Trolley Thursday 5/7/20 - The Survivors of the Saltair

Saltwater is never kind to metal, as any coastal railroad or Panama-crossing Volkswagen can attest to. Salt, naturally, corrodes so it's a struggle to fight the effects of iron oxide eating away at unique and often single-examples of history. Indeed, though the Salt Lake, Garfield & Western (The "Saltair" Route) continues to operate today, much of the equipment that made them unique among other interurban roads have sadly gone the way of the dodo; if not scrapped, then they still exist out of state. On today's Trolley Thursday, let's drink a hearty toast to the Saltair and recount the fates of their surviving equipment.

...! *spits* Wait, this is salt water!

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Car 500 waits with Steeplecab 401 and an unknown second car to be scrapped
at Salt Lake Yard, as an unidentified diesel prowls behind.
(Gordon Cardall, Donstrack)

Electric traction ended on the Salt Lake, Garfield & Western (affectionately known as the "Saltair" route and serving the same-named massive entertainment pavilion's two iterations) in 1951. In 1953, most of their electric stock (four interurban cars, one Baldwin steeplecab, and some open "Suburban-Style" trailers) were sent to the American Foundry and Machine Co. of Salt Lake City to be scrapped while the Saltair retained two former interurban cars as diesel-hauled trailers.

Car 502 heads a train outbound to the Saltair, with an open
trailer sandwiched inbetween, year unknown
(Donstrack)

Cars 501 and 502, both originally built by the McGuire-Cummings Car Company in 1918, were originally part of an order of six steel interurban cars built for Saltair service between the resort and Salt Lake City. They ran on 1500V DC voltage, from an overhead wire, feeding four traction motors per car that gave it enough oomph to reach 45 miles per hour and haul a sufficient number of boxcars in freight service. Their 56-foot length was also nothing to scoff at, ferrying hoards of Mormon tourists to and from the salty shores in sublime fashion. Sadly, those days had ended in ignominy as the Saltair Railroad found it hard to justify keeping a fleet of passenger electrics with no passengers to serve.

Following the SLGW purchasing two diesels in December 1951 (both GE 44 tonners, originally New York, Ontario & Western), Cars 501 and 502 were selected for rebuilding and were stripped of their electrical equipment. In their places, the cars gained a new flat-arched roof and began working alongside their open trailers in diesel-hauled mixed trains, giving them another lease on life that cars 500, 503, 504 and 505 never got. Passenger service continued after the second generation "Saltair II" closed in 1958, delivering workers to the Morton Salt plant until May 20, 1961, when cars 503 and open trailers 305 and 306 were reunited and hauled once more by 44-tonner DS-1 as a "farewell" fan trip.

The last Saltair passenger run, May 20, 1961.
(Gordon Cardall, Donstrack)

After this, all non-freight Saltair stock went into storage. The railroad itself was sold to to the Hogle family from the incumbent Ashby Snow family, and much of its infrastructure and land was sold back to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. This land was developed into the Salt Lake International Center, a consortium of warehouses served by the Union Pacific, Western Pacific, and eventually the Saltair after the latter's tracks were moved closer in 1977. By 1981, the railroad saw big profits thanks to being used as a coal-hauler for the Utah Power & Light Company's Gadsby plant. Today, the Saltair Railroad is still owned by the Hogle Group and operated alongside the Union Pacific.

Saltair 502 and 501 (respectively) at their original display
 plinth, year unknown.
(Clint Thomsen's grandmother)

As for the former electric stock, cars 501 and 502 were sold to Hoskins Helicopter Service in the mid-1980s. (What a helicopter service was doing with two interurbans, history doesn't know either). Ian Morehouse was next to purchase the cars, as he owned the land the Saltair II formerly sat on as well as the Saltair III, and desired to put the cars on display in their old stomping grounds near an old substation, for people to enjoy. Unfortunately, the close proximity to salt water meant 501 and 502 began deteriorating quickly, so 501 was moved closer to Saltair III. This didn't help matters as rowdy concertgoers exiting Saltair III on late nights would vandalize the car and, in one instance, set fire to it. By 2006, Morehouse felt pity on the destroyed car but nobody wanted to claim it, so 501 was scrapped on-site in October that year.

