Utah Southern Railroad (1871–1881)
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The Utah Southern Railroad was built by members of
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...
in 1871-2 to connect
Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...
to points south. The line was acquired by the
Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad is a Railroad classes, Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United Stat ...
(UP) in 1875. The Utah Southern Railroad name was initially kept as a separate division of the UP, but over time the line was moved around and divided among different UP subsidiaries. While most of the corridor is still used today it is no longer contiguous. The southern portion of the line, from Provo to Lynndyl, remains under UP ownership and is today known as the Sharp Subdivision. The portion through the
Salt Lake Valley Salt Lake Valley is a valley in Salt Lake County, Utah, Salt Lake County in the north-central portion of the U.S. state of Utah. It contains Salt Lake City, Utah, Salt Lake City and many of its suburbs, notably Murray, Utah, Murray, Sandy, Uta ...
is today owned by the
Utah Transit Authority The Utah Transit Authority (UTA) is a special service district responsible for providing public transportation throughout the Wasatch Front of Utah, in the United States, which includes the metropolitan areas of Ogden, Utah, Ogden, Park City, U ...
(UTA) and used for the TRAX
light rail Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...
system, primarily the Blue Line. The portion between the end of the Blue line and Provo has had the rails removed, however UTA has retained the right to extend the TRAX system to Provo along the former Utah Southern right of way.


History

The first portion of the line was constructed between Salt Lake City and York (south of Santaquin), and acquired by the
Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad is a Railroad classes, Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United Stat ...
(UP) in 1875. Under UP ownership, extensions to the line reached as far south and west as Frisco. In 1881 the railroad was merged into the Utah Central Railway, another UP subsidiary. In 1889 that subsidiary was merged into the Oregon Short Line and Utah Northern Railway, another UP subsidiary.Don Strack
UtahRails.net: Union Pacific in Utah, 1868-1899
accessed August 2008
The line was transferred and divided during construction of the
Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad The Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad was a rail company in California, Nevada, and Utah in the United States, that completed and operated a railway line between its namesake cities (Salt Lake City, Utah, and Los Angeles, California), via Las ...
, then partially owned and later fully owned by the Union Pacific. The portion of the former Utah Southern from Lynndyl to
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was used for the LA&SL main, and remains in use as the primary Southern California - Utah rail trunk today, today known as the
Lynndyl Subdivision The Lynndyl Subdivision is a rail line owned and operated by the Union Pacific Railroad (UP) in the U.S. state of Utah, running from Salt Lake City southwest to Milford, where the Caliente Subdivision continues towards Los Angeles. Effective F ...
. The remainder of the former Utah Southern became spurs from the LA&SL main. The spurs to
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, Fillmore, and Frisco were eventually abandoned. The LA&SL and Utah Southern used different routes between Lynndyl and Salt Lake, resulting in duplicate tracks between those two cities. The Utah Southern built tracks were routed to Salt Lake via Leamington Canyon of the
Sevier River The Sevier River (pronounced "severe") is a -long river in the Great Basin of southwestern Utah in the United States. Originating west of Bryce Canyon National Park, the river flows north through a chain of high farming valleys and steep canyon ...
, passing through Nephi, Santaquin and Provo; the newer LA&SL built tracks were routed farther west in the desert, via
Tooele Tooele ( ) is a city in Tooele County in the U.S. state of Utah. The population was 35,742 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Tooele County. Located approximately 40 minutes southwest of Salt Lake City, Tooele is known for Tooele Army ...
and around the north end of the
Oquirrh Mountains The Oquirrh Mountains ( ) is a mountain range that runs north–south for approximately 30 miles (50 km) to form the west side of Utah's Salt Lake Valley, separating it from Tooele Valley. The range runs from northwestern Utah County– ...
. Over time the tracks via Tooele became the preferred route for through traffic and the tracks via Provo became the secondary or local route. The route via Provo is no longer contiguous. The portion between Provo and Lynndyl is still part of the Union Pacific, and is known as the Sharp Subdivision; the portion through the
Salt Lake Valley Salt Lake Valley is a valley in Salt Lake County, Utah, Salt Lake County in the north-central portion of the U.S. state of Utah. It contains Salt Lake City, Utah, Salt Lake City and many of its suburbs, notably Murray, Utah, Murray, Sandy, Uta ...
is no longer contiguous with the rest of the line, nor part of the Union Pacific network. Between Salt Lake City and Provo the former Utah Southern line ran roughly parallel to the Denver and Rio Grande Western's Utah Division. Between these cities, the former Utah Southern route became mostly unused for through traffic after a 1985 track sharing agreement between the two companies. The right of way was sold to UTA in 1993, with the stipulation that UTA continues to allow a freight operator to service the existing freight customers on the line. The sales agreement included an option for the UTA to purchase the abandoned right of way over Point of the Mountain and into
Utah Valley Utah Valley is a valley in North Central Utah located in Utah County, Utah, Utah County, and is considered part of the Wasatch Front. It contains the cities of Provo, Utah, Provo, Orem, Utah, Orem, and their suburbs, including Alpine, Utah, A ...
at a future date. The UTA used the corridor for a significant part of the TRAX light rail system, forming almost the entirety of the corridor of the Blue Line. Freight traffic on this portion is now managed by the Salt Lake City Southern Railroad.


See also

* Utah Southern Railroad Depot - Surviving depot in
Lehi, Utah Lehi ( ) is a city in Utah County, Utah, United States. The population was 75,907 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, up from 47,407 in 2010, and it is the center of population of Utah. The rapid growth in Lehi is due, in part, to t ...
*
Utah Railway The Utah Railway is a class III railroad operating in Utah and Colorado, and owned by Genesee & Wyoming Inc. History The Utah Railway Company was incorporated on January 24, 1912, with the name of Utah Coal Railway, shortened to Utah Railway ...
- Parent company of the modern operator of the track


References

* ;Notes Defunct Utah railroads Predecessors of the Union Pacific Railroad Railway companies established in 1871 Railway companies disestablished in 1881 1871 establishments in Utah Territory {{US-rail-company-stub