Savage Tooele Railroad

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This page was last updated on September 19, 2025.

Overview

In November 2021 the Savage Tooele Railroad was organized by Savage Industries, to operate the remaining portion of Union Pacific's former WP Warner Branch. This action was to allow the new railroad to acquire Union Pacific's rights to operate over the former WP branch.

(Read about the history of the WP Tooele Branch)

On June 30, 2022, Savage Tooele Railroad Company filed a petition to construct and operate approximately 11 miles of rail line in Tooele County, Utah, connecting with the Union Pacific Railroad Shafter Subdivision mainline at approximately milepost 897.94 near Burmester, Utah, to the new Lakeview Business Park in Grantsville, Utah. The new rail line would reestablish the former Warner Branch connection to UP's Shafter Subdivision at Burmester, Utah, and provide common carrier service to enable tenants of the industrial park to ship and receive commodities and other products by rail.

Savage Tooele Railroad (STR) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Savage Enterprises, LLC, and both are subsidiaries of Savage Companies.

The Savage Tooele Railroad would extend from the Lakeside Business Park to an approximately 1.04-mile segment of track owned by UP connecting to UP's Shafter Subdivision at Burmester, Utah. The new line comprises a portion of the former Warner Branch, which was owned and operated by UP's predecessor, Western Pacific Railroad. WP sought and received authority to abandon the Warner Branch in 1983 (ICC Docket FD 30208, decided August 9, 1983).

In April 2024 the STB approved the application, allowing the Savage Tooele Railroad to begin refurbishing the seven miles of tracks and right-of-way between Burmester and the Lakeside Business Park that was under development north and west of the Deseret Peak Motorsports Park. Savage Tooele also planned on adding several spur tracks (an additional four miles) within the Lakeside Business Park to serve rail customers. (STB Docket FD 36616, decided April 1, 2024)

Savage Tooele Railroad acquired UP's rights and interests in the right-of-way and track between milepost 1.04 at its north end, and milepost 6.94 at its south end. The right-of-way and track of the Warner Branch have remained largely intact; however, in 2004 and 2015, UP deeded two parcels of the right-of-way, approximately 0.54 miles, to adjacent landowners. These parcels will need to be reacquired and the track reconstructed, along with two at-grade rail crossings at State Highway 138 and Erda Way. Savage Tooele Railroad states that it plans to construct approximately five miles of new track extending the former Warner Branch into the Lakeside Business Park, along with interchange and ancillary track within the industrial park, as well as approximately 2,500 feet of new interchange and ancillary track within the right-of-way near milepost 1.04, at the new line's north end on UP's remaining Warner Branch near Burmester.

Work began in early January 2025 to renovate the existing former WP/UP Warner Branch for use by the new Savage Tooele Railroad. No date was set for actual operations to begin.

September 17, 2025
The Savage Tooele Railroad held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on September 17, 2025 to celebrate the opening of the 11-mile short line, which revived the dormant former Western Pacific Tooele Branch, west of Salt Lake City.

The following comes from Trains.com, by Bill Stephens, September 18, 2025.

The short line connects with UP’s Shafter Subdivision via a 1.04-mile connecting track that reactivated the track last year.

BNSF Railway is seeking access to the Savage Tooele via its trackage rights over the Shafter Sub, which were granted as part of UP’s 1996 acquisition of Southern Pacific and include the right to interchange with any new short line connection.

BNSF has told the STB that the UP connecting track is an attempt to create a one-mile barrier between the Shafter Sub and the Savage Tooele Railroad, which would prevent BNSF from interchanging with the short line and reaching customers at the business park.

The STB rejected UP’s claim that the dispute should be settled through arbitration and said a board proceeding was the proper forum for “a dispute with potentially broad implications concerning conditions imposed in the UP/SP merger.”

Under a schedule set by the board, BNSF’s opening submission is due Sept. 25. UP’s reply is due by Oct. 27. BNSF’s rebuttal will be due by Nov. 24.

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