Special Feature: Early Railroad History in Southeast Idaho

Railroad Terminology and General Facts

Ballast- Railroad ballast is crushed, angular rock, used as the foundation for tracks, roviding drainage, stability and load distribution for ties and rails, preventing vegetation growth and allowing controlled track movement while holding rails in place against forces from trains. Made from hard materials like granite or quartzite, its interlocking, loose structure allows trains to pass while maintaining precise alignment and protecting the subgrade from water and erosion.

Bents- Railroad trestles and bridges were built of timber, with upward columns typically driven into the ground by steam-powered engines, later called pile-drivers. Cross members ran across spans on tops and bottoms of the columns, forming rectangles in the framework. In order to add additional integrity to the structure, longer timbers, called bents, were installed diagnally from top to bottom, forming triangles with the other timbers, greatly increasing structures’ strength and ability to bear heavy loads.

Berms- Since railroads struggle on grades above 2%, (two feet of rise in 100 linear feet) railbeds must be built on the flatest surfaces possible. Berms are earthen structures, reinforced with rock and riff-raff, that are stabilized with piles and cross-members, and often elevated, especially over water, to allow trains to travel above ravines, crevices and waterways. Berms, which are essentially dykes, elevated rails far above the lake’s high level water level on the Lucin Cutoff as it crossed the Great Salt Lake.

Blasting- Chipping away at solid granite and basalt with hand tools is at best a long and arduous task. In the earliest days of the Transcontinental Railroad, options to remove rock were limited to blasting with kegs of black powder. Holes were bored into the stone with hand-drills, and when of sufficient depth, kegs of black powder would be placed, and a fuse inserted, then lit, as workers scrambled to safety from flying rock and debris. Later, after nitroglycerin was produced, its more powerful blasts were much more efficient at removing rock. It was, however, incredibly unstable, especially in its earlier days. The blasts ranged in intensity, depending upon how much rock needed to be removed. One famous blast lifted a two-ton boulder through the air, finally slamming to earth with such force that it was half-buried in the earth half a mile away. Blasting produced stone remnants in various sizes, ranging from gravel and pebble to large boulders. Earthern structures were normally reinforced with remnants, used as fill in low spots or as riff-raff to reenforce dykes and build other structures.

Fill- Building railroads through mountainous areas required removing enormous quantities of stone from mountainsides and later filling crevices and revines in gulleys. Work crews became expert at managing the debris of blasts into lower areas, to elevate and level areas so trestles and bridges could be built on top of the fill.

Freight Sidings- Most sidings established at the turn of the 20th century, were built to accommodate ever-increasing rail traffic, fueled by population growth and the increasing demands of the grazing industry. Sidings allowed trains to pass those traveling in the opposite direction, and those taking on freight and water. Facilities generally included a landing platform, train car body and a siding. Many sidings approached half a mile long, and were installed parallel to the main track to allow express trains to pass slow-moving or on-coming traffic. Additional sidings were added later, to load and unload freight, farm commodities and livestock. Note: sidings should not be confused with hand-car pull-offs. There is no evidence of permanent habitation at most freight sidings- they are assumed to have been unmanned facilities.

Hand Cars- Construction & maintenance crews often utilized hand-driven cars, powered by up-and-down motions in a pumping motion, like a teeter totter, to move along the tracks for maintenance. These relatively light and maneuverable cars were sometimes derailed from tracks and removed from rail lines, when hand-rail pull-offs were not available.

Helper Engines- The maximum allowable rail grade allowed was generally 2% (rise of two feet in one hundred linear feet,) since locomotives struggle to haul heavy loads uphill. It was often encessary to position additional engines at stops to assist in pushing or pulling the loads up steeper grades. These extra engines, known as “helper engines” were permanently stationed at the bottoms of steep grades. Helper engines would generally assist trains to summits, then return to their assigned station until needed for the next train.

Piles or Pilings- Heavy support beams were driven vertically deep to bedrock to maintain the structural integrity of bridges and trestles. Originally hand-driven or driven by work animals, later piles or pilings were driven by steam engines. The wooden beams, normally made of Douglas fir, usually measured 12″ square and were enormously heavy. Wooden derricks and primitive cranes often assisted as heavy beams were lowered into place and secured.

