Steam & Excursion > A Modern Steam Train Speeds By This Reminder Of Times Gone By!

One of the most interesting railroad sites I have ever visited had to be that of Palisade, Nevada.  In that spot you have the old Southern Pacific Mainline on one side and on the other the mainline of the old Western Pacific.  In the middle is the former yards of the narrow gauge Eureka & Palisade Railroad.

Here we see a view of the Palisade yard in 1937 after the E&P has all but shut down for good.  The rusting relics of that narrow gauge line are everywhere.  The remains of 4 of the E&P steam locomotives that were caught in the E&P's 1927 Palisade. enginehouse fire are seen at the right and left of the photo.  On the far right across the river speeds a modern (for the day) Southern Pacific passenger train.  The ancient harp switchstand in the center of the photo serves to demonstrate just how old the E&P railroad is that called Palisade it's home.

Even today, Palisade is a fabulous spot to visit.  You can just feel the history there.

Martin



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 06/11/19 03:50 by LoggerHogger.

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Went on Google Earth, looks like rail is stil in but has a section cut out of it, also there are two sets of tracks also.  Couldnt get a better look at things seems to be some kind of mine not far from where the town? was.

Palasade was not a very big town per se.  Palisades was largely the shops and office for the E&P with a few other buildings for the residents as a town.

Martin



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/11/19 08:28 by LoggerHogger.

There was indeed a town at Palisade. It was sandwiched between the cliff and the SP tracks. For many years Palisade had a steady population of around 100. The community withered after the Eureka Nevada Railway was abandoned in 1938.

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Palisade also has a not insignificant cemetery, still there on a ridgeline above the townsite that speaks to its existence.

Also interesting to note that the SP passenger train in the photo is operating on the Western Pacific main. That arrangement dates back to World War I when the government implemented bidirectional operations on the two mains between Weso (Winnemucca) and Alazon (Wells). Worked so well that the two roads revived it after the war and UP still uses it today.

Lastly, as for mining, SP had a large ballast quarry on the north side of the river a short distance east of the town, it’s been used by various parties as a rock source since. Recently reopened. An iron ore mine sits at Barth on the south side of the Humboldt a couple miles west of Palisade.

Jeff Moore
Elko, NV

Posted from iPhone

Very nice!
Isn't that tree still there?

Jim Baker
Riverside, CA

Will give earth another shot when my internet is working better.  Might have to take a road trip as there are other items out there to explore always fun to find what is left of a town years later..

is that an OCS going by?