Yerington Monday: Nevada Copper Belt Railroad

Yerington Monday: Nevada Copper Belt Railroad

The Nevada Copper Belt Railroad lived a short, enthusiastic life, 1911 to 1947. Although the tracks are gone today, its footprint lingers. The short line has several elements that make it attractive to rail modelers: Thompson smelter and Wabuska, the mining and rail headquarters town of Mason, dramatic Wilson Canyon, and Ludwig Mine. Along the way are the spur for oil bulk plants, stock holding pens, the wye at Hudson, Nordyke and the West Walker River. If you are alert to the clues, much of the right of way may still be traced today. The Yerington Chamber of Commerce selected the phrase “Cattle Kingdom in the Copper Hills.” Sounds more genuine American West than gypsum and mutton.

May of Nevada Copper Belt Railroad’s route through the mines and outskirts of Yerington.

The Bluestone Mining Heisler

The Nevada Copper Belt Railroad connected the mines to the smelter at Thompson.

Bluestone Mine, on an uphill spur West of Mason, had its own horsepower to pull the hill.

Bluestone Mine, on an uphill spur West of Mason, had its own horsepower to pull the hill. If the Baldwin 2-8-0's on the NCB line where the 'oxen,' then Bluestone's 37 ton Heisler was the 'bulldog' of rails. This is the original loco, but it can't be found at the Bluestone Mine, nor in Mason any more. After some migration, it wound up at Willits California in the Roots of Motive Power museum. On selected occasions, volunteer engineers pull it out, and carry happy passengers in a circle.

Locomotive: Heisler Steam, Bluestone Mining and Smelting

1911 Nevada Copper Belt Railroad Nevada Copper Belt Railroad Wilson Canyon: Nevada Copper, Railroad

Nevada Copper Belt Railroad Engine 5

Nevada Copper Belt Railroad

The name Fairbanks, Morse & Company of Chicago is synonymous with precision-built platform scales, hand presses, coffee grinders, water tanks, farm machinery, and car wheels. After acquiring the Sheffield Velocipede Car Company of Three Rivers, Michigan, F-M expanded into the burgeoning field of gasoline-engine track cars. Self-propelled passenger cars followed, with the Type 19 open car, the larger Type 23, and, in 1909, the Type 24 with wood carbody by J.G. Brill or G.C. Kuhlman. About 65 four-wheel, 50-horsepower cars had been sold when production ended in 1916.

Nevada Copper Belt Railroad No. 20, a 1909 Model 24 Fairbanks Morse motor car that operated between Mason and Wabuska in Lyon County. (Postcard photo courtesy of Robert Greenwood)

In 1909, the Copper Belt purchased its first gasoline motor car, a Model 24 F-M, for $8,055. As NCB No. 20, this car operated on the relatively flat 23.7 miles between Mason and Wabuska. The 34-foot, 12½-ton car seated 36 passengers. It operated daily until the volume of traffic exceeded its capacity and two larger cars were purchased. Stored in the enginehouse at Mason, No. 20 was destroyed in a disastrous November 1916 fire, along with 1891 Baldwin ten-wheeler No. 1.

Two motor cars built by the Hall-Scott Motor Car Company of West Berkeley, California, came to Nevada. Both were owned by the Copper Belt. Hall-Scott had been building motor cars for two years when the Nevada Copper Belt placed an order for its No. 21. Completed in November 1911 as H-S construction number five, the car had engine, baggage, smoking, and general passenger compartments. The wooden carbody was built by the Holman Car Company of San Francisco to Hall-Scott specifications. J. G. Brill Co. of Philadelphia manufactured the trucks.

Nevada Copper Belt No. 21, built by the Hall-Scott Motor Company of West Berkeley, California, with wood carbody by the Hollman Car Company of San Francisco. (Photo: California State Railroad Museum, courtesy of George Childs)

The car’s six-cylinder Hall-Scott M-6 gasoline engine, with transmission on the rear truck, developed 150 horsepower at 600 rpm. The 54-foot, 36-ton car cost $14,635 f.o.b. Hall-Scott’s shops. It made the 337-mile trip from West Berkeley to Mason largely under its own power. Seating capacity of 69 was figured at three friendly passengers per seat on extra-long car seats, with an 18½-inch center aisle. The car entered revenue service December 1, 1911.

The Orem family of Salt Lake City were major NCB stockholders. Their Salt Lake & Utah Railroad was incorporated in October 1912. Following the success of NCB No. 21, the Orems ordered three new Hall-Scott motor cars that were to be the SL&U’s primary motive power and passenger equipment until the line electrified in July 1914.

