Personal Projects, Photography, and Pointless Pontifications
Ghosts of the Uintah Railway
Uintaite, or more commonly known by its trademarked name, Gilsonite,
is a natural asphalt that, for all intents and purposes, looks very much
like coal in its natural form. Unlike coal, however, it is resinous
substance with a low melting point. Some early reports of its discovery
describe trying to use it as coal, only to find that it burned poorly
and would melt, sending flaming streams of liquid hydrocarbons in all
sorts of undesirable directions. It occurs in only one place in the
world – the Uintah Basin of eastern Utah and western Colorado. While
similar substances are found elsewhere, uintaite is unique,
differentiated by its specific gravity and low melting point. Found in
deep, vertical, nearly-pure veins, geologists believe that uintaite is
the result of petroleum from the region’s underlying oil sands seeping
up through cracks in the overlying sandstone. Over time, the more
volatile elements would evaporate, leaving a solid asphaltic resin.
The story of the Uintah Railway really begins in 1885, eighteen years
before the line was actually constructed. Samuel Gilson, having
received samples of an unusual substance found within the Ute Indian
Reservation of eastern Utah, quickly realized that this natural asphalt
had commercial potential in a variety of applications. The only problem
was that the reserves were inside the reservation. Through a good deal
of lobbying, Gilson’s interests had the ore-rich lands removed from the
reservation through an 1888 act of Congress. The Gilson Manufacturing
Company began large scale commercial extraction in September of that
year, with some 3000 tons shipped by wagon to Price, Utah, where it was
hauled to market via the Rio Grande Western’s narrow gauge trains.
The substance proved so useful, and thus commercially valuable, that
wagons were too slow and inefficient to meet demand the early 1900s.
Gilson’s mining concerns needed a railroad. They initially approached
the Denver & Rio Grande about building a branch, but were turned
down, as the D&RGW deemed it too risky a venture to build such a
long branch that would be completely dependent upon a single commodity.
Having few other options, they decided to go ahead with their own line,
and in 1903, the Uintah Railway Company was born.
The route would connect with the Rio Grande Western at a point near
Crevasse, Colorado (the point would become Mack, CO), and proceed
northwesterly over Baxter Pass to the Black Dragon uintaite vein, some
50 miles away. The Black Dragon vein was chosen due to its significant
size and proximity to the railhead. In light of the grades and
curvature of the proposed route, the Uintah was to be constructed as a
narrow gauge (3 foot) railway, despite the fact that all of the
connecting roads had been standard gauged thirteen years earlier. By
October of 1904, all 53.3 miles of the originally planned railway were
in place, and the Uintah commenced operation doing what it was intended
to do – hauling out uintaite.
To say that the Uintah is steep and curvy is a disservice to those
who designed and built it. To say that it approaches the physical
limits of adhesion (ie, non-cog) railways, and possibly the limits of
sanity as well, would be significantly more accurate. In the six miles
from the railroad’s shops at Atchee to the summit of Baxter Pass, some 5
miles of that are unrelenting 7.5% grade. The back side of the pass is
somewhat better – six miles of 5% grade. Within this section, there
were two curves exceeding 65 degrees of curvature, and several more
exceeding 60. (65 degrees of curvature is an effective radius of about
87 feet, for reference… Some sources say the Moro Castle curve may
have been 75-80 degrees initially, and enlarged when the railroad
realized that they simply could not operate on that.)
At least until 1926, the railroad operated as three parts, with
normal rod-type steam locomotives operating from Dragon to Wendella (the
northern end of the 5% climb). Power was then changed to one of the
railroad’s two-truck Shay locomotives – a type reknown for their pulling
power – for the trip over Baxter Pass to Atchee. South of Atchee to
Mack, the grade and curvature moderated and rod type engines were again
used. Even the mighty Shays were only rated for 60ish tons over the
hill, and rod engines could barely make the trip at all.
The first major change to the Uintah came in 1911, when the route was
extended further north to Watson, UT, and a branch run westward to new
mines near Rainbow, UT. Over the next decade, these steel tendrils
would be extended a few more miles as more mines came online, such as
the Barlow, Colorow, and Thimble Rock mines in 1918, and later the China
Wall Mine in 1927. This would be the final extent of the Uintah.
While there were plans drawn up for extending the railroad towards new
deposits at Bonanza and perpetual talk of reaching Vernal for general
freight, these never panned out. A combination of better roads and
trucks, as well as improved standard gauge service at Craig, CO, due to
the completion of the Moffat Tunnel, unwittingly conspired to limit any
further growth of the Uintah.
