Rails around Helper

by SueAnn Martell, Western Mining and Railroad Museum

Overview

In 1880, the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad was hard-pressed to find a suitable rail route from Grand Junction to Salt Lake City. With the coal deposits of eastern Utah luring them on, railroad officials chose a difficult route over Soldier Summit. The railroad established the town where "helper" engines were attached to the heavy trains, and Helper grew into a division point with branch operations that reached into the nearby canyons to serve the blossoming coal industry. Numerous smaller towns sprang up to service the railroad, and in 1912, the newly incorporated Utah Railway laid tracks to share the right-of-way with the Denver and Rio Grande. The town of Helper is still a mecca for rail fans, and the story of its past lives on.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780738548067
Publisher:	Arcadia Publishing SC
Publication date:	08/29/2007
Series:	Images of Rail
Pages:	128
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.31(d)

About the Author

Author SueAnn Martell is director of the Western Mining and Railroad Museum in Helper. Coming from a long line of railroaders, she has worked hard to preserve the rail history of the area. Drawing from the archives of the Western Mining and Railroad Museum and from her own collection, she has assembled a wide variety of photographs, many never before published, that tell the story of the railroad and of the people who kept it running.