The Carson and Colorado Railway was a U.S.

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller struc ...

railroad that ran from Mound House,

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

, to Keeler,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

below the Cerro Gordo Mines. It was incorporated on May 10, 1880 as the Carson and Colorado ''Railroad'', and construction on the railroad began on May 31, 1880. The narrow gauge track was chosen to reduce cost. Much of the route now parallels U.S. Route 95 Alternate, U.S. Route 95,

Nevada State Route 360 State Route 360 (SR 360) is a state highway in the southern portion of Mineral County, Nevada, United States. The route connects the former town of Basalt to the rest of Mineral County. A road has been in the place of SR 360 since 1919, and bec ...

U.S. Route 6 U.S. Route 6 (US 6), also called the Grand Army of the Republic Highway, honoring the American Civil War veterans association, is a main route of the U.S. Highway system. While it currently runs east-northeast from Bishop, California, to ...

, and

U.S. Route 395 U.S. Route 395 (US 395) is a U.S. Route in the western United States. The southern terminus of the route is in the Mojave Desert at Interstate 15 near Hesperia. The northern terminus is at the Canada–US border near Laurier, where the road b ...

. The Carson and Colorado began operations with a single

Baldwin Baldwin is a Germanic name, composed of the elements ''bald'' "bold" and ''win'' "friend". People * Baldwin (name) Places Canada * Baldwin, York Regional Municipality, Ontario * Baldwin, Ontario, in Sudbury District * Baldwin's Mills, Qu ...

, the ''Candelaria''. The first train arrived at Keeler on August 1, 1883. The route reached an altitude of in Montgomery Pass. The railroad served an arid area heavily dependent on mineral resources for economic activity. The line was reorganized as the Carson and Colorado ''Railway'' in 1892 to reduce accumulated debt.Turner 1974 p.4

Sale to the Southern Pacific

From its inception, the Carson and Colorado was a hindrance to the

Virginia and Truckee Railroad The Virginia and Truckee Railroad is a privately owned heritage railroad, headquartered in Virginia City, Nevada. Its private and publicly owned route is long. When first constructed in the 19th century, it was a commercial freight railroad ...

(V&T), the parent company of the C&C, who sold the line to the

Southern Pacific Company Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...

in 1900.

Darius Ogden Mills Darius Ogden Mills (September 25, 1825 – January 3, 1910) was a prominent American banker and philanthropist. For a time, he was California's wealthiest citizen. Early life Mills was born in North Salem, in Westchester County, New Y ...

(part owner) was once quoted saying "Either we built the line 300 miles too long, or 300 years too early!" Silver and gold discoveries at

Tonopah, Nevada Tonopah ( , Shoshoni language: Tonampaa) is an unincorporated town in, and the county seat of, Nye County, Nevada, United States. It is located at the junction of U.S. Routes 6 and 95, approximately midway between Las Vegas and Reno. In ...

and

Goldfield, Nevada Goldfield is an unincorporated small desert city and the county seat of Esmeralda County, Nevada. It is the locus of the Goldfield CDP which had a resident population of 268 at the 2010 census, down from 440 in 2000. Goldfield is located ...

provided a major boost of revenues shortly after the Southern Pacific purchase. From the time of the purchase until 1905, all of the C&C’s freight traveled over the V&T's trackage from Mound House to Reno, and vice versa. Because of the changeover from narrow gauge to standard gauge cars, all the freight had to be handled by hand at Mound House, which caused a great bottleneck, especially after the mining booms of Tonopah and Goldfield. Southern Pacific (SP) proffered an offer to purchase the V&T, but the price was placed too high. As a result, the SP began constructing the Hazen cutoff, which circumvented the V&T entirely after it opened. The northern from Mound House to

Mina, Nevada Mina is a census-designated place in Mineral County in west-central Nevada, United States. It is located along U.S. Route 95 (38° 23' 25" N 118° 06' 30" W) at an elevation of . The 2010 population was 155. History Mina was founded as a rai ...

was converted to in 1905; and the remaining C&C was merged into the Southern Pacific's narrow gauge subsidiary, the

Nevada and California Railroad Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most exte ...

