Tonopah Junction was the junction of two early railroads- the Carson & Colorado, and the Tonopah & Goldfield Railroad. There was a telegraph office, but no depot.

The Carson and Colorado Railroad was originally a U.S. narrow gauge [three foot] railroad that ran from Mound House, Nevada, and eventually to Keeler, California. Construction on the railroad began on May 31, 1880. It began operations in 1883. It was reorganized as the Carson and Colorado Railway in 1892. It made its final run in 1960. The rails were removed in January, 1961. The Bank of California's D. 0. Mills, after a hot and dusty two day tour of the railroad, was asked by U.S. Senator William Sharon what he thought of the little railroad. 'Gentlemen, we either built it 300 miles too long or 300 years too soon.'

The Tonopah and Goldfield Railroad, the result of a merger between the Tonopah Railroad and the Goldfield Railroad, operated between Mina and Goldfield, from 1905 until 1947. The T&G began expanded its trackage in 1905 to cover the nine miles north from Sodaville Junction through Sodaville to Mina. The merged railroad also relaid its existing tracks to become a standard gauge road.

Building a narrow gauge railroad enables tighter curves to be taken, especially in valleys and in generally difficult terrain. The material savings of course also enable lower investment costs. The smaller track bed, ties, and rails mean further savings in construction costs. Despite its many advantages, the narrow-gauge railway does have one key disadvantage: When transporting goods, the cargo needs to be reloaded at transhipment stations for onward transportation by regular-gauge trains. The narrow-gauge railways are also less smooth than normal railways, meaning jolts and vibrations are felt more intensely. A narrow gauge train is generally slower than a normal train as well. The C&C used a standard tie, enabling them to convert to normal gauge by just adding another rail.

Mining interests were certainly thrilled to have a railroad in the vicinity to haul ore and freight.

MAKING A COUNTRY
The Carson and Colorado Railroad may almost be said to be making a country. As its track extends southward towards new districts come into notice, and old districts which have, for years, been known to be rich, but which were abandoned because the cost of transportation took away the profits arising from working the mines, again become prominent, as certain bullion producers in the near future.
-Walker Lake Bulletin, April 11, 1883

Let's make some more railroads!

The Tonopah Railroad.
C. S. Lemon, the capitalist and engineer of the rapidly developing Tonopah Railroad project, has returned to this city, duly armed with a charter and rights of way granted by the state of Nevada. Moreover, the actual surveys of the route have been made, the surprising results of which are decidedly interesting. Its initial point is at the 143d mile-post on the Carson and Colorado, about one mile from Rhodes. The distance to terminal in Tonopah is 62 miles. No grade exceeds two per per cent and no curvature is more than lour degrees. Were all construction material at hand, a mile of the road can be laid every day. With reasonable allowance for delays in the landing of construction supplies, the tracks should reach Tonopah in ninety days. It appears now to be understood that the Southern Pacific will put down a third rail on the Carson and Colorado from Mound House to Rhodes, and the Tonopah road will he equally equipped to bear rolling stock of both gauges. Rails are being landed at the southern end to fill In the 100-mile gap on the C. and C. between Keeler and Mojave, but it is asserted that that road below the Tonopah junction will remain a narrow gauge.
-Tonopah Bonanza, March 14, 1903

They not only needed freight and passengers, they needed more room for telegrams.

RUSHING LINE INTO TONOPAH
Western Union Company Expects to Have an Extra Wire at Work Next Week
The extra telegraph line into Tonopah and Goldfield that has been under construction by the Western Union Company for the past few weeks, reached Tonopah Junction yesterday morning and at present calculations will be completed early next week. Because of the fact that supplies have been exhausted work w ill be temporarily delayed. A. Flanigan, of the Western Union Company, who is in charge of the construction work, arrived in Reno yesterday. Mr. Flanigan while here will secure all supplies needed. They will be shipped to Sodaville immediately and the work rushed to completion. For months all business over the Western Union wires from the south has been delayed from twelve to
twenty-four hours on account of the volume of messages being sent in and out of the camps. The company some time ago decided to furnish a more satisfactory service and with that end in view began the erection of an extra wire between here and the bonanza camps.
-Nevada State Journal, November 3, 1904

Regular gauge conversion is done.

