MAY IS RAILROAD MONTH
Learn more about the History of Railroads in Utah

Historians agree that the driving of the golden spike marking the completion of the transcontinental railroad at Promontory Summit, Utah, on May, 10, 1869 was one of the most important events in United States history, as it was also in Utah history.

The construction of a connecting railroad line south to Salt Lake City, and later into almost all parts of the state, had a much larger impact than did the joining of the rails at Promontory.

Union Pacific Depot Salt Lake City

The Union Pacific was the first of the major railroad companies to successfully build within Utah's borders, connecting with the Central Pacific tracks at Promontory. Twenty years later, Union Pacific had become the largest railroad company in the territory. The Union Pacific lines follow the original Union Pacific route into Utah.

The Denver and Rio Grande Western Railway completed its narrow-gauge line between Colorado and Salt Lake City in March 1883; it was extended to Ogden two months later. The Rio Grande had a virtual monopoly on the movement of coal out of the state.

Denver and Rio Grande Depot, Salt Lake City

The growth of railroads in Utah began with the completion of the Utah Central between

Ogden and Salt Lake City in January 1870, and with the start of construction of the Utah Southern south from Salt Lake City in May 1871.

The development of Utah's abundant mineral resources also included the building of a large network of railroad lines to serve the transportation needs of the mining industry.

The availability of low-cost transportation did much to help Utah gain its reputation as one of the nation's treasure houses.
Railroad transportation played a very important part in the new mining method, which is called open-cut mining. First, steam shovels would remove the capping, or waste material, which covered the ore, and then load it into railroad cars for movement to other locations.

Railroads made the movement of goods and people easier within the territory. They served Utah's major agricultural industries, including dairy products, wheat, sugar beets, and many kinds of fruits and vegetables. The railroads played an important part in agriculture by moving the goods to markets both within and outside of the state. Most of the dairy products were shipped to California, and the wheat was shipped either as grain or as flour to California and the southern states. The destination for the finished sugar from sugar beets was local markets and points in the Midwest and Pacific Northwest.

The railroads also had an important role in Utah's canned milk industry, which produced both evaporated and condensed milk.

The story of Utah's railroads includes the completion of electric railroads, including the electric interurban lines and the electric streetcar lines, for the movement of passengers.

The part that the railroads have played in the economic development of both the territory and the state of Utah was a major one. There can be no doubt that without the railroads our state would not be what it is today. The completion of the transcontinental rail line through Utah Territory in May 1869 was the beginning of a much larger story of railroads in Utah that has largely gone untold. The availability of low-cost transportation has as much to do with Utah's economic success as the state's ability to produce the goods being shipped.

See: Don Strack, "Railroads in Utah", Utah History Encyclopedia

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