A Mr. Milan Packard, a freighter and merchant from Springville could see the need for a railway to these newly discovered coal fields. So, he sponsored and financed the building of a narrow gauge railroad from the Union Pacific tracks in Springville to Winter Quarters. He was his own contractor and hired many sub-contractors. It was a great undertaking for the amount of money that was available. Merchandise was given from Mr. Packard's store as part of the men's pay. Calico was the prized cotton material, store bought material used for clothing at that time. So, many of the workers took calico as pay, so, it was called the "Calico Railroad." But officially it was named the Utah and Pleasant Valley Railroad. The trains pulled 12 five ton cars. This was used until 1883 when the Denver and Rio Grand Railroad bought it. Utah Fuel Company a subsidiary of the D&RG took over the town and mine at this time. But it was still called the Pleasant Valley Mine. The trains now became longer and the cars were larger they now held 15 tons.

By 1900 there were almost 2000 families living there. Christian Nelson, was the Railmaster for the D&RG. His office was on the upper floor of the Wasatch Store.