How did the Utah Belt get it's name?

[joseph2]

I am a fan of the Utah Belt,but I can't understand how it got it's name.I think of a belt railroad as a railroad going around a city,like the BRC or the IHB.The Utah Belt runs diagonal thru three states. Thanks for any answers. Joe Goebel

[ndbprr]

Same idea bigger territory. Isn't it basically a north south route - or was - in an east west locale?

[AltonFan]

But then there was the Cotton Belt (St. Louis Southestern), which was a mainline railroad. (But here, "belt" may refer to a region the line runs though.)

[joseph2]

Good point about the Cotton Belt.Maybe "Belt "also means regional.

[Anonymous]

But under That reasoning, wouldnt "Desert Belt" be a more adaquate name?

[AltonFan]

In Utah I suspect it would be "Deseret Belt"

[cacole]

Utah Belt is a made-up name -- the real one is named the Utah Railway. As far as the term "Belt" is concerned, don't get it confused with a "Beltway." You have the Corn Belt in the mid-west, Sun Belt in the south, Wheat Belt in Canada and upper U.S., etc., so 'belt' generally describes a geographic location or part of a country. At least, that's my belief of the meaning of the term.

[Jetrock]

Not to mention the "Bible Belt" in the south!

An industrial/interchange line around a city is also called a "belt line."

A belt, I suppose, is just something that goes around a region...

[wp8thsub]

Older articles on the UB discuss the motive power roster, paint scheme (dark gray with SP style lettering) and detailing (such as headlight clusters, ground plane towers, plows) that strongly reflected SP/Cotton Belt practice...but with a lot of D&RGW influence (barricade stripes, four axle power). The UB gives its creator a regional link to two favorite prototypes and a name evocative of the Cotton Belt.

There isn't much resemblance between the all-EMD UB and the prototype Utah Railway, which was all-Alco for about three decades.

[joseph2]

Thanks all.I can see the D&RGW influence.Would the hypothetical Deseret Belt have a passenger train named the Wasatch Cannonball ? And there actually is a Big Rock Candy Mountain in southern Utah.