The “Orange Special” Wreck

On the steepest grade on the Promontory Mountains, the Southern Pacific covered an old trestle with fill at the gate separating the old railbed from the highway. For years helper engines called "hogs" stationed at Promontory Station assisted heavily loaded trains up the hill and held back freight cars coming down. During the heavy orange season in spring 1888, whole fruit trains were put on passenger schedule and rushed east at speeds averaging almost 30 miles an hour. Even while descending treacherous East Promontory Hill, urgency sometimes outweighed caution, and at one such time four or five boxcars in the middle of an orange special jumped the track on the hill fill and rolled some distance down the south embankment. The boxcars split open, orange crates scattered over the hillside, and many crates burst open. Many of the oranges were later retrieved in bruised condition, and for the next two weeks nearby ranchers on East Promontory Mountain and local railroad employees ate more oranges than they ordinarily would in an entire year.

Howell, Utah · United States