Nevada Copper Belt No. 22, the steel-bodied Hall-Scott motor car that the railroad’s crews preferred to the older, wood-bodied Hall-Scott motor car No. 21, in 1940.

The H-S cars saw consistent use right up to the final years of the NCB. They pulled a boxcar or two over the relatively flat terrain between Wabuska and Mason when traffic and scheduling warranted. Near the short-line’s end in 1947, NCB crews seemed to favor more-modern steel car No. 22. When Bay Area railroad enthusiasts chartered No. 22 for a sentimental photo trip over the line in October 1946, they were offered No. 21 and promptly purchased it. Restored, the car was presented in 1990 to the California State Railroad Museum, where, on occasion, it operates. No. 21 is believed to be the oldest operating passenger motor-car in North America with its original engine.

No. 22 had a less-glamorous end. When scrappers removed its trucks, engine, and seats in 1947, the carbody remained in Nevada, eventually becoming part of a plumbing-and-heating shop in Carson City. It came to the Nevada State Railroad Museum in 1996. NCB No. 22 was the subject of a 2008 restoration feasibility study commissioned by the Museum. Of 23 gasoline motor cars built by Hall-Scott between 1909 and 1921, NCB No. 22 is the only steel-shelled H-S motor car to survive.

Nevada Copper Belt #22 In the yard awaiting restoration, 2004, Nevada State Railroad Museum collection. Nevada Copper Belt …

Nevada Copper Belt Railroad check: Nevada Copper Belt Railroad Company

Nevada Copper Belt Railroad 10 year, 6% bond

The Nevada Copper Belt Railroad – Hall Scott Motor Car #21. The railroad carried passengers from Wabuska through Yerington, Mason, Wilson Canyon, Hudson and on the Ludwig. The train ran until 1947.

RR PRINT NEVADA COPPER BELT PASSENGER MOTORCAR #22 V3

RAILROAD PRINT NEVADA COPPER BELT FREIGHT ACTION w #6

RAILROAD PRINT NEVADA COPPER BELT STEAM ACTION w #5

3 Old 1911-1913 NEVADA COPPER BELT Railroad - TRAIN Tickets - WABUSKA YERINGTON

RAILROAD PRINT NEVADA COPPER BELT NCB WOOD CABOOSE #3

Posted on Facebook January 11, 2016

Yerington Monday: Wilson Canyon

Yerington Monday:  Wilson Canyon

Everyone from Yerington knows about Wilson Canyon.  It was the only way to get to Smith Valley and Wellington.  But it was much more.  It was a favorite picnic, party, hiking and fishing spot.  Nowadays it is a favorite location for off-road vehicles.  There was a petrified forest in the canyon when I was a kid, but I don’t know if much petrified wood is left. Wilson Canyon has an interesting history.  Click on pictures to learn more.

Picnic under the shade of the huge cottonwood trees along the south bank of the West Fork of the Walker River.

Wilson Canyon is a gorge cut by the Walker River through a series of volcanic cliffs. The canyon is located 13 miles (21 km) west of Yerington, along Nevada State Route 208. It is managed by the U.S.Bureau of Land Management.

The canyon runs through the Singatse Range in Lyon County, where the Walker River flows northeast into the Mason Valley. Over the two miles (3.2 km) of canyon the elevation of the Walker River drops by 120 feet (37 m), or an average grade of 1% (compared to 0.1% to the west of the canyon).

The canyon was named after "Uncle Billy Wilson" who was a miner and rancher, and for whom the Wilson Mining District is also named. The Nevada Copper Belt Railroad ran through Wilson Canyon; the track laid to the canyon was completed shortly before Uncle Billy Wilson's death.

1911 Nevada Copper Belt Railroad

Nevada Copper Belt Railroad Wilson Canyon

The Nevada Copper Belt Railroad ran through Wilson Canyon; the track laid to the canyon was completed shortly before Uncle Billy Wilson's death.

Exact Description: Wilson Canyon and the Wilson Mining District were named for brothers David and "Uncle Billy" Wilson. David Wilson (b. 1829), came west in 1850 during the California Gold Rush. He returned to the Midwest in 1853, married, and joined the Union Army at the outbreak of the Civil War. Wilson participated in at least one battle and was discharged with sunstroke. He then returned to the West.

The Wilson family settled in the Wilson Canyon area in 1863 mining gold discovered in Pine Grove by brother "Uncle Billy" and ranching in Mason Valley. The Wilson's mining efforts eventually yielded several million dollars.

David Wilson died in 1915, a prominent local rancher and community leader. He is buried nearby in the Wilson Ranch cemetery.