The road, facing financial problems in the 1920s due to higher labor
costs and aging equipment, decided that new motive power was the answer.
In 1926, the railroad asked Baldwin for a solution – an engine that
could operate around the railroad’s tight curves, pull tonnage over the
steep grades, and do it better than the aging Shays. What they got was
#50, an articulated 2-6-6-2T that weighed in at 236,000 pounds and
produced around 42,000 pounds of tractive effort. It could operate at
reasonable speeds over the entire line, best a Shay in tonnage by at
least 50% on the grades of Baxter Pass while only taking half the time,
and reportedly did it all with maintenance costs less than one Shay.
(Note: Although often referred to as such, they are not Mallets. Each
of the four main cylinders was directly fed with high pressure steam,
rather than recycling high pressure exhaust through low pressure
cylinders in a true Mallet.) Within a few months of 50 proving itself, a
second 2-6-6-2T was ordered – 51. Ten-thousand pounds heavier than 50,
this unit would take the title of being the largest and heaviest narrow
gauge steamer built.
Even the mighty 2-6-6-2Ts could not save the Uintah from lean revenue
during the Great Depression and increased competitive pressure from
trucks and the D&SL connection at Craig. To add to it all, the
mines served by the railroad were starting to play out, with new
deposits located on the north side of the rugged White River Canyon. On
24-Aug-1938, the railroad petitioned the Interstate Commerce Commission
for abandonment of the route. By 1939, only a single train each week
would ply the line, and on 8-Apr-1939, abandonment was approved. The
last revenue train left Mack northbound at 0810h on 16-May-1939,
concluding nearly thirty five years of operation. By August of that
same year, the scrappers were already working their way south from
Watson, and by early 1940, the railway was just a memory.
For those unfamiliar with the route, I’ve put together an interactive map of the line to help you acquaint yourself with it.
Today, much of the old grade has become a public road, and in dry weather, can easily be explored by any vehicle with good ground clearance and reasonably deep tire tread (due to the loose silty dirt that forms much of the road surface). This is something best done only after some period of dry weather, though, as my guess is the road surface can quickly turn into a muddy quagmire after rain. Don’t expect any great speed, though – the road is narrow, steep, winding, and in places, hideously rough and deeply rutted. I’d strongly recommend printing off a copy of Bill Pratt’s excellent Uintah tour guide. This is what I used to start planning my trip, and found it invaluable. You’ll also want to consider taking a Delorme topo map (or similar) and possbily Rodger Polley’s “Uintah Railway Pictorial”, volumes 1 and 2, along with you, as these will help you figure out exactly where you are, and what railroad-related sites may be around you. As a final note, fill your gas tank before you leave Mack, make sure you have a good spare tire, and take food and water with you. Much beyond Mack, there’s no cellphone service, so you’ll need to be able to handle whatever comes up out there on your own. Don’t let that scare you off, though – exploring the Uintah is a relaxing, interesting all-day trip along one of Colorado’s most unique narrow gauge routes.
Although I’ve never met any of these individuals, I’d like to take a few lines to offer thanks the following: To Mr. Henry Bender, for capturing my interest in the Uintah with his original book, “Uintah Railway – The Gilsonite Route”. To Mr. Rodger Polley for his two wonderful volumes, “Uintah Railway Pictorial”, Volumes 1 and 2 – their included maps, photos, and town layouts were invaluable in indentifying things I was seeing along the way. To Mr. Bill Pratt, with his detailed driving tour guide to the Uintah, without which I likely would have spent much more time fumbling around with the map and missed half the stuff I was out there looking for. Thank you all for the efforts you’ve put into teaching us newcomers about the Uintah Railway – when I say this trip wouldn’t have happened without you, I mean it.
What follows are a series of pictures from my drive up the route in November 2007.
Mack to Carbonera
This is what it’s all about – deposits of natural asphaltic hydrocarbons known as uintaite (or by its more common trademarked name, Gilsonite), useful for making all sorts of stuff.
The Uintah/Rio Grande narrow gauge grade is visible to the north side of old US Highway 6 west of Mack. This is just west of town, looking back east in the early morning.
Another view of the grade profile, as it passes through a streambed west of Mack, CO. While railroads shared the same grade for a few miles west of Mack, the D&RG/RGW narrow gauge was long gone by the time the Uintah was built.
