP during the 1970s. Unfortunately, the Rio Grande suffered here due to UP's dominance in Utah rail traffic. I am guessing that whatever traffic D&RGW had for the Freeport Center was whatever came by way of Denver over its own rails, or from California by way of its WP connection. As far as I know, D&RGW only ran a single daily train between Salt Lake City and Ogden, and whatever traffic there was that was bound for Clearfield would have been set out and picked up by that train. They did not have a switcher or other motive power assigned there, whereas UP always had at least four units specifically assigned to Freeport.

The Freeport Center was joint trackage for D&RGW and UP, but UP provided all the switching (possibly by agreement with D&RGW). The major portion of the center's trackage is located west of the Rio Grande main. UP has a six or seven track yard at Clearfield, but I don't think Rio Grande had any more than a siding. I don't have access to D&RGW drawings, but I'm guessing that UP's Syracuse Branch had a regular diamond crossing of the Rio Grande main. I am also guessing that UP's access to the Freeport Center, just a couple hundred feet south of that crossing, was by way of a set of switches that gave UP access to Rio Grande's main.

For at least a full year, motive power at Utah's Clearfield Freeport Center (at one time UP's single largest source of carload traffic) consisted of two sets of paired GP30s. Today that same assignment is held by similar sets of ex-MoPac GP15-1s, and during the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s, Freeport motive power was six of UP's 10-unit fleet of SD7s. At Freeport, the GP30s worked in pairs, switching the many rail-served industries and warehouses at this former U. S. Navy warehousing complex, located on UP's mainline between Salt Lake City and Ogden.

Locomotives

The following roster listing was compiled by Allen Copeland in January 2011.

"These locomotives are arranged in order of delivery. The units with the 500-series number may be a clue to the number series in use prior to 1949-1950. The local numbers in use after that are based on the USN registration number. There were probably more units used at this facility:"

1949-1950 USN Registration	Local NSD Number	HP	Weight	Builder	c/n	Date	Note
65-00184	184	400	65T	GE	17888	8/43	1
65-00183	183	400	65T	GE	18004	9/43	2
65-00179	179	500	80T	GE	18064	11/43	3
--	?	400	65T	Porter	7656	8/44	4
65-00182	507	500	80T	GE	27815	1/45	5
65-00181	508	500	80T	GE	27858	3/45	6
65-00180	180	500	80T	GE	28447	8/45	7
65-00256	20	1000	120T (VO1000)	BLW	71985	2/45	8

More Information

History of NSD Clearfield at MarineBarracks.com (broken link <https://www.marinebarracks.com/clearfield_history.htm>)

(The following was retrieved from the Wayback Machine at Archive.org)

World War II History Of NSD Clearfield, Utah

 As you are aware the 2003 Navy Supply Corps Workshop will be held in Salt Lake City April 11-13.  What you may not be aware of is that on April 10, 2003 we will commemorate a significant chapter of Utah Navy Supply Corps History.  Naval Supply Depot Clearfield was commissioned on April 10, 1943.  When commissioned it was the second largest Naval Supply Depot in the world, by the end of World War II it had become the largest.  What follows is a short history of World War II operations at NSD Clearfield.  It is interesting that the logistical lessons learned during that conflict are still of value today as we battle the war on terror.

Construction Of Naval Supply Depot Clearfield

 Early in 1942 following the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor it became evident to the Navy that it would need to vastly expand it's logistical support network in order to successfully prosecute it's wartime campaign against Japan.  To do this the Navy would require substantial new warehouse space to be created somewhere in the American West where it would be accessible to major transportation nodes and be out of the reach of enemy air attack.

 The Navy evaluated several sights before settling on a location in Clearfield, Utah, which was approved by the Secretary of the Navy on April 11, 1942.  The Secretary of the Navy then sought the approval of President Roosevelt, which was granted on or about May 26, 1942.  On receipt of Presidential authorization the Navy Department moved swiftly to obtain title to the desired real estate. On June 13, 1942 Judge Tillman D. Johnson granted immediate possession to the Navy during condemnation proceedings which were held in Federal Court in Ogden, Utah.  Construction activity shortly followed, but no formal ground breaking ceremonies were held due to reasons of wartime security.

 Construction was commenced under a contract which planned for the building of forty eight 200' x 600' storehouses. These warehouse facilities were intended for general storage of naval parts, stores and equipment to support naval ships, airplanes and personnel.  The initial contract allocated funds in the amount of $33.6 million for the construction of the depot.  Construction efforts moved ahead swiftly despite shortages of manpower and construction material.  With the nation on a war footing the construction of NSD Clearfield had to compete with other urgent wartime requirements and activities.

