Utah Central Car Shops

Passenger Cars by Builder / Utah Central Car Shops

See also Utah Central Railroad: Paint Information

Introduction

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. The facilities performed repair and rebuild work for other railroads including streetcar companies. In 1875 work began on constructing a locomotive from the ground up, but failed; in 1883 they renewed the experiment and attempted to built two locomotives from scratch using locally produced iron from the Ogden Iron Works, but were once more unsuccessful. The shops closed to contract work in 1889 when the Utah Central formally merged into the Oregon Short Line & Utah Northern.

Known Products

• Car stoves: cast-iron stoves for heating passenger cars are produced at the Utah Central shops and sold to other railroads.

• Cook stoves: a "No.7 Cook Stove" was produced for William Hodge and James Lovett in the Utah Central shops and sold at the ZCMI store.

• Boilers: stationary boilers were constructed for factory and mining use. Known boilers were built for the Provo Manufacturing Company and the Groesbeck and Crismon coal mine in Summit County.

Narrow Gauge

• Wasatch & Jordan Valley turntable: 3 foot gauge, built November 1873.

• 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

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

• Utah Southern snowplow: built 1874, based on C.L. Ericson's patent.

• Hand cars: first built in 1879.

• Utah Southern business car: built August 1879.

• Utah Central baggage car: built June 1881.

• Utah Central pay car: built October 1881.

• Utah Central steam locomotive: began construction in 1883, but never completed.

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.

The Utah Central shops build a narrow gauge turntable for the Wasatch & Jordan Valley Railway.

"Local and other Matters," Deseret News 5 November 1873.

The foundry is completed. A 40 horsepower stationary engine is installed to power the shop machinery.

"Railroad Shops," Deseret News 17 December 1873.

1874

The Utah Central car shops build a new snowplow for the Utah Southern, weighing 37,000 pounds. It is based on a patent from C.L. Ericzon.

“Snow Plow,” Deseret News 14 January 1874.

1875

Utah Central shops complete wood patterns to cast locomotive drivers for their first attempt at building a locomotive from scratch.

"Home-made Locomotive," Deseret News 25 September 1875.

1878

The Utah Central shops rebuild the Salt Lake City Fire Department's fire engine.

"Local and Other Matters," Deseret News 3 July 1878.

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

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

1879

A 32-foot business car is manufactured for the Utah Southern Railroad. It is equipped with a kitchen on one end, a steward's bunk, a four-bed sleeping compartment at center, and parlor space at the other end. Both platforms are built as observation porches.

"A New Car," Salt Lake Daily Herald 21 August 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.

The Utah Central car shops spend $20,000 on materials for the construction and repair of cars in the 1880 fiscal year.

"Mammoth Industry," Salt Lake Daily Herald 27 March 1881.

1881

The Utah Central Railroad's car shops employ 67 "machinists and car repairers," 5 foundry men, 6 painters and 22 carpenters.

"Mammoth Industry," Salt Lake Daily Herald 27 March 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

A new attempt is made to manufacture an entire locomotive from the ground up. A pair of cylinders with a 17-inch bore and drivers are cast. Frame and boiler completed.

"Locomotive Cylinders," Deseret News 28 March 1883; "Utah Central Shops," Salt Lake Tribune 1 June 1883.

The Utah Central car shops employ 50 men.

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

Robert Hall, a machinist working at the Utah Central shops, is blinded by a chip of steel flying from a chisel.

"Local and Other Matters," Deseret News 22 August 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

The Utah Central is merged with seven other railroad companies to form the Oregon Short Line & Utah Northern on 27 July 1889, ending the operation of the Utah Central Car Shops as an independent manufacturer of railroad equipment.

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.