I am seeking access to historical photographs of either downtown Battle Mountain, NV showing relationship between the downtown's Front Street and the Southern Pacific rail line that goes through town adjacent to it.

Also am interested in any other photographs, historical or current, that demonstrates the classic relationship between railroads and the little towns that popped up adjacent to the tracks throughout the west. Other examples include towns such as Truckee, CA where the rail line parallels the main business street.

ccrutcher@lumosengineering.com

> I am seeking access to historical
> photographs of either downtown Battle
> Mountain, NV showing relationship between
> the downtown's Front Street and the Southern
> Pacific rail line that goes through town
> adjacent to it.

> Also am interested in any other photographs,
> historical or current, that demonstrates the
> classic relationship between railroads and
> the little towns that popped up adjacent to
> the tracks throughout the west. Other
> examples include towns such as Truckee, CA
> where the rail line parallels the main
> business street.

Try this view. Railroad is on the left in this view and I believe that the parking lot was the Espee station location. Remember this is on the Paired Track operation with the WP. Eastbound trains used teh WP, westbound the SP.

And I've stayed at the Owl in that corner, storefront room. Rolling trains by behind the tinted glass windows, and the enjoying cocktails and gaming next door at the Owl Club. A fine place, Battle Mountain!


Battle Mountain today
teamzurg@earthlink.net

> Try this view. Railroad is on the left in
> this view and I believe that the parking lot
> was the Espee station location. Remember
> this is on the Paired Track operation with
> the WP. Eastbound trains used the WP,
> westbound the SP.

> And I've stayed at the Owl in that corner,
> storefront room. Rolling trains by behind
> the tinted glass windows, and the enjoying
> cocktails and gaming next door at the Owl
> Club. A fine place, Battle Mountain!

And here's one more view of from that parking lot.


Another Battle Mountain View
teamzurg@earthlink.net

Recommend that you find a copy of Railroads of Nevada and Eastern California Volume I by David Myrick (you can probably get your hands on it through inter-library loan if nowhere else). Some pictures of Battle Mountain from the time when the Nevada Central still interchanged with the SP there.

This book is the exhaustive work on all Silver State railroads...Volume 1 covered everything north of Tonopah, while Volume 2 covered everything south of that. Volume 1 had a map of all railroads in the state, while Volume 2 had locomotive rosters of all operations. Originally published 1963 by Howell-North, I have seen complete sets of both volumes from then for sale for as much as $500. University of Nevada-Reno Press reprinted the books around 1992, and you will probably still be able to find it available in some museums or bookstores. List price for that was $75/copy.

Hope this helps.

JD Moore
Elko, NV

jamoore@elko.net

Ah yes, Battle Mountain, Nevada. Named the "Armpit of America" by The New York Times Magazine. I went my jounior of highschool in BM while I lived in nearby Beowawe.

One interesting note, Western Pacific ran north of town, ran a separate depot of the SP and called the station "North Battle Mountain". This is where a shortline railroad coming north from Austin, NV interchanged with the WP. If my memory is currect, it was Narrow Gauge and called the Nevada Central.

I've heard rumors from locals that some abandoned Nevada Central cars survive in a canyon in the mountain range south of Battle Mountain, but I have never been able to confirm that.

terry_dempsey@hotmail.com

> One interesting note, Western Pacific ran
> north of town, ran a separate depot of the
> SP and called the station "North Battle
> Mountain". This is where a shortline
> railroad coming north from Austin, NV
> interchanged with the WP. If my memory is
> currect, it was Narrow Gauge and called the
> Nevada Central.

The Nevada Central (that was the name) never reached beyond Battle Mountain. There was a proposal for a "Mid Pacific Railroad" in the '20s that would have seen the Nevada Central extended cross the Humboldt River to a connection with the WP at North Battle Mountain, but it was never built.

There are billboards on I-80 now on both directions telling the world about the Armpit of America designation...the billboards read "Make us your pit stop" or "We didn't know you were looking." They have even started "The Festival of the Pit" that has drawn major sponsorship from Old Spice and other underarm-supported corporations.

How long did you live in Beowawe for?

JD Moore
Elko, NV

jamoore@elko.net

> I've heard rumors from locals that some
> abandoned Nevada Central cars survive in a
> canyon in the mountain range south of Battle
> Mountain, but I have never been able to
> confirm that.

Don't know about that. But, at the Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park there is a portion of a car that once was a storage shed along the Nevada Central. When I saw the car body it was protected by a roof and located near the picnic grounds. This is an ancient car that had a box body built upon a flat car; only about 2/5 of the original car exists. When I saw the car it appeared that it once had lettering from the Stockton and Ione. If so, then this came to Nevada from California back in the 1870s.

A few years ago in Eureka County there was a ranch up one of the side canyons that had a corral made up from Eureka-Nevada stock car sides.

Brian Norden

> There are billboards on I-80 now on both
> directions telling the world about the
> Armpit of America designation...the
> billboards read "Make us your pit
> stop" or "We didn't know you were
> looking." They have even started
> "The Festival of the Pit" that has
> drawn major sponsorship from Old Spice and
> other underarm-supported corporations.

> How long did you live in Beowawe for?

> JD Moore
> Elko, NV

JD,

Ah yes, now I remember hearing about that festival, I also once stopped into the drug store in Battle Mountain (circa 2002) and saw some T-shirts with the same kind of slogans. Atleast they fixed the broken "Shell" sign that said "hell", lol.

I lived in Beowawe for about a year before I went to college. But my mom (who taught school in Cresent Valley until two years ago) lived there for another five years, so I visited there frequently. I love the area around there. I now hail from Reno.

-Terry