<P> The development of the railway line that became the LA&SL began in 1871 when the Utah Southern Railroad began laying track southward from Salt Lake City . The Utah Southern, controlled by the much larger Union Pacific Railroad (UP), built a line to a station known as Juab, Utah, in 1879 . From there a second UP subsidiary known as the Utah Southern Railroad Extension took up the work, completing trackage as far as Milford, Utah, in 1880 . By the end of the century, these and other lines had been absorbed into the Oregon Short Line Railroad, a far larger UP subsidiary . </P> <P> Work on extending the Milford line southward began by 1889, but no tracks were actually laid due to financial issues . Construction resumed in 1899 when the route was completed as far as the Utah--Nevada border . Grading work extended into Nevada, and the UP's stated intent was to continue the line all the way to southern California . </P> <P> Another player entered the scene in 1900, however, when William Andrews Clark acquired the struggling Los Angeles Terminal Railway with an eye to extending the line northeast to Salt Lake . The railroad was reincorporated in 1901 as the San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad, and Clark announced plans to construct a line between Salt Lake and southern California . Clark assembled political and financial supporters to assist in the project, both in California and Utah; the competing Union Pacific Railroad and its formidable leader E.H. Harriman stood in opposition to Clark's plan . </P> <P> Clark's forces began construction work in Nevada, along the existing UP grade, and a brief "railroad war" ensued before Clark and the UP called a truce in 1903 . Their agreement called for Clark's railroad to acquire the existing UP trackage south of Salt Lake City; in turn, the UP received a 50% ownership interest in Clark's railroad . Construction of the remaining line proceeded rapidly to Daggett, California, where it connected to the ATSF, and the complete Salt Lake--Los Angeles line was opened on May 1, 1905 . In California, Clark negotiated a trackage rights agreement from Daggett to Riverside, California, allowing his new line to use the existing Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway route over Cajon Pass, in lieu of constructing its own tracks across the pass . </P>

San pedro los angeles and salt lake railroad map