page_title: Soldier Summit, Utah
section_title: Railroad
hierarchical_section_title: Soldier Summit, Utah / Railroad
caption_attribution_description: Postcard depiction of a Denver and Rio Grande train at Soldier Summit, Utah. Note that there are four locomotives in front pulling the train up the summit and a fifth at the back pushing it.
context_page_description: Soldier Summit is the name of both a mountain pass in the Wasatch Mountains in Utah and an unincorporated community that is a near-ghost town located at the pass. Soldier Summit has been an important transportation route between the Wasatch Front and Price, Utah, since the area was settled by the Mormon pioneers. It is on the route of both U.S. Route 6 and the old main line of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad, now the Provo Subdivision of the Central Corridor. Located where the road makes a brief bend through the extreme southwest corner of Wasatch County, Soldier Summit historically had more to do with nearby Utah County.
  At one time both the state highway department and the railroad had operations at the summit, but with the exception of a gas station that is sometimes open, the town site is now abandoned. Today it is a popular rest stop and photo spot for railfans. Many railfans also take pictures of the Gilluly loops, a series of horseshoe curves on the western approach to the summit. The California Zephyr Amtrak passenger train uses this route.
context_section_description: Helper derives its name from Soldier Summit. During the age of steam, the railroad stored helper engines at Helper. They placed the helpers on freight trains to climb the grades to the summit. Soldier Summit is the fifth-highest summit or pass on a U.S. transcontinental railroad main line after Tennessee Pass, Moffat Tunnel, Sherman Hill Summit, and Raton Pass.
caption: Depiction of a Denver and Rio Grande Western train climbing the summit, circa 1915.  There are 5 locomotives used—four at the front and one at the back.
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