Union Pacific's Syracuse (Utah) Branch

Index For This Page

This page was last updated on December 28, 2024.

(Portions of this history were also used in "The Community of Syracuse, 1820 to 1995", Centennial Edition, Syracuse Historical Commission, Syracuse, Utah, 1994, pages 63, 64, 98, 99)

Overview

OSL's Syracuse Branch ran southwest for about 5.8 miles from Clearfield Junction to a wye on the east shore of the Great Salt Lake at Syracuse. (Syracuse, Utah was named after the town in New York state, which also had a predominant salt industry.)

Built in 1887 and abandoned in stages in 1906, 1955 and 1992, UP's Syracuse Branch was built by the Ogden & Syracuse Railway. It became OSL&UN's Syracuse Spur in 1889, then after 1897, OSL's Syracuse Branch, then after 1936, Union Pacific's Syracuse Branch.

In its early years the spur served the salt industry on Great Salt Lake's eastern shore, and a bathing resort at Syracuse. In 1906, with the failure of the salt works and the resort (10 years before), the branch was reduced by about a half mile to serve the Syracuse cannery, which closed in 1945. The branch was reduced again in 1955, being cut back to another cannery two miles to the east.

Early Years, 1887-1889

Tracks from Syracuse (MP 4.7) to the end-of-track at the lake shore, at engineering station 285+32 (5.4 miles) was taken up in March 1906. This trackage served the salt industries along the lake shore and the Syracuse Resort, a swimming resort located along the north side of the branch, just west of the north-south leg of the wye.

The switch at the location that the curved north leg of the wye connected with the north-south leg of the wye was at engineering station 285+32. The end of the north tail track of the wye was at engineering station 29+00 (0.54 mile). The north-south leg of the wye, along with the south tail track of the wye ended at station 41+30 (0.78 mile).

January 1887
Union Pacific's Syracuse Branch was built in 1887 as the Ogden and Syracuse Railway. Construction of the new branchline began at Syracuse Junction (later called Clearfield) in January 1887 and was completed in July to the shore of the Great Salt Lake. The company was organized in January 1887 but was not incorporated until March 1887, while the branch was under construction. The company was fully controlled by Union Pacific, with 1,890 of the 2,000 shares being held by the President of Union Pacific, Charles Adams. Daniel C. Adams of Salt Lake City held one of the other ten shares. The other nine shares were held by Union Pacific employees in Salt Lake City, Omaha, or Boston. At the time many community leaders were complaining of the lack of local control of the railroads. In order to get more public support Union Pacific organized many local roads to build its branchlines, and the Ogden and Syracuse line was one of them.

Parts of the Ogden and Syracuse Railway were built on property purchased from John R. Barnes. John R. Barnes bought the land from Union Pacific in March 1878 and sold it to the Ogden and Syracuse Railway in March 1887. Union Pacific originally owned most of the the land in Syracuse because it was within twenty miles of the transcontinental railroad completed down Weber Canyon to Ogden and was included in Union Pacific's 1869 land grant.

John R. Barnes bought land from Union Pacific on March 22, 1878 and sold it to the Ogden and Syracuse Railway on March 1, 1887. (Davis County Book of Abstracts A, page 205)

On July 31, 1889, less than two years after the Ogden and Syracuse was completed, Union Pacific consolidated all of its interests in Utah and Idaho. The new company was called the Oregon Short Line and Utah Northern and included the Ogden and Syracuse Railway. The Oregon Short Line and Utah Northern Railway later became the Oregon Short Line Railroad (the "OSL"), and the former Ogden and Syracuse Railway became Union Pacific's Syracuse Branch.

(NOTE: check Davis County Book of Deeds J-280 for Ogden & Syracuse Railway.)

After 1889

October 13, 1890
"Union Pacific pulled twenty-eight cars loaded with salt out of Syracuse Friday night [October 10th]." (Salt Lake Tribune, October 13, 1890)

August 11, 1891
"Salt-Making at Syracuse. - At Syracuse salt is making finely in the ponds. The company has about 230 acres in ponds, into which brine is pumped out of the lake to a depth of three feet, and then permitted to evaporate until salt is deposited on the bottom to a depth of five or six inches. From these ponds the firm of Adams & Kiesel will harvest about forty thousand tons of salt this season. It is making finely now, the evaporation being done so rapidly those warm days, and in the dry air which takes up the moisture like a sponge. It is a preity sight to see this salt gglistening in the sun like diamonds, it being so white and pure, because of clear brine and no dust this season to mix in with the salt." (Salt Lake Tribune, August 11, 1891)

1902
The entire 5.85 miles of the Syracuse Branch was reclassified from a formal branch, to siding tracks. Service west of Syracuse Junction (later Clearfield) was on an irregular basis, as needed. Customers included the cannery of the Syracuse Canning Company at Barnes, and the several beet dumps that were served during the two-week beet campaign in October of each year. (Union Pacific 1902 annual report)

1906
There was never a depot at Syracuse, or at any other point along the Syracuse Branch. The only business for the branchline were the cannery of the Syracuse Canning Co., the beet dumps, and salt works and bathing resort located on the shores of the lake. By 1906 both the salt works and the bathing resort at Syracuse had failed. The siding called Syracuse was moved east from the lake shore, to the northeast corner of present day 4500 West and 1700 South and in March 1906 the tracks from the new Syracuse siding to the end of the branch on the lake shore were taken up, including the wye tracks that were used to turn the trains around. The new siding called Syracuse was later the location of one of Layton Sugar Company's beet dumps.

