Union Pacific’s Lynndyl Sub

In the remote desert country of west-central Utah, a pair of steel rails provide an important connection between Salt Lake City and southern California. Known today as Union Pacific’s Lynndyl Subdivision, this 207-mile-long territory is the northern segment of the former San Pedro, Los Angeles, and Salt Lake rail line.

Although it is not one of Union Pacific’s busiest corridors, the Lynndyl Sub does offer the patient railfan a variety of trains. Intermodal trains roll to and from the ports at Long Beach. Coal trains enter off the Sharp Subdivision from Provo. Long manifest trains originate from various points such as North Platte, Nebraska, or West Colton, California.  And an occasional rack train makes an appearance. In addition to through-trains, locals are busy servicing the various industry along the line powered by older EMD SD70M’s.

We will begin at the crew-change point in Milford and head north to Salt Lake City passing old ghost towns such as Black Rock and Clear Lake. The old railroad town of Lynndyl marks the junction with UP’s 88-mile Sharp Subdivision to Provo which was the original route of the LA&SL. We continue north, on what was known as the Leamington Cutoff toward a crossing of the Tintic Mountains at Boulter. The line then drops down through the Rush and Tooele Valleys to the southern shore of the Great Salt Lake.

At Smelter, Western Pacific’s main line from Northern California joins the Lynndyl Sub, adding more traffic to the mix for the final miles to Salt Lake City. We will spend some time at Grant Tower and catch Utah Transit Authority’s Frontrunner commuter trains in action and the Salt Lake City Southern makes an appearance as well.

Shot in both winter and summer, the stark contrast between the seasons adds to this amazing presentation which is our final chapter on the old Salt Lake Route.