THE ROUTE

Narrow gauge line in blue. Standard gauge in red.
Station names are clickable links.

Carson & Colorado built the narrow gauge railway during the period 1880-1883 to serve mines and ranches in parts of Nevada and the Owens valley in California. In 1900 C & C was acquired by Southern Pacific...which ran it until 1960 when the last narrow gauge public carrier west of the Rocky Mountains - the Keeler-Laws line - was shut down. Since then almost all the stock has been demolished and sold off. What remains are the station and mill at Keeler, the station at Lone Pine, engine No. 18 and a wonderful museum in Independence (Kearsarge), a superb recreation of a late 19th century railway town in Laws near Bishop, a few bridges, and the magnificent country-side which awed visitors then as now.

We've emphasized the route*, and its magnificent scenery, because we think that's what'll make the difference between an actual functioning line and a museum piece. Restoring and preserving equipment is hard enough but ressurecting a railroad is truly daunting. Steam technology was abandoned because it was uneconomic - because quicker and cheaper ways of transporting men and materials were invented and constructed - and because the industries which were served by it either shut down or moved. We can't change that... Nor can we expect government or citizens to subsidize us. So we've got to find a way to appeal to a large segment of the public, to convince photographers and historians, movie and railroad fans, miners and geologists, hikers and explorers, and ordinary tourists that our desolate and dramatic valley is well worth seeing...and worth seeing from our railroad.

But those of you more interested in the nuts and bolts work which goes into restoring a steam locomotive might prefer to start with Work.

Keep in mind, when browsing through this site, that

  • The big silver mines of Cerro Gordo and Darwin florished 1865-1878 when animal power was the ONLY power available for land transportation in the Owens Valley
  • Carson & Colorado's heyday was 1883-1907, BEFORE Henry Ford built his Model Ts.

*Shown above is only that part of the route which traversed Owens valley. The full route can be seen Here.