RDannemann Wrote:
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> When early trucks replaced wagons, any thought of
>
> extending the Uintah Ry to Bonanza went poof.
>
> Demand for Gilsonite just wasn't big enough for
> much
> else or the Uintah Ry would have done it.
>
Actually, the Uintah had applied for, and recieved, ICC approval for the extension to Bonanza in the 1920's. The big slide of 1929 and the traffic decline of the Depression put this plan on hold (IIRC Uintah di also ask for, and recieve, an extention on the time to start construction from the ICC.) Meanwhile the parent company was trucking Gilsonite from Bonanza to Watson over the old toll road a Uintah subsiduary had built back in '04. It wasn't until about 1935 that the parent co. decided to shift to trucking (to Craig on the D&SL) and began planning to abandon the Uintah.
hank
ps the old toll road would have supplied at least some of the grading, and the White River bridge, for the extension.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/17/2017 10:54AM by hank.