| Description |
SOLVING TRANSPORTATION DIFFICULTIES streetcar system. It also ran around the Wellsville Mountains, using the grade created for the narrow gauge line 35 years earlier. This became the Utah Idaho Central Railroad in 1918. Towns between Ogden and Salt Lake City weren't served well by the OSL (UPRR) or the Rio Grande. Their management didn't like to stop trains between the two cities. Simon Bam-berger organized a traction line in 1890, reached Bountiful by 1892 and Farmington in 1895. Originally called the Great Salt Lake & Hot Springs Railway, it became the Salt Lake & Ogden Railway in 1895, when Lagoon was created. Begun as a steam interurban line, it was converted to electricity in 1910. Lagoon's earnings helped finance further construction, and the line finally reached Ogden in 1908. In 1917 it became the Bamberger Railroad because that's what everyone called it anyway. It served, in addition to Bountiful and Farmington, Centerville, Kaysville, Layton and Sunset. Where railroads appeared, horse-drawn vehicles largely disappeared. But countless communities in the far-flung territory were untouched by trains and their need for suitable roads continued. Thus it's not surprising that roads were the subject of many early editorials in Utah's outlying newspapers. And as Utah Territory gave way to the State of Utah, more emphasis was placed on transportation needs. The advent of the automobile after the turn of the century stimulated road development even more and in 1908 the first "good roads" meeting caused nearly 100 drivers to steer their vehicles to Lagoon. There they were promised by the governor that the next legislature would adopt "a uniform method of road building." True to the promise, the Utah State Road Commission became a reality in 1909. By 1910 the road movement had expanded beyond the state's boundaries and a three-state Intermountain Good Roads Association became a reality with officers from Idaho and Wyoming joining those from Utah. Their aims reflected the nationwide crusade for highways and Utah, in fact, was not lagging. Its system, a combination of state and county routes, crossed the state from north to south, reaching Jensen in Uinta County; Price in Carbon County, Castle Dale and 283 |
