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ENLARGE
MY TURN
David C. Henley
Publisher Emeritus
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ENLARGE
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One of my most favorite memories of notable historic milestones in Fallon goes back nearly 22 years.
It was on May 1, 1987, when I joined several hundred Fallonites to witness a truly awesome sight: Fallon’s venerable railroad depot was being transported down the center of Williams Avenue to a new location.
Built in 1907, the wooden depot was initially constructed on a site on the east side of North Taylor Street just north of West B Street according to Bunny Corkill, Churchill County Museum curator.
Erected by the Southern Pacific Railroad to serve as a branch freight and passenger terminal for a SP spur line that connected the main SP line at Hazen, the depot remained in that location until 1977, 17 years after its abandonment by the railroad.
In late 1977, the vacant building was purchased by Emmett and Sheryl Goddin for use as a restaurant and moved it to a site on Kaiser Street east of North Allen Road. The restaurant ultimately went out of business, and the empty depot remained there for 10 years.
In 1987, it was purchased by Ralph Mills and David Widmer for use as a casino and restaurant and moved a second time ... to its present location at the southeast corner of Williams and Tedford Lane, Corkill added.
I will never forget that day (and night) in May of 1987 when the depot was moved north and then east from Kaiser Street to where it rests today.
The building was jacked up, placed on huge rollers and slowly pulled by a giant truck down Williams Avenue to the delight of onlookers. Telephone wires, in advance of the move, were raised, Fallon police officers blocked all the traffic and the depot finally reached the location in the early morning hours.
From 1907 through 1960, when it was used as a passenger and freight depot, Fallon’s old station was connected to Southern Pacific lines stretching in all directions. It was a glorious era in American railroading that began with the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 1, 1869.
Although I have always known of Fallon’s railroad connections through Hazen to the west (Sacramento), east (Utah) and north (Susanville), only lately have I realized its relationships with southern Nevada and eastern California.
Driving recently to Southern California along Highway 395, I stopped at the Laws Railroad Museum in the tiny community of Laws north of Bishop (about 200 miles southwest of Fallon) where museum director Barbara Moss filled me in on the area’s rail relationship with Fallon.
Pointing to a large map of early Nevada and California railroad lines, she noted that Fallon and Hazen were connected by a narrow gauge railroad serving Fort Churchill, Wabuska, Schurz, Thorne, Luning, Mina, Tonopah Junction and Basalt in Nevada and then south into California to Benton, Laws (Bishop), Mojave, Lancaster and thence onward to Los Angeles.
Operated over the years by the Southern Pacific, Carson and Colorado and other lines, this “Fallon connection” made it possible for passengers and freight, via transfers, to travel by railroad from Fallon to Los Angeles and San Diego.
The narrow gauge railroad which served Fallon and points south initially was run by he Southern pacific as a short line, I learned. In the early 1900s, it became the Nevada and California Railway and in 1912, it once again became the Southern Pacific.
Because of the dwindling revenues, passenger service was abandoned in 1932, and freight service ended in 1960 due to the closure of local mines and the advent of trucking lines which charged lower rates than did the railroad.
Today, the Laws Museum is a “must see” for history buffs interested in the long and colorful saga of Nevada and California railroading. The original Laws depot built in 1883, the agent’s house, rolling stock, community stores and turntable are on display to the traveler driving along Highway 395.
The most spectacular exhibit is Locomotive No. 9 built in 1909 and in service between stations in Nevada and California through the mid-1950s. Nicknamed the “Slim Princess” by local residents, the steam engine weighed 87,150 pounds and held 3,000 gallons of water.
Also available for viewing are a half-dozen passenger cars and a mail car, boxcars and livestock cars.
On your next trip from Fallon to Southern California, take some time to visit this wonderful railroad museum and relive the heady days of Nevada and California railroading.
David C. Henley is publisher emeritus of the LVN.
It was on May 1, 1987, when I joined several hundred Fallonites to witness a truly awesome sight: Fallon’s venerable railroad depot was being transported down the center of Williams Avenue to a new location.
Built in 1907, the wooden depot was initially constructed on a site on the east side of North Taylor Street just north of West B Street according to Bunny Corkill, Churchill County Museum curator.
Erected by the Southern Pacific Railroad to serve as a branch freight and passenger terminal for a SP spur line that connected the main SP line at Hazen, the depot remained in that location until 1977, 17 years after its abandonment by the railroad.
In late 1977, the vacant building was purchased by Emmett and Sheryl Goddin for use as a restaurant and moved it to a site on Kaiser Street east of North Allen Road. The restaurant ultimately went out of business, and the empty depot remained there for 10 years.
In 1987, it was purchased by Ralph Mills and David Widmer for use as a casino and restaurant and moved a second time ... to its present location at the southeast corner of Williams and Tedford Lane, Corkill added.
I will never forget that day (and night) in May of 1987 when the depot was moved north and then east from Kaiser Street to where it rests today.
The building was jacked up, placed on huge rollers and slowly pulled by a giant truck down Williams Avenue to the delight of onlookers. Telephone wires, in advance of the move, were raised, Fallon police officers blocked all the traffic and the depot finally reached the location in the early morning hours.
From 1907 through 1960, when it was used as a passenger and freight depot, Fallon’s old station was connected to Southern Pacific lines stretching in all directions. It was a glorious era in American railroading that began with the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 1, 1869.
Although I have always known of Fallon’s railroad connections through Hazen to the west (Sacramento), east (Utah) and north (Susanville), only lately have I realized its relationships with southern Nevada and eastern California.
Driving recently to Southern California along Highway 395, I stopped at the Laws Railroad Museum in the tiny community of Laws north of Bishop (about 200 miles southwest of Fallon) where museum director Barbara Moss filled me in on the area’s rail relationship with Fallon.
Pointing to a large map of early Nevada and California railroad lines, she noted that Fallon and Hazen were connected by a narrow gauge railroad serving Fort Churchill, Wabuska, Schurz, Thorne, Luning, Mina, Tonopah Junction and Basalt in Nevada and then south into California to Benton, Laws (Bishop), Mojave, Lancaster and thence onward to Los Angeles.
Operated over the years by the Southern Pacific, Carson and Colorado and other lines, this “Fallon connection” made it possible for passengers and freight, via transfers, to travel by railroad from Fallon to Los Angeles and San Diego.
The narrow gauge railroad which served Fallon and points south initially was run by he Southern pacific as a short line, I learned. In the early 1900s, it became the Nevada and California Railway and in 1912, it once again became the Southern Pacific.
Because of the dwindling revenues, passenger service was abandoned in 1932, and freight service ended in 1960 due to the closure of local mines and the advent of trucking lines which charged lower rates than did the railroad.
Today, the Laws Museum is a “must see” for history buffs interested in the long and colorful saga of Nevada and California railroading. The original Laws depot built in 1883, the agent’s house, rolling stock, community stores and turntable are on display to the traveler driving along Highway 395.
The most spectacular exhibit is Locomotive No. 9 built in 1909 and in service between stations in Nevada and California through the mid-1950s. Nicknamed the “Slim Princess” by local residents, the steam engine weighed 87,150 pounds and held 3,000 gallons of water.
Also available for viewing are a half-dozen passenger cars and a mail car, boxcars and livestock cars.
On your next trip from Fallon to Southern California, take some time to visit this wonderful railroad museum and relive the heady days of Nevada and California railroading.
David C. Henley is publisher emeritus of the LVN.