The first broad gauge train to run into Tonopah will arrive here on Monday morning. To perform this feat requires no little skill and engineering and the achievement will be one of which Chief Engineer Richard Welch may well be proud of. The last freight train went out of here on the narrow gauge track on Wednesday. On that day the Southern Pacific notified its patrons in San Francisco that no more freight would be received until Monday. So for at least five days Tonopah has been or will be shut off from supplies from the outer world. From the accounts received here there will be no through train from San Francisco into Tonopah until the 20th, at which time the Hazen cutoff will be completed. It is understood that the Southern Pacific cannot or will not run its trains over the Virginia and Truckee road. The last narrow gauge passenger train will leave here at one o'clock tomorrow morning. The locomotive and cars will be run back to Tonopah and then at six o'clock the work of broad gauging will be commenced. It was necessary to cease the shipments of freight early in the week in order to return the foreign equipment of the narrow gauge road to its owners. The freight equipment of the Tonopah Railroad Company will be stored at Tonopah Junction, while the passenger equipment and all the engines will be stored at Tonopah. It is estimated that the work of broad gauging the 65 miles of railroad between here and Sodaville will be completed by Monday morning, so that the broad gauge train may come in at 4 o'clock at the worst. Engineer Welch maintains there will not be a delay of more than five or six hours.
-Tonopah Bonanza, August 12, 1905

NARROW GAUGE CARS Will BE RETURNED
TAKEN AWAY A YEAR AGO FOR SERVICE ON TONOPAH ROAD
Fruit growers along the narrow gauge line have received the pleasing information that the cars used along this line a year ago, but which were later taken away, are to be replaced. The Tonopah Railroad Co. began Sunday to broad-gauge its sixty miles of track from Tonopah Junction on the Carson and Colorado road to the hustling mining camp which, until now, has suffered from the lack of adequate transportation facilities. It is expected the task will be finished today. This lightning change from narrow to broad-gauge, seemingly an impossible feat in so short a time, easily explained when it is understood that the Tonopah road was laid with broad-gauge ties, and it was only necessary for the construction crew to drop off a single line of rails and put a big force of men to work driving the spikes. The accomplishment will be hailed with delight in railroad, traveling and shipping circles. In a day or two more the Carson and Colorado of the Southern Pacific will have completed the broad-gauging of its line from Mound House to Tonopah Junction, and there will be no more transferring of passengers and freight between Reno and Tonopah.
-Santa Cruz Evening Sentinel, August 16, 1905

Now they can get serious about shipping ore.

NEVADA'S GOLD FIELD
Railway Now Finished to the Mining Country.
IT WAS LONG NEEDED
VAST AMOUNTS OF ORE AWAITING SHIPMENT.
Rapid Rise of Tonopah and Other Settlements—Large Claims Regarding the Wealth of the District.
Fortune hunters can now go to the new Eldorado of Nevada in Pullman cars. The search for the Nevada treasure beds is not a bit like prospecting in the Klondike. Take the Southern Pacific to Reno, change to the Nevada branch and go down to Tonopah Junction, where you switch off for Tonopah. The Southern Pacific company, in order to handle properly the tide of travel that has been setting in from the east as well as the west toward that alluring region, has just built a cut-off line from Hazen, forty miles east of Reno, to Churchill, on the old Carson and Colorado road, a distance of twenty-eight miles. This was open for business August 31, and through tickets to the new gold country are now sold by all the eastern connections. It is just as easy and costs no more to reach Tonopah than Sacramento or San Francisco. The Carson and Colorado line, including the new road, will hereafter be known as the Nevada and California railway, and forms a direct connection for all points on the Carson and Colorado. including Inyo county and the fertile Owens river valley and Death valley,
as well as the rich and extensive mining, districts of Tonopah goldfield and that vicinity. An extension of twenty-eight miles has been built from Tonopah to Goldfield, which was opened September 13.
-Evening Star, Washington, D.C. September 26, 1905

Goofing around trains is not advisable, then or now.

