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24-504: The company was incorporated February 12, 1898, by David Eccles , Charles W. Nibley , and George Stoddard . A shareholder meeting was held on February 26, 1898 in Baker City, Oregon , and a factory was built in La Grande, Oregon , thereafter. Eccles was president of the company and the board of directors included Thomas R. Cutler , Nibley, Stoddard and William Eccles. The factory was built by

48-597: A considerable amount of money and put it to other uses. He started the Eccles Lumber Company and several other enterprises. Through supplying ties for railroads, he knew the local circumstances of where the railroads were building and the opportunities available. He opened lumber mills, shingle mills, planing mills, an electric plant, and other entities. He followed the railroads and opened mills in other locations in Oregon and Washington states. He and his associates built

72-642: A heart attack in Salt Lake City on December 6, 1912, at the age of 63. There are a host of organizations named after Eccles and his descendants. The David Eccles School of Business is at the University of Utah . The David Eccles Conference Center is in downtown Ogden, Utah Sumpter Valley Railway The Sumpter Valley Railway , or Sumpter Valley Railroad , is a 3 ft ( 914 mm ) narrow gauge heritage railroad located in Baker County , in

96-692: A large number of boxcars and flatcars. In 1906, the railroad also acquired four locomotives from the Tonopah Railway (later the Tonopah & Goldfield Railroad). By 1891, the line had reached McEwen, 22 miles (35 km) west of Baker City , and the railroad began offering passenger and freight service. To reach uncut forests further west, the company extended the line in stages. It reached Sumpter in 1896 and continued southwestward to Whitney , Tipton , Austin and Bates . By 1910, it arrived in Prairie City ,

120-635: A ranching and mining community along the John Day River in Grant County . The railroad continued to use wood fuel for their locomotives until converting to oil fuel in June, 1940. Diamond-shaped smokestacks were replaced by cabbage-shaped Rushton stacks after 1916. Ten years later, the railway began losing business to automobiles and trucks, and in 1933 the 20 miles (32 km) of track between Prairie City and Bates were abandoned. Scheduled passenger service on

144-515: Is on West Center Street.) Marriner Stoddard Eccles and George S. Eccles are children of this marriage. A hard worker, Eccles was reported to have traveled over 44,000 miles (71,000 km) in 1904. While friends encouraged him to slow down, he preferred to "die in the harness." One of his hallmarks was integrity and self-reliance. His companies prospered on his no-debt plan and view of achieving success rather than money. David always put his children to work early in life. They worked along with

168-598: The Chiquita Banana company. In 2007, the railway opened its reproduction of the original Sumpter Depot, within sight of the Sumpter Valley Dredge State Heritage Area operated by the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department . The railway operates a number of historic Sumpter Valley Railroad and adjoining 3 ft ( 914 mm ) narrow gauge logging railroad steam locomotives and equipment on

192-521: The E. H. Dyer Construction Company of Cleveland, Ohio , and was "almost identical" to the layout of Amalgamated's Ogden factory. The sugar beet refining factory in La Grande was built in 1898 and Oregon Sugar also founded the company town of Nibley, Oregon , where Mormons raised sugar beets for the factory. By 1904, due to farmer reluctance, Oregon Sugar began farming sugar beets directly, after purchasing 1,182 acres (4.78 km) of land. The region

216-561: The Sumpter Valley and Mount Hood railroads. It was through these and other railroads that Eccles shipped the lumber and other goods to Utah. Eccles met Ellen Stoddard, the daughter of his partner, John Stoddard. Under the practice of polygamy at the time, David married Ellen, and they made their home in Logan, Utah where he built a lavish yellow brick mansion for his new bride using lumber imported from his corporation in Oregon. (The home

240-411: The U.S. state of Oregon . Built on a right-of-way used by the original railway of the same name, it carries excursion trains on a roughly 5-mile (8.0 km) route between McEwen and Sumpter . The railroad has two steam locomotives and several other pieces of rolling stock. Passenger excursion trains operate on weekends and holidays from Memorial Day through the end of September. The railway

264-651: The Utah & Northern Railway in Idaho and Montana. The Union Pacific owned the line and began converting it to standard gauge around 1887. Eccles owned a significant amount of Union Pacific stock, exerting enough influence to acquire the now-unneeded narrow gauge equipment. The first locomotive to arrive was a small 4-4-0 numbered 285; the Sumpter Valley also purchased a number of the U&;N's Brooks 2-6-0 locomotives, along with

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288-708: The Western Pacific Railroad and led the Six Companies in constructing the Hoover Dam . David Eccles served as the second president of Utah Construction Company after the death of long-term associate Thomas Dee . He also served as founder of a number of companies, one of which was the Amalgamated Sugar Company . Eccles served on the Ogden City Council and as their mayor from 1888 to 1890. He

312-614: The Oregon Lumber Company yard in South Baker City. This last section was abandoned and removed in 1961. In 1971, a group of volunteers set out to rebuild the Sumpter Valley Railway. Locomotive No. 3, a 1915 Heisler steam locomotive , was restored to operation in 1976, and the new railway opened for business on July 4, 1976, over a track of less than 1 mile (1.6 km). The Sumpter Valley Railroad Restoration Inc.

