Vernal, utah a coalition of counties in eastern utah have taken steps to advance a proposed rail line that would build a freight railroad connecting. Photo 43 looking towards baxter pass at milepost 28. Local history publications uintah county heritage museum. It is bordered by the weber river on the south and west, by the uintah bench on the north, and the wasatch mountains on the east. Uintah railway primarily hauled gilsonite but here dinosaur bones peakout from under a tarp enroute to mack, co for shipment to the carnegie museum. The uintah railway was a 75 mile railroad that operated from 1904 to 1939. The uinta basin rail project is a proposed 100mile 160 km rail line to connect the shale oil rich uinta basin region of eastern utah to the national rail network. The uintah railway was built during 19051906 to haul gilsonite from dragon, utah to mack, colorado. Uintah railway pictorial by rodger polley, a twovolume set published by sundance books of denver, colorado. See more ideas about narrow, century, uintah county. Many building materials, including cement, plaster, nails, and other hardware, poured into town.
They have seperate entries in the baldwin specification books, and examination of sidebyside photos will quickly reveal many small differences in their design and construction. Denver northwestern and pacific railway moffat road and. The print, pictures, paper and binding are all excellent. For many years henry fords model t came in shiny black paint made with gilsonite. This section is geologically unstable, leading to the big slide of 1929 during uintah operations, as well as numerous smaller slides. Uintah 50 and 51 locomotive project republic locomotive works. The photo illustrating this article is not of any of the trains in the uintah railway. May 21, 2017 ghost tracking the amazing uintah railway, from mack colorado over baxter pass. Uintah railway locomotives page 3 the home machinist. From tabernacle to temple the story of the vernal utah temple. By jeff taylor, assistant curator of equipment and rolling stock, colorado railroad museum june 2017 work continues here at the museum on uintah combine 50. Welcome to the project website for the uinta basin railway environmental impact statement eis. Three loads of gilsonite are ready to go down the hill to rainbow junction and on to wendella.
Railways as world heritage sites 3 of a new kind of informal or railway imperialism in which the struggle for explicit political control was relinquished in favour of more subtle kinds of influence davis and wilburn 1991. Uintah railway primarily hauled gilsonite, but here dinosaur bones peakout from under a tarp enroute to mack, colorado for shipment to the carnegie museum of natural history. Section 106 consulting party teleconference 2 uinta basin. Railways have an extremely long life time and are constructed to withs. Uintah railway locomotives page 2 the home machinist. She recalled some of her days there when her mom would send her on the train. Uintah railway station and freight house building at. Uintah railway, whiskey creek trestle, baxter pass road. The development of products incorporating gilsonite and thence the mining of this rare mineral in the uintah basin led to the construction of the uintah railway from mack colorado to watson and rainbow utah beginning in late 1903 or early 1904. If the track is 45 radius, it would be only a 90 circle, but thats not the part that confuses me. To say that the uintah is steep and curvy is a disservice to those who designed and built it. Jul 5, 2015 uintah railway station and freight house building at watson, utah western history. The museum is restoring uintah coachbaggage car no. Featuring the original film footage of the new 3 foot narrow gauge articulated locomotives in 1926 on the 7.
Three loads of gilsonite are ready to go down the hill to rainbow junction and on. The lgb sound module removed and a zimo mx 696 sound decoder and pulsed smoke generator installed. Buy uintah railway pictorial by rodger polley online at alibris. Uintah railway models is dedicated to providing the highest quality, readytorun brass locomotives, and rolling stock of the uintah ry. Since the line was converted to a road, further sections have slipped away, leading to numerous diversions from the original grade. The concept of a rail from the uinta basin has been studied numerous times in recent decades urs engineers in 1981, uintah engineering and land surveying in 1995, dmjm harris in 2001, and udot in 2015. If you are a narrow gauge fan and if you are reading this you must have been bitten by the narrow minded bug.
Strack, don 1994, railroads in utah, in powell, allan kent ed. Unitah railway, near mack colorado uintah 50 with water cars uintah engines were the queens. The railroad exhibits of cross orchards historic site mwc. Burton historical spotlight bookcliff moments by doris karren burton historical article through the uintas. Uintah in weber county is located at the mouth of weber canyon five miles south of ogden and twentyfive miles north of salt lake city. We also anticipate the railway will create additional shorthaul trucking jobs to transport commodities to and from the railway. Uintah high school located in vernal and union high school, which serves residents of both uintah and duchesne county, is located exactly on the county boundary on the eastern edge of roosevelt.
Freight wagon train to fort duchesne and vernal, operated by the uintah railroad company. The rio grande chapter was founded in september 1977 and became an exhibit restoration partner in the mid1980s. Uinta basin railway eis february 26, 2020 introductions consultation to date. Kiefer pltotos by tlte autltor in 1904 the uintah railway reached dragon, utah from mack, colo. Thrilling, authentic photos and fullcolor illustrations recreate what life was really like for these cowboys, adventurers, and immigrants in this roughandready era in our history.
Covington introduction and background early mining activities in the uinta basin can be summarized by saying that they included mining for gilsonite, coal, copper, iron, oil shale, ozocerite, wurtzilite, and oil and asphalt under the placer mining laws. Dragon is a ghost town in uintah county, at the extreme eastern edge of utah, united states. It is increasingly influenced by world energy prices. Uintah railway talk at uintah county historical society meeting. The book heips me see what is it was to live in that time. Tells the story of the only railroad to penetrate the vast uintah basin of western colorado and eastern utah. The uintah railway myke halls a local history moment volume 3. The uintah had specially built equipment precursors of the mallets which makes its story extremely interesting for a road of such moderate length.
