Silver Brothers Iron Works (Ogden Iron Works)

Freight Cars by Builder > Silver Brothers Iron Works (Ogden Iron Works)

Introduction

The Silver Brothers Iron Works was a small foundry and machine shop in Salt Lake City that specialized in mining and agricultural equipment. While the majority of its railcars were for underground mine service, the company also produced narrow gauge rolling stock, including side dump cars, for construction contractors. In later years the company moved to Ogden, Utah and was renamed the Ogden Iron Works, producing the same product line but expanding into sugarbeet machinery, soon dominating the market for sugarbeet cutters and piling machines.

Silver Brothers also was the original manufacturer of the Silver Permanent Railway Tie, a cast-steel and concrete-filled track tie intended to replace wood as the United States faced a timber crisis as commercially viable tree stands on public lands began to run out in the early 20th century.