 This construction effort would last 10 months, 22 days.  When completed in April 1943 the following feats of construction had been accomplished:

- 159,000,000 cubic feet of building construction
- 228,175 cubic yards of concrete
- 7,560,346 square feet of roofing
- 30 miles of railroad to include 145 switches, 80,000 ties and 71,550 cubic yards of fill
- 13.5 miles of road
- 18 miles of water line
- Ground level and overhead water tanks totaling 2.4 million gallons of water
- 7 miles of sanitary sewers
- 18 miles of storm drains
- 6.8 million square feet of automatic sprinkler protection, which required 218 miles of pipe, and 63,450 sprinkler heads
- 5.2 miles of illuminated fence
- 8 miles of overhead electrical distribution system
- 11.4 miles of telephone wiring (10.3 overhead, 1.1 underground)
- 1.7 miles of overhead air raid alarm system
- 11.7 miles of fire alarm systems (10.8 overhead, .9 underground)
- 2.4 miles of underground steam distribution

Manning Up NSD Clearfield

Despite the hurdles of constructing Naval Supply Depot Clearfield, a bigger hurdle remained in staffing the organization required to run the facility.  Utah along with the rest of the nation responded quickly to the call to arms.  This call to arms took many forms.  Many men volunteered or were drafted for active military service.  Those men who were not able to serve in the armed forces were highly desired for employment as civilian employees for wartime civil service or for local defense contractors. This rapid mobilization of available manpower created a paucity of manpower assets, which heralded a need for creative solutions.  World War II introduced female employment to the private sector and to government service on a grand scale never before seen in American society.

During 1942 concurrent with the efforts to build the physical facility at NSD Clearfield, a training program was underway at NSD Oakland to train a nucleus of Navy Supply Corps Officers and other military staff for the purpose of manning up NSD Clearfield.  This training effort would teach them the essentials of how to operate a Navy Supply Depot.  This challenge would be especially daunting in that NSD Clearfield would be stood up from scratch.  Obviously this nucleus would need to pay special attention to the specifics of operating procedures and other such details in order to make NSD Clearfield a going concern.

On September 4, 1942 Commander Harry Hines arrived at Clearfield, Utah as Supply Officer in Command.  Accompanying Commander Hines was a Chief Clerk and one other civilian employee.  Other Navy Supply Corps Officers, trainees and employees would shortly follow them.   One of their chief objectives on their arrival would be the recruitment of available labor.  This objective would be difficult to fulfill as available manpower had been drained to support other defense installations, and defense production efforts.  Hiring ads in the local newspapers expressly advised prospective employees that they would not be considered for employment if they were already employed by another activity having a wartime support requirement.

While final construction efforts would not be completed until April 1943, the Administration building was made available for use of Commander Hines and his growing nucleus on November 22, 1942. This staff included 15 Navy Supply Corps Officers, 1 Medical Corps Officer and 3 Navy Line Officers.  Like the little engine who could, the NSD Clearfield staff quickly began to ramp up to meet the demand for wartime operations.  In December 1942 NSD Clearfield recorded it's first stock receipts and it's first issues albeit on a small scale.  From this small beginning NSD Clearfield quickly manned up to meet the challenges of supporting the furious battles that were then raging in the Pacific.

At the time of formal commissioning on April 10, 1943, the NSD Clearfield staff had grown to 29 Navy Supply Corps Officers and 8 Navy Line Officers.  Total staffing for the depot was approximately 1700 persons.  This included a Marine Barracks that was assigned to the depot by the Navy Department for physical security of the depot.  

Considering the gargantuan challenge of supporting a wartime fleet engaged in fighting the enemy, NSD Clearfield simply needed more people to effectively fulfill her mission.  So serious was this challenge that the Navy actively recruited many employees from out of state to fill its employment needs.  Female labor was the norm considering that much of the male manpower was away at war.  NSD Clearfield also pleaded with the Navy Department to increase it's military manning to cope with the challenge. In August 1943 37 Navy Officers had been authorized for NSD Clearfield.

