D&RGW Southern Wasatch Main History

Southern Wasatch Main Facts
From: Provo, UT
To: Salt Lake City, UT
Miles (SG): 46
Built: 1882 (NG)
To 4R: 1889
To SG: 1891

Southern Wasatch Main History

The 46 miles between Salt Lake City, UT?, and Provo, UT, was built by the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railway in 1882, mostly paralleling the Union Pacific's Utah Southern Railroad.

In 1889, the entirety of the D&RGW Railway was folded into the Rio Grande Western Railway? along with rest of the Utah Rio Grande-related lines. The RGW was now free of Denver & Rio Grande control, and immediately began pursuing a standard gauge strategy in order to interchange with the Colorado Midland. Conversion was started in May 1889 by installing longer ties and two outer rails. This allowed narrow gauge trains to continue operating on the inner pair of rails while standard gauge conversion was in progress. By the summer of 1891, the need for narrow gauge had passed, with almost all branches being converted, and the narrow gauge rails were lifted.

Questions/corrections/comments welcome - email me
Please see our disclaimer.
  Last modified on January 22, 2012, at 09:14 PM
Edit Page | Page History