(The abandoned wye and other portion of the old Syracuse Branch was on the property of the author's father-in-law. The author and his extended family have a special interest in the Syracuse and north Davis County because their ancestors helped to settle the area in the 1850s-1870s. The author assisted in the completion of a comprehensive local history of the Syracuse area, with research during 1988-1990 into the canneries, beet dumps, and sugar factories of northwest Davis County and southwest Weber County leading to continued research into the sugar and canning industries in Utah.)

March 1906
The tracks from Syracuse (MP 4.7) to the end of track (about MP 5.4), including the wye tracks, were taken up in March 1906. The tracks were shown as ending at the 1/2 section line of sections 7 and 18; track ran along section line between sections 7 and 18; property included lots 2 and 3 of Section 7, and lots 1, 2 and 3 of Section 18.

The trackage of the Syracuse Branch extended to Station 285+32 (5.4 miles), at the switch of the north leg of the wye, including the north curve of the wye. The actual north leg of the wye extended to station 29+00 (0.54 mile). The west side and south leg of the wye extended to Station 41+30 (0.78 mile). No information was available for the south curve of the wye.

April 1921
The West Point beet dump was on 1.54 acres of land that the sugar company had purchased from James Patterson in April 1921. (NWQ of NWQ of Section 5, T4N, R2W) (Davis County Book of Abstracts 4, page 83; Book of Deeds 1-F, page 18)

September 1923
Interstate Sugar Company bought property on UP's Syracuse Branch, at 2000 West, adjacent to Layton Sugar's beet dump at Barnes, built at the same time. (Davis County Book of Abstracts 4, p.93, and Book of Deeds 1‑D, p.450)

October 24, 1927
The Inland Crystal Salt Company sold its interests to the Morton Salt Company. Included were about 61 acres in the NWQ of SWQ of Sec 7, a strip of land approximately a quarter mile wide by a half mile long, all of Lot 3 of sec 7, and about 128 acres in the NWQ of Sec 18, a strip of land approximately a quarter mile wide and a mile long. All three parcels were along the east shore of the Great Salt Lake. (Davis County Book of Deeds 1-H, page 387)

November 30, 1953
Barnes (MP 2.1) was retired on November 30, 1953. (Work Order 4083)

1955
The Syracuse Branch was abandoned west of the cannery on 2000 West in 1955. Until the end of steam locomotive operations south of Ogden in 1950, locomotives would likely be 2-8-0 steam locomotives, then after 1950, likely an Alco switching locomotive that was normally assigned to the Clearfield Naval Depot. Switching locomotives would have been assigned because the branch was within the so-called yard limits of the Navy depot, having been reclassified in 1902 as yard and siding tracks, with service as needed. The Syracuse Branch was a very minor operation for Union Pacific, except during the beet harvest during two weeks in October each year. But after 1946, trains would not have gone west of the cannery on 2000 West.

August 1955
The two and a half miles of track between Barnes, at 2000 West, and Syracuse, at 4500 West, was retired and removed in August 1955. At the same time the railroad sold much of the property to the adjacent landowners. (Union Pacific Engineering Department internal documents)

August 1955
The West Point Spur was retired at the same time as the branch, in August 1955. No construction date or retirement date for the West Point Spur is known, but Steed Spur may have been retired because the West Point Spur was removed.) The West Point Spur (1.8 Miles, also known as the Steed Spur) connected with the Syracuse Branch at Steed and proceeded northwest for 1.8 Miles along the top of the bluff to the West Point Road (300 north). The spur was built and owned by the Layton Sugar Company to serve their beet dump on the West Point Road.

August 31, 1955
The track between Barnes (MP 2.1) and Syracuse (MP 4.7) was retired on August 31, 1955.

Before each transaction of selling the abandoned right of way, the OSL sold each parcel to the Union Pacific for one dollar. Union Pacific then sold the parcel to the adjoining land owners.