Rails- Iron rails were manufactured in the eastern US, then shipped by rail or boat to the west. Standard rails were twenty feet in length and weighed over 360 pounds. It was stated that eight train cars of rail were required for every mile of completed track. Rails had to be bent to evade obstacles on-site, with the bends having to match those of the rails laid parallel to it. Rails were laid into place by hand, with teams of four handling each rail with heavy tongs, placing it on top of wooden rail ties, uniformly spaced in grades. Precise measuring instruments verified that rails conformed to height and width specifications to its companion parellel rail. Bolts and fittings attached rails ends to ends. Based on a bet between officials of the Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads, a crack team of CP workers set a world record by laying 10 miles and 56 feet of track in a twelve-hour day, beginning at CP’s Lake construction camp. It was calculated that each of the eight-man crew lifted an astounding 124 tons of rail that day.

Railroad Stations- Stations were established every ten to twelve miles to maintain rail facilities and track in their assigned areas. Materials needed to maintain tracks. culverts and bridges, replace ties and ballast were shipped to, then stored at station sites. Over time, heavier rails were installed to handle more modern and heavier engines and machinery. Maintaining aqueducts, wells and holding tanks were also important duties of workers in the stations. Stations also served as home to the engineers who ran “helper” engines to assist over-loaded engines scale steep grades. Facilities included a section house, eating and sleeping accommodations, water tank, freight platform, light-duty turntable (later replaced by wyes,) a siding and a spur.

Riff-Raff- The term ‘riff-raff” is used to classify boulders, rocks and rock particles placed on the banks of canals, berms and causeways, providing stability to earthen structures, while protecting the earth from erosion caused by water, wind and other weather conditions.

Round House- An arc-shaped building for housing and repairing locomotives and railcars. Common configurations were designed to handle sixteen to thirty-two repair stations, complete with turn-tables, so round houses were massive buildings, often up to a quarter or half-mile in length.

Section House- A designated house and facilitiy was established to accommodate maintenance section and other crews, as they worked on the track section they were assigned, which typically included 10 to 12 miles of track. When on-duty, crews would sleep and live in the section houses. Cooks were sometimes assigned to provide food, but often the workers were charged for their food.

Terminus- Rail terminuses were select regional stations, providing essential services for the railroad in their assigned areas, including; transfers of passengers from one line to another, station and hotel services, ticketing, freight transfers, telegraph services. Maintenance services and facilities often included a turntable, roundhouse, coal shed and water tank, bunkhouse, including isolated facilities for Chinese workers, a shipping point to facilitate local trade, and a helper engine base if the terrain dictated that one was needed.

Trestles- Bridges and other supporting structures were built of a network of heavy timbers which supported the great weights of passing trains. Numerous trestles were built in mountainous terrain to allow trains to run on relatively flat levels. In deep ravines amd gulleys, trestles would sometimes have four, five or more levels of structures, built one on top of the other in depending upon what was needed.

Water- Water was essential to railroad travel. For many years, engines were steam-driven, which required massive amounts of water. Water tanks were an essential structure at terminuses, stations, and many sidings. In many cases, water was diverted from streams located miles from stations, often delivered of wooden pipes, made of cedar and stored in cisterns or water towers, agacent to the tracks.

The Men Who Built the Railroad

Catching the Vision
The dream of building a railway, uniting the railways in the east to the recently settled western territories was acquired and developed over a period of time, with several Prominent individuals instrumental in making a wild dream become reality. A newspaper editor in Michigan proposed the idea in 1832. Another enthusiast, Dr. Samuel Barlow shared Dexter’s vision. Ten years later a New York businessman named Asa Whitney petitioned Congress to build a coast-to-coast railroad. In total over a score of individuals in the 1830s and 40s touted the benefits of constructing a transcontinental railway. But, most people shared the belief that this enormous task simply could not be done- the challenges faced in attempting this enormous task seemed too daunting to overcome. A champion to promote the cause would be needed in order to convince Congress and the general public such an undertaking could be feasible.

