Castle Valley Railroad Locomotives
This page was last updated on November 11, 2021.
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The mines of both the Consolidated Fuel Company at Hiawatha and the Castle Valley Coal Company at Mohrland were close and their two respective railroads, Southern Utah Railroad and Castle Valley Railway were both bound for Price.
A joint ownership agreement was signed in July 1909 that allowed the Castle Valley company half ownership in the Southern Utah tracks from Price, south to a junction near the mouth of Miller Creek Canyon (Hiawatha). The deadline for completion was October 1910.
The Southern Utah Railroad was completed in late December 1909, and the Hiawatha mine began shipping in early January 1910.
The Castle Valley Railroad was completed in February 1910, and the Castle Valley mine at Mohrland went into production at the same time.
In June 1911, the Castle Valley RR is shown as having two 90-ton locomotives of the Consolidation type. (Salt Lake Mining Review, June 30, 1911)
At the time Utah Railway operations began in November 1914, with D&RG using its own locomotives and crews, there were seven SURR and CVRR locomotives on the property: Southern Utah 50, 100, 102, 104, and Castle Valley 101, 103, 105.
(Read more about the locomotives of the Southern Utah Railroad)
(SURR 100; 2-8-0, built by Lima in 1909; sold in 1916)
CVRR 101; 2-8-0, built by Lima in 1909; to Utah no. 1
CVRR 102; 2-8-0 (see CVRR 105, below)
(SURR 102; 2-8-0; built by Lima in 1910; to Utah no. 2)
CVRR 103; 2-8-0, built by Lima in 1912; sold by Utah Railway in 1918
(SURR 104; 2-8-0; built by Alco-Brooks in 1910; to Utah No. 4)
CVRR 105; 2-8-0, built by Alco-Schenectady in 1910; to Utah no. 3
Roster Listing
Lima 2-8-0 -- 1 locomotive
Number Builder
Date Utah Ry.
CVRR 101 1106 Dec 1909 Utah no. 1
Castle Valley Railroad's first locomotive, with road number 1, arrived at Price on Tuesday January 4, 1910, and was sent on to D&RG's shop Helper to be made ready for service. (Eastern Utah Advocate, January 6, 1910, "Tuesday afternoon")
An advertisement in the January 1910 issue of Locomotive World magazine, published by Lima, showed Southern Utah no. 100, a 2-8-0 with an engine weight of 148,000 pounds (in working order); weight on drivers of 129,000 pounds; 50-inch drivers; boiler pressure of 200 pounds; and 20 by 24 inch cylinders, and a tractive effort of 32,600 pounds. Tender holds 5,000 gallons and 10 tons of coal. Also mentions that Castle Valley Railroad no. 1 was a duplicate of Southern Utah no. 100.
On Sunday March 6, 1910, "The Castle Valley Railway Co.'s locomotive was taken to Helper Sunday for repairs. The boiler was in a bad shape. It got back to Price Thursday evening and will go into commission today." (Carbon County News, Friday March 11, 1910)
The March 24, 1910 issue of the Eastern Utah Advocate newspaper also stated that CVRR no. 1 was a duplicate of SURR no. 100.
Locomotive specifications: 50 inch drivers; 20x24 inch cylinders, 151,000 pounds engine-only weight; 254,000 pounds locomotive and tender weight
Castle Valley 101 was delivered on January 3, 1910 as Castle Valley no. 1, later renumbered to CVRR no. 101 to match the Southern Utah numbering system. The Southern Utah and Castle Valley shared 18 miles of joint trackage into Price, Utah.
Castle Valley 101 was a duplicate of Southern Utah 100 (Lima 1127, October 1909), which was later transferred to United States Smelting, Refining & Mining's smelter in El Paso, Texas, during November 1916.
Castle Valley 101 was leased to Utah Railway on December 1, 1917; sold to Utah Railway no. 1 on July 1, 1918; scrapped by Utah Railway in July 1939 at Martin, Utah.
Alco-Schenectady 2-8-0 -- 1 locomotive
CVRR Notes
CVRR 102 49309 Dec 1910 27 Dec 1910 To CVRR 105 upon delivery
CVRR 102 was changed to CVRR 105 upon delivery, to avoid conflict with the already existing Southern Utah 102, also delivered earlier in December 1910.
Date Date
CVRR 103 1211 Jan 1912 1918 To Compania Real del Monte y Pachuca at Pachuca, Mexico, in 1918
Locomotive specifications: 50 inch drivers; 20x24 inch cylinders
Castle Valley 103 was ordered on October 19, 1911; leased from Lima for one year while its cost of $14,563 was paid off. (Carbon County courthouse records, research done on September 16, 1982)
Castle Valley 103 was seldom (if ever) in service after D&RG took over operations of Utah Railway in late 1914, using its own locomotives. CVRR no. 103 was found to be excess after Utah Railway took over its own operations in December 1917, and in 1918 the Lima was transferred "sold" to Compania Real del Monte y Pachuca at Pachuca, Mexico.
Compania Real del Monte y Pachuca at Pachuca, Mexico was a mining subsidiary since 1906 of United States Smelting Refining & Mining in the Pacucha-Real del Monte mining district in central Mexico near the city of Pachuca. Upon arrival in Mexico, the mining company turned the locomotive over to Ferrocarriles Pachuca y Tampico (the railroad serving the district) as their no. 4. The Pachuca y Tampico was abandoned on July 1, 1931 and the Lima 2-8-0 ended up as property of Cervecería Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma (English: Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma Brewery), a major brewery based in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico, as that company's no. 10. Gerald Best wrote that he saw the locomotive in 1958 on an NdeM dead line at the Ferrocarriles de Mexicano Azizaco shops, and reported the locomotive as Lima 1211, built in 1912, purchased from Utah Railway in 1918.
CVRR Utah Ry.
CVRR 105 CVRR 102 49309 Dec 1910 27 Dec 1910 Utah no. 3
Castle Valley RR no. 105 was built as CVRR no. 102 (see Alco builder photo); changed to CVRR 105 to avoid conflict with Southern Utah RR no. 102, delivered earlier in December 1910.
First week of September 1910, "Locomotive Orders. American Locomotive Co. in Receipt of Three Orders During Past Week. Orders placed with the American Locomotive Co., during the past week were as follows: Castle Valley Railroad Co., one 156,000 pound consolidation freight locomotive..." (Wall Street Journal, September 8, 1910; Salt Lake Tribune, October 5, 1910)
Castle Valley RR received its no. 105 on Tuesday December 27, 1910 at Price, at the same time that Southern Utah RR no. 104. (Eastern Utah Advocate, December 29, 1910)
The "Official Manual of Utah Railway," dated January 1, 1937, shows Utah no. 3 as being the former Castle Valley no. 105.
(This is contrary to all railfan-compiled lists for Schenectady, which show 49309 as CVRR 102, a number that was in direct conflict with SURR 102 on the jointly operated railroad.)
Locomotive specifications: 50 inch drivers; 20x26 inch cylinders; 156,600 pounds engine-only weight
Castle Valley 105 was completed as CVRR 102, and was changed to CVRR 105 upon delivery. (builder's photo of CVRR 102 in "Rio Grande...to the Pacific", by Robert A. LeMassena, 1974, page 283)
Castle Valley 105 was leased to Utah Railway on December 1, 1917; sold to Utah Railway no. 3 on July 1, 1918; sold in April 1942 by Utah Railway to United States Transportation Corps, Ogden Arsenal number 6905, April 10, 1942; for sale by War Assets Administration in February 1947, probably scrapped.