This battle for manpower waged on throughout 1943 witnessing many initiatives to make effective use of available manpower.  Much of the labor exerted during this period was performed without the benefit of MHE (Material Handling Equipment or forklifts).  Forklifts and other such MHE was simply in short supply because of the overwhelming wartime demand.  As time progressed this deficiency would be addressed.  This shortage of manpower and MHE witnessed many Navy Officers donning old uniforms to help in unloading and loading box cars to keep wartime requirements and requisitions moving.  Other initiatives having great effect in maximizing manpower were the introduction of Training Division and a Plans Division.  Training was an immense challenge in that many personnel were recruited based on their availability rather than their capability.  If available they could be trained on the job.  Training topics included Navy Storekeeping, Naval Correspondence, Typing and use of MHE.  The Plans Division was needed to enable the facility to forecast and organize so as to enable NSD Clearfield to move from a reactive mode to a proactive mode.  In order to effectively meet the mandate of it's mission NSD Clearfield had to position itself to where it was able to anticipate Fleet requirements and to aggressively use it's resources to support the Navy's ongoing Pacific campaign.

Other challenges encountered included an unacceptably high absenteeism rate.  Investigating the root causes of the absenteeism, the Navy found that this problem in many cases was brought on by the challenges of working mothers balancing a work life with a home life.  In 1943, shops rarely stayed open past 6:00 pm.  Taking the initiative, the Navy worked with local merchants to extend shopping hours in the evening hours to enable it's employees to take care of shopping needs in the evening after work.  The Navy opened it's base canteen to it's civilian employees and expanded the base canteen's merchandise to include such necessities as soap, toothpaste, cosmetics etc. These efforts to accommodate the needs of its employees did the trick and stemmed the tide of absenteeism to acceptable levels.

Other efforts to tap manpower included putting a local contingent of Italian POW's (Prisoners of War) to work at the depot in November 1943.  This was a win-win situation in that male manpower was hard to come by, and kept the POW's busy at productive wartime support.

By December 1943 the epic struggle for manpower had begun to ebb, as several local defense plants that had been engaged in filling wartime contracts began to release employees for employment at NSD Clearfield.  Other initiatives would include the introduction of female WAVES (Women Auxiliary Volunteers for Emergency Service).  By the end of 1944 the NSD Clearfield staff would grow to 5,000.  At the end of WWII the naval facility would include 7,000 persons including 2,000 military personnel.

The wartime expedients of supporting the Navy's Pacific campaign challenged social norms, business practices and the ingenuity of the personnel assigned to NSD Clearfield.  As impressive an achievement as the construction of NSD Clearfield was, it would have been for naught were it not for the "can-do" dedication of it's military and civilian personnel.

Wartime Operations At NSD Clearfield

Logisticians are the unsung heroes of the military service.  At the beginning of U.S. involvement Admiral Ernest J. King then Chief of Naval Operations stated, "I don't know what the hell this logistics is….but I want some of it!".  If the United States was to be successful in prosecuting its Pacific campaign against Japan, it would need to sustain a mammoth logistical pipeline to naval forces operating in the Pacific theater of operations.  The scope of the Pacific theater defied the imagination as it stretched in the Southwest Pacific from Singapore and Australia to Alaskan island chain in the Northern Pacific to the west coast of the continental United States.  This immense geographical spread challenged the ability of the Pacific Fleet deeply wounded by the Japanese at Pearl Harbor.  Vast differences in weather, climate and operational conditions challenged logisticians tasked with supporting this life and death struggle with the Japanese.

With the stinging Japanese blows at Pearl Harbor fresh in mind the Navy was determined to protect it's material stockpiles and logistical treasures from the reach of enemy attack.  The site at Clearfield, Utah was highly desired as it was beyond the reach of Japanese carrier aircraft.  In addition the Clearfield site was strategically located in that it was roughly equidistant from every major seaport on the West Coast.  In the event that a major port on the west coast were to come under Japanese attack it could be re-supplied within one day by rail or by air within a matter of hours.

To understand the complexity of supporting the Navy in it's Pacific campaign it is necessary to understand the make up of the Pacific Fleet and also a basic understanding of it's strategy to win the war against Japan.  The Pacific Fleet ranged from tiny PT boats and Minesweepers to Destroyers, Cruisers to the awe-inspiring Battleships and Aircraft Carriers.  The advent of naval aviation in the early 20th Century introduced carrier borne aircraft, seaplanes, and blimps.  Other naval forces to be supported included the U.S. Marine Corps with all the complexity of land warfare in an amphibious setting.  Each of these naval components would require unflagging logistical support if the United States were to be successful in it's Pacific quest to conquer the Japanese war machine.

