38° 50' 29" N 119° 16' 20" W USGS Smith Quad

We Visited: 2/22/2014
Our breakfast: Eggs at Pioneer Crossing in Yerington
Our Lunch : Cheeseburgers at King's Diner in Yerington

Directions: Take Highway 50W from Fallon 26.5 miles; south on US 95 ALT 30.5 miles; south on SR 339 for 11.4 miles; SW on SR 208 for 6.5 miles; north on Hudson Way for 3.3 miles.

From Fallon: About 78.2 miles.

About fifty people lived at this local freight and stage station. Built alongside the Copper Belt Railroad, freight went south to Bodie and Aurora and east to Wellington. When the railroad traffic diminished, so did the town.

The Nevada Copper Belt Railway Company was incorporated in 1941 and operated from 1942 until it was abandoned in 1947. Its predecessor, the Nevada Copper Belt Railroad Company, was incorporated in 1909 in Maine. The rail line was completed in 1911 and operations began in the same year. The railroad was mainly used to haul freight from Ludwig, Nevada, where the headquarters of the Nevada-Douglas Consolidated Copper Company was located, to the smelter at Thompson which was on the main line of the track. It was also used by other companies in the area to haul ore including The Standard Gypsum Plaster Company which had a plant and two mining operations nearby. The track itself was forty miles in length.

The company was reorganized in 1941 from the Nevada Copper Belt Railroad Company to the Nevada Copper Belt Railway Company, but the company did not last much longer. In 1942, the 9 miles of track from Hudson to Ludwig as well as the 2 1/2 miles from Wabuska to Thompson were removed. The passenger service was terminated in 1945, and the entire line was abandoned in 1947. The abandonment was caused by a shortage of copper and gypsum.

https://knowledgecenter.unr.edu/materials/specoll/mss/NC1244.aspx

Rail laying continued through the Wilson Canyon, and on Feburary 15 [1911] trains began operating over the extended section, turning being facilitated with the newly completed wye beyone the canyon's mouth. As this was to be the main station for farmers in the Smith Valley, it was decided to call the station Smithville. Unexpected objections to the appellation caused a reconsideration, and when the station building was finally erected it bore the name of Hudson. W.C. Orem was busily engaged in laying out the townsite, a monumental effort considering the town's population never exceeded more than a few dozen people.
-Railroads of Nevada and Eastern California: The northern roads By David F. Myrick

I wrote to the Walker River Resort, a posh and relaxing refuge located near the site, for a little info. They replied:
Hello Bob,
The two old buildings you saw are the remains of Hudson, NV. When I first moved here, we could still get mail delivered as Hudson, NV. That was in 1977. The road the Resort is located on (Hudson Way) was originally called, Hudson - Aurora. This was the freight wagon route between Hudson and Aurora. Wagons loaded supplies from the Nevada Copperbelt RR station warehouses and hauled it to Bodie and Aurora. Today, we have established a walking trail with the trailhead at the old ghost town site. Our guests really enjoy the walk along the West Walker.

We did not enter the resort but it looks like a fun place to establish a base camp to explore the entire area.