Looking south, towards where the Uintah split off to head north from the old D&RG/RGW narrow gauge grade. The Uintah grade can be seen running diagonally towards the photographer in the center of the picture – the old D&RG/RGW grade is indiscernable, but in the background.
Looking north along the Uintah grade from a point just north of where it diverged from the D&RG/RGW grade.
From the same point as the previous two shots, you can see the old D&RG/RGW grade headed west across the desert towards Utah. When the route was standard gauged in 1890, this section of sharp curves and steep grades was eliminated in favor of the current route through the Colorado River canyon between Mack, CO, and Whitehouse, UT.
The road north over Baxter Pass joins the old Uintah Railway grade at Uintah milepost ~6.4.
At numerous points along the route, the road diverges from the old grade, typically to bypass missing trestles. This is one of those points, somewhere between MP 6.4 and 9.0. I’m on the road, and you can see the grade heading across the streambed across the middle of the frame.
The road, running alongside the Uintah grade (raised to the right) at approximately milepost 9.
There’s not a lot left of the Uintah out here, aside from a lump in the dirt. I’m standing atop the grade, looking north towards Atchee and the Book Cliffs at around milepost 9.
The north end of bridge 9-A (I think…) The south end is long gone, cut away by a large amount of erosion.
Looking north along the road (built over the grade here) near milepost 10.
The remains of bridge 11-B. There was a small (600 ft) siding near here, called either Salt Wash or Sprague, depending on the era.
Looking south from on the grade at approximately milepost 12, where the road and grade come back together.
Around where Uintah milepost 15 would have been, there’s a view of Public Service Corp’s Baxter Compressor Station, which handles the natural gas pipelines that run along the Uintah’s general route today.
As seen at milepost 15.3, we’re starting to leave the high deserts and head up into the Book Cliffs, via the Salt Creek canyon.
A rock formation to the west of the route known as the Crow’s Nest. My notes scribbled down while driving only said: Don’t remember why it’s important, but I remember seeing it in Polley’s book.
Looking northward around milepost 17.5 (just north of trestle 17-A, according to my notes)
Carbonera to Atchee
We’re definitely not in the desert anymore. This is the road (built over the grade), looking north at milepost 18.7. The road surface is a very fine powdery dirt, almost like flour, that when disturbed is both soft and difficult to drive through without open tread tires.
At milepost 20 lies Carbonera, CO – the site of the Gilson Asphalt Company’s coal mine. The mine, served by an incline railway whose grade is visible in this picture, provided the fuel for the Uintah Railway, as well as for company buildings and homes up and down the line.
Very little remains of Carbonera today, much like the rest of the route. The incline railway grade is still visible, as are the concrete footings for the coal tipple, as seen here. This is the one at the end of the incline grade.
More concrete coal tipple footings, looking northeast.
A general look from the end of the incline grade to the northeast, showing the modern road (old Uintah Grade) running towards Atchee.
Looking southeast from the same spot as the previous picture. The townsite of Carbonera was in this general area.
There are a few of these across the Uintah grade, but don’t worry, it’s still a public road. Just close them after you go through so that the cows don’t get out. This one’s just north of Carbonera at milepost 21.5.
Between milepost 21.5 and Atchee, the road is situated up against the eastern edge of the canyon, while the old Uintah grade crosses and recrosses Salt Creek, often away from the road.
The remains of Bridge 24-D as seen below the road – not much there, besides a few wooden pilings.
The Uintah grade is often hard to pick out through this section. For example, here’s the former site of Bridge 25-B – yes, that small gap in the brush where the creekbed goes. A tiny amount of grade can be seen in the center right.
This is looking north, just south of Atchee and near where the road forks. You’ll take the one leading left, because believe it or not, the old grade is down in the weeds to the left. Atchee is up around the bend to the right a bit.
At milepost 28.3, you’ll find the remains of Atchee. This is looking north up the mainline grade (aka today’s road) towards where the enginehouse would have been (near that pole with the transformer in the distance).
Atchee was once the site of the Uintah’s shops and a small company town. It was also the southern end of Baxter Pass, where the Shays were removed and trains were put behind standard rod engines again for the trip to Mack. Today the only thing remaining is the shell of the machine shop.
Looking west through the machine shop. When in operation, the door on the far end led into the two stall wooden engine house, which was built perpendicular to the machine shop.
Again looking west, but with a broader perspective that allows the grade near the top of Baxter Pass to be seen high on the hillside in the background.
Standing inside the machine shop, looking southwest.
Looking southwest at the north wall of the machine shop.