LOSES HIT FOOT STEALING A RIDE
MAN BEATING HIS WAY FALLS UNDER THE WHEELS OF TRAIN.
A Greek, name unknown., was run over by the passenger train at Tonopah Junction yesterday morning, and had his right foot cut off just below the ankle. He was attempting to beat his way on the road and was put off the train at the junction. As the train started up he climbed to the top of the refrigerator car before the brakeman noticed him, and when the brakeman started towards him he climbed down the ladder and attempted to swing from the train, missed his footing and was dragged for a short distance before his foot caught under the wheels. The brakeman saw his plight and rushed to help him, but arrived just a second too late. When the train was stopped the diner was opposite the injured man, and a man and woman who were eating breakfast both fainted at the sight. The Greek was placed aboard the train, brought to Tonopah and taken to the county hospital, where Drs. Cunningham, Mapes and Alexander amputated the foot. Dr. Alexander, who was on the train, made the man as comfortable as possible and used every endeavor to relieve him from pain.
-Tonopah Daily Bonanza, April 16, 1908

Don't think this ever happened.

TONOPAH JUNCTION TO HAVE STATION
A rumor was in circulation yesterday that the contract heretofore existing between the Tonopah & Goldfield road and the Southern Pacific as to trackage arrangement between Tonopah Junction and Mina, had been abrogated. It is understood that the Tonopah & Goldfield will install a station at Tonopah Junction and put in its own office force.
-Tonopah Daily Bonanza, April 16, 1908

A major quake struck Tonopah Junction in November of 1910. It began with small shocks and rumblings from November 7th to the afternoon of the 21st. Then, at 3:23 p.m. the main quake, estimated to be a magnitude 6.1, shook the area for two full minutes. Several aftershocks followed, finally ceasing Dec. 21-22.

Series of Earthquakes Felt
Within the last few days a series of live distinct earthquake shocks have been felt between Mina on the north and Rhyolite on the south. One of the most distinct was about 6 o'clock. yesterday morning and occurred at Tonopah Junction. Windows in the telegraph office at that point were broken by the force of the trembler, and plaster was shaken from the walls and ceilings of adjoining buildings. One of the most peculiar conditions which arose, however, came about when a railway velocipede or 'speeder' was thrown
from the track. A track inspector was approaching Tonopah Junction at the time and with the second movement of the earth his machine was derailed and he was sent sprawling to the ground.
-Nevada State Journal, November 26, 1910

Sand was always a problem at Tonopah Junction, having been built in an area with lots of sand dunes.

TRAIN DERAILED
The Tonopah & Goldfield train due at 8 o'clock this morning did not arrive until 7 o'clock tonight, due to sand blown across the tracks at Tonopah Junction. The engine struck the sand-covered rails and left the track, but no one was injured.
-Nevada State Journal, April 3, 1928

Nothing ruins a railroad's chances for survival worse than a road for those new-fangled automobiles, especially if it's a nice surfaced, oiled, or paved road.

NEW HIGHWAY NOW SURFACED
All of the new highway has been surfaced from the Tonopah end to Tonopah Junction, and from Tonopah Junction to Mina the surfacing will be completed in two weeks, according to C. C. Boak, the road authority, how has returned from an examination of the work. There are no hills or sharp curves and allowing one hour and a quarter for covering the unfinished part of the route between Millers and Coaldale the distance to Mina can be covered in a little over two hours for moderate drivers.
-Reno Evening Gazette. October 25, 1928

Rail traffic was winding down, but people still lived at Tonopah Junction.

MINA STUDENTS GO TO SCHOOL
MINA, Nev.. Sept. 14.—(Special).— The opening of the fall term of Mineral county high school at Hawthorne will find eight students from Mina, two from Luning and one from Tonopah Junction in attendance. They will travel to Hawthorne in the newly remodeled bus which will be driven remodeled bus which will be driven by Dick Williams. The Mina students are Coleman Hughes, Alzo Cornelius, Dorothy Barton,. Weldon Walsh, Emma Johnson. Leland Eckley, Lois Perry and Tony Gomez; Luning students, Vincent Houghton and Rose Bachman: Tonopah Junction, Harvey Copley.
-Reno Evening Gazette, September 14, 1931

The Tonopah Junction International Airport never came to be.

