In the late 1880's, Simon Bamberger devised a plan to bring
commuter rail service to the communities of Davis County. In 1890,
he created the Great Salt Lake & Hot Springs Railway, and began
tapping into the lucrative business of ferrying folk from Salt Lake
City to Beck's Hot Springs, 4 miles north of the city. A round trip
ticket on the Bamberger or the "dummy" as it was often called, cost
25 cents and included a bath in the Hot Springs. Although the
railroad was generally called the Bamberger from nearly the
beginning, it wasn't officially called the Bamberger Electric
Railroad until 1917.
The North Salt Lake station was located on the southwest corner of
Main & Center streets. It's now a house. The maintenance
buildings and car barns for the railway were located to the west of
the station. If you poke around the backs of the apartments and
condos, you can see some of the old brick buildings still standing
and being used as residences.
A fire here on March 11, 1952 nearly destroyed the shops and
caused approx. $200,000 in damages. With ridership already
decreasing, the company struggled to recover. After another fire in
June destroyed the substation in Ogden, the company was in too
deep. On September 6, 1952, the Bamberger ran the last passenger
trains from Salt Lake to Ogden, though freight service continued
until 1959.
The town purchased the burnt-out area of the former shops from
Bamberger in 1955 to create a town ball park. Later the park was
expanded to its current size.
The parkway along the west side of HWY 89 through most of North
Salt Lake is the former Bamberger Railroad grade. There are
monuments with more information about the Bamberger both at the
park west of here and at Cleverly Crossing.
North Salt Lake Stops:
North Salt Lake Station: 33 W. Center St.
Odell: 450 North and Hwy 89
Cleverly Crossing: 700 North and Hwy 89
Parkin: 800 North and HWY 89
Other Bamberger Railroad caches:
B.E.R.R. -- Bountiful (GC16K07)
B.E.R.R. -- Centerville (GC16K08)
B.E.R.R. -- Farmington (GC16K09)
B.E.R.R. -- Kaysville (GC16K0A)
Simple Simon (B.E.R.R. -- Layton)(GCYN1H)