.Turner 1974 p.6 The Nevada and California Railroad was reorganized into the

Central Pacific Railroad The Central Pacific Railroad (CPRR) was a rail company chartered by U.S. Congress in 1862 to build a railroad eastwards from Sacramento, California, to complete the western part of the "First transcontinental railroad" in North America. Incorpo ...

in 1912. In the early 20th century, it operated under the name "Southern Pacific Keeler Branch". Portions of the line were abandoned in the 1930s and the 1940s, and the last narrow gauge common carrier made its final run on April 29, 1960. The rails were removed in January, 1961. The former parent company, Virginia and Truckee Railroad, has been reconstructed from

Virginia City Virginia City is a census-designated place (CDP) that is the county seat of Storey County, Nevada, and the largest community in the county. The city is a part of the Reno–Sparks Metropolitan Statistical Area. Virginia City developed as a boomto ...

to a station near Mound House. Passenger (tourist) service has been restored along much of the original V&T right of way, with investigations into returning service to

Carson City Carson City is an independent city and the capital of the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2020 census, the population was 58,639, making it the sixth largest city in Nevada. The majority of the city's population lives in Eagle Valley, on t ...

again in the future.

Locomotives

Towns and railroad stations served by the C&C

Mound House, Nevada Mound House is a small unincorporated community in Lyon County, Nevada on U.S. Route 50 that is situated between Nevada's capital, Carson City, and Dayton. Its elevation is 4,974 feet (1,516 m). It is in Lyon County, one of eight N ...

( V&T Railroad to Carson City and Virginia City) *

Dayton, Nevada Dayton is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Lyon County, Nevada, United States. The population was 15,153 at the 2020 census. Dayton is the first Nevada settlement and home to the oldest hotel in Nevada. History ...

* Fort Churchill, Nevada * Wabuska, Nevada (

Copper Belt Railway Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

to Yerington) *

Lux, Nevada The Carson and Colorado Railway was a U.S. narrow gauge railroad that ran from Mound House, Nevada, to Keeler, California below the Cerro Gordo Mines. It was incorporated on May 10, 1880 as the Carson and Colorado ''Railroad'', and constructi ...

* Moquist, Nevada * Rio Vista, Nevada *

Schurz, Nevada Schurz is a census-designated place (CDP) in Mineral County, Nevada, United States. The population was 658 at the 2010 census. It is located on the Walker River Indian Reservation. It is the burial place of Wovoka, the Paiute messiah who orig ...

* Stuckey, Nevada * Copperhill, Nevada * Gillis, Nevada *

Rand, Nevada Rand is an extinct town in Mineral County, in the U.S. state of Nevada. The GNIS classifies Rand as a populated place with a "RR Locale" description. Rand was a station on the Carson and Colorado Railway The Carson and Colorado Railway was ...

* Magnus, Nevada * Walker, Nevada *

Thorne, Nevada Thorne, Nevada is a rail junction and former town located in Mineral County, Nevada. In 1881, Thorne was a station on the Carson and Colorado Railway. In 1905, the spur line to Hawthorne was abandoned and Thorne became the terminus for Hawthorn ...

Hawthorne, Nevada Hawthorne is a census-designated place (CDP) in Mineral County, Nevada, United States. At the 2010 census, the population was 3,269, a decrease since the 2000 census, when it was 3,311. It is the county seat of Mineral County. The nearby Hawth ...

(branch to Cottonwood) *Cottonwood, Nevada (branch only) * Kinkead, Nevada * Luning, Nevada * New Boston, Nevada *

* Sodaville, Nevada (Soda Springs) *

Rhodes, Nevada Rhodes, Nevada is a former rail station and Post Office on the Carson and Colorado Railway in Mineral County, Nevada. History Until 1862, salt was transported from San Francisco to the Comstock Lode, Virginia City, Nevada at a cost of /ton. ...

* Tonopah Junction, Nevada (

Tonopah and Goldfield Railroad The Tonopah and Goldfield Railroad, a railroad of in length in the U.S. state of Nevada, offered point-to-point service between Mina and Goldfield, running over the Excelsior Mountains and parallel to the Monte Cristo Range. It operated from 1 ...

) *

Belleville, Nevada Belleville, Nevada, in Mineral County, Nevada, United States, was a mining town that rose up around the milling of ore shipped in from nearby mines. Today it is a ghost town. History Belleville was founded in 1873 or 1874 and its primary industry ...

* Filben, Nevada (spur to Candelaria) * Candelaria, Nevada (spur only) *

Basalt, Nevada Basalt is a formerly populated place located in Mineral County, Nevada. Basalt was a station on the Carson and Colorado Railway. The Basalt Post Office operated from March 1906 until August 1906. In 1905, Diatomaceous Earth Diatomaceous ...

* Summit, Nevada (Mt. Montgomery) * Queen, Nevada *

Benton, California Benton (formerly Benton Station) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Mono County, California, United States. It includes the unincorporated communities of Benton and Benton Hot Springs and is north of the community of Bishop, at an elevation ...