In it's strategy to retake the Pacific the Navy's strategy was to build forward operating bases as it retook the Pacific.  The Japanese Navy in it's early efforts to challenge the United States moved quickly to take Wake Island, Guam and the Philippines, and to cripple the U.S. Fleet at Pearl Harbor.  The outcome of the war would be determined based on who controlled strategic island chains.  The war in the Pacific would focus on control of island chains previously unknown to the average American household.  These island chains would be the forward receiving points for rear staging areas such as NSD Clearfield. 

NSD Clearfield covered approximately 871 acres initially covered by 58 warehouses.  In a combination of open and covered warehouse space this facility would store logistical requirements and stage war materials needed to support the pacific campaign. The categories of support include

- Advance Base Functional Components Support
- Automotive Spares Support
- Aviation Support
- Destroyer/Cruiser Support
- Medical Stores Support
- Ordnance Support
- Personal Effects (of Deceased) Support
- PT Boat Support
- Radar Support

To accomplish this daunting task NSD Clearfield was organized into operating groups which provided different types of logistical support.

- Receipt and Storage of Incoming Stores
- Packing and Shipping of Outgoing Stores
- Transportation of Incoming and Outgoing Material
- Inventory management

Determining what to send to operating forces in the Fleet was a function of "Push and Pull" logistical support.  "Pull" refers to urgent items that are specifically required by the operating units, while "Push" refers to those routine items that can be forecast as requirements for logistical support.  "Pull" items would be sent on demand, while "Push" items would be sent as a matter of routine.  This combination of logistical support is still a cornerstone of support for today's Navy.

Naval doctrine called for setting up Advanced Base Functional Components (ABFC's) at forward operating bases in the Pacific.  These forward-operating bases would have different requirements depending on the type of operating forces that would be located at these locations.  To support these forward bases would require flexibility and ingenuity.  To respond to this challenge the Navy created the concept of ABFC's.   ABFC's are specially designed units tasked to perform a specific operational function.  ABFC's were envisioned as puzzle pieces that could be pieced with other ABFC's to create special logistical support capabilities.  ABFC's were as diverse as Mobile Optical Repair Units to Gardening Units.  Each ABFC was conceived with a specific Table of Equipment designed to enable an ABFC to fulfill it's intended mission. 

One of the principal taskings of NSD Clearfield was to assemble this table of equipment for the various ABFC's in the pacific theater of operations.  Assembling this equipment was an incredible challenge.  NSD Clearfield was sandwiched between the production schedules of contractor's tasked with producing the urgently required material and the operational schedules of the Pacific Fleet.  Juggling the minutia of these competing schedules was a logistical feat of the first order.

Once material was identified for shipment it would often require special packing, so to be able to endure the rigors of transit.  Packaging this material for shipment literally consumed many millions of board feet of lumber.  Quality packaging was urgently needed to ensure that when the operating unit in the Fleet received the material that it would be received in prime operating condition.  NSD Clearfield earned a sterling reputation for quality packaging as evidenced by a letter of commendation from the Commanding Officer of NSD Guam who held up the efforts of NSD Clearfield as the standard to emulate.

Shipping this material from NSD Clearfield to the Fleet required coordination worthy of a Broadway production.  The Transportation Section of NSD Clearfield maintained a very close relationship with the Railroads so as to maximize its effectiveness in speeding its shipments to the West Coast for onward shipment.  The Transportation Section of NSD Clearfield had its own railway service, which serviced the sprawling NSD Clearfield complex.  This railway service brought incoming shipments to NSD Clearfield and shipped outgoing requirements to the fleet.  An interesting footnote about the NSD Clearfield railway is that the rails used were drawn from the tracks at Promontory Point for use at the Clearfield depot.  In their own way these rails that had unified the nation at the driving of the golden spike in 1869, were now helping to win the war by speeding shipments of urgent supplies to the fleet.

While most shipments were sent by mail, urgent requirements could be expedited by air shipment from nearby Hill Army Air Field or from the Salt Lake Airport.  By air shipments could arrive at the West Coast in a matter of hours.  This was a precursor of the overnight air shipments that we today take for granted.

World War II introduced many new logistical concepts that helped to win the war against Japan.  Without the efforts of the dedicated personnel assigned to NSD Clearfield this logistical campaign to support the Pacific Fleet would have been immensely more difficult.  The logistical lessons learned in this campaign are still in use today as the U.S. Navy prosecutes the war on terror.  The former employees and veterans of NSD Clearfield can take comfort in the thought that their efforts helped to make possible the victorious conclusion of the Pacific campaign.

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