Old Jeeper
EU Contributor
Eureka Ghost Rail: Tintic Range Railroad (TRR)
The Tintic Range Railroad branch was built in 1891 to service the mines in Eureka. It started at the existing track in Springville and went south to Santaquin then turned west to Elberta. From Elberta it went up Pinion Canyon and Homansville Canyon and ended in Eureka. 39 miles total. A couple of years later it was extended 4 miles to Mammoth and Silver City. The extension to Silver City was abandoned in 1943. The line from Pearl Junction, a couple of miles west of Elberta, to Eureka was abandoned somewhere around 1966 or '67. This is about the 11 mile section between Pearl and Eureka.
1897 Map
2015 Eastern Side Map
2015 Western Side Map
1949 Map
At Pearl Junction the rails split, south to Burgin/Dividend area and north to Eureka. The rails are still in place to Burgin but have been pulled up to Eureka. I started where the rails ended and headed north for Tunnel 1.
TUNNEL 1:
Pearl
Rails end at Pearl
Tunnel 1 is 235 ft. long and is open and can be driven through.
Tunnel 1
Moving on about 3/4 a mile was a siding named Laguna. There's some concrete foundations there. Maybe for a loading platform?
Laguna Siding Ruins
About 3/4 of a mile beyond Laguna you come to where the Double Circle Loop used to be. It must have been quite a site watching the trains chugging around it. I found a picture from around 1870.
C. R. Savage photo
I've read a couple of theories on what happened to the trestle. One story is it caught fire and they opted not to replace it while another claims that the newer, more powerful, locomotives were too heavy for the trestle, either way it was bypassed in 1940. The purple line on my 2015 east map is the bypass. The abutments are still there along with the concrete foundations for the supports.
Double Circle Loop
Abutments
75 (or 125?) year old ties where the loop crossed the road
Hard to see but the original and bypass road beds are in the background and the beginning of the loop is in the foreground.
TUNNEL 2:
A little more than 2 miles above the trestle is Tunnel 2. It's 449 feet long but both ends have been sealed. I wasn't able to drive to the eastern end because of some rock fall but I could to the west end. It's an easy walk to the other side from the west end.
Tunnel 2
East entrance
Western exit
An old wooden culvert
The 1949 map shows another siding between Tunnels 2 & 3 but I didn't see any thing. So I continued on to Tunnel 3.
TUNNEL 3:
Tunnel 3 was 417 feet long but in 1924 the supporting timbers caught fire. The railroad declared the tunnel unsafe and cut a bypass around the hill. It has collapsed at both ends.
Tunnel 3
East entrance
West exit
From Tunnel 3 I follow the rail bed through Homansville Canyon, across the canyon is Hiway 6. The 1992 (my 2015 west) map says there is a RGW Tunnel there. If they're thinking there's a Rio Grand Western railroad tunnel there, they're wrong. Or perhaps it refers to a mine tunnel. There is a mine above the rail bed but I didn't stop to check it out.
I pass by the ghost town of Homansville (http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/ut/homansville.html) before arriving at the siding called Saddle. Saddle has quite a bit of concrete ruins scattered about.
Saddle
Ruins
After Saddle I made my way to the edge of town where I lost all trace of the rail bed so I called it quits there.
For more information I recommend the book Utah Ghost Rails by Stephen L Carr or visit these web sites:
Further Reading/Links/Resources:
Book: Historical Guide to Utah Ghost Towns - Stephen L. Carr
Book: Utah Ghost Rails - Stephen L. Carr & Robert W. Edwards
Book: Faith, Hope and Prosperity: The Tintic Mining District - Philip F. Notarianni
http://www.drgw.net/info/TinticBranch
http://www.expeditionutah.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3963
http://www.expeditionutah.com/forum/showthread.php?t=384
Various area Ghost Town sites
http://utahrails.net/articles/tintic.php
The Tintic Range Railroad branch was built in 1891 to service the mines in Eureka. It started at the existing track in Springville and went south to Santaquin then turned west to Elberta. From Elberta it went up Pinion Canyon and Homansville Canyon and ended in Eureka. 39 miles total. A couple of years later it was extended 4 miles to Mammoth and Silver City. The extension to Silver City was abandoned in 1943. The line from Pearl Junction, a couple of miles west of Elberta, to Eureka was abandoned somewhere around 1966 or '67. This is about the 11 mile section between Pearl and Eureka.
1897 Map
2015 Eastern Side Map
2015 Western Side Map
1949 Map
At Pearl Junction the rails split, south to Burgin/Dividend area and north to Eureka. The rails are still in place to Burgin but have been pulled up to Eureka. I started where the rails ended and headed north for Tunnel 1.
TUNNEL 1:
Pearl
Rails end at Pearl
Tunnel 1 is 235 ft. long and is open and can be driven through.
Tunnel 1
Moving on about 3/4 a mile was a siding named Laguna. There's some concrete foundations there. Maybe for a loading platform?
Laguna Siding Ruins
About 3/4 of a mile beyond Laguna you come to where the Double Circle Loop used to be. It must have been quite a site watching the trains chugging around it. I found a picture from around 1870.
C. R. Savage photo
I've read a couple of theories on what happened to the trestle. One story is it caught fire and they opted not to replace it while another claims that the newer, more powerful, locomotives were too heavy for the trestle, either way it was bypassed in 1940. The purple line on my 2015 east map is the bypass. The abutments are still there along with the concrete foundations for the supports.
Double Circle Loop
Abutments
75 (or 125?) year old ties where the loop crossed the road
Hard to see but the original and bypass road beds are in the background and the beginning of the loop is in the foreground.
TUNNEL 2:
A little more than 2 miles above the trestle is Tunnel 2. It's 449 feet long but both ends have been sealed. I wasn't able to drive to the eastern end because of some rock fall but I could to the west end. It's an easy walk to the other side from the west end.
Tunnel 2
East entrance
Western exit
An old wooden culvert
The 1949 map shows another siding between Tunnels 2 & 3 but I didn't see any thing. So I continued on to Tunnel 3.
TUNNEL 3:
Tunnel 3 was 417 feet long but in 1924 the supporting timbers caught fire. The railroad declared the tunnel unsafe and cut a bypass around the hill. It has collapsed at both ends.
Tunnel 3
East entrance
West exit
From Tunnel 3 I follow the rail bed through Homansville Canyon, across the canyon is Hiway 6. The 1992 (my 2015 west) map says there is a RGW Tunnel there. If they're thinking there's a Rio Grand Western railroad tunnel there, they're wrong. Or perhaps it refers to a mine tunnel. There is a mine above the rail bed but I didn't stop to check it out.
I pass by the ghost town of Homansville (http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/ut/homansville.html) before arriving at the siding called Saddle. Saddle has quite a bit of concrete ruins scattered about.
Saddle
Ruins
After Saddle I made my way to the edge of town where I lost all trace of the rail bed so I called it quits there.
For more information I recommend the book Utah Ghost Rails by Stephen L Carr or visit these web sites:
Further Reading/Links/Resources:
Book: Historical Guide to Utah Ghost Towns - Stephen L. Carr
Book: Utah Ghost Rails - Stephen L. Carr & Robert W. Edwards
Book: Faith, Hope and Prosperity: The Tintic Mining District - Philip F. Notarianni
http://www.drgw.net/info/TinticBranch
http://www.expeditionutah.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3963
http://www.expeditionutah.com/forum/showthread.php?t=384
Various area Ghost Town sites
http://utahrails.net/articles/tintic.php
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