Theodore Judah, Champion of the Transcontinental Railroad
In 1854, a young railroad engineer working on the Erie Railroad, named Theodore (Ted) Dehone Judah headed west to California, as lead engineer of the first railroad in California after completing work on the Erie Railroad. Along the way, his thoughts gelled on the feasibility of constructing a Transcontinental Railroad. His ideas focused on the importance of uniting a nation that was on the verge of a Civil War, splitting the Northern and the Southern states. After he arrived in California, after conducting preliminary studies and surveys, he eventually made multiple trips to Washington D.C., where he lobbied Congress to provide construction funds for the massive project. He formed a company, The Central Pacific Railroad Company, and in November, 1860 met with four wealthy investors who agreed to fund the company. However, Judah died just before the Pacific Railway Act was passed by Congress, but his was instrumental to convince legislators and other prominent officials of the benefits and feasibility of such a plan.

Abraham Lincoln
Lincoln championed the vison of a Transcontinental Railroad, as the Civil War tore a nation apart. Throughout the war, he led efforts to plan for its construction, believing communication and commerce with the west would preclude it from the deep sectional issues that divided the North and the South, initiating the Civil War. He was instrumental in passing legislation that put the plan into action, signing the Pacific Railway Act on July 1, 1862, which authorized the CP to construct track from Sacramento to 150 miles east of the California/Nevada border and creating a new company, named the Union Pacific Railroad Company to lay tracks westward until the two companies joined tracks. The bill provided federal land, loans and inducements, creating a race between the Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railroads to lay the most track as they built the first coast-to-coast railroad line across North America.

Grenville Dodge– Civil War General & Union Pacific Head Engineer
In 1853, a young army officer named Grenville Dodge led a party to survey a route for the proposed route west. At that time, there was a heated exchange in Congress as northerns and southerners lobbied to have a railway built through their area. Then-Congressman Jefferson Davis, who later became President of the Confederacy, fiercely opposed a route through the north, hoping for the rail to run through the southern states. Dodge, making a meticulous search for the best route, became convinced the best route ran through the northern plains, passing through what became known as South Pass in Wyoming, the only break in the Rocky Mountains in the Continental Divide. After returning from his surveying expedition, Dodge met a young ambitious politician named Abraham Lincoln, who had been representing railroads in Illinois. At a political event, Lincoln was introduced to Dodge, by an associate, who told Lincoln, “He knows more about railroads than any two men in the entire country.” Grenville Dodge served as a Union General during the war, afterwards becoming head engineer of the Union Pacific, where he applied his knowledge to plan routes to construct the emerging line. For the most part, the railroad would be built over ancient established trails, which had been used by Native Americans for countless centuries; they knew the best routes to follow

Notable Union Pacific Team Members
Major General John Dix was named President of the newly-formed Union Pacific, withThomas Clark Durant as Vice President. Trained as a medical doctor, Durant was both a brilliant organizer and a scoundrel. He convinced associates to buy stock in the UP, then secretly bought enough back to control the company, forming a subsidiary called Credit Mobelier, which effectively funneled cash to private investors, instead of goint directly to the UP. Enormous dividends were paid through Credit Mobelier’s investors in dividends, leaving the UP unable to pay its debts. During The Irish Potato Famine, large numbers of Irishmen emigrated to the US, and Dodge recruited thousands of them to build the railroad. After the Civil War ended, legions of veterans found themselves out of work. Accustomed to following orders in working towards a common cause, they proved to be a great benefit to the workforce. John Steven “Jack” Casement and his brother, Dan became construction bosses of the UP. Jack dressed as a Cossack, and both were tough as nails, leading the UP’s army of workmen.

Notable Central Pacific Team Members
Theodore Judah formed the Central Pacific Railroad Company, with initial funding provided by a Sacramento- based group of investors. The group became known as “The Big Four,” with Leland Stanford, President, a lawyer, who loved to work with people was elected Governor of California, shortly after becoming CP’s President; Collis Huntington, who brought a wealth of business knowledge and know-how became the real boss of the company, Vice-President; Mark Hopins, Treasurer, a very thrifty man and Charles Crocker, Construction Supervisor. the organizer. Judah continued to lobby Congress for additional funding, but while sailing to his destination, contracted yellow feaver, crossing Panama and died in New York before word of the CP laying its first rails reached town. Charles Strobridge, called Stro by his friends, Construction boss of the CP, often settled disputes with an ax handle in his hand

