Eureka and Palisade Railroad

Eureka & Palisade Railroad
Locale Palisade - Eureka, Nevada
Dates of operation 1873–1938
Track gauge 3 ft (914 mm)
Headquarters Palisade, Nevada
Route in 1931

The Eureka & Palisade Railroad was a 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge railroad constructed in 1873-1875 between Palisade and Eureka, Nevada, a distance of approximately 85 miles (137 km). The railroad was constructed to connect Eureka, the center of a rich silver mining area, with the national railway network at Palisade.

Later corporate reorganizations brought on by financial difficulties saw the line operated as the "Eureka and Palisade Railway" and the "Eureka Nevada Railway."

The Eureka & Palisade Railroad was built in 1875 to carry silver-lead ore from Eureka, Nevada, to the Southern Pacific Railroad trunk line that ran through Palisade. Nevertheless, despite the determined and colorful management style of John Sexton, the line succumbed to the effects of flood, fire, competing road traffic, and dwindling amounts of ore extracted in Eureka. The rails and rolling stock of the last surviving narrow gauge railroad in Nevada were removed in 1938.[1]

The Eureka, one of the railroad's only surviving steam locomotives, is listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places.[2] Another locomotive that has survived is #7, a 2-6-2 Prairie named Pufferbilly that was built in 1915 by the H.K. Porter Company. It is privately owned by Gary Norton and can be seen at Silverwood Theme Park in Athol, Idaho where it runs daily during theme park operation.

Notes

  1. ↑ Jorja Muir, "Eureka and Palisade Railroad," Northeastern Nevada Historical Society Quarterly, Dec 1999, Vol. 99#4 pp 92-107
  2. ↑ "National Register of Historic Places". Retrieved 2007-10-11.

References

  • Hilton, George W. (1990). American Narrow Gauge Railroads. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-2369-9.
  • Myrick, David F. (1962). Railroads Of Nevada and Eastern California: Volume 1. Berkeley: Howell-North Books. ISBN 978-0-87417-193-8.
  • Kneiss, Gilbert H. (1954). Bonanza Railroads: Revised Edition. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
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