After adjusting the chuff, a test run around the upper loop on the triple t. Disputed rail project seeking to ship eastern utah oil to. Proposed railroad would haul freight from uintah basin to. Volume i is titled mack to atchee, published 1999, 320 pp, numbered 250 and signed by author to halftitle page. As of this past week we have rehung the sliding doors as well as the front door on the baggage end of the car. Rio grande chapter of the national railroad historical society the care and operation of the railroad exhibits at cross orchards are a joint venture between the rio grande chapter of the national railroad historical society and cross orchards historic site. Please practice handwashing and social distancing, and check out our resources for adapting to these times. The uintah railway was a small 3 ft 914 mm narrow gauge railroad company in utah and colorado in the united states. We are back riding the california zephyr to grand junction, with a side trip in search of the elusive yet amazing. The uinta basin railway is expected to add 100 new railway jobs in carbon, duchesne and uintah counties and up to 300 additional indirect and induced jobs. Samuel gilson, having received samples of an unusual substance found within the ute indian reservation of eastern utah, quickly realized that this natural asphalt had commercial potential in a variety of applications.
Even those countries which escaped direct rule from europe latin america. Lgb 20882 american steam locomotive mallet uintah railway. Gilsonite is a black, solid, asphaltlike hydrocarbon that looks like anthracite coal. The first of these cycles was t he rush for furbearing animals in the 1820s to 1840s. The story of the uintah railway really begins in 1885, eighteen years before the line was actually constructed. On some of the steepest grades in railroading history, the brakeman could walk faster than the train moved. Read uintah railway pictorial mack to atchee ebooks online. Rodger wrote a book titled the uintah railway pictorial and he has dedicated many days and hours of his life to researching the old railway and the historical sites associated with the railway. Authentic photographs help bring to life the early days of the railroad, a revolution in travel that quickly replaced the wagon train as the fastest, cheapest means. On the day, the very first railway train in india ran over a stretch of 21 miles from bombay to thane, three locomotives, sahib, sindh. It ran in northwestern colorado from mack, colorado to watson, utah. This will be a great opportunity to learn about the history of western colorado and eastern utah. View of a uintah railway narrow gauge excursion train probably in garfield county, colorado. It is the last remaining bridge along the abandoned uintah railway in colorado.
A history of the uintahouray ute lands page 21 utah. This book is your ticket to the uintah railway, one of the last narrow gauge lines built in the rockies. This was a narrow gauge railroad that surmounted 6% grades over barter pass. Uintah railway train leaving china wall mine, scenery. Near milepost 33, the line crosses high on the cliff face.
It contains fabulous illustrations and is entertainingly written, buy its. The line was built almost exclusively to carry gilsonite, the glassy black asphaltum found nowhere else in the world. To say that it approaches the physical limits of adhesion ie, noncog railways, and possibly the limits of sanity as well, would be significantly more accurate. Pictorial of the railway is great guide of the way of live, time and equipment. Search the history of over 424 billion web pages on the internet. Aug 11, 2019 a board about the most prominent gilsonite distribution on the narrow gauge line long before the 21st century.
Uintah railway freight wagons uintah county library j. This was followed by the discovery of gilsonite and other asphaltums. I bought this book becauce i have g gauge model traina of the uintah railway. The focus of mining then shifted to the longer, thicker veins near bonanza, and most structures in the smaller camps were torn down, moved, or simply abandoned. Uinta basin railway still in the works trains magazine. Dec 21, 2016 my interest in the uintah railway was stirred when a photo of a 5 year old girl in atchee was found in moms shoe box. Volume ii atchee to watson, published 2002, 382 pp, numbered 664 and signed by author on halftitle page. Founded in about 1888 as a gilsonite mining camp, dragon boomed in the first decade of the 20th century as the endofline town for the uintah railway. A railroad line uintah railway was planned for the area but never fully materialized. The consist is led by a steam locomotive and includes a passenger car and a flat car with a temporary frame that supports wooden poles, a railing, and a canvas roof.
University of utah press, isbn 0874804256, oclc 30473917. Colorado railroad museum restoring uintah railway combine. Utah railroads index page at retrieved june 9, 2006. The seven county infrastructure coalition coalition plans to file a request with the surface transportation board board for authority to construct and operate an approximately 85mile commoncarrier rail line connecting two termini in the uinta basin near south. Uintah railway primarily hauled gilsonite, but here dinosaur bones peakout from under a.
It ran from mack in northwestern colorado to watson, utah. Cheap postage rates contributed to a construction boom. Numerous proposals have been made, some as far back as 1902, and are still considered active proposals as of 2019. Ghosts of the uintah railway atchee to baxter pass. Curator matt darling tells us the history of the uintah railway. Kim raff the salt lake tribune an oil tanker uses us40 to travel from the oil fields in the uintah basin to the refineries in north salt lake near daniels summit in utah on may 18, 2012. Trains magazine offers railroad news, railroad industry insight, commentary on todays freight railroads, passenger service amtrak, locomotive technology, railroad preservation and history, railfan opportunities tourist railroads, fan trips, and great railroad photography. The narrow gauge uintah railway was built in 1904 to haul gilsonite a coal like mineral from the mines in eastern utah to mack, colorado where it was transferred to the standard gauge rio grande western railway.
The bank of vernals bricks werent the only unusually large shipments received at the post office that summer. This unit features platsic construction, metal wheels, couplers, powerful motor, sound, lighting. Meanwhile, all the merchants in town received merchandise for their stores. Uinta basin railway environmental impact statement home.
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