* Hammill, California *

Laws, California Laws (formerly, Station and Bishop Depot) is an unincorporated community in Inyo County, California. Laws is located northeast of Bishop on U.S. Route 6, towards the Nevada state line. Geography The U.S. Geological Survey shows official ...

, Owensville *

Zurich, California Zurich (formerly, Alvord and Station) is a former settlement in Inyo County, California. It was a stop of the Carson and Colorado Railway. It is located northeast of Big Pine, at an elevation of 3934 feet (1199 m). Zurich was established in 188 ...

* Monola, California (formerly Alvord) * Kearsarge, California * Manzanar, California *

Owenyo, California Owenyo (formerly, New Owenyo) was an unincorporated community in Inyo County, California. It was located on the Southern Pacific Railroad north of Lone Pine, at an elevation of 3697 feet (1127 m). The town was abandoned in the 1960s, and all ...

(

Southern Pacific Railroad The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Railroad classes#Class I, Class I Rail transport, railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was ...

to Lone Pine, Ridgecrest, and Los Angeles) * Alico, California *

Dolomite, California Dolomite is an unincorporated community in Inyo County, California. It is located on the Southern Pacific Railroad south of New York Butte in the Owens Valley, at an elevation of 3674 feet (1120 m). Originally, in 1883, a siding on the Carson a ...

* Mock, California *

Swansea, California Swansea is a former settlement and unincorporated community in Inyo County, California. It is located south of New York Butte, at an elevation of . Swansea was a boomtown located on the eastern shore of Owens Lake. Spawned by the success of t ...

Keeler, California Keeler, formerly known as Hawley, is a census-designated place (CDP) in Inyo County, California, United States. Keeler is located on the east shore of Owens Lake south-southeast of New York Butte. The population was 71 people at the 2020 census ...

Restoration effort

Independence, California Independence is a census-designated place in Inyo County, California. Independence is located south-southeast of Bishop, at an elevation of 3930 feet (1198 m). It is the county seat of Inyo County, California. The population of this cens ...

, a non-profit group re-incorporated the Carson and Colorado Railway. They have restored locomotive #18, which was left in Independence in excellent condition by the Southern Pacific in 1955. The locomotive moved under its own power for the first time in 62 years on Saturday October 15, 2016. The locomotive is currently housed in a two stall engine house at the Eastern California Museum in Independence, CA. There is close to 1000 feet of track for it to operate on. Former SP boxcars #1C and #15 are on rail with engine #18 as part of the exhibit.

Gallery of C&C equipment

File:Southern Pacific Engine 9.jpg, The second engine #9, painted in Southern Pacific livery, currently located at the Laws Railroad Museum in Laws, California. File:SP No. 18.jpg, The engine #18, painted in Southern Pacific livery, currently located in Independence, California. Restored and Operable. File:Carson & Colorado Caboose 1.jpg, Carson & Colorado Caboose #1, currently located at the Laws Railroad Museum in Laws, California. File:Carson & Colorado boxcar.jpg, Carson & Colorado boxcar #7, currently located at the Laws Railroad Museum in Laws, California. File:'Travel Town Museum' 56.jpg, Live stock car #163, currently located at the

Travel Town Museum Travel Town Museum is a railway museum dedicated on December 14, 1952, and located in the northwest corner of Los Angeles, California's Griffith Park. The history of railroad transportation in the western United States from 1880 to the 1930s is t ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

, California. File:'Travel Town Museum' 57.jpg, Carter Brothers box car #1, currently located at the Travel Town Museum in Los Angeles, California.

References

Bibliography

* *

Sources

Guide to the Carson & Colorado Railroad Company records, 1881–1901
at

The Bancroft Library The Bancroft Library in the center of the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, is the university's primary special-collections library. It was acquired from its founder, Hubert Howe Bancroft, in 1905, with the proviso that it retai ...

A Guide to the Carson and Colorado Railroad Records, NC71
Special Collections, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Reno.

External links

Carson and Colorado Railway Restoration Effort

Carson and Colorado Railway Facebook Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carson Colorado Railway Defunct California railroads Defunct Nevada railroads Narrow gauge railroads in California Narrow gauge railroads in Nevada 3 ft gauge railways in the United States Predecessors of the Southern Pacific Transportation Company Mining in California Mojave Desert Owens Valley History of Inyo County, California Mining in Nevada Railway companies established in 1892 Railway companies disestablished in 1905 1892 establishments in California 1905 disestablishments in California Closed railway lines in the United States