New Southern Nevada Airway Route Proposed
Landing Fields are Likely To Be Established For Project
A new air route, over southern Nevada, which would eliminate the flight over the Sierra Nevada mountains during times when storm conditions make flying difficult, is now being proposed by officials of the United Airlines, L. R. Ellis, manager of the local airport, said yesterday. The proposed route, Ellis said, is south of Reno to Tonopah Junction and from Tonopah Junction to Hawthorne and thence to Bakersfield, Calif., where the flight to San Francisco could be made via the San Joaquin valley. The distance is 500 miles further than the present route over the Sierra Nevada range near here. Planes making the trip over the proposed route would require approximately three and one-half hours, but the trip would be able to be made despite weather conditions here. i It would stop all future delays at the San Francisco and Reno airports. Ellis said yesterday that department of commerce officials had
flown over the route and had commented favorably. It is the plan of the air lines officials to establish landing fields in southern Nevada to make the route safe for passenger flying. It is possible, the officials said, that the air fields may be constructed in conjunction with the CWA program.
-Nevada State Journal, December 30, 1933

ALL-WEATHER AIR FIELDS MAY BE CONSTRUCTED
Emergency landing fields which will be constructed in Nevada soon as CWA projects would provide all-weather flying routes for mail and transport planes, according to plans announced following a conference between Robert Overman, state CWA airport supervisor. E. E. Frazier and D. M. Buckingham, Mineral county treasurer. Landing fields may be placed at many points in Nevada, all with the purpose of providing emergency sites for planes. If the projects are approved, air mail transports planes would be able to reach Salt Lake from
Reno by way of Ely, thus eliminating the necessity of grounding planes in times of storm, officials say. The route would be available only in the daytime as no beacon lights are to be installed. Private flying would also be encouraged by the new fields, officials believe.
In bad weather, Oakland planes Reno hound could be routed to Bakersfield, Owens Valley, Lone Pine, Montgomery Pass, Tonopah Junction, Mina, Hawthorne, Yerington and Reno.
-Reno Evening Gazette, January 9, 1934

Ugh. More of that damn sand.

SAND WILL BE CLEARED FROM RIGHT OF WAY
Shifting sands along the railroad tracks at Tonopah Junction, 13 miles south of Mina, constitute such a menace to rail traffic that I. J. Smith has been awarded a contract to remove 4,000 yards of sand and earth from the vicinity of the rails. It will take a month to haul the debris away.
-Nevada State Journal, December 18, 1934

It's just easier to travel by car and ship by truck. So long, rail road.

S. P. MINA BRANCH LOSING MONEY SAYS COMPANY STATEMENT
WASHINGTON, Oct. 8.—M--Net operating losses averaging $56,000 annually were cited today by officials of the Southern Pacific railroads as justification for abandonment of the Mina-Benton branch of the old Carson and Colorado Railroad Company. Laying the groundwork for a hearing at Reno on October 29 on their application for permission to abandon the fifty-mile stretch of narrow gauge track, they told the interstate commerce commission in response to a questionnaire that the territory served in Nevada and California "is not in a position to support the line of railroad. No effort has been made to dispose of the line so as to insure its continued operation," the answer said, "because it is believed that public convenience and necessity does not require any line of railroad between Tonopah Junction and Benton, Cal., and any effort to dispose of such a line would be futile." The branch railroad was built in 1880-83 at an estimated original cost of $751,243. Estimating the net salvage value of the line at $29,180, the railroad company asserted that if the branch were to be abandoned the territory still would be served by remaining lines at Tonopah Junction and at Benton "which are considered sufficient for the traffic that may originate and be destined to this territory." Moreover, they said, a highway parallels the railroad "and is in good condition either for trucks or busses." Practically the only industry in the region is mining, the answer said, with that being done "in an experimental stage, the movement but very spasmodic." What minerals are mined, it added, could be trucked to Tonopah Junction, while cord wood originating in the Mt. Montgomery and Basalt regions, some distance from the railroad, could be handled the same way. The railroad company estimated the population served by the line "would not exceed fifty" and added the volume of passenger traffic has "decreased to almost the vanishing point" due "largely to the construction of highways and more convenient service that is available to the public by the use of their own private machines rather than the railroad service available." Freight traffic is said to have
"fluctuated," although "at no time has it. been of any substantial volume nor anyway near large enough to pay for the cost of maintaining and operating the line." The following figures showing passenger traffic and revenue originating, destined or bridged over the line between Tonopah Junction and Benton from 1931 through June, 1936, were submitted by the railroad company:
YEAR Passengers Revenue
1931 231            $426
1932 119             211
1933 83               129
1934 79                97
1935 56                54
1936 Jan.-June 26 13
During the first six months of this year, the Mina branch handled eleven cars of water weighing 125 tons and described as "local freight originated at or destined to points on line"; plus four cars of ore weighing a total of 208 tons and one car of
water (10 tons), which moved between points on the line, Tonopah Junction to Benton, and points beyond.
The Southern Pacific acquired the Mina branch in 1912 from the Nevada & California Railway Co., which had bought the line from the Carson & Colorado railroad on May 11, 1905. Describing its present condition, the answer states that the track was generally laid with 35-pound rail put in place in 1883; that maintenance of the track "is not up to standard;" the tie condition is "low and the rail light and old," and that "banks on the fills are narrow and cuts require cleaning."
-Reno Evening Gazette, October 8, 1936