336-604: The beginning and soon recognized as such", was shuttered in 1912. The only reason the factory was not removed sooner was the need for a new location for the machinery. An 1898 account of the sugar factory was published in the La Grande Daily Chronicle: This article related to the Latter Day Saint movement is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . David Eccles (businessman) David Eccles Sr (May 12, 1849 – December 6, 1912)

360-650: The completion of the Transcontinental Railroad hoping it would bring them work. In the Ogden area, he worked cutting wood and building homes. He worked as a freighter and for the Union Pacific coal mines. He also worked at a sawmill at Monte Cristo east of Ogden. In 1874, he attended Louis F. Moench 's school in Ogden. It was there he met Bertha Marie Jensen and married her in 1875. They had 12 children from this marriage. While he had been working he saved up

384-743: The crews on the railroads, mills, and lumber yards. They were taught as many aspects of the businesses as they were willing to learn. Several served missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. His children graduated from University of Michigan Law School , Columbia University , Brigham Young College , Utah State University , and University of Utah . With the estimated $ 4-7 million he made, mostly from his Oregon enterprises, he invested heavily in Utah. He purchased stock in banks, canneries, insurance companies, railroads, factories, mills, mines, and various other companies. The Utah Construction Company built over 700 miles (1,100 km) of track for

408-565: The remaining line ended in 1937. Freight service remained, however, and in 1939 the railway purchased two 2-6-6-2 T Mallet locomotives from the Uintah Railway in Colorado. These engines were converted from coal to oil burners and given tenders from two 2-8-2 locomotives. As traffic declined, the railway sold off the other, unneeded locomotives. In 1947, the railroad ceased all operations except for 1.5 miles (2.4 km) of track in

432-641: Was an American businessman and industrialist who founded many businesses throughout the western United States and became Utah 's first multimillionaire. Eccles was born in Paisley , Scotland, to William and Sarah Hutchinson Eccles. In 1863 his family moved from Glasgow to the United States of America, sailing on the Cynosure and eventually settling in Ogden Valley , located in eastern Weber County, Utah . The move

456-449: Was created and 6 miles of track were reinstalled by hand over the next 15 years, to connect the McEwen, Oregon station with Sumpter, Oregon. SVR No. 19, a 2-8-2 steam locomotive built in 1920, was restored to operating condition in 1996. Sister locomotive 20 is also located at the railroad. In 2018, #720 was added to the railroad operating fleet after an overhaul. It previously was used by

480-543: Was financed by Mormons in Utah . The line was built over terrain originally considered as part of a railway from Denver, Colorado to the Pacific coast; but the Union Pacific Railroad opted for a different route to avoid bypassing growing communities which might provide an attractive opportunity for competition by the rapidly growing Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company . Much of the original equipment came from

504-578: Was incorporated in 1890 by David Eccles . The 3 ft ( 914 mm ) narrow gauge railway's purpose was to haul logs to the Oregon Lumber Company sawmill in South Baker City. The sawmill and railroad remained separate corporations of the same owners for the life of the railroad. The builders of the railway also owned the Grande Ronde Lumber Company in Perry, Oregon , and the railway

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528-418: Was known for his aid to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for lending large amounts of money to it at no interest. At the time of his death, he was the president of 16 industrial corporations and 7 banks. He also was serving as a director in 24 other banks and industries. He is Utah's first multimillionaire. While running to catch the evening train from Salt Lake City to Ogden, Utah, he died of

552-556: Was made because of their joining the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and their desire to be near the body of the church. He lived in both Eden and Liberty , Utah. After struggling to make a living, the family moved to Oregon City, Oregon . There they worked in a new mill. He worked for the mill for a year, then for a lumber corporation, and the Oregon and California Railroad . The family moved back to Ogden, Utah , in 1869 after

576-428: Was never very productive for sugar beets, and closing the factory was seriously considered in 1907. An outside expert was brought in who made a "very voluminous report", which confirmed the area was not likely to become more productive, even with changes. In 1908, the factory only operated on 28 days due to low yields, and a special committee was appointed to plan for the removal of the factory. The factory, "a mistake from

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