Slaughterhouse Canyon Railroad Grade, South of State Highway 28 on East shore of Lake Tahoe, Carson City, Carson City

Source document Quoted word for word from HAER NEV,1-CACI,2-. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

South of Nevada State Highway 28 on the east shore of Lake Tahoe Carson Carson Independent Municipality Nevada U.S.G.S. 7.5 minute, Marlette Lake, Nev., quadrangle Universal Transverse Mercator coordinates: (SW end) (NE end) Date(s) of Construction: Circa Engineer/Architect/Builder: Carson and Tahoe Lumber and Fluming Company incorporated in in the State of Nevada, its primary stockholders being Duane L. Bliss, Yerington, D.O. Mills, and J.A. Rigby. Bliss was made president and general manager and held the office until his death inl906. Present Owner (s) United States Department of Agriculture, Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit.

Source document Quoted word for word from HAER NEV,1-CACI,2-. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

The Slaughterhouse Canyon segment of the Lake Tahoe Railroad represents technological efficiencies attained in order to meet the voracious lumber and cordwood needs of the Comstock Mining District. Nowhere in the United States was there such a large expenditure of capital and labor to supply the huge mines, mills, and smelters of the Comstock Lode. Report Prepared By; Dana E. Supernowicz, Zone Historian, Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, 870 Emerald Bay Road, Suite 1, South Lake Tahoe, California Date: October I Slaughterhouse Canyon Railroad Grade HAER NO. (Page 2)

Description

The Slaughterhouse Canyon segment of the Lake Tahoe Railroad was part of a narrow gauge logging railroad built in by the Carson and Tahoe Lumber and Fluming Company to transport lumber and cordwood from the Glenbrook sawmills to the flumes at Summit Camp (present-day Spooner Summit). At the height of logging in the Lake Tahoe Basin in the the owned over acres of timberland. Between the mid-1860s and the mid-1870s lumber was hauled to the top of Spooner Summit by animal teams and the haul system was not stressed. By the early the timber resources east of the Sierra Nevada were exhausted and the Comstock mining barons looked to the vast timber resources of the Lake Tahoe Basin to supply their mines with lumber and cordwood.

The need for a more efficient method of conveying the lumber to the summit was clearly needed to meet the increasing demand. With the enlargement of the Glenbrook sawmill and its increased capacity, Duane L. Bliss succeeded in finding the financing needed for a narrow gauge logging railroad. The was incorporated in November of with Bliss as president and general manager. Other major contributors were Darius Ogden Mills, Henry Marvin Yerington, and J.A. Rigby. Within 6 months planning for the construction of the narrow gauge railroad began. II. CONSTRUCTION The route was initially surveyed by Comstock civil engineer, Isaac E. James who had also surveyed the Virginia and Truckee Railroad in (Drew, V&T Chief Engineer Charles L.

Anderson performed the final survey toward the end of summer Construction of the railroad was begun in March of and the line was completed five months later in August. The main construction crew consisted of 250 men. Four sets of section men continued after the opening to complete construction without interfering with the operation of the trains (Drew, Supplies were brought by teams daily from Carson City. The Central Pacific Railroad delivered thirty-five-pound steel rails from the east to Reno which were then hauled to Carson City. Most of the hardware was manufactured at Carson City in the V&T shop. Pine ties were produced at the mill at Glenbrook (Drew, The rise from the lake to the summit was about feet.

The railroad was nine miles in length, and the location required the construction of a switch-back feet in length in order to gain elevation. In addition to the main line grade, there was two and one-half miles of sidings. The railroads maximum grade was 2 percent, or a rise of about 105 feet per mile. Slaughterhouse Canyon Railroad Grade HAER NO. (Page 3) Eleven wooden trestles were required and near the summit a 480 foot tunnel was built. III. OPERATION The railroad was operated by three 23-ton locomotives, with six 40-inch drivers. Each locomotive could haul 70 tons of freight at 10 miles per hour. The three locomotives were built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in and hauled overland across the Sierra Nevada by oxen and horses.

Construction of the railroad virtually eliminated the need for wagon haul between Glenbrook and the summit. Prior to the establishment of the railroad, in Douglas County produced board feet of lumber. In the County's production rose to board feet and in the produced board feet on its own. Bliss estimated that by board feet had been removed from the area surrounding Glenbrook. The efficiency of the railroad was a major contribution to this dramatic increase in production. Maintenance of the line required up to 20 men during the primary summer logging season with a much smaller crew keeping it open through the summer months. IV. POST COMSTOCK

History

The railroad was run successfully until when a general lack of commercial timber combined with an increase in operating costs resulted in its closure and abandonment. Part of the rolling stock and rail was taken up and barged across the lake to Tahoe City and used in the Lake Tahoe and Transportation Company's standard gauge railroad to Truckee. The merchantable timber on the east shore of Lake Tahoe had been logged off by the During the recreation use grew around Lake Tahoe and wealthy families established summer home estates along the lakeshore. During the the Newhall family established an elaborate summer home estate at Skunk Harbor and utilized part of the old Lake Tahoe Railroad grade as an access road to their property. The remainder of the grade was left intact.

Currently, the grade is used for recreational hiking and bicycling. V.

Sources

Drew, Stephen D. Carson & Tahoe Lumber & Fluming Company's Lake Tahoe Narrow Gauge Railroad Locomotive No. 2 'Glenbrook Restoration Feasibility Investigation," Short Line Enterprises, Inc., for the Nevada State Museum. Slaughterhouse Canyon Railroad Grade HAER NO. (Page 4) VI. PROJECT INFORMATION This documentation is being prepared to fulfill the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Units (LTBMU) obligations under a Memorandum of Agreement between the LTBMU and the Nevada State Historic Preservation Officer dated July 7, The Principle Investigator was Dana Supernowiczs. The documentation is primarily based on research performed by Stephen D. Drew in for a study to determine the feasibility of restoring Locomotive No. 2. The photographer was Rudy Gillard of Fortuna California.

I SLAUGHTERHOUSE CANYON RAILROAD GRADE HABR NO. (PAGE 5) TOPOGRAPHIC MAP: SHOWING LOCATION OF ENGINEERING PLAN DETAILS FOR SLAUGHTERHOUSE RAILROAD GRADE U.S.G.S. QUAD: Marietta Lake, NV. 7.5 min. Scale: Glenbroolt NV. 7.5 min. Photorevised SIADGHTERHOUSB CANXOH RAILROAD GRADE NO. (PAGE 6) ENGINEER PLANS SHOWING DETAILS OF ALTERATION TO HISTORIC PORTION FEET) OF THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE RAILROAD INCORPORATED INTO THE SKUNK HARBOR ROAD FS RD WIDEN TO TO* WIDTH . A I -Zljfifl 25- THRU-CUT SECTION CONCEPTUAL NO SCALE I SLAUGHTERHOUSE CANTON RAILROAD GRADE HAER NO.

(PAGE 7) ENGINEER PLANS SHOWING DETAILS OF ALTERATION TO HISTORIC PORTION FEET) OF THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE RAILROAD INCORPORATED IMTO THE SKUNK HARBOR ROAD FS RD 3 1 / WIDEN TO TO* WIDTH POWER POLE <J 12 QSL l2 THRU-CUT SECTION / <.- CLEARING LIMITS-^ 2' ROAD ~ WIDTH -? 10'MIN. * EXISTING WIDTH VARIES 3X O to'hi Ui OUTSLOPE Z ;CC CONCEPTUAL NO SCALE