A Northern Paiute named Wovoka was raised with the Wilson boys and took the name Jack Wilson. He regularly attended family bible readings and prayers. Wovoka started the Ghost Dance movement in 1890 which swept into the Great Plans with potent political force.

What were known as the "1997 New Year's Floods" occurred in western Nevada and northern California. They were the result of a group of snowstorms in the Sierra Nevada at the end of 1996. Three additional rainstorms came between December 20, 1996. and January 2, 1997. These heavy rainstorms melted most of the snow-pack below 7,000 feet (2,100 m) elevation, including that at the headwaters of the Walker River. This, plus additional heavy rain between 7,000–10,000 feet (2,100–3,000 m), increased the amount of runoff from the mountains, with the consequence being the worst flood western Nevada had seen in 150 years. During this period Wilson Canyon flooded, the narrow width of the canyon increasing the amount of damage to the area. Large portions of Route 208 were destroyed, with pieces of roadway being found in the river after the flood subsided. Following the flood the highway was closed for two months and repaired at a cost of $726,000.

West Walker River in Wilson Canyon

A ground squirrel in Wilson Canyon, Nevada

Yerington Monday: The Nordyke House

Yerington Monday: The Nordyke House

I have passed this house on Highway Nevada 339 many times over the years on my way to Wilson Canyon.  I never knew much about it, but always admired its architecture. Upon research I discovered it is a historical treasure in Mason Valley and has recently been listed as a Nevada State Register of Historic Places.  Click on the pictures to learn more about this house.

The Nordyke House in Mason Valley as it looked in the 1960s, published in the Carson Chronicle on Aug. 26, 1971.

J.W. Wilson

The house sits on the west side of State Route 339 at the old Nordyke town site in Mason Valley.  The Nordyke House was built at its present location by J.W. Wilson between 1903 and 1906.

The Wilson family, for whom Wilson Canyon is named, had come to Mason Valley from Missouri and was the first family to settle in Mason Valley, according to History of Nevada 1881 by Thompson and West. The canyon was named after "Uncle Billy Wilson" who was a miner and rancher, and for whom the Wilson Mining District is also named.  At the time, Mason Valley was part of Esmeralda County and the deed to the property, recorded in August 1863, was the county's first.

The Wilson family, for whom Wilson Canyon is named, had come to Mason Valley from Missouri and was the first family to settle in Mason Valley, according to "History of Nevada 1881," by Thompson and West. At the time, Mason Valley was part of Esmeralda County and the deed to the property, recorded in August 1863, was the county's first.

Wilson bought the house off a lot in Virginia City and had it shipped to Lyon County well after the last of the mining had peaked at the Comstock Lode.

A story published in the March 7, 1903, Lyon County Times states that J.W. Wilson had begun construction of the home.  A newspaper article in 1906 about an adjacent flour mill refers to J.W. living in a "modern palatial house." The house was dubbed the Nordyke House in honor of A. H. Nordyke, a businessman from Indiana who was in Mason Valley to help the Wilson's design the mill and sell them equipment.

The first residents of the house, James W. and Mary Ellis Wilson, were part of Mason Valley’s renowned Wilson family. Members of the Wilson family established ranching and mining operations in Mason Valley, served in the state legislature, and helped develop the Walker River Irrigation District to aid agriculture in the region. The Wilsons sold the property to Alfrid Bohm, who continued to ranch at the site and made several additions to the home until he too moved on in 1950.

Nordyke Ranch House joins 151 other resources throughout Nevada listed in the State Register of Historic Places.  Nordyke Ranch House in Lyon County, south of Yerington, was listed in the Nevada State Register of Historic Places on September 12, 2014. As one of the few remaining buildings of the small ranching community of Nordyke, the ranch house stands as a visible reminder of Mason Valley’s agricultural development in the early 20th century

Tom and Judy Price the current owners are both are former educators, Tom as a university math professor who also worked as computer consultant, and Judy in special education administration and testing. They moved to Mason Valley specifically to buy the Nordyke House, coming from Santa Fe, N.M., where Judy had been working.

Through their research, Tom and Judy discovered that Wilson built the house with used lumber from a building that had been demolished in Virginia City. While remodeling the house, Tom came across sections of wood that was stamped "J.W. Wilson Wabuska," indicating it had been shipped from somewhere else to Wabuska by rail. "It was made with lumber from somewhere, but it was not moved, not even in sections,"

Tom and Judy Price of Yerington bought the home 16 years ago with plans to restore to its original condition. They said they think the Wilson's would approve of “the transformation of the house from a tired utilitarian ranch house, back to a house that reflects their status as early, influential settlers.”