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Western Pacific in Utah Notes

This page was last updated on October 30, 2024.

WP Interlocking Towers in Utah

There was not a tower at either Smelter or Garfield.

According to employee timetable number 3, dated August 22, 1910, there were three crossings in Utah. East to west, they were:

• 1) D&RG Crossing at Sixth West;
• 2) SPLA&SL Crossing a mile further west at today's 10th West;
• 3) SPLA&SL Crossing one-half mile west of Garfield at the copper smelter, where there was an SPLA&SL spur that WP crossed.

In later years a full six-lever interlocking was built at the 10th West crossing, but the other two remained "uncontrolled," meaning that WP had to come to a full stop before crossing.

The only WP interlocking tower in Utah was at the crossing with Oregon Short Line at 10th West in Salt Lake City. It was where WP crossed the OSL line when construction started here in Utah in May 1906. The interlocking and crossing remained in place until 1967 when the paired track agreement went into effect between Grant Tower and Smelter. Between Grant Tower and the Jordan River, the south track was WP and the north track was OSL(UP). At the river, ownership swapped and the north track became WP and the south track became OSL(UP). The two tracks were operated as fully functional double track, with westbound trains generally on the north track and eastbound trains generally on the south track.

WP-UP Junction was created in 1967 as a crossover to the newly established paired track arrangement. There was a similar arrangement at Smelter. Garfield was merely an interchange track to allow WP access to UP's Garfield yard where UP handled its traffic with Kennecott.

WP had a crossing with D&RGW at Sixth West, where WP's line crossed D&RGW's line to Ogden. As mentioned above, this was an uncontrolled crossing, but its was also within WP's yard limits for D&RGW's Salt Lake City yard, which WP shared.

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