Union Station (Ogden, Utah)

This building was constructed in 1929 to serve the needs of the United States Postal Department. It is located directly north of the Union Station building. In 1950 a flat-roofed addition was constructed on the east and was used to sort mail. The Railway Post office closed in the 1970s. Following the conversion of the station complex to a museum, an addition was constructed in between the station and the annex, connecting the two buildings and allowing year-round indoor access to the facilities in the annex.[3] Currently the Mail Terminal Annex houses the Browning Theatre and the Browning-Kimball Classic Car Museum.

Trainmen's building

The Trainmen's Building is the northernmost structure on the Union Station grounds. It was constructed of red brick some time between 1903 and 1923 and predates the current station building. It served as the Railway Post Office (used for sorting mail) until 1929 when the Mail Terminal Annex was constructed to the south, then was used as a crew locker room for the Ogden Union Railway & Depot Co., owner of the Union Station and in turn jointly owned by Union Pacific and Southern Pacific. Space in the building was taken up with lockers, a changing room and a lunch room.[3]

In 2006, Ogden City installed fluorescent lighting and an alarm system to the building, which up to that time had been vacant. The building is now used as a shop for the restoration of D&RGW 223, a narrow gauge steam locomotive. Restoration is being done by the Golden Spike Chapter of the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society.[7]

Butterfly canopy, 2010

The passenger shelter along tracks 1 and 2 is the only remaining canopy of a series of five. The other four canopies were demolished in April 1969. It was built in 1928 to Southern Pacific plans and is similar to canopies at the Sacramento Station in California, and is 23 feet wide. During the peak of passenger train travel in 1927, a tunnel was built under the eleven tracks with stairways to the surface at each platform. Called the passenger subway, this tunnel allowed pedestrians to access all eleven tracks from the Grand Lobby, bypassing those tracks that were occupied by trains. When passenger service ended the tunnel was filled in for safety purposes,[3] although when the platform was repaved in 2008 a portion of the tunnel was uncovered. Plans are to place a glass over the uncovered portion for visitors to see. Similar canopies are used at the adjacent Ogden Central Station as a reference to Ogden's railroading past. The Butterfly Canopy and platforms are host to Union Pacific's Steam Team during their east–west trips over the Transcontinental Railroad route and the former Rio Grande Soldier Summit route. The operating water column at the north end, which is connected to the Ogden City water line, allows the steam locomotives to be serviced conveniently.

The laundry operations at Union Station date to 1906, when they were carried out in the commissary building (now demolished, on the site of the current Spencer S. & Dolores Dore’ Eccles Rail Center).[8] Soiled linens and cloth from sleeper and diner cars were removed from the trains and washed during their stop in Ogden. In 1951, Union Pacific constructed a 100 by 180 foot brick building for the express purpose of washing laundry; prior to this time excess laundry that was not able to be handled in the commissary building was sent out to commercial facilities.

The building was constructed to centralize the Union Pacific's laundry operations and to cut costs by an estimated fifty percent. It was the only laundry facility constructed by the Union Pacific and was expected to pay for itself within three years. Laundry was sent to Ogden from all ends of the Union Pacific Lines, and even took in laundry from Sun Valley, Idaho; West Yellowstone Lodge; Bryce Canyon National Park; Zion National Park; and Grand Canyon National Park, as well as other resorts and hotels.

The use of the latest equipment, such as nine Troy Electromatic washers; 42 individual pressers; and seven diesel powered Vapor-Clarkson steam generators, as well as 105 employees, gave the building a capacity to process 110,000 individual pieces of laundry during an eight-hour shift, or about 13,333 individual pieces per hour.

The laundry facility was closed in 1970 and donated to the City of Ogden in 1986. It is currently vacant.[3]

The Spencer S. & Dolores Doré Eccles Rail Center (also known as the Spencer S. Eccles Rail Center) is a collection of prototype equipment from various railroads in the west, most notably Union Pacific. It occupies the spot where the Ogden Union Railway & Depot Co. (OUR&D) Commissary Building once stood.[3][8] It houses several locomotives, as well as passenger cars, freight cars, cabooses, and railroad maintenance equipment.[9]

CRGX 6751

Cargill 6751 is a General Motors' (GM) Electro-Motive Corporation (later part of GM's Electro-Motive Division (EMD)) SW1 diesel-electric switcher locomotive assembled in 1940 with construction number 1111, was one of the first SW1s that Electro-Motive built.[10] After acquisition, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) initially numbered the locomotive as No. 213, but subsequently changed the number to 8413.[10] Leased by the Washington and Old Dominion Railroad (W&OD) in 1968, it was one of the last locomotives to operate on the W&OD before the railroad closed during the same year.[11] After several transfers of ownership, the locomotive was acquired by Cargill, becoming Cargill No. 6751.[10][12][13] Cargill moved the locomotive to Ogden in 1993 for use in the company's Globe Mill.[10][13] Following Cargill's donation of the locomotive in 2010, the Utah Central Railway and the Union Pacific Railroad delivered it to the Utah State Railroad Museum on May 21, 2011.[10][13]

D&RGW 223

Denver & Rio Grande Western 223 is a class C-16 Consolidation type steam locomotive built in 1881 by the Grant Locomotive Works.[14] It is one of only two remaining Grant-built locomotives in the world and is currently undergoing restoration.

D&RGW 5371

Denver & Rio Grande Western 5371 is the last GM Electro-Motive Division SD40T-2 "Tunnel Motor" to be in its original Rio Grande paint colors. It was retired in 2009 and moved into the Rail Center in 2010.[15]

SP 3769

Southern Pacific 3769 is a GM Electro-Motive Division GP-9 diesel-electric switcher locomotive, built in February 1957 as 5733. In the mid 1970’s it was rebuilt as a GP9R, and renumbered to 3769.[16]

SP 7457

Southern Pacific 7457 is the first GM Electro-Motive Division SD45 diesel-electric switcher locomotive to be built for the Southern Pacific railroad in August 1966, originally numbered 8800. It was rebuilt as an SD45R in September 1982, and renumbered to 7457.[17] It last saw service on Donner Pass. It was donated to the Utah State Railroad Museum in 2002.

UCRY 1237

Utah Central Railway 1237 is a 44-ton General Electric diesel-electric switcher, originally built for the U.S. Air Force with the same number in 1953. It was donated to the Utah State Railroad Museum, and subsequently leased to the Utah Central Railway where it got its current paint scheme. It has since been returned to the Museum.[7][18]

UP 833

Union Pacific 833 is an FEF-2 class steam locomotive, built by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) in 1939.[19] It was originally donated to the Salt Lake City in 1972, and when transferred to Ogden in 1999 it obtained the distinction of being the largest locomotive in the United States to be moved by truck.

UP 4436

Union Pacific 4436 is an 0-6-0 steam switcher built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1918.[20] It was last used in Cheyenne, Wyoming. It was donated to the City of Ogden in 1958, and moved to the Utah State Railroad Museum upon its establishment.

UP 6916

Union Pacific 6916 is a DD40AX "Centennial" diesel-electric locomotive that GM's Electro-Motive Division (EMD) built in 1969, one of only 47 built.[21] Retired in 1985 and donated to the Utah State Railroad Museum in 1986.

UP X-26

Union Pacific X-26 is one of the Union Pacific gas turbine-electric locomotives (GTELs) that General Electric built in 1961.[22] It was advertised as the "most powerful locomotive in the world". Popularly known as "Big Blows", it is one of only two that survived.

U.S. Army 1216

USAX 1216 is a 44-ton Davenport Locomotive Works switcher that was originally used at the Tooele Army Depot in Tooele, Utah.[23]