Utah

Name: Rails around Helper
Brand: SueAnn Martell
SKU: 9780738548067
Price: 18.74 USD
Availability: InStock

From Salt Lake City to Zion National Park, survey the rich terrain of Utah history. Desert outposts no longer keep watch for the arrival of the Pony Express, and the ore trains of Bingham Canyon have made their final run. But our Utah history books provide uninterrupted travel to landscapes as they appeared to members of Brigham’s Young’s expedition or guests at Ogden’s Broom Hotel. Map out the vision of Springville artists, Provo entrepreneurs and Moab peach growers in these histories of the Beehive State.

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Rails around Helper

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Bingham Canyon Railroads

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Ogden

$23.99 $17.99 Save 25%

Ogden's Trolley District

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Tooele Valley Railroad

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Rails around Helper

9780738548067

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

In 1880, the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad was hard-pressed to find a suitable rail route from Grand Junction to Salt Lake City. With the coal deposits of eastern Utah luring them on, railroad officials chose a difficult route over Soldier Summit. The railroad established the town where "helper" engines were attached to the heavy trains, and Helper grew into a division point with branch operations that reached into the nearby canyons to serve the blossoming coal industry. Numerous smaller towns sprang up to service the railroad, and in 1912, the newly incorporated Utah Railway laid tracks to share the right-of-way with the Denver and Rio Grande. The
town of Helper is still a mecca for rail fans, and the story of its past lives on.

Bingham Canyon Railroads

9780738584898

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Railroads and mining in Bingham Canyon have gone hand in hand since the first railroad was constructed in the canyon in late 1873. Bingham Canyon in the early years was a gold and silver mining camp, and the railroads were small operations. Copper mining took hold in the late 1890s, and the mines, mining companies, and railroads that served them expanded rapidly. Bingham Canyon soon became the largest and richest mining district in the western United States and was the source for as much as a third of the copper mined in the nation. A variety of locomotives worked in the canyon, including a small number of Shay locomotives, several large articulated steam locomotives, and the nation's largest roster of electric locomotives. The last Bingham Canyon ore train ran in late 2001. While the railroad tracks have been removed, the mine itself is very much in full production and remains the source for 25 percent of the nation's copper production.

Ogden

9781467107662

$23.99 $17.99 Save 25%

Since its founding in 1850, Ogden has been home to fur trappers, Mormon pioneers, immigrants, railroad workers, and businessmen. The joining of the rails in 1869 with the completion of the transcontinental railroad forever changed the city. Ogden became known as the Crossroads of the West, and the city continued to thrive with the influx of people and industry. Ogden was known for its surrounding natural beauty and the ability to effectively accomplish anything it undertook. Ogden became home to generations of families including Charles Maccarthy and his family. Maccarthy was a railroader, by trade and a photographer by hobby. He was hardly seen without his camera. During the early 20th century, he captured the lives of Ogdenites, which included family gatherings, parades, and special events, and even stopped people on the street and asked to take their photographs.

Ogden's Trolley District

9780738595054

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Descending the hill on Twenty-fifth Street, a streetcar makes its way past the Broom Hotel; to the right, the transition from horse-drawn transportation is exemplified. In 1883, the Ogden City Railway Co. constructed and operated Ogden's first city rail line. These early trolleys were originally mule-drawn, and in 1891, the electric streetcar made its appearance on Ogden city streets. The trolley system grew, and streetcar lines were built nearly every two blocks in the 80-block residential area directly east of downtown Ogden. By the end of the 19th century, the Trolley District was home to the elite and laymen alike. This district, officially listed as the Ogden Central Bench National Historic District, is bordered by Twentieth Street to the north, Thirtieth Street to the south, and Harrison Boulevard to Adams Avenue, east to west, respectively.

Tooele Valley Railroad

9781467130264

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Shortly after the International Smelter offered economic salvation to Tooele's struggling desert community, the Tooele Valley Railroad became the town artery. Though originally built in 1908 to connect the smelter to the Union Pacific and Western Pacific lines west of town, the railroad became central to daily life. Hundreds of local workers rode it to and from work each day. As technology continued to change Tooele, the Tooele Valley Railroad shared Vine Street with the first automobiles--safety precautions required that the caboose, with a horn mounted to warn motorists, lead the oncoming train. However, the smelter's decades of prosperity proved short-lived, and by the 1930s, the town had fallen on difficult times once again. The railroad outlived the smelter, but operations ceased in the early 1980s, and the city had the abandoned tracks removed.