OAUSA Net - February 02-23 Ghost Rail Roads

[toms]

Ghost railroads refer to abandoned or disused railway lines and related infrastructure, such as stations and depots. These railroads are often referred to as "ghosts" because they remain as physical reminders of a bygone era of transportation, even though they are no longer in use.
Many have been left to deteriorate and become part of the landscape.

The study of ghost railroads often includes a focus on their history, including the reasons for their creation and eventual abandonment, as well as their cultural and economic impact on the communities they once served.

Rail roads played an important role in the history of the west. Railroads were important for settlement and commerce.
Many rail roads were build and abandoned when the town or mine they served played out. Exploring these railroads provide a rich history of the mid to late 1800's and make great destinations for a trip. Following the rail bed, scouting out old stations, and talking to the locals makes a fun 4wd trip.
Seeing it on the ground really puts the history in perspective.

Tonight we ask everyone to share their favorite ghost rail road stories.

Post the route, background and pictures.

[lrsrngr]

KK6CTT for the check-in and topic addition: Content to be posted.

Skunk Train

This particular photo was taken in Fort Bragg, CA where camping and traveling along the coast is great for a stop to take in the many museums and Glass Beach, an after effect of many years of glass bottle disposal along the nearby shores.

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Both passenger cars and open flatbeds are available for the ride. The docents or "Conductors" story tell along the route and there is a rich history along this historic train route.

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The nickname “Skunk” originated in 1925, when motorcars were introduced (today sometimes referred to as railbuses or railcruisers). These single unit, self-propelled motorcars had gasoline-powered engines for power and pot-bellied stoves burning crude oil to keep the passengers warm. https://www.skunktrain.com/about/

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The combination of the fumes created a very pungent odor, and the old timers living along the line said these motorcars were like skunks, “You could smell them before you could see them.” Although the smell is now much reduced, we still like to think of ourselves as that little Skunk running through the redwoods. https://www.skunktrain.com/about/

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Stats:

• Originally built in 1885 to transport redwood logs from the rugged backcountry to the coast, the Skunk Train now ferries sightseers to and fro between the waterfront town of Fort Bragg inland to the cowboy town of Willits on California’s North Coast. Two journeys are available year-round: the one-hour Pudding Creek Express, which departs from Fort Bragg and covers a 7-mile round trip, and the Wolf Tree Turn, a two-hour trip which departs from Willits and climbs to the highest point in the line (elevation: 1,740 feet) en route to the redwood-dense Noyo River Canyon.

• https://www.visitcalifornia.com/experience/skunk-train/

Official Website:

• Home: https://www.skunktrain.com/

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SkunkTrain/

Goat Canyon Trestle

• Stats:

AB Goat Trestle 640 04.jpg (111.81 KiB) Viewed 888 times

[Not for the faint of heart] Carrizo Gorge is in San Diego County in the extreme South end of Anza Borrego State Park, Carrizo Gorge Wilderness is a narrow strip of land that is a watershed of the gorge, and is located adjacent to it in the Jacumba Mountains. Carrizo Gorge Wilderness has Anza Borrego state park bordering it on the East side and McCain Valley BLM recreation area on the West. Carrizo Gorge in Anza Borrego State Park is where the Goat Canyon Trestle can be found. The Goat Canyon Trestle is spectacular destination, but the trestle itself and the railroad tracks are on a very thin little stripe of private property that crosses through Anza Borrego State Park. https://www.summitpost.org/carrizo-gorge-wilderness-and-goat-canyon-trestle/513153

110313, Goat Canyon Trestle Hike 640 BW.jpg (270.33 KiB) Viewed 888 times

"Big Boy" Engine 4014:

• Stats: https://www.up.com/heritage/steam/4014/

• A video from OCT 2019: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqYBvAZ_vKU

Big Boy No. 4014 was delivered to Union Pacific in December 1941. The locomotive was retired in December 1961, having traveled 1,031,205 miles in its 20 years in service. Union Pacific reacquired No. 4014 from the RailGiants Museum in Pomona, California, in 2013, and relocated it back to Cheyenne to begin a multi-year restoration process. It returned to service in May 2019 to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the Transcontinental Railroad's Completion.

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140201, UP Big Boy 4014 03.JPG (83.45 KiB) Viewed 888 times

[toms]

Some significant ghost railroads in California, Nevada, and Arizona:

• Carson and Colorado Railroad: This railroad ran from Mound House, Nevada to Keeler, California and was in operation from 1880 to 1940. It was once considered the "Lifeline of the Owens Valley."

• Virginia and Truckee Railroad: This historic railway operated from 1869 to 1950 and was once considered the "Queen of the Short Lines." It ran from Virginia City to Carson City and played a significant role in the Comstock Lode mining boom.

• Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad: This railway operated in the Mojave Desert of southern Nevada from 1905 to 1940 and was once considered the "Lifeline of the Borax Mines."

• Apache Railway: This railway operated from Snowflake to Holbrook and was in operation from 1902 to 1974. It was once considered the lifeblood of the White Mountains region in northeastern Arizona.

• Arizona and California Railroad: This railway ran from Parker, Arizona to Blythe, California and was in operation from 1927 to 1985. It was built to serve the agriculture and mining industries in the Colorado River Valley.

• Arizona Eastern Railroad: This railway operated in southeastern Arizona from 1882 to 1989 and was once considered the "Lifeline of the Copper Basin."

