Richard C. Roberts & Richard W. Sadler
The History of Weber County
Simon Bamberger
The Bamberger Electric Railway was built under the leadership of Simon Bamberger, pioneer Utah coal-mine operator and railroad entrepreneur. Bamberger projected the Ogden-Salt Lake City line as a steam line as early as 1891; and in 1908 Ogden was connected to Salt Lake City on what was known as the Bamberger. The line was electrified on 28 May 1910 and renamed the Bamberger Electric Railway. The business of the line included commuter and shopper travel between Ogden and Salt Lake City as well as heavy summer traffic to Lagoon resort. Bamberger had developed Lagoon at Farmington to compete with the Denver and Rio Grande’s resort, Lake Park, on the shore of the Great Salt Lake. In 1908 the Bamberger had five daily trains running both directions. The Ogden depot of the Bamberger was located on Lincoln Avenue just north of 24th Street. On 7
1951. Aerial map of the route of the Bamberger Railroad.
May 1918 the Ogden station, car barn, and some of the passenger equipment were destroyed by fire. Replacement equipment was difficult to obtain until the end of World War I. The advantage the Bamberger had over the Union Pacific line from Ogden to Salt Lake City was that it made stops at most of the small towns on the way, while the UP trains did not normally stop between Ogden and Salt Lake City. In 1914 the electrified Utah-Idaho Central was established, connecting Ogden with Preston, Idaho. A branch line of this road was extended to Plain City.