The scrappers and subsequent scavangers have picked Atchee clean. I did find these steel u-shaped fittings behind the machine shop – possibly from an air cooling loop, maybe even off a steam locomotive.
On the west/north side of Atchee was bridge 28-A, the famous curved trestle where the line crossed Salt Creek to start the 5% grade towards Baxter Pass. Little or nothing remains of the trestle, but these timbers are on the approach. They’re possibly what remains of a water tank base that used to stand nearby.
Believe it or not, this is the former townsite of Atchee, including houses, a store, a hotel, and a post office. Almost nothing remains, except for a few chunks of concrete from the foundations.
One thing I did find was this odd piece of coaxial pipe sticking out of the ground near the hotel. I have no idea what this was used for, or even if it was related to the railroad and town.
Again, no idea what these are from, but my guess is that they’re part of the coaling trestle and dock, as I found them out behind the machine shop near where maps indicate the coal facilities were.
A large concrete footer out in the field to the east of the shops.
Leaving Atchee, the track crossed Bridge 28-A and started up a 5% grade. This is the site of 28-A, looking towards Baxter Pass. A few stumps from the trestle bents remain, along with some of the cribbing that retained the grade on the far side. The road goes around to the north.
Atchee to Baxter Pass
Looking towards Baxter Pass at milepost 28.7, on the 5% section just out of Atchee
Taken near milepost 30.2, this is start of the grueling 7.5% climb to Baxter Pass. The grade increases from the 5% from Atchee at the curve at the bottom right of the picture.
As impossible as it seems, this 7.5% climb was a normal adhesion railroad. The steep, winding section between Atchee on the south and Wendella on the north was ruled by geared Shay locomotives until the Baldwin 2-6-6-2 articulateds showed up.
From just below Moro Castle, we can see the grade coming up the valley floor from Atchee. The Atchee shops were at the end of the valley, where the tracks make a sharp right-hand curve.
The famous Moro Castle shot, taken often during the Uintah days to demonstrate the sharpness and steepness of this section of railroad. The curvature was 66 degrees, having an effective radius of only around 88 feet.
Looking up the grade from milepost 30.9, just above the Moro Castle curve.
The road, when dry, isn’t too bad – not suitable for a passenger car, but well within the range of the CR-V’s capabilities. I wouldn’t even think about it when wet… (as seen near milepost 31.9)
Looking back over the climb from milepost 32ish – that sharp u-turn in the grade over to the left is Moro Castle.
Near milepost 32.2 and the former site of the Shale siding
This is the former site of Shale tank, fed from springs further up the hill through the pipes sticking out of the ground. Yes, the tank sat directly on the hillside, without a base.
A closer look at the remaining Shale tank piping.
This is the grove of aspen trees around the Shale tank site, supported by the water from the spring.
Beyond the Shale tank site, a view of the rest of the climb to Baxter Pass (around the hill, beyond where the grade disappears to on the left side of the shot).
Near milepost 33, the line crosses high on the cliff face. This section is geologically unstable, leading to the big slide of 1929 during Uintah operations, as well as numerous smaller slides. Since the line was converted to a road, further sections have slipped away, leading to numerous diversions from the original grade.
To give you some idea how far we’ve climbed in about five miles, this is another look back at Atchee, as seen from milepost 33.3.
Looking back towards Shale from milepost 33.4ish – the siding was located near the large white cut in the hillside, and the tank was in the bend just to the left.
The final set of curves near the top of Baxter Pass, the end of the 7.5% heading north.
After a spectacular climb from Atchee, Baxter Pass itself is rather unremarkable – a low spot in the ridge through which the line makes a sweeping curve. At one point, there were railroad facilities here, but nothing remains today.
One last look back towards Atchee from the summit of Baxter Pass reveals the six tortuous miles of curvy 7.5% grade we’ve just traveled.
Baxter Pass to Wendella
Looking down to the north/west at Baxter Pass, with the wide open expanse of the Uintah Basin visible beyond the hills. If you look closely enough, you can even see the generating station at Bonanza from this point, some forty miles and many hours distant.
Looking north/west from milepost 34.5, just below Baxter Pass
The west side of the pass has a great many more trees and a fair bit more water. This is one of several S-curves found on the west side near milepost 36.8 – just above Columbine Tank.
Columbine (milepost 37) was once the site of balloon loop (favoring south/eastbound trains), as well as a tank and section facilities. The connecting grade for the loop is still there, but somewhat hard to find in the brush.
