The Silver Peak Railroad was built by the Pittsburgh Silver Peak Gold Mining Company after it bought a group of mining properties in 1906 and established a 100 stamp mill at

Blair, Nevada Blair, Nevada is a mining ghost town in Esmeralda County, Nevada. History Today a historical marker commemorates Blair along State Route 265 just north of Silver Peak. At one time Blair was a thriving, albeit short-lived, mining boom town. As m ...

, in 1907 to service the mines at

Silver Peak, Nevada Silver Peak (also Silverpeak) is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Esmeralda County, Nevada, United States. It lies along State Route 265, south of U.S. Route 6 and west of Goldfield, the county seat of Esmeralda ...

. The railroad was completed in July 1906, it connected to the

Tonopah and Goldfield Railroad The Tonopah and Goldfield Railroad, a railroad of in length in the U.S. state of Nevada, offered point-to-point service between Mina and Goldfield, running over the Excelsior Mountains and parallel to the Monte Cristo Range. It operated from ...

at Blair Junction (Historical), located 0.7 mi south of the present Blair Junction US 6/95 and

Nevada State Route 265 State Route 265 (SR 265) is a state highway in Esmeralda County, Nevada, United States. Referred to as Silver Peak Road, it connects the community of Silver Peak to U.S. Route 6 and U.S. Route 95 (US 6–95). The route formerly existed a ...

in the

Big Smoky Valley The Big Smoky Valley is a landform of the Tonopah Basin between the Toiyabe and Toquima mountain ranges. It is about 100 miles (160 km) in length. Big Smoky Valley was so named on account of haze which frequently settles there. It is known ...

. (Includes photos) Silver Peak Railroad Car #12 "Mary" was a McKeen Motor Car. McKeen cars are self-propelled, have a streamlined front end and a rounded tail. The McKeen car ended up at

Westwood, CA Westwood is a census-designated place (CDP) in Lassen County, California, United States. Westwood is located 20 miles (32 km) west-southwest of Susanville, at an elevation of 5,128 feet (1,563 m). Its population is 1,541 as of the 2020 censu ...

on the premises of the Red River Lumber Company. Myrick states that the railroad was dismantled by the end of 1915, though The Engineering and Mining Journal states that in October, 1918, the equipment was being dismantled and sent to France and that since the Pittsburgh Silver Peak Company had closed, the branch was no longer needed.}

References

External links

* Stephen E. Drew, Chief Curator (retired) California State Railroad Museum,
Railroad Motor Cars of Nevada – Part II
" March 31, 2016. Includes photo of a McKeen car with the caption "Excursion to Tonopah, of Blair Base Ball Team, Blair, Nev." * {{cite journal , title=The Goldfield Railroads , first=Joseph F. , last=Webber , journal=The Railway and Locomotive Historical Society Bulletin , number=100 , date=April 1959 , pages=23–43 , jstor=43520225 Defunct Nevada railroads History of Esmeralda County, Nevada Railway companies established in 1906 Railway companies disestablished in 1915 1906 establishments in Nevada 1915 disestablishments in Nevada