Union Pacific sold a 2.94 acre parcel to Jack and Bessie Kerr in August 1955. This portion of Davis County was included in UP's original 1869 land grant. UP had originally sold the land to David Kerr in 1887. David Kerr later, in April 1887, sold a right of way to the Ogden & Syracuse Railway. (Davis County Book of Records 102, page 507)

Union Pacific sold a 3.17 acre parcel to Walter W. Steed in July 1954. The deed gives the description of the Syracuse Branch "as formerly constructed and operated". (Davis County Book of Records 68, page 559)

December 1964
The Kaysville Canning Company sold 5.2 acres at Barnes (the entire site of the former cannery) to C. H. Dredge Company. (Davis County Book of Abstracts A, p. 205, and Book 4, p.91)

1992
The remaining portion of the Syracuse Branch west of the Freeport Center to Barnes was abandoned and removed. (MP 2.182 to MP 2.45; 0.268 miles, including the grade crossing at 2000 West) (Union Pacific Law Department internal documents)

At the time, the Syracuse Branch ended at the station called Barnes, at mile post 2.1. That portion of the branch between Barnes and Syracuse, at mile post 4.7, was retired in August 1955.

(Source: Information above partially from OSL ICC Valuation and Alignment Map 17362, dated May 1913, on file at Davis County Recorder's office.)

(Original research done at Davis County Recorder's office, Farmington, Utah, on August 2-3, 1980 while researching land ownership of Joseph Glen Simpson. The Syracuse Branch end-of-track and wye, along with the Syracuse Resort, was located on Mr. Simpson's property, in Sections 7 and 18, T4N, R2W.)

Steed Spur

Steed Spur was located at Steed Station, mile post 3.2 on the Syracuse Branch. Steed Station was retired on December 4, 1946. This date is also the likely date for the removal of the West Point Spur and the beet dump and beet pulp pit at Steed.

April 1921
The Steed Spur connected with the Syracuse Branch at the siding called Steed, which was located where the branch crossed 3000 West, at about 1500 South. The spur ran northwest for almost two miles along the top of the bluff to the West Point Road (300 North). The spur was built and owned by the Layton Sugar Company to serve their beet dump on the West Point Road. The beet dump was built on one and a half acres of land that the sugar company had purchased from James Patterson in April 1921.

September 1928
The date when the spur was built is not known, but in September 1928 the sugar company purchased a fifty foot easement from the Steed and Wilcox families, to be used for the "present spur track". The easement was to be used solely for the sugar company's spur track, which may have already been built by that time. The actual date for when the tracks were removed is not known. The easement was perpetual as long as it was used for the spur track, and reverted to the families upon removal of the track. (Davis County Book of Abstracts 4, page 89, Book of Agreements H, page 449)

The exact date for the construction of the beet dump at Steed is unknown, but the 1.5 acres of land for the dump was purchased by Layton Sugar Company in April 1921 from James Patterson, the adjacent farmer. (Davis County Book of Abstracts 4, p.83, Book of Deeds 1‑F, p.18)

The process of extracting sugar from sugar beets leaves the pulp of the sugar beets as an end by-product. Beet pulp was sold by the sugar companies back to the farmers for use as cattle feed. Cattle really liked this stuff, most likely because quite a bit of sweetness remained in the pulp. One of the largest beet pulp dumps (or pits) in Davis County was located at Steed Spur in Syracuse. With the closing of Steed Spur, and the abandonment of the western part of UP's Syracuse Branch, the farmers had to truck the beet pulp from the sugar factory at Layton.

December 4, 1946
Steed station (MP 3.2, at 3000 West, on the section line between Sections 8 and 9, T4N, R2W) was retired on December 4, 1946.

The siding at Steed Spur was retired in December 1946. At that time the beet dump there was removed and the farmers forced to take their beets to the beet dump on 2000 West, at the Union Pacific siding called Barnes.

There was a pea viner located at the Syracuse Branch's crossing of the Bluff Road (3000 West), just across the road from the Steed beet dump. A pea viner was used by the local green pea growers to separate their peas from the vines and pods. The pea viners were operated by the canning companies, with the separated peas being loaded and shipped directly to the canneries and processed. Two other pea viners were located Syracuse, one not served by rail, at about 1000 South and 1000 West, and another at the western end of D&RGW's Bennett Branch in south Syracuse, at 2700 South and 1000 West. (Interview with Don Rentmeister)

West Point Spur

Layton Sugar Company had a beet dump at West Point, served by UP's West Point Spur which connected with the Syracuse Branch at Steed Spur, located on the east side of the crossing of present-day 3000 West, where 3000 West meets the Bluff Road. Steed Spur was also where Layton Sugar Company had a beet dump and a beet pulp pit.

The West Point Spur ran north for 1.8 miles along the top of the bluff, paralleling today's Bluff Road, to Layton Sugar's beet dump located on the south side of the West Point Road (300 North), where that road drops down off of the bluff to its intersection with Bluff Road. The "bluff" as mentioned here is an historic shore line for the Great Salt Lake and is about 12 to 15 feet high.

The West Point Spur was only used during the annual sugar beet campaign. Oak Wilcox remembers hearing the flanges of the cars squeal as the train moved slowly along the old Spur. (Interview with Oak Wilcox, Syracuse, Utah, May 1990)

Map

Syracuse Branches -- A Google Map of the UP and D&RGW branches serving North Davis County, including Syracuse, West Point, and Hooper in Weber County.

###