Utah Central Car Shops

Passenger Cars by Builder / Utah Central Car Shops

The Utah Central Car Shops, while dedicated to maintaining the rolling stock of the Utah Central Railroad (1869-1881) and Utah Central Railway (1881-1889), also built new cars, including some narrow gauge equipment for other railroads. The facilities also performed repair and rebuild work for other railroads including streetcar companies.

Known Products

Narrow Gauge

• Utah Eastern way car no.2: 3 foot gauge, built April 1882

• Utah Eastern way car no.3: 3 foot gauge, built June 1882

Standard Gauge

• Baggage car: built August 1873, 45 feet long.

• Hand cars: first built in 1879.

• Baggage car: built June 1881.

• Pay car: built October 1881.

History

1871

Nathan Davis, Esq., Master Machinist, is head of the Utah Central shops.

The Utah Central's new shops are outfitted to build cars with the following machinery purchased from W.B. Bement & Son Industrial Works:

• Iron planer capable of planing timbers up to 3' by 3'

• Twenty-five inch swing lathe with sixteen foot bed

• Twenty-five inch drill press

• Hydrostatic wheel press with crane

• No. 1 bolt cutter with taps and dies

• Forty-eight inch car wheel boring machine

• 12 horsepower vertical boilered engine from Griffith & Wedge.

"Utah Central Machine Shops," Salt Lake Daily Herald 12 September 1871.

1873

Thomas Pierpont is head of the Utah Central's car department.

The Utah Central carpentry shop is located on the depot block and measures 40' by 120'. A new baggage car is manufactured, in addition to rebuilding a coach into a saloon car.

The Utah Central plans on establishing a foundry for the purpose of doing casting work for "several of the narrow gauge roads."

"Utah Central Machine Shops," Salt Lake Daily Herald 27 August 1873.

1878

The new foundry building is completed under the direction of Thomas Pierpont.

"Local and Other Matters," Deseret News 2 October 1878.

1879

A handcar manufactured by the Utah Central shops is exhibited at the state fair alongside other castings made at their foundry - a car stove, tamping bars, and a paring machine.

"The Fair," Salt Lake Herald-Republican 3 October 1879.

1880

The Utah Central announces that it will build a new roundhouse and 93' by 35' machine shops out of brick and iron with a concrete foundation.

"New Engine House," Deseret News 30 June 1880.

Carpenters from the Utah Central "car factory department" march in the Pioneer Day parade carrying a banner painted with the image of a passenger coach.

"The Twenty-Fourth," Salt Lake Herald-Republican 24 July 1880.

1881

The Utah Central shops manufacture a baggage car to accompany new coaches ordered from an Eastern builder.

"Utah Central Railroad," Ogden Herald 9 June 1881.

The Utah Central shops manufacture a new pay car, which is put into service in November.

Chips, Salt Lake Herald-Republican 11 November 1881.

1883

The Utah Central car shops employ 50 men.

"Utah Central Shops," Salt Lake Tribune 1 June 1883.

1885

A portion of the car shops' carpenters are discharged.

"Local Jots," Salt Lake Democrat 30 March 1885.

New shops are constructed one block north of the Utah Central depot in Salt Lake City.

"Local Jots," Salt Lake Democrat 20 July 1885.

1887

Private cars "Maryland" 44 and "Baltimore" 710, property of the Garrett family associated with the Baltimore & Ohio, are repaired at the Utah Central car shops while the family vacations on the narrow gauge Denver & Rio Grande Western.

"In Railway Circles," Salt Lake Herald-Republican 3 December 1887.

1889

A Union Pacific freight train wreck at Devil's Gate smashes up brand-new electric streetcars for the Salt Lake City Railway, and the cars are repaired by the Utah Central car shops before being placed into service.

"Personal and General," Salt Lake Herald-Republican 27 August 1889.