Salt Lake City Southern

Company History: The SL was established in 1993 by the RailTex shortline group to take over operation of the 25 mile former Union Pacific line between Salt Lake City and Mount, Utah. Much of the route was owned by Utah Transit Authority with SL playing the role of designated freight operator. In 1999, RailTex sold the SL to the Utah Railway where it became a paper railroad subsidiary.

Successor/Parent History: The Utah Railway was completed in 1914 to connect several coal mines south and west of Helper, Utah (on the Rio Grande mainline) with the outside world. The Utah branches connect with the Rio Grande at Utah Railway Junction, just northwest of Helper. The Utah then utilizes trackage rights on the Rio Grande northwest to Thistle. The remainder of the line between Thistle and Provo is on paired track with Rio Grande (later SP then UP.) Total mileage is 95.

In the steam era, the locomotive fleet consisted of a quartet of 2-8-0’s (likely for switching the mines), nine 2-10-2’s for road service, and a trio of 2-8-8-0’s which were probably used as helpers. All seem to have been of Union Pacific design.

The Utah Railway dieselized in 1952 with seven Alco RSD4’s and a bit later an RSD5. As traffic began to build in the modern era, they picked up three RSD15’s and an RSD12. In 1985, they began relying on leased power from Helm and later from MK.

The 1996 merger of Southern Pacific and Union Pacific changed things for the Utah. First, they were contracted by BNSF to handle their haulage trains over a portion of the “Central Corridor” as UP calls the old Rio Grande. Secondly, UP granted Utah trackage rights east from Utah Railway Junction all the way to Grande Junction, Colorado which linked the Utah Railway to several more large coal mines. At this point, Utah hired a number of new people and leased more than a dozen additional diesels for heavy road service. Now stretching from Grande Junction to Provo, Salt Lake City and Ogden, the Utah Railway operates 423 miles of track. In addition to coal, UTAH moves aggregate, brick, building materials, cement, chemicals and petroleum products.

In 1999, Utah purchased the Salt Lake City Southern, a 25 mile shortline in the area from its owner RailTex. Owned by a string of mining companies over the years, the Utah was sold in 2002 to the Genesee & Wyoming shortline group for $54 million. Today's collection of photos takes us from 1975 to 1988.

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