HISTORIC NEVADA RAILROADS TO SUSPEND SERVICE BY ORDER OF INTERSTATE COMMERCE BUREAU
Two narrow-gauge railroads that have played a notable part in the development of Nevada mining districts are about to suspend operations, abandonment of service having been authorized by the Interstate Commerce Commission. Affected by the order issued last week is the narrow-gauge 50-mile section of the Southern Pacific extending from Tonopah Junction in Mineral county to Benton, Calif. The narrow-gauge tracks follow the standard-gauge road nine miles from Tonopah Junction north into Mina, the terminus and site of the railroad shoos. The Independent says: For years the citizens of this county, assisted by interested parties in other parts of the state, have resisted the Southern Pacific's efforts to abandon the narrow gauge. This county is directly affected by the abandonment. All that part of the road in this state lies within the boundaries of Mineral county. Taxation derived from the valuation placed upon the narrow gauge line represents about 20 per cent of this this county's annual income. Several residents at Mina are .directly employed through the operation of the narrow-gauge trains, that town being the transfer point to standard-gauge S. P. trains. One of the most colorful of Nevada's pioneer railroad lines, the narrow-gauge is a part of the once-famous Carson & Colorado Railroad, which served the entire western part of this state, and which ran through the town of Hawthorne. When the Southern Pacific took over the C. & C. lines most .of the road was made standard gauge, with the exception of that branch from Mina south to Owens Valley, Calif. Even as a narrow-gauge however, the Mina-Keeler branch did a lucrative business for many years and was closely linked with the history of the several counties of two states.
-Nevada State Journal, January 3, 1938

Folks are still living here, though.

Mr. & Mrs. Hayden Howard of Tonopah Junction were weekend guests of Mr. and Mrs. Giles Johnson. Mrs. Johnson and Mrs. Howard are sisters.
-Reno Evening Gazette, January 11, 1938

No more railroad from Goldfield to Tonopah Junction

T & G Gets Permit To Abandon Road
One more Nevada shortline railroad was given permission today to abandon service by the interstate commerce commission. Permission was granted the Tonopah and Goldfield railroad today by the ICC to abandon its entire 88-mile line between Goldfield and Tonopah Junction and the firm was also authorized to cease operations, under trackage rights, over the Southern Pacific railroad line from Tonopah Junction to Mina.
-Reno Evening Gazette, January 22, 1947

T. & G. Railroad Is Dismantled
SAN FRANCISCO. March 13. The job of pulling up the rails of the defunct Tonopah and Goldfield railroad was expected to get actively underway this week, or as soon as possible after arrival of a Diesel locomotive and a string of flat cars from the coast, the of flat cars from the coast, the Times said. The work will be started at the end of the line at Goldfield and will terminate at Tonopah Junction, nine miles south of Mina. Some 120 cars of rails and equipment will be moved. The Finkelstein Supply Company of Los Angeles bought the road, but the job of wrecking it was turned over to the Commercial Wrecking company, said to be a Texas concern. It will take two weeks to clean things up in the Goldfield district. Locomotives and other heavy equipment in the Goldfield shops, if not sold will be cut up with torches or dismantled and junked.
-Reno Evening Gazette, March 13, 1948

This is a fairly sandy and desolate area, although we managed to get there on hard-packed ground. With the amount of sand in the area, though, it might be different for you. We should imagine that much of what might be found here is buried. However, the site is littered with artifacts, particularly rusted metal and decayed wood.