Romola

Romola was a railroad siding built in 1899 at mile 717.6 from San Francisco to meet increased rail traffic and the needs of local ranchers. Ranchers and cowboys used the railroad to move the cattle they raised to market, and after the Transcontinental Railroad was built, these cattle could be transported to eastern markets, where demand for beef had grown as the Civil War had depleted eastern herds. Just west of Romola Siding stands a surviving single stringer trestle with large wooden wings, and to the east is a wooden trestle bridge. In the rush to reach Promontory and complete the railroad, many such bridges were first laid on simple timber sills, and later Chinese section gangs carried out the piling work by digging deep holes for wooden foundation poles. Without these supports, bridges were prone to wash out in heavy rains, and piles were also backed by riprap of rocks, boulders, used boiler bricks, and other debris to reduce undercutting. Southern Pacific track plats show that Romola had a loading platform and a train car body, but no settlement.

Utah · United States