Ethnic Groups and Others who Constructed the Railroad
Railroad workers came literally from all over the globe, with many immigrating specifically to work on the massive project. Native Americans, newly-freed former black slaves and other groups joined the Civil War veterans, Chinese, Irish and later the Mormon workers. The CP’s workforce was initially manned by a group of 500 unemployed Irishmen hired by Crocker, but this force was from enough to produce the manpower needed to complete the job, so Crocker placed ads in California newspapers, advertising to hire 5,000 workers immediately. At the time, thirty-five thousand Chinese workers, lured by the promise of becoming rich in the California goldfields, had emigrated there in the 1840s and 50s. Californians referred to the Chinese as “Celestials,” since the Chinese referred to their native homeland as the “Celestial Kingdom.” Initially, fifty Chinese workers were hired to see how they worked out. The experiment proved successful, and large numbers of California-based Chinese workers were hired, becoming the main source of labor on the CPRR. Eventually, over 10,000 Chinese laborers worked on the railroad; later groups were recruited by railroad officials and emigrated from China specifically to work on the railroad.

Brigham Young & the Mormons
Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commonly called Mormons, were driven from their homes in Missouri and Illinois, and forced to settle in The Great Basin area surrounding the Great Salt Lake. Led by their leader, Brigham Young, they forged a new passageway, called the Mormon Trail, while crossing the vast plains west. Brigham Young, was a great proponent of the railroad, and eventually owned a significant amount of stock in the Union Pacific. Young led the initial Mormon party, called the Vanguard Party from Illinois through the midwestern plains. While forging their way, Young was constantly thinking of where a railroad should come. His counselor, George A. Smith wrote in his journal, “During this journey they looked out a route where they were satisfied a railroad could be built, and were just as zealous in their feelings that a railroad would follow their track as we are to-day.” Young and the Mormons would later play a prominent role in constructing the railway from Wyoming into Nevada in its final leg, providing grading construction crews for both the Union Pacific and Southern Pacific Railroads.

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Hell on Wheels

• Established: As temporary, portable cities, from 1863 until the transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869; the concept continued as subsequent early railroads were constructed across the continent  
• Origin of Name: This general term seemed to accurately depict the largely lawless, existence that existed in railroad camps; murders and other serious crimes were rampant along the rails; virtually every vice seemingly known to man was readily available in the portable “cities-on-wheels,” but always for a price
• Historic Overview:  Construction camp “cities” owned by Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railroads during the construction of the original transcontinental railroad’ since two to three miles of track were regularly laid each day; during their rush to join the rails, portable cities were established, existing largely on newly-laid tracks to keep up with the rapid pace of new rail construction; sleeping facilities, eating places, saloons, gambling houses, brothels and many more shady operations were aboard rail cars or often in tents and wooden buildings that could be assembled and disassembled in a short time.  
• Location: No permanent locations ever existed for these portable cities; they’d spring up over-night, then travel on to their next location as soon as more track was laid
• No Permanent Population ever existed for “Hell on Wheels,” though they served thousands of laborers for both railroads 

Mormons and the Railroads

After being organized in upstate New York, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints grew rapidly. Commonly referred to as the Mormon Church, after their Book of Mormon, the saints were persecuted and driven from their homes in Ohio, Missouri and Illinois. Following the murder of their prophet, Joseph Smith, they were forced to relocate across the barren plains to the Great Salt Lake Basin, under the direction of their new leader, Brigham Young.

Tens of thousands traveled over the plains in wagons, drawn by teams of horses or oxen, and some even pulled handcarts. Most walked nearly the entire journey of over 1,250 miles to what became Utah and Salt Lake City- wagon space was for supplies, far too precious for riders. Brigham Young, a powerful and charismatic leader, was a great champion of building a transcontinental railroad. As he and his followers traveled through the treacherous landscape, he wrote, “We never went through the canyons or worked our way over the dividing ridge, without asking where the rails would be laid.” Quoting a Deseret News article, dated June 10, 1868, Frederick M. Huchel, in “Railroads in Northern Utah and Southern Idaho,” writes, “As the two lines were approaching Utah, in 1868, Brigham Young said, ‘I do not think we traveled one day from the Missouri River here but what we looked for a track where rails could be laid with success through this territory to the Pacific Ocean.’” Reporter Samuel Bowles wrote once the great iron road had been completed, “But for the pioneership of the Mormons…all the central region of the great West would now be many years behind in its development, and the railroad, instead of being finished, would hardly be begun.”

