The original company As the
Comstock Lode was winding down, a group which had benefited from the strike with connections to the
Bank of California sought to exploit further potential strikes to the south. The company was incorporated on May 10, 1880, as the Carson and Colorado
Railroad, and construction on the railroad began on May 31, 1880. The Carson and Colorado began operations with a single
Baldwin , the
Candelaria. The first passenger train ran to Hawthorne in 1880 to show off the town site. Construction commenced in the second half of 1881, building south to
Belleville by that December, then finally to
Candelaria the following March. This was initially indicated to be the road's terminal for a time, but the company began construction south into the
Owens Valley in 1882 with the intention to connect to the
Southern Pacific Railroad at
Mojave. Interchanging with the railroads under the same corporate control at both ends of the railway seemed unlikely, but even an incomplete line was seen as having potential for mineral traffic. Finally, trains arrived at Keeler on August 1, 1883. The route reached an altitude of in
Montgomery Pass. A short
spur line from Hawthorne to Cottonwood was built to carry lumber, operating between 1891 and 1902. The line showed profit for its first few years, even in an incomplete state, but the mining districts served had already bust. The three constituent companies which built and operated the line were reorganized as the Carson and Colorado
Railway in 1892 to reduce accumulated debt.
Sale to the Southern Pacific Within a few years after its inception, the Carson and Colorado became a hindrance to the
Virginia and Truckee Railroad (V&T), the parent company of the C&C, which sold the line to the
Southern Pacific Company in 1900.
Darius Ogden Mills (part owner) was once quoted saying "Gentlemen, we either built the line 300 miles too long, or 300 years too soon!" Silver and gold discoveries at
Tonopah, Nevada and
Goldfield, Nevada provided a major boost of revenues shortly after the Southern Pacific purchase. (The line between Tonopah Junction and Mina was laid to a
dual gauge, allowing access to Mina's shops.) A new
standard gauge line was run south of Owenyo after 1911, but it was mostly constructed to facilitate construction of the
Los Angeles Aqueduct. This left a
break of gauge where passengers were forced to transfer to the narrow gauge line to travel through the Owens Valley, and Southern Pacific did not intend to rectify this situation. The Nevada and California Railroad was reorganized into the
Central Pacific Railroad in 1912. The rails were removed in January, 1961.
The modern line The northern segment of line continued operation to serve the
Hawthorne Army Depot. Tracks between Mina and Thorne were abandoned in the late 1980s, bringing the active line to in length. The
United States Army purchased the remaining segment of the line south of Wabuska in 1991 and set about upgrading tracks and bridges. By 2016, trains ran weekly as far south as Wabuska, with infrequent runs further to the Army Depot. == Locomotives ==