Utah Railway
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Provo, Utah |
| Reporting mark | UTAH |
| Locale | Utah and Colorado |
| Dates of operation | 1912–present |
The Utah Railway (reporting mark UTAH) is a class III railroad operating in Utah and Colorado, and owned by Genesee & Wyoming Inc..
History
The Utah Railway Company was incorporated on January 24, 1912, with the name of Utah Coal Railway, shortened to Utah Railway in May of the same year. It was founded to haul coal from the company's mines to Provo, Utah, in reaction to company disappointment in the service and route of the existing Denver and Rio Grande Railroad nearby. The company was one of the earliest coal hauling railroads to employ diesel locomotives, and was early to adopt automation technologies, including the use of flashing rear end devices instead of cabooses. Parent company Mueller Industries, a manufacturer of copper products, sold the Utah Railway in 2002 to Genesee & Wyoming Inc., a railroad holding company.
Current operations
Today's Utah Railway operates over 423 miles (681 km) of track between Grand Junction, Colorado, and Provo, Utah, of which 45 miles (72 km) are owned, and the remainder operated under agreements with BNSF Railway and Union Pacific. The company still hauls a significant amount of coal; of the 90,000 carloads hauled each year, over two thirds are coal. The Utah Railway also owns a subsidiary railroad, the Salt Lake City Southern Railroad, serving over 30 customers on over 25 miles (40 km) of track between Salt Lake City and Draper, Utah.
The Utah Railway Company gained minor fame in April 2010 when a freight train ran over a stray Shih Tzu twice in one day; the dog survived both encounters.[1]
Logo
From earliest times, the symbol of the Utah Railway Company has been the beehive, which is also the Utah state symbol. Normally, GWI alters the corporate logos of its acquisitions to match the parent company's logo, but in a nod to tradition, the beehive was retained within a logo similar to the parent company's design.
References
- ^ "Stray Dog and Train Battle - Dog Wins, Twice!". National Ledger. Apr 9, 2010. Retrieved Apr 14, 2010.