Near Columbine (milepost 37), this metal pipe sticks out of the ground. It wasn’t for the Columbine Tank, as the tank was on the uphill side of the curve. May not even be related to the railroad.
Also at Columbine are the remains of this log cabin, once used by section crews for the railroad.
Looking back up the grade towards Baxter Pass near milepost 38.1.
McAndrews Lake was created by the railroad to provide a steady source of water for the Wendella engine facility. To drop down to lake level, the line makes a zig-zag using a pair of hairpin turns with similar sharpness to the Moro Castle curve. This is looking north just above the first one at milepost 39.
Looking upgrade around the first (upper) horseshoe. This curve also has a curvature of 65 degrees, similar to Moro Castle, but due to brush isn’t as easily visible.
Part of the downhill section between the two horseshoe loops – I’m looking railroad north/west, but geographically south/east back towards Baxter Pass.
The lower horseshoe in the zig-zag that brings the line down to lake level. No, the railway didn’t make this sharp of a curve. The actual grade left the road briefly to the left, crossing the stream and making a wider loop. The right side is the grade, though.
And, now that we’re very near the bottom of the grade on the north/west side of the pass, here’s a final look back towards Baxter Pass from milepost 39.7.
Looking along McAndrews Lake. Not sure what this small and deteriorating structure was, but I don’t believe it was railroad-related.
A better look at the small (and collapsing) structure along the banks of McAndrews Lake.
Welcome to Wendella, the northern end of the Baxter Pass grade, and the northern engine change point before the articulateds came to the railroad. Here, rod engines from the north would hand off trains to Shay type geared locomotives for the climb over the pass to Atchee.
The first clue that I’d reached Wendella – I spotted the bands from the old water tank off in the brush to the west of the road.
The remains of the Wendella standpipe, once used for watering locomotives.
Nearby are the concrete footings of the old Wendella water tank.
A different look at the water tank base and standpipe.
Near milepost 43, this post looks like it may have been part of the railroad (milepost 43 even, maybe?) The view is looking north.
Wendella to Rainbow Junction
Looking north near milepost 44.
One of numerous missing trestles around milepost 47 – the grade runs slightly upward from right to left, about a quarter of the way up the picture, for those who can’t see it.
Some relatively undesturbed grade around milepost 47, complete with the first railroad ties I’d seen on the line.
Through this northern section of the line, the road diverges from the grade quite a bit, as the old Uintah criss-crossed the creek on numerous trestles (all long gone). Here’s where the diversion rejoins the grade, somewhere around milepost 47.
I believe this is the former site of Whiskey Creek trestle. This particular trestle is preserved at Cross Orchards in Grand Junction.
Normally this would be an exercise in “find the grade”, but there’s a clue here – note in the left bottom corner there’s an intact trestle bent. this is somewhere around milepost 50 and just into Utah, I think.
Approaching Dragon from the south. Dragon was the end of the line until 1911, when a wye was built here and track was extended further north. A branch went off to the left to reach the Black Dragon (uintaite) Mine.
Somewhat more is left of Dragon than other towns along the line. Near the road junction is the foundation of what I believe was the warehouse and store.
Originally part of the main line and later relegated to being a small branch, this trestle – marked by three piles sticking out of the ground – took the tracks up toward the Black Dragon Mine from the Dragon townsite (looking west).
A bit further up the branch to the mine, looking back towards the former Dragon townsite. The branch is now a rough, rutted road, with deep washouts along the side – be careful when driving it! The CR-V barely fit between washouts in places, and bottomed out several times making the short trip to the mine.
And looking up the bbranch and the small side canyon, towards the former mine site. The mine is approximately a mile from the former Dragon townsite.
The Black Dragon Mine – the original uintaite mine served by the Uintah Railway, located on a short spur just west of Dragon.
Uintaite occurs in steep vertical veins, as seen here. As a warning, these things are sometimes unstable and go a very, very long way down – best just to stay back.
Located up near the mine, the Dragon cemetery remains as a marker to those who lived and died here a century ago.
In 1911, the Uintah Railway was extended north from Dragon to Watson, Utah, and the mines near Rainbow. This cut is part of that extension, and is located about a mile north of Dragon.
It seems the further north you travel on the Uintah, the harder it is to find the grade. Here, around milepost 57, is a small remnant where the road dodges to the left of a missing trestle. Between here and Rainbow Junction (milepost 62), little remains, and what does is not accessible by road.
Catching up with the grade again at Rainbow Junction (milepost 62), the remains of a trestle are about all that mark the south entrance to the junction wye. From here, trains went about a mile north to Watson, and west several miles to the mines around Rainbow.
