Carson and Colorado Railway

{{Infobox rail

| railroad_name = Carson and Colorado Railway

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| locale = California and Nevada

| start_year = 1880

| end_year = 1960

| successor_line = Southern Pacific Company

| gauge = {{track gauge|3ft|lk=on}}

| length = {{circa| {{convert|300|mi|-1}} }}

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| map = {{Carson and Colorado Railway|inline=y}}

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The Carson and Colorado Railway was a U.S. {{track gauge|3ft|lk=on}} 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 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, U.S. Route 6, and U.S. Route 395.

The Carson and Colorado began operations with a single Baldwin {{whyte|4-4-0}}, the Candelaria. The first train arrived at Keeler on August 1, 1883. The {{convert|300|mi|adj=on}} route reached an altitude of {{convert|7100|ft}} in Montgomery Pass.{{harvnb|Turner|1974|p=2}} 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.{{harvnb|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 (V&T), the parent company of the C&C, who sold the line to the Southern Pacific Company in 1900.Ferrell, Mallory Hope. Southern Pacific Narrow Gauge, p. 59, Pacific Fast Mail, Edmonds, Washington, 1982. Darius Ogden Mills (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 and Goldfield, Nevada 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 {{convert|3|ft|adj=on}} 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.Hilton, George W. American Narrow Gauge Railroads, p. 439-40, Stanford University Press, Stanford, California, 1990. The northern {{convert|140|mi}} from Mound House to Mina, Nevada was converted to {{track gauge|4ft8.5in|allk=on}} in 1905; and the remaining C&C was merged into the Southern Pacific's {{track gauge|3ft}} narrow gauge subsidiary, the Nevada and California Railroad.{{harvnb|Turner|1974|p=6}} The Nevada and California Railroad was reorganized into the Central Pacific Railroad 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.{{harvnb|Likes|1975|p=83}} The rails were removed in January, 1961.

The former parent company, Virginia and Truckee Railroad, has been reconstructed from Virginia City 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 again in the future.

Locomotives

class="wikitable"

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1st #1

Carson and Colorado Railway

Sale to the Southern Pacific

Locomotives

Towns and railroad stations served

Restoration effort

Gallery of C&C equipment

See also

References

= Bibliography =

Sources

External links