Utah Central Rail Road

The Utah Central Rail Road was the first railroad in the U.S. state of Utah other than the main line of the First Transcontinental Railroad. Built by Mormons, it connected Salt Lake City to the transcontinental line at Ogden. It has since become part of the Union Pacific Railroad, which operates the line as the Salt Lake Subdivision; [http://www.brs72.org/BRSUPSPAgree.html#R44 Agreement Between Union Pacific Railroad Company and Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen] , effective February 1, 2000 (includes a list of subdivisions from the first post-merger timetable in 1998)] FrontRunner commuter rail tracks were added alongside the UP freight line in 2008.

History

The company was incorporated in 1869, and completed the line in January 1870. The Union Pacific Railroad gained control in 1878, and in 1881 merged it with the Utah Southern Railroad and Utah Southern Railroad Extension to form the Utah Central Railway, a UP subsidiary that ran south from Ogden to Frisco. That company was subsequently merged with several others in 1889 to form the Oregon Short Line and Utah Northern Railway, which was reorganized as the Oregon Short Line Railroad in 1897.Don Strack, [http://utahrails.net/up/up-in-ut-1.php UtahRails.net: Union Pacific in Utah, 1868-1899] , accessed August 2008] The OSL sold the lines south and west of Salt Lake City to the San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad in 1903, but kept the original Utah Central. The UP began direct operation of the line under lease in 1936, and in 1987 the OSL was merged into the UP.Don Strack, [http://utahrails.net/up/up-in-ut-2.php UtahRails.net: Union Pacific in Utah, 1900-1996] , accessed August 2008]

References