Nostalgia & History > WP On the DRGW

Up until about a year before the UP merger which folded Western Pacific into the new UP System, the WP and DRGW had a very close association. Rather than build its own engine facility in Salt Lake City, WP opted to pay rent to DRGW for use of their facility. Thus we set the scene for an interesting photo from my collection.

WP 2-8-2 No. 305 was photographed at DRGW's Roper Yard engine terminal in Salt Lake City UT on October 1, 1940. The photographer made note of the fact that 305 is adjacent to the recently burned roundhouse. (Phelps-Joiner Photo - Rattenne Collection)

(If anyone can add details to this roundhouse-burning incident, I'd love to hear about it)

The 305 was built by Alco-Dunkirk in July of 1918 and was one of five engines classed as the 301 Class, symbol MK-60. The 301 Class were coal burners (unlike the majorty of the fleet) and thus was assigned to the Eastern Division.

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Considering that the WP and the D&RGW were both owned by the Goulds, it's not surprising that they shared facilities at Salt Lake City to save money.
Many Rio Grande fans blame the construction of the WP, at the Rio Grande's expense, as the cause of the Rio Grande's later financial problems

Similar situation existed in Pueblo where the Missouri Pacific used the Rio Grande Yard and facilities.  As with WP and Rio Grande,both roads were Gould roads and this carried over into the 20th  Century when both roads were owed by the Van Sweringen's via Alleghany Corp.  In addition to the Colorado Eagle operation, both roads pooled power and cabooses both directions out of Pueblo,which lasted until the UP- Mop merger.

There was no roundhouse at Roper, which is 2.5 miles south of the downtown Salt Lake City yard, where the roundhouse was. The first 8 stalls were retired in November 1953. The remaining 9 stalls were retired in May 1954.

Roper became the main yard for D&RGW and WP in 1928, and was mostly used for westbound shipments that were interchanged with WP and UP. The downtown yard became the eastbound yard, accepting interchange cars from WP and UP. There was no locomotive shop at Roper until the present diesel shop was built in 1955.

For anyone curious, I have compiled some history of Rio Grande's Salt Lake City yards.

http://utahrails.net/drgw/rg-salt-lake-yards.php

Don Strack

UP in Ogden question. Looking at the map of Ogden I see that the Ogden passenger station is north/south. How were UP's through passenger train movements to and from LA handled in and out of the station?