Salt Lake Foundry & Machine Shop

Freight Cars by Builder > Salt Lake Foundry & Machine Shop

Introduction

The Salt Lake Foundry was opened in 1872 by Major Edmund Wilkes, superintendent of the three-foot gauge American Fork Railroad in Utah County. It was located one block south of, and was in direct competition with, the Utah Central Car Shops. The company advertised "Narrow gauge railroad work, switches, frogs and water stations; freight, hand, push and mining cars; ornamental housework, building fronts, buildings, etc."

Due to the close connection with the American Fork Railroad, it is likely that the Salt Lake Foundry was established to provide material and equipment for the construction of that company. It was rail-served via a spur from the standard gauge Utah Southern Railroad which connected the American Fork Railroad in American Fork.

Timeline

1871

Edmund Wilkes arrives in Utah on September 10, 1871, with his wife's cousin, Lloyd Aspinwall, to oversee the construction of the American Fork Railroad, a subsidiary of Aspinwall's Miller Mining & Smelting Company.

1872

The Salt Lake Foundry & Machine Shop is established; it is first mentioned in the newspapers when an employee attacks his wife.

"Suicide & Attempted Murder," Salt Lake Herald 6 December 1872.

1874

Edmund Wilkes leaves the American Fork Railroad.

The Salt Lake Foundry & Machine Shop advertises railroad work and freight car building in the Utah Gazetteer & Directory.

1879

Edmund Wilkes is no longer associated with the Salt Lake Foundry & Machine Shop; R.B. Margetts is president and T. Pierpont is superintendent.

"Advertising," Salt Lake Herald 12 October 1879.

After this point, the Salt Lake Foundry drops its railroad production and focuses instead on mining equipment and domestic ironwork, advertising "engines, boilers, mill work, mining and hoisting machinery, mill work, etc." Its notable projects include lead blast furnaces for the Germania Smelter and the Leadville Works smelter, both in the Salt Lake Valley.

Wells, Iles Malvern. Lead-smelting. New York: J Wiley & Sons, 1904.