As both the Central Pacific and Union Pacific hastened their pace, laying rail towards their inevitable meeting, both entities faced the same dilemma: a shortage of manpower in the remote and barren stretches of what became Utah. Since over 40,000 saints had then migrated to the Great Basin, the obvious answer was to form an alliance with the Mormons. On May 6, 1868, Thomas Durant, of the Union Pacific wired Brigham Young, asking if he could supply a large number of men to work on its construction. Within an hour, Young sent a return telegram, stating he was willing to do so. Unknown to Durant, during the past two growing seasons, the Mormon communities had been devastated by plagues of grasshoppers and crickets. Thousands were out of work and desperate to survive. Durant immediately sent one of his engineers, who knew Young personally, to negotiate an agreement. As part of the agreement, the UP promised Mormons reduced fares for those emigrating to the area. Brigham Young eventually became a large shareholder in the UP- being said to have been the only major stockholder to pay for his shares with cash.

Durant had found his workforce; the Mormons proved to be hard-working, conscientious workers, and more reliable than other groups, since their church taught its members to refrain from smoking, drinking and gambling, which were major problems with the other groups they hired. As a tribute to the Mormons’ work, one historian wrote, “It was acknowledged by all railroad men that nowhere on the line could the grading compare in completeness and finish with the work done by the people of Utah.”

The Central Pacific was not happy that the Mormons were aiding the UP. CP President Leland Stanford traveled by rail, then stagecoach to Salt Lake City, where he convinced Brigham Young to also assist the CP construction as well, grading roadbeds from Nevada’s border to Utah’s Weber Canyon. Mormons were grading for both groups. Young pressured both companies to route the rail south through Salt Lake City, but was over-ruled as engineers from both sides insisted a northern route through Ogden made more sense.

Church leaders enlisted help from their local congregations. Local leaders urged church members to join the ranks, since the prospect of prosperity seemed divinely inspired. But, it must be noted that railroads were not always flush with cash, in fact, their payment records were often far in arrears. Many of their problems were caused by corruption and waste. The Union Pacific had set up a construction company, called Credit Mobilier, which drained the government’s cash into the hands of the construction company’s shareholders.

In December 1868, the Credit Mobilier paid nearly $3 million in dividends to its shareholders, bringing the total paid in 1868 to $12.8 million in cash, plus over $4 million in UP stock, bringing the total of stock distributed since 1867 to $28.8 million. At that time. the UP owed over $10 million in debt. The end result is that creditors’ bills were delayed or just ignored. In fact, the joining of the rails at Promontory was delayed for a day, when UP’s unpaid workers in Piedmont, Wyoming seized UP President Thomas Durant’s private car, on its way to the ceremonies and chained it to a rail. They took him at gunpoint, refusing to release him until they received their back pay. After the money was wired to the camp and turned over to the workers, he was allowed to continue his journey to Promontory. The ownership of the Central Pacific essentially did the same thing, doling out huge payouts among the CP’s Big Four, consisting of Leland Stanford, Collis Huntington, Mark Hopkins and Charles Crocker.

Brigham Young viewed the situation as outrageous. While Credit Mobilier stockholders received huge dividends, Brigham Young, the church and its contractors were owed huge sums of money for their contract labor. Young paid nearly $50,000 from his own pocket to appease some of the workers, but still nearly three quarters of a million dollars were owed to the Mormons.

After the rail was completed, UP’s financial problems were far from over. President Young continually pressed the UP for payment in full, but the UP had no money, so no progress was made in resolving the matter. However, it did have equipment and supplies left over from the build. Anxious to build a spur from Ogden to Salt Lake City, Young finally settled in September 1869. The UP gave the Mormons four thousand tons of iron rail worth $480,000, 144 tons of spikes worth $20,000, thirty-two tons of bolts worth $5,600, four passenger cars, second-class cars, mail cars, flatcars and boxcars, totaling $599,460 and the debt was finally resolved.

The Mormons went to work on their railroad immediately and had it in service within a few months. This was the start of the church’s ownership of railroads in northern Utah and southeast Idaho. They eventually established a spur from Salt Lake to Utah County, then began work on a spur through Cache Valley, north towards the Montana goldfields.

Sources: Iron Rails, Iron Men and the Race to Link the Nation; The Story of the Transcontinental Railroad by Martin W. Sandler; Nothing Like It In The World, Steven E. Ambrose, Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, New York, NY