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The Beginning
of the Carson & Colorado Railroad on the high desert plains
of Nevada at the site of what once was Mound House, Nevada.
(Photo
by Andy Saez) |
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All
the the photos and text for these Carson & Colorado Railroad
pages were taken from the sources listed on the bottom of this
page. Thanks to Rich McCutchan for loaning me the books and photocards. |
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The Birth of
a Railroad in Owens Valley |
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Decked out in
the "uniform of the day," Fred Balzar typified the
early day conductor. Mr Balzar went on to greater things, becoming
the Governor of Nevada in 1932.
(Lottie
Arcularius Collection) |
On the home
stretch to Keeler.
(Fred
Hust photo) |
Ore carts waiting
to be unloaded at the Owenyo Narrow Gauge / Standard Gauge junction. |
Lucius Beebe
and Charles Clegg aboard the Virginia & Truckee car "The
Virginia City" being served by steward Clarence Watkins. |
C&C
Railway Pass. |
The Carson
& Colorado Railroad was originated, planned and built by
the Virginia & Truckee Railway. It was Lucius Beebe and his
partner, Charles Clegg, who enshrined both roads in their writing
and photography, much of it accomplished while living aboard
their private car "Gold Coast" in the V&T's Carson
yards.
(Mallory
Ferrell) |
"Chronology
of the Carson & Colorado RR"[pdf]
by George Turner
View looking
west from the Saline Valley towards the Inyo Mountains during
construction of the aerial tramway.
(Lillian
Hilderman Collection) |
Located four
miles north of Keeler, the spur line to the salt mill can be
seen to the right.
(Donald
Duke Collection) |
The Saline Valley
Salt Mill at Tramway in Owens Valley, 1915. The track in the
foreground connected to the narrow gauge main line.
(Lillian
Hilderman Collection) |
Failure of the
grip lock (lower wheel and handle shown on the bucket hanger)
to hold the filled buckets on the cables resulted, in part, in
the eventual abandonment of the salt tram in 1930. |
Saline Valley Aerial Tramway Location/Map
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Where the Narrow
Gauge and Standard Gauge Met at Owenyo |
Owenyo Station
during busier days
(Donald
Duke Collection) |
Owenyo Station
(SP Collection) |
A northbound
train approaches Owenyo Station in 1954.
(SP Collection) |
View of the
Owenyo yards looking north from the narrow gauge transfer trestle.
(Southern
Pacific R.R.) |
Owenyo Station
at milepost 559.8, was the junction point between the narrow
gauge and the standard gauge "Jawbone Branch" from
Mojave. The yard above did not contain any dual gauge trackage.
(Wendel
Mortimer, Jr.) |
Ore carts waiting
to be unloaded at the Owenyo Narrow Gauge / Standard Gauge junction. |
Agent W.T.
Tommer stands at the semaphore handles. Tommer controlled the
operations of the narrow gauge for so long that people referred
to the line as "Mr. Tommer's Railroad."
(SP Collection) |
Freight
clerk Josephine Cole was the only woman employee of the narrow
gauge.
(SP Collection) |
Flying high
at Owenyo, Engine No. 9 discharges her ore into the standard
gauge cars in the "basement."
(Harold
Stewart) |
Owenyo Station
transfer trestle.
(Richard
F. Thomas) |
Engine No.
9 switches a string of "A" frame hoppers, loaded with
soapstone on the narrow-gauge-to-standard-gauge transfer trestle
in 1959.
(Wendell
Mortimer) |
Owenyo Station
transfer trestle, 1939.
(Al Phelps) |
Engine No.
18 on the Owenyo Station transfer trestle.
(Donald
Duke) |
Engine No.
18 passes the Owenyo Station transfer trestle on a run from Keeler
in 1946.
(Bert
H. Ward) |
Owenyo Station
transfer trestle.
(Richard
F. Thomas) |
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"Narrow
Gauge in a Wilderness"[pdf]
by George Turner
Ray,
I was at your website about the Carson & Colorado Railroad.
It is very informative. I am doing some research about Keeler.
My grandmother was from there and her father owned the meat market,
Diaz and Son.
This is my great-grandpa's meat market! This is it! I can't even
begin to tell you how wonderful these photos are and what they
mean to me. This where my Nana and her sisters lived. I've never
seen a photo of the meat market. All of a sudden all those stories
she used to tell my cousin and I finally have a real place and
picture. It's like suddenly being able to attach the voices to
the movie. Thank you! This helps my Mom and I place the location
of the meat market to downtown Keeler. So, the train being in
the photo actually is great. We're hoping to make a trip there
sometime in October.
Right now, I'm working on getting my great-uncle Abraham Diaz,
Jr.'s service records from WWI and tracing the Diaz family all
the way back to when they came to California from Chile during
the gold rush. I had no idea what I was getting into when I started,
but now I know I can't quit until I have the whole story.
Christine Putnam, August 2003
Burbank, CA |
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Early
Big Pine |
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Early
Bishop Residents |
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Mary
Austin |
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Saline
Valley Saltworks Tramway |
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More,
Owens Valley - Carson & Colorado Railroad |
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High
Sierra Pack Stations |
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Willie
A. Chalfant |
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 This page was last updated on
18 December 2007 |