The Rainbow Junction tank sat on this stone base, located on the hillside to the west of the junction. The branch to Rainbow ran between the tank base and the rock wall to the right.
The grade of the line to Rainbow, heading uphill from the Rainbow Junction tank. Mileposts on the branch to Rainbow were numbered from 0.0 being Rainbow Junction.
West of Rainbow Junction
Looking down the Rainbow branch towards Rainbow Junction, about a mile up the canyon.
The Rainbow branch comes to a summit at the east end of a cut just short of American, UT. This is looking downhill from the summit, located near milepost 2.8.
Looking towards Rainbow Junction (over the summit at the end of the cut in the upper part of the photo) near American (milepost J3)
Near the site of American (branch milepost 3), looking towards Pigeon Toe Switch and Rainbow.
Looking from the Rainbow end of the Pigeon Toe Switch wye, the line to the right goes towards American. The branch to the left went to the Colorow, Barlow, and China Wall mines.
Looking at Pigeon Toe from the Colorow/Barlow branch leg.
Just west of the Pigeon Toe switch, near the 1913 end of track for the Pigeon Toe mine. In 1918, the Colorow and Barlow switch was installed right about here and the branch extended northwest to the Colorow and Barlow mines.
The uintaite vein, as seen from the branch grade and looking south towards Rainbow. This was near the site of the Pigeon Toe mine (hence the name of the branch).
Looking north up the vein from the branch grade at the same spot. The vein is much less pronounced, but there’s still a hole in the ground there.
The branch was extended past the Pigeon Toe Mine in 1918 to reach the Colorow and Barlow mines, further up the vein to the northwest. This is the high point, and one of a couple sizable cuts on the line.
The road sweeps around from the first cut, and the old grade takes off to the northwest just to the left of this shot.
Once the road diverges, the branch passes through another small rock cut as it swings around to make a beeline for the Barlow mine.
The grade to the mines is impassible to all but very high clearance vehicles, and apparently access ends at a fence after a few hundred yards.
Rather than wandering down the grade, I just climbed to the top of the hill and looked down on the valley. The mines are off to the upper right, and the grade is visible as a streak through the brush.
Looking into the Rainbow mine area from the road up from Pigeon Toe Switch. The tracks would have gone straight off the end of the road on the right, making a sweeping curve through this valley. The Rainbow Mine loadout was located off to the right.
A look at the uintaite vein at Rainbow. The section that still has a rock/earthen cover is where the rails (branch and siding) used to cross over the vein on the north end of the valley.
Looking south at Rainbow – the town was off to the right (out of sight), and the Rainbow wye was in the far field. The road does not follow the grade here. The Uintay Railway made a sweeping curve to the right across the veing, and then was extended to the Thimble Rock Mine through the low spot in the hill just to the left of the road.
Watson, UT, and Miscellaneous
Looking south from Watson towards Rainbow Junction – honestly I have no idea if the road wiped out the grade or if the grade is off to the left in this shot.
Another shot to give you an idea of the topology around Watson – this one looking north towards the townsite.
Looking southeast at the remains of Watson. Not directly related to the uintaite industry, Watson did a large amount of traffic in sheep and related products, as well as acting as a transfer point for freight going north on stagecoaches.
Parts of the extensive sheep pens still exist on the hillside above town.
Looking southwest at the remains of Watson.
One of the few surviving structures at Watson is this stone house, which I believe to be the American Asphalt Association house.
There were plans to extend the Uintah northward to the Bonanza, UT, region in 1921. The most formidable obstacle would have been the deep White River gorge, located about ten miles north of the end of the line at Watson. I believe that pipeline bridge in the background is actually a uintaite slurry pipe, leading from one of the northern mines down towards the refinery between Loma and Fruita.
Watson used to be a big sheep town, and sheep are still prevalent in the area. Here’s a herd crossing Utah Hwy 45 near Bonanza.
One railroad does still exist up here – the electrified Deseret Power Railway, hauling coal from a mine near Rangely, CO, to the generating station at Bonanza, UT.
All photographs in this trip report were taken with a Canon EOS 40D using either a Canon 24-105mm F4 L IS/USM or a Canon 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS/USM.
This work is copyright 2024 by Nathan D. Holmes, but all text and images are licensed and reusable under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license. Basically you’re welcome to use any of this as long as it’s not for commercial purposes, you credit me as the source, and you share any derivative works under the same license. I’d encourage others to consider similar licenses for their works.
