EXHIBITS
The Utah-Idaho Central Railroad: Northern Utah’s Interurban Experience: A Railroad for the People - Serving the Community
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A Railroad for the People - Serving the Community
Connecting Cache Valley and Ogden with the Transcontinental Railroad and other local railroads opened a number of opportunities to the people living in those regions. The possibilities of extended travel to locations throughout Utah and the United States became a reality with efficient means of transportation and vast railroad connections. Outside its business affiliations, the U.I.C. was much more intimate with the communities it served than most other railroads. In responding to how people reacted to the arrival of the U.I.C. in Cache Valley, Ambrious Larsen of Cove, Utah, stated: “We had the railroad here, but the [interurban] railroad electric train, it [gave] them [the people] more opportunities and more convenience . . . because it [ran] every two hours. And that was their only [conveyance] of getting to Logan and back other than driving a team . . . The train went through twice a day. It cost fifty cents for a ticket to Logan, a dollar round-trip.”[1] For Lawrence Cantwell from Smithfield, Utah, the U.I.C., as compared to other railroads within Cache Valley, “was more of a personal railroad for the town and for all the towns surrounding.”[2] This connection and the convenience it provided influenced Cache Valley and its people, from students to shoppers, businessmen and women, farmers, and many more. Its service shaped the social dynamics of the valley and had a lasting impact on the developing culture of the region.
Going to School
One of the main objectives of the establishment of the Logan Rapid Transit Company in 1910 was to provide transportation services to students involved in both elementary and higher education. Throughout the existence of rail service in Logan and Cache Valley, students were consistent customers of the lines of the O.R.T., L.R.T., O.L.I., and the U.I.C.[3] Marie Olsen and Seth Alder, both living in Providence at the time, recounted their feelings and memories of the train as they traveled to school.
Marie recalls the appeal of traveling with the U.I.C. felt by many high school students: “It was an interesting train, we loved going on the train. It was marvelous. There were just two seats facing each other. There were two different trains, or maybe three trains hooked together. It would have to take Providence and River Heights and Millville and Nibley and all of us to Hyrum.”[4]
Additionally, the train and its design also provided students with opportunities for pranking, as remembered by Seth Alder: “Up along the edge on the ceiling there were two cards, one was white and one was red. If you pulled the red card, you’d stop the train. That happened a few times.”[5]
Besides high school students, students attending the Agricultural College of Utah (UAC) used the train for transportation to school and for special events. The UAC football team held rallies at the train station before departing for games that were often held in Ogden.[6] Special trains provided by the company allowed Aggie football fans to travel to the games.[7] The general conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City, local government officials, businessmen, and soldiers during both world wars also utilized special U.I.C. train services.[8]
Contributing to Culture
The U.I.C. also allowed people living in Cache Valley to experience popular cultural trends and new products. Hoyt Kelley of Providence remembers traveling to Lagoon, a popular theme park in Utah. “Every year your ward would have a day at Lagoon and everybody from the ward would pile on the train and go . . . It’s sad that they don’t have it [anymore].”[9] Joseph Meyrick, a former employee for the Utah-Idaho Central Railroad, discussed his memories of the Ringling Brothers and their circus party. Following a parade, the circus would set up at the city fairgrounds. After the establishment of the U.I.C., the circus used the train to travel to Logan and set up their equipment near the railroad tracks. Due to the presence of the U.I.C., people from all around Cache Valley could then travel to Logan to experience it.[10]
Lawrence Cantwell highlights the role of the early railroad in contributing to the growing consumerism of the time. “This was much before automobiles were in operation. And we would catch the U.I.C. and go to Logan and do our shopping and then come back.”[11] These examples helped to unite communities and shaped the lives of people around the operation of the U.I.C. Most who remember it do so with fondness and a longing for a time when the stories and memories of the railroad were once a reality.
Supporting the Agricultural College of Utah
The E. G. Peterson Papers collection contains a group of letters documenting the correspondence between representatives of the Agricultural College of Utah (UAC) and the O.L.I. and U.I.C. E. G. Peterson was the president of the UAC from 1916 to 1944. This sample of correspondence from his collection demonstrates the close relationship that the school had with the railroad in providing students with additional transportation services and other opportunities utilizing the train’s operations.
