Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad Museum -- Death Valley Junction CA - Railroad Museums on Waymarking.com

This railroad museum features a large model layout of the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad as it ran through the Amargosa Valley. The model railroad layout is a work in progress, but since there are also a lot of historical artifacts here, the museum is also open for tours.

Some history of the Tonopah and Tidewater RR can be found at the Historical Society website here: (visit link)

"HISTORY
The Tonopah & Tidewater Railroad was a desert railroad that flanked the western boundary of Mojave National Preserve and cut across a part of its northwest corner. It was a subsidiary of the Pacific Coast Borax Company, a standard gauge railroad running between Ludlow, California on the Santa Fe Railroad main line to Death Valley Junction and Beatty.

Built by Francis Marion Smith, widely known as “Borax Smith”, the Tonopah & Tidewater began construction in early 1903. With the T&T tracks ending at Gold Center, Nevada the T&T reached into Beatty, Nevada with joint trackage rights with the Bullfrog Goldfield Railroad. The T&T also reached Rhyolite, Nevada.

The Tonopah & Tidewater Railroad, from Ludlow, California to Beatty, Nevada was completed in December, 1907, a distance of 169 miles.

T&T Railroad never actually made it to “Tidewater” in southern California, but it did cross the Union Pacific (at Ludlow). The Tonopah & Tidewater Railroad. ceased operation in 1939. After the beginning of World War II, the rails were dismantled for scrap for the war effort.

The rail road ties, which were made of cedar & pine and were not creosoted, they were also used for local building materials such as housing, fencing, etc. The line itself, was abandoned, but much of the former right of way is intact because of the remote areas that it travels through."

Museum Website: [Web Link] Train ride provided?: no Actual railroad cars or locomotives on display?: no Street Address: Death Valley Junction Gift shop?: yes Café/restaurant?: no Theater?: no Other features?: Artifacts Large model RR layout Admission fee?: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
1. Visit the museum. 2. Provide your thoughts/experience of this visit. 3. Provide a photograph of your visit to this museum. A GPSr photo is NOT required.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log   03/29/2016 Benchmark Blasterz visited it