Tag: Death Valley history

Tonopah & Tidewater Railroad

Historical Timeline

1904

  • F. M. “Borax” Smith, head of Pacific Coast Borax Company, plans a rail line from Ludlow, California, to Tonopah, Nevada.
  • Goal: Replace expensive mule teams and connect borate mines to markets.
  • Construction begins north from Ludlow.

1905

  • Tonopah & Tidewater Railroad Company is incorporated.
  • Smith intends to connect with Tonopah through the Amargosa Valley.
  • Clark’s Las Vegas & Tonopah Railroad blocks the T&T’s planned route near Beatty.
  • Construction halts near Saratoga Springs.

1906

  • Smith changes plans, reroutes the line east through Death Valley Junction.
  • Construction resumes northward using labor crews and mule-drawn graders.

1907

  • Line reaches Death Valley Junction and connects to the Lila C. borate mine via a spur to Ryan.
  • The track extends into Nevada, reaching the Gold Center near Beatty.
  • T&T connects with Bullfrog Goldfield Railroad (BGRR), gaining access to Goldfield and Tonopah.

1908

  • A formal agreement allows T&T to run trains through to Goldfield via the BGRR tracks.
  • Passenger and freight service expands.
  • Trains begin hauling borax, ore, equipment, and passengers across the Mojave Desert.

1909–1914

  • Peak years for the railroad.
  • Regular trains serve stations including Crucero, Silver Lake, Tecopa, Shoshone, Death Valley Junction, Gold Center, and Beatty.
  • Freight mostly consists of borax and mine supplies.

1915–1920

  • Borate mining expands in Boron, California, reducing reliance on the T&T.
  • T&T continues service but faces growing competition from trucks and other railroads.

1921

  • Bullfrog Goldfield Railroad begins to decline, weakening the T&T’s northern connection.
  • Traffic volume drops steadily.

1928

  • BGRR is abandoned. T&T loses its through route to Tonopah.
  • T&T ends service north of Beatty.
  • Remaining operations focus on borate hauling near Death Valley Junction.

1930s

  • The Great Depression cuts traffic further.
  • Tourism to Death Valley resorts helps slightly.
  • Limited borax shipping and small freight business continue.

1940

  • T&T files for abandonment.
  • June 14: Interstate Commerce Commission approves closure.
  • Track is removed and salvaged for scrap, used during World War II.

Post-1940

  • Portions of the old grade are used for roads and ranch access.
  • Death Valley Junction survives as a small outpost, later home to the Amargosa Opera House.
  • T&T’s legacy lives on in ruins, railbeds, and museum displays.

Let me know if you want a separate list of station stops, mile markers, or depots next.

The Eichbaum Toll Road:

Opening Death Valley to the Motor Age

In the mid-1920s, a man named H.W. Eichbaum looked out at the harsh desert landscape of Death Valley and saw something else entirely—a chance to bring travelers into one of the most remote and misunderstood places in California. Eichbaum, an engineer with a background in mining and tourism, had already run successful ventures on Catalina Island and in Venice, California. But the desert kept calling him back.

At the time, Death Valley had no real roads for cars. Miners knew the place, but tourists stayed away. Eichbaum dreamed of building the valley’s first resort at Stovepipe Wells, but first, he needed a road. He made multiple proposals to the Inyo County Board of Supervisors before securing approval in October 1925. The deal allowed him to build and operate a toll road down into Death Valley from Darwin Wash across Panamint Valley and Towne Pass.

The road was built by hand and Caterpillar tractor, winding around boulders rather than blasting through them. It was rough, narrow, and at times treacherous, but by spring 1926, the road reached the edge of the Mesquite Flat Dunes—just shy of his goal. Still, Eichbaum opened his Stovepipe Wells Hotel later that year, and tourists soon followed. His promotional savvy, regular ads in Los Angeles papers, and a sightseeing bus company helped make Death Valley a winter destination.

Eichbaum’s road and resort kicked off auto-tourism in the valley, but he didn’t live to see its full impact. He died in 1932, just before Death Valley became a national monument. As traffic grew and tolls became unpopular, the state eventually took over the route, paving it into what’s now part of California Highway 190. Some rough segments still exist as backcountry routes. But thanks to Eichbaum’s vision and grit, Death Valley was no longer just a miner’s haunt—it became a destination.

Death Valley Railroad

The Death Valley Railroad (DVRR) was a short-line narrow-gauge railroad built to support borax mining in one of the harshest and most remote regions of the American West. Though just 20 miles long, it played a major role in the borax industry during the early 20th century.

Origins and Purpose (1914):
The DVRR was built in 1914 by the Pacific Coast Borax Company, which was transitioning from using massive twenty-mule teams to more efficient rail transportation. The railroad connected the mining town of Ryan, California, located on the western slope of the Funeral Mountains, with the Tonopah & Tidewater Railroad at Death Valley Junction, just across the border in Nevada. This made it easier to haul borax out of the desert and get it to market.

Billie Mine/ Ryan

Construction and Equipment:
The line was narrow gauge (3 feet wide), which made it easier to build in the rugged terrain of Death Valley. The DVRR used two Baldwin-built 2-8-0 “Consolidation” type steam locomotives—No. 1 (built in 1914) and No. 2 (built in 1916)—which pulled ore cars loaded with borates from the mines at Ryan to Death Valley Junction. From there, the Tonopah & Tidewater carried the loads further to the mainline railroads.

Working Conditions:
Life along the DVRR wasn’t easy. The heat was intense, water was scarce, and the terrain unforgiving. Workers lived in company housing at Ryan, where the Pacific Coast Borax Company built a full company town—complete with school, post office, and even a movie theater.

Decline and Closure (1930):
By 1928, the main borax mine at Ryan was exhausted, and by 1930, the DVRR was officially shut down. The equipment, including locomotives and rolling stock, was sold to the United States Potash Company in New Mexico, where they were used in similar work until the 1950s.

Legacy:
Though it operated for only 16 years, the Death Valley Railroad represents a key transition in the desert’s industrial history—from mule teams to steam power. The railbed can still be traced in places, and some of the original structures at Ryan still stand. Today, Locomotive No. 2 is preserved at the Borax Museum in Furnace Creek, while No. 1 is on display in Carlsbad, New Mexico.

The DVRR was a brief but vital chapter in the saga of mining in Death Valley—a rugged little line that conquered heat, grade, and distance in service to the white gold of the desert.