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{{infobox rail line
|name        = American Fork Railroad
|image       = The Pacific tourist - Williams' illustrated trans-continental guide of travel, from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean - containing full descriptions of railroad routes across the continent, all (14574685898).jpg
|image_width = 300
|caption     = Scenes in American Fork Canon, 1876: 1. Mt. Aspinwall or Lone Mountain. 2. Rock Summits. 3. Picnic Grove, Deer Creek. 4. A quiet Glen. 5. Hanging Rock. 6. Rock Narrows.
|linelength  = {{convert|16|mi|km|sigfig=1}}
|gauge       = {{track gauge|3 ft|lk=on}}
|speed_km/h  =
|map         = {{American Fork Railroad}}
}}

The '''American Fork Railroad''' was a {{convert|16|mi|km|0|adj=on}} long {{track gauge|3 ft|lk=on}} [[narrow gauge]] railway from [[American Fork, Utah|American Fork]] to [[Forest City, Utah|Forest City]] in [[Utah]], which operated from 1872 to 1878.

== Foundation ==
The American Fork Railroad was founded by [[New York (State)|New York]] businessmen on April 3, 1872, as a subsidiary of the Miller Mining and Smelting Company. The founding documents were submitted on 16 April 1872 to the Auditor of Public Accounts. The company was managed by Major Edmund Wilkes of [[Salt Lake City]], who also managed the mining company.
<ref name="StrackAFR">Don Strack: [http://utahrails.net/utahrails/am-fork-1872-1878.php ''American Fork Railroad (1872−1878).''] June 7, 2013. Retrieved September 21, 2018.</ref>
 
The measurement of the route was carried out from 30 April 1872, and the routing began on 3 June 1872. On 14 July 1872 enough rails for about {{convert|11|km|mi|0|order=flip}} of track and ten flat cars had arrived, but the track laying had already begun on 22 June 1872.<ref name="StrackAFR"/>

== Track Construction == 
Originally, it was planned that a {{convert|20|mi|km|adj=on}} long stretch from a station on the still-to-be-built Utah Southern, in or near American Fork City, should run to Sultana Smelter, above Fork Canyon. The route was laid from a transfer station at American Fork on the Utah Southern Railway, alongside the [[American Fork (river)|American Fork River]] in a northerly and then northeasterly direction through the American Fork Canyon. At the point where the canyon forks northeast and southeast, the railway followed the northeastern branch and should have run to the Sultana Smelter in Forest City (now named Dutchman Flat). The route gained {{convert|1900|ft}} in altitude and was in places unusually steep: on the steepest slopes it climbed as an adhesion railway with a grade of 5.6% – a difference in altitude of {{convert|296|ft/mi|sigfig=2}}.<ref name="StrackAFR"/> The route had been [[grading (construction)|graded]] all the way to the Sultana Smelter, but unfortunately the final {{convert|4|mi|spell=in|frac=2}} were judged too steep for the trains to climb.<ref name=railroad/> Bullion was brought down from the smelter in wagons and loaded into the train cars at Deer Creek.<ref name=guide/> To save on operating costs, the full cars were often allowed to coast down the steepest part of the track to the waiting [[locomotive]].<ref name=forest/>

By the end of September, 1872, the Utah Southern railway line had been completed to Lehi, Utah, about {{convert|5|mi|sigfig=1}} northwest of American Fork. The Utah Southern decided not to extend it for the time being. As a result, Utah Southern and the American Fork Railroad agreed that the American Fork Railroad could lay its narrow gauge track temporarily onto the Utah Southern right of way. This lasted until September 1873, but shortly thereafter, the track was regauged, when Utah Southern was extended its track further south to American Fork.<ref name="StrackAFR"/>

== Operation ==
[[File:Sultana Smelter at the head of Mary Ellen Gulch in 1872.jpg|thumb|Sultana Smelter at the head of Mary Ellen Gulch in 1872]]
The narrow gauge train to be used on the American Fork Railroad arrived in [[Salt Lake City]] in July 1872, but the Utah Southern Railroad had made little progress past [[Sandy, Utah|Sandy]] by then. The train was transported south to its new home by "leapfrogging": laying a section of [[Track (rail transport)#Portable track|temporary track]], driving the train to the end, then pulling up the track and replacing it in front of the train. It arrived in American Fork and made its first test run on August 20, 1872.<ref name=railroad/> The railroad reached the end of its route on November 26, 1872, at Deer Creek, on the present site of Tibble Fork Reservoir.<ref name=dreams/>

The railway was not an economic success. Initially a Mason steam locomotive was used, which weighed only 14 or 15 tons. It proved to be unsuitable for the task. Therefore, horses and mules were used to haul the empty wagons up the mountain. Downhill they ran properly braked only by gravity.<ref name="StrackAFR"/>

==Decline==
In late 1872, severe winter weather forced operations in [[American Fork Canyon]] to shut down for the season.<ref name=railroad/> In early 1873, railroad officials decided their small engine was too light for the steep railway, and [[mule]]s took over pulling the train until a new larger engine arrived in the autumn. Canyon industries were not developing as rapidly as expected, and plans to extend the railroad to Forest City were abandoned for good.<ref name=railroad/> In the years 1874–1876 the American Fork Canyon mines began to peter out. The higher-grade ore bodies were being exhausted. Prospecting even further up the canyon led to the discovery of other good veins, but the country was rugged and development slow.<ref name=dreams/> The route was operated only on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays during the summer of 1875 and not at all in the winter.<ref name="StrackAFR"/>