Saltair 502 near the end of her life, burned, battered, and busted.
(Viv Smith)

Car 502 prepares to meet its maker, February 2012.
(Clint Thomsen)

As for the 502, vandalism and corrosion had set in and both the car and its substation were in serious neglect. The only saving grace in these intolerable years was its popularity as a wedding photo venue, but vandals and arsonists again desiccated the car's wooden internals, leaving behind a skeletal metal body. Morehouse again, along with friend and fellow preservationist Clint Thomsen, wanted to save the 502 but, like with 501, no preservation groups had the money or space to take them, not even the trucks. In February 2012, both Morehouse and Thomsen watched the salvage crews load the 502 onto a flatbed truck as it was taken to a salvage yard, at the behest of Salt Lake County's plan to clean the area, for scrapping. The substation would be demolished the following month.

SLGW Open Car No. 306 at her new home in Portola, CA,
showing off her characteristic easy-boarding outdoor steps.
Hello Dolly, anyone?
(Western Railroad Museum)

Meanwhile, four of the SLGW's homebuilt "suburban-style" (or "Narragansett-style" for you Disneyphiles and railfans) would find new homes outside of the scrapheap. Two of them were donated to the Sons of Utah Pioneers and placed on display, first at Corrine, UT, then at the Heber Valley Railroad (popularly named the Heber Creeper). One of the cars met its untimely end in 2009, when an arsonist destroyed it. (It seems fire would follow this defunct interurban quite frequently.) The other Heber display, car 306, would be sold in 1993 to the Western Railway Museum in Portola, CA, where it remains in an unrestored and deteriorating state.

The other two would be donated to the Utah Railroad Museum in Ogden, UT, located at their Business Depot. Like the 306, both are still in derelict condition with warping wooden planks and peeling paint. The Golden Spike Chapter of the Railway and Locomotive Historical Society plans on moving the cars to their main site at Ogden Union Station, but currently a donation of $20-30,000 is needed for such a monster move. Only time will now tell if the cars can be moved before another arsonist gets to them.

A contemporary (2017) Google Maps overhead of the Ogden Business Depot, showing the two
other remaining Saltair open cars with a Bamberger "Bullet" body in-between.
(Preserved Traction)

Saltair M.C. 3 poses like it's an official company photograph,
1959.
(Dave England, Donstrack)

The final piece of SLGW stock for discussion today is also the only piece of running passenger stock owned by the Saltair. Designated "Motor Car No. 3", or "M.C.3", this little gas "doodlebug" railcar was originally built by the American Car & Foundry in 1935 for the
Seaboard Air Line Railroad. It was in service as number 2026 until being sold to the Aberdeen and Rockfish as their number 106. The SLGW would purchase the car third-hand in 1951 following their 44-tonners and used it to supplement passenger runs from Salt Lake City to the Morton Salt Plant.

Once all passenger service ended, the eye-catching shovelnose car was sold once more to the California Western Railroad in Fort Bragg and Willits, California. It was renumbered M-300, rebuilt as a full-passenger car, and continues to see regular use alongside "Skunk Train" car M-100, replacing the former M-200 that was since sold to the Niles Canyon Railway. Over 100 years after the end of the Saltair, it still continues its proud heritage as a tourist hauler in some small way.

California Western M-300 (left) and M-100 (right), living up to the "Skunk Train" nickname with all
those righteous gas fumes.
(Chatzi473)

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If you would like to help donate money to save the four remaining Saltair open cars, links to the Western Railway Museum, Utah State Railroad Museum, and Heber Valley Railroad are offered here. More information about the California Western can be found on their own website, and more information can be found about the Saltair in general through UtahRails. Next week, we begin covering the Salt Lake and Utah Railroad, but until then, you can follow myself or my editor on twitter if you wanna support us, and maybe buy a shirt as well! Until next week, ride safe and stay salty!