[toms]

Trains Serving West Central NV

Map Rail Roads Rhyolite.jpg (307.14 KiB) Viewed 888 times

This map from Mojave Desert web site shows route of several of the key railroads in Nevada and California.
The map helps sort out the jumble of different rail roads operating in the area.

In 1904/05 three trains provided service to Rhyolite.
Las Vegas and Tonopah
Tonopah and Tidewater
Tonopah and Goldfield

Each one has an interesting history and each was interconnected to a major railroad.
LV&T connected to the SP, LA, SL at Vegas
T&T connected to Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe at Ludlow
T&G connected to the Carson and Colorado at Mina, NV

[toms]

Tonopah and Tidewater (T&T)

Map T&T.jpg (287.34 KiB) Viewed 884 times

This was Francis Smith's plan to get his Borax out of Death Valley. He also intended to extend to Goldfield and Tonopah to the Silver mines.
He considered going into San Diego (tidewater) but never implemented that section.

In 1904 The T&T was incorporated.

During that time, a new railroad was reaching completion, known as the San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad (SP, LA & SL).
Smith decided to begin building the railroad at Las Vegas. Smith met with Senator William A. Clark and, with a handshake, was given verbal approval for the railroad

Later Clark wanted to form his own railroad from Las Vegas to the mines at Tonopah. He had large investments in the mines around Goldfield and Tonopah. He build the Las Vegas and Tonopah (LV&T) using Smith original 11 miles of road bed (he later paid him)

So Smith had to move to Ludlow and connect with the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe RR. It added 50 miles. In addition the Amargosa Gorge was very difficult to blast through. He reached Gold Center a year after Williams and the LV&T.

Many stops along the railroad were named for associates of Francis Marion Smith [1][2]
• Ludlow, California
• Broadwell
• Mesquite
• Crucero
• Rasor - named for Clarence Rasor, Smith's employee
• Soda Lake, later renamed Zzyzx, California
• Baker, California - named for Richard C. Baker, – President of the Pacific Borax Company
• Silver Lake, San Bernardino County, California
• Talc
• Riggs
• Lore
• Valjean
• Dumont - named after Harry Dumont who ran the company's San Francisco office
• Sperry - named after Smith's niece Charlotte Grace Sperry
• Acme
• Tecopa, California
• Zabriske - named for Christian Brevoort Zabriskie, superitendent at Columbus Marsh later in charge of New York operations.
• Shoshone, California
• Gerstley, California - named for James Gerstley, Smith's business partner (and later U.S. Borax President from 1950-1961[3])
• Evelyn, California - named for Evelyn Ellis, Smith's wife
• Horton, California - named for the T&T's trainmaster, Ben Horton
• Death Valley Junction, California
• Ryan, California - named for John Ryan, Smith's trusted supervisor
• Lila C, California
• Bradford Siding, California
• Scranton, California
• Leeland
• Ashton
• Carrara
• Gold Center
• Bullfrog
• Rhyolite, Nevada
• Beatty, Nevada

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The 26 mile section of the T&T between Ludlow on the Santa Fe and Crucero on the Union Pacific was abandoned in the depression year of 1933.

On June 14th, 1940 all operations over the T&T came to an end. All track and equipment was maintained in accordance with the various agreements to keep the line available to returning to service.
Resumption of service never came, however, and with the advent of World War II, the War Department requisitioned the line.
Sharp and Fellows Construction Company received the dismantling contract and began tearing out the line in July, 1942


Phi Serpico a graduate of Redondo Beach , CA High School wrote the book
"Tonopah & Tidewater Railroad: The Nevada Short Line Hardcover – Unabridged, January 1, 2013 " which I am sure you could get through Amazon.

[NotAMog]

Death Valley Railroad (1914 - 1931)

As the borax mine at Lila C began to play out a search for new borax deposits was started. New deposits west of Furnace Creek were found and plans were made to build a narrow gauge railroad from the new site to Death Valley Junction approximately 20 miles away. There it would connect to the Tonopah & Tidewater railway. Much of the route ran parallel to today's state route 190.

When it became more economical to mine borax in Boron, California the rail line tried to keep going by taking tourists to the closed mine. This proved to be unprofitable and the rail line was closed in 1931.





Above images from https://www.frrandp.com/2018/10/the-dea ... -1931.html

Rolling Stock



Probably of more interest than the rail line itself is the history of the rolling stock. Two 2 2-8-0 Baldwin locomotives were added to the line completion. After a few years the original locomotive was sold to the Nevada Short LIne Railway for use in timber fields and was scrapped in 1925 after the Red River Lumber company closed following a fire. The two Baldwin locomotives, other rolling stock and rails from the Death Valley Railroad were relocated by the United States Potash Company to construct a new line near Loving, New Mexico.

When the Baldwin locomotives were replaced by diesels in the 1950s the number 1 locomotive was put on display in Carlsbad, New Mexico. The number 2 locomotive was purchased by the National Park Service and is on display at the Furnace Creek Borax Museum in Death Valley National Park.

The railcar used for transporting tourists was used by United States Potash to transport workers to mines until 1967 when it was acquired by the Laws Railroad Museum and restored for display on their narrow gauge railway.


Additional Information

Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Valley_Railroad

Forgotten Railways, Roads & Places - https://www.frrandp.com/2018/10/the-dea ... -1931.html

Pacific Narrow Gauge - http://www.pacificng.com/template.php?p ... /index.htm

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvSZ-QtJOLI

[NotAMog]

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