Existing comment:
Emigration Canyon Railroad
One of the major sources of the stone building materials needed at the turn of the century by the people of Salt Lake City was in Emigration Canyon, east of the city. To assist in obtaining these materials, the Mormon Church built an electric railway to the top of the canyon during the summer of 1909. This made a ready source of limestone, gravel, red sandstone and white sandstone available. The convenience of transportation was not lost on the public and soon passenger trips were in demand. Week-end trips into the canyon became popular and a mountain resort called Pinecrest was soon built with full hotel facilities and numerous summer resort homes were clustered around the area.
Open-air cars were soon added to the fleet and as many as six cars were frequently seen on the line, half laden with stone and the other with human cargo. The main depot was located at Fifth South and University Avenue though connections were often made on the city street car lines to temple square in the heart of the city.
The operation was so successful that consideration was given to adding the two Cottonwood canyons into the line. In 1914 the need for stone foundation materials was eliminated by the introduction of concrete and the passenger service was not great enough to sustain the cost of the system.
By 1916 the service was terminated and the line completely removed. The rails, ties, even the spikes, as well as the rolling equipment were turned into materials to aid in the World War II effort. Most of the right-of-way soon became the automobile roadway and for a few years the canyon enjoyed the luxury of an up roadway separate from the down roadway. |