Salt Lake Telegram | 1939-12-13 | Page 17 | Autos Blamed in Rail Losses

AUTOS BLAMED IN RAILLOSSES Tooele Valley Line Seeks to Drop Service Growing popularity of the automobile auto-mobile has made the Tooele Valley Railway company no longer profitable, prof-itable, the company's manager, E. R. Phelps, told members of the public service commission Wednesday. Wed-nesday. Mr. Phelps' testimony was at a hearing on the application of the company to discontinue Its pas- senger service. It has operated the service since 1909, carrying passengers pas-sengers from Tooele to the International Inter-national Smelting and Refining company smelter, five miles away, for 5 cents each way. Mr. Phelps said the railroad loses money on its service because so many employes use their own cars to make the trip. The application Is opposed by a group of Tooele business men and workers at the smelter, who. In a protest filed with the commission contended that 600 workers using the service would suffer if the petition were granted; that it would mean discharge of a train crew; that if the passenger service were discontinued and bus service subsequently used, the transportation transporta-tion cost to the workers would Increase; In-crease; that the highway. In January Janu-ary and February, is such that a bus cannot safely negotiate It