As the transport volume of the mining companies was less than predicted, excursions for tourists were offered.<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/pacifictouristwi00will/pacifictouristwi00will#page/144/mode/1up ''The American Fork Canon.''] In: ''The Pacific tourist: Williams' illustrated trans-continental guide of travel, from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean.'' 1876, p. 143–148.</ref> In order to cover expenses the railroad began taking tourist groups up the canyon on sightseeing trips.  The Miller Hill Mine stopped producing ore by 1874, started up again briefly the next year, then shut down permanently.<ref name=railroad/> The Sultana Smelter was dismantled in 1876, and Forest City was in serious decline.<ref name=forest/> The canyon's other mines were not rich enough to keep the railroad profitable.<ref name=railroad/> The operation of the railroad uneconomical, so that the operation was discontinued.<ref name="StrackAFR"/> In June 1878 the American Fork Railroad became the first Utah railroad to go out of business,<ref name=railroad/> Its tracks were subsequently lifted.<ref name="StrackAFR"/> The rails and wagons were probably sold to Charles W. Scofield, the owner of the [[Bingham Canyon, Utah|Bingham Canyon]] Railroad, the [[Camp Floyd State Park Museum|Camp Floyd]] Railroad and the [[Wasatch Range|Wasatch]] & [[West Jordan, Utah|Jordan Valley]] Railroad, who used them in August 1878 for the construction of the Utah & Pleasant Valley Railroad.<ref name="StrackAFR"/> [[Deseret News|The Deseret Evening News]] commented on the removal of the route by erroneously predicting on June 5, 1878, that the canyon "... is not likely to be visited in future, to any extent, by tourists." However, this prediction has not come true due to the increase in automobile tourism.

== Locomotives ==
[[File:Photo of William Mason's 'Onward' in early 1872, later renamed and sold to American Fork Railroad (Arthur W Wallace Collection).jpg|thumb|William Mason's ''Onward'' was renamed ''American Fork'' prior to delivery]] 
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center">
|-
! No. !! Manu&shy;facturer !! Type !! Works No. !! Built !! Cylinders !! Driving wheels !! Weight !! Notes
|-
| 1 || [[Mason Machine Works|Mason]] || {{Whyte|0-4-4|T}} || 461 || 1 July 1872 || 10 × 15" || 33" || 13.5 t ||align="left"| Sold around Dec. 1873 to [[Eureka & Palisade Railroad]]. Sold in Oct. 1879 to [[Nevada Central Railroad]]. Sold in Dec 1882 to [[Utah and Northern Railway]]. Scrapped in 1886.
|-
| 2 || [[H.K. Porter, Inc.|Porter]] || {{Whyte|0-6-0}} || 151 || 30 April 1874|| 12 × 16" || 33" || 20 t ||align="left"| Sold end of 1878 with wagons and rails to [[Utah & Pleasant Valley Railroad]].
|}
{{clear}}
<gallery mode="packed-hover" heights="150">
File:Locomotive in American Fork Canyon ca 1870s.png|Mason Locomotive
File:The Pacific tourist - Williams' illustrated trans-continental guide of travel, from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean - containing full descriptions of railroad routes across the continent, all (14781177493).jpg|American Fork Canyon
Crofutt's new overland tourist and Pacific coast guide - containing a condensed and authentic description of over one thousand two hundred cities, towns, villages, stations, government fort and camps, (14571665940).jpg|Hanging Rock
File:The Old Mill, American Fork Canyon.jpg|Old saw mill
File:American Fork Railroad tracks at smelter at Tibble Fork ca 1870s.png|Smelter at Tibble Fork
</gallery>

==See also==
{{portal|Trains}}
* [[List of Utah railroads]]

==References==
{{reflist|22em | refs=

<ref name=guide>{{cite book | last = Carr | first = Stephen L. | title = The Historical Guide to Utah Ghost Towns | edition = 3rd | origyear = June 1972 | year = 1986 | publisher = Western Epics | location = Salt Lake City, Utah | isbn = 0-914740-30-X | page = 51}}</ref>

<ref name=forest>{{cite web | url = http://www.fs.fed.us/r4/uinta/about/history/unf_history/chapter1/section1-22.html | accessdate = June 5, 2008 | title = The American Fork Mining District | work = History of the Uinta National Forest: A Century of Stewardship | publisher = [[United States Forest Service]] }}</ref>

<ref name=railroad>{{cite web | last = Reeder | first = Clarence A. Jr. | title = The History of Utah's Railroads, 1869&ndash;1883 | work = UtahRails.net | publisher = Don Strack | url = http://utahrails.net/reeder/reeder-chap5.php#am-fork | accessdate = June 5, 2008 }}</ref>

<ref name=dreams>{{cite book | last = Thompson | first = George A. | title = Some Dreams Die: Utah's Ghost Towns and Lost Treasures |date=November 1982 | publisher = Dream Garden Press | location = Salt Lake City | isbn = 0-942688-01-5 | page = 184}}</ref>
}}

==External links==
{{commons category-inline|American Fork Railroad}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:3 ft gauge railways in the United States]]
[[Category:Defunct Utah railroads]]
[[Category:1872 establishments in Utah Territory]]
[[Category:Railway companies disestablished in 1878]]