Basic History

Basic History. . , Basic History , "The development of the rich precious-metal mines developed in northern Piute County in the late 1880's, encouraged the expansion of the Rio Grande Western Railway lines. In 1890, the narrow gauge Rio Grande Western mainline between Ogden and Denver was being widened and a standard gauge roadbed was built south from Thistle to Ephraim, but laid with a three-foot-gauge track. During the two-year transition from narrow gauge to standard gauge, the Sevier Railway became the repository of most of the narrow gauge equipment still left in the Utah half of the Rio Grande Western. The Sevier Railway was formed by citizens of Sevier County in May 1891 who purchased the right-of-way to build tracks from Manti to Marysvale for the use of the Denver and Rio Grande Western (D&RGW) trains. It was not until 1896 that the rails reached the mining area of Belknap, five miles north of Marysvale, after the construction of the labor intensive Eagle Rock Tunnel. Finally, in 1900 the track was completed to Marysvale. For three-quarters of the century the Marysvale Branch was plied first by steam, then by diesel engines, powering short peddler freights to long coal drags, as well as mixed freight / passenger trains. The development of roads and the improvement of bus service after World War I began to reduce the number of railroad passengers along the Marysvale line. By 1947, both passenger and freight revenues were below operating expenditures and the D&RGW requested to drop its passenger service. In 1983, a mudslide at Thistle shut down the mainline and blocked access from the south on the Marysvale Branch.” (Montgomery Archaeological Consultants, 2002) The Bike Path lies in the Utah Department of Transportation right-of-way for approximately 1.1 miles south of Sevier Junction and then follows the existing D&RGW railroad subgrade, with a few slight deviations, for an additional 5.6 miles to the Big Rock Candy Mountain Resort., 1. Railroad Tunnel , The Eagle Rock Tunnel, completed in 1896, measures 200 feet in length and is curved to accommodate the Sevier River on the south. The vaulted rock ceiling is reinforced on each end with wood cribbing that extends into the tunnel approximately 60 feet on the North entrance and 20 feet on the South entrance and is approximately 25 feet in height. The portals are supported by milled boards and the north entrance has subsequently been reinforced with rock, concrete, and wood materials. Metal sheeting was applied to the top of each portal to function as cinder guards. At present, portions of the rock ceiling at mid-tunnel have fallen onto the railroad grade, yet smoke stains can still be observed on the ceiling of the tunnel. Remains of signal posts that were part of the railroad operation can be seen at each end of the tunnel. It was originally planned to include the tunnel as part of the Bike Path but this was not feasible due to the cost and the loss of historic value in order to retrofit the tunnel to safe standards., 2. Wooden Box Culvert , Several wooden box culverts with an average width of 4 feet and an average height of 3 feet are located along this section of the historic railroad grade. Some culverts have unshaped sandstone blocks placed along their edges for reinforcement. The construction techniques and materials are typical of the late 1800's. A few of the wooden box culverts still function to provide drainage for the Bike Path. , 3. Concrete Culvert with Headwalls , Several concrete culverts with headwalls are located along this historic railroad grade. The concrete culverts appear to be built from standard 2 foot 10 inch inside diameter sewer pipe with cast-in-place headwalls that average 7.5 feet wide. All of the concrete culverts are used to provide drainage for the Bike Path. , 4. Erosion Control Structure , Due to the proximity of the railroad grade and the Sevier River it was necessary to employ erosion control structures at some locations to maintain the integrity of the D&RGW railroad. Wire enclosed riprap with wooden pier anchors can. be seen along the east bank of the Sevier River approx. 1.8 miles north of the Big Rock Candy Mountain resort, just east of "Turtle Back." A modern application of this technology can be observed on the east bank of the Sevier river near the south portal of Eagle Rock Tunnel., Special Thanks to: , Sevier County , Piute County , Utah Power , Timberline Properties L.L.C. , Big Rock Candy Mountain Resort , Utah Dept. of Transportation ,