Nostalgia & History > Necro Fluggenphoamin Metropolis, NV (WARNING: OT!)

I had intended to visit Metropolis on this tour, but I had not planned to share it here because I didn't expect to turn up a strong RR connection.  But I got a couple of requests for Metropolis, so here it is:

Metropolis was a failed launch of a planned city.  The town was to be a farming center, and it got off to pretty promising start - sales were brisk, major construction of the downtown area got going, and the SP built a branch out to town and provided mixed passenger service.  But the whole enterprise collapsed when water rights were lost in court- and the whole thing faded away.  Born in 1910-  Ghost town by 1950.

A friend of mind has a direct connection to Metropolis: Her grandmother-in-law lived here and attended the school in the 20's!  My marching orders were to see if I could find an infant brother's grave stone (I did), find the remains of a jungle-gym at the school seen in a family photo (found it), and look for mint green tiles grandma remembered at the bank (I found green brick, but not tile).

What is left in Metropolis today is impressive!  Well worth the small effort to get out there. (15mi from Wells, NV on a well maintained dirt road)  There was a wye at the end of the SP branch (removed in 1925) and if my flying camera could pick it out, I'd have something worthy of a TO-  no luck at all. The Sage brush completely hides it.  But Metropolis was asked for, so here are a few photos...
SR

Photo 1.  Approaching town, the school ruins on the hill in the background.
Photos 2&3.  Before and after of the Metropolis Hotel.

Photos 4-6  Before and after of the school house.

Photo 7.   Fluggen shot.

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That sagebrush sure has big stalks.

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That wye track might end up being one of those things best seen from ground level, I walked out to it a year or two ago and it's obvious at ground level...

Thanks as always for your posts, they have been wonderful. 

Jeff Moore
Elko, NV

Thank you!

Yes, I could see where the wye was but I couldn't seem to come up with a photograph I could post. I was there kinda late so I was loosing my light.
I'll be back!
SR

Here's a  little more history on the Metropolis Branch.

The first building in Metropolis was the Amusement Hall, which later became the LDS church. Shortly afterwards, the Hotel Metropolis was completed Dec29, 1911 at a cost of $100,000. It was a 3-story building that boasted "50 guest rooms and 20 baths". When it opened with pomp and ceremony, the big city was started.
 
With the completion of the railroad and hotel in 1911, and with the PRC advertising land for farming, people started arriving to claim land and turn the desert into a successful agricultural business. There were 71 homesteads, where people had to survey, fence, clear sagebrush, and build a house. A majority of the homesteaders were LDS Church members from Utah.
 
A severe plow to PRC plans came in 1912 when a lawsuit limited the water appropriation to but one creek, instead of three. Photos show the PRC building the earthen dam across Bishop Creek using narrow gauge mining push cars to transport the fill to the dam site. When it was completed the Bishop Creek Dam had a design water level potential of 55 feet.
 
Wilkins Astle's established his grocery store in 1911. The Consolidate Wagon and Machine Company opened for business in Metropolis in 1912. By 1912 there were 600 residents, but by 1913 the people were leaving.
 
Southern Pacific's daily mixed train gave way to tri-weekly freight in September 1913. A succession of droughts early in the town's history forced some of the early settlers to go elsewhere. Still, there was enough promise of good farming that new people would arrive up until as late as 1924.
 
The 8-room, two-story Metropolis School opened in the fall of 1914 with 150 students. Later on the Consolidated Wagon and Machine Company building was converted to a gymnasium.
 
When Gerald Latimer moved into town and started teaching school, he became Professor Latimer, "the ultimate authority in the community." He taught his students algebra, trigonometry, geometry, solid geometry, chemistry, physics and physiology. He also assisted students in building cedar chests and also taught automotive mechanics. When the former Consolidated Wagon Co. building was converted into a gymnasium in 1930, the professor showed students how to solder and take care of heating pipes. Professor Latimer was the building inspector, project manager and the electrician. Sounds like quite a man.
 
A covered horse-drawn school wagon brought students from surrounding farms. Along each side of the wagon was a bench seat.  A coal stove was wired to the floor. In winter, the wagon box was lifted onto runners.
 
Rabbits were a constant problem to the farmers. The years 1917 through 1919 saw so many jackrabbits around Metropolis that kids from the fifth grade and higher were excused from school to join other members of the community in driving the rabbits into a fenced area, where they were killed. One of these drives resulted in the deaths of 3,000 rabbits and one coyote. The rabbits were shipped in a SP refrigerator car to San Francisco and sold to restaurants. Also, for many years, a program for baiting ground squirrels with poisoned grain each spring was necessary.
 
It was during this period that Southern Pacific further reduced service to Metropolis. The tri-weekly freight was reduced to a weekly freight in January 1916. After than trains were run intermittently.
The beginning of the mass exodus began in 1924.
 
With little future for potential revenues Southern Pacific applied to the I.C.C. for abandonment. In August 1922 the I.C.C. granted authority to abandon the branch, but the line was kept in operation for another three years before it was dismantled in August 1925. As big a blow that was to the community's future, they still had hope of getting another railroad to come to town.
 
The Oregon Short Line (a UP subsidiary) was building a railroad south from Twin Falls ID to Wells NV. Construction began from Twin Falls on Apr29, 1909. Wells was not the ultimate destination of the OSL; it was Rogerson ID, 28 miles to the south of Twin Falls. Regular train service to Rogerson commenced on Jul01, 1910.
 
For the next ten years the line remained unchanged until 1920 when a group of men from San Francisco and Twin Falls incorporated the Idaho Central Railroad to bridge the 90-100 mile gap between Rogerson and Wells. Eventually Union Pacific took possession and built the line.
As the railroad proceeded towards Wells, the townspeople of Metropolis tried to attract Union Pacific to bring the new OSL past its doors. The OSL never took notice of their pleas and finished the OSL to Wells in 1926. And so ended Metropolis' last chance to have a railroad connection once again.
 
Today the Metropolis Branch right-of-way is overgrown with sagebrush. Travelers on the road that passes towards Wells can't distinguish the former roadbed. As for the OSL between Twin Falls and Wells, it was abandoned sometime in the early 1980s.
 
Back in town, the Hotel Metropolis, started in December 1911, went into the hands of receivers in 1913, and was never used as a hotel after that. It burned in 1942. The Amusement Hall/Church burned in 1929. The U.S. Post Office in Metropolis closed Dec10, 1942 and the postmaster and his wife moved to Salt Lake City.
 
By 1942, the water system had failed so water had to be carried into the school building and an outhouse was used. The 1914-built schoolhouse closed in late 1942. The last year of school was in 1947.
 
In 1949, the Wells and Metropolis LDS Wards were combined into a single ward in Wells.
 
The dam that cost $200,000 achieved a complete fill to the 55-foot limit only three times: 1942, 1949 and 1984. In 1984, the spring run off came from the hills of Montello, ran across highway 93 and filled the reservoir to the 57-foot level.
 
When the reservoir filled in 1949, a committee decided the dam should have a spillway and plans were made. When the water reached 57 feet in 1984, the group took further steps. The head gate was opened, but the outgo was less than the incoming water. The stockholders diverted the water from washing away the downstream face. They rolled a large piece of plastic down the upstream face. It took two tries before the spillway took care of the water and didn't erode the downstream face. After the water had dropped below the danger point, the head gate became dislodged and they could not shut off the water. The dam was completely drained.
 
As recently as 1960, 27 people remained in Metropolis. Today the town site is overgrown with sagebrush. The town's elegant $100,000 hotel, $25,000 school and other substantial buildings are either burned down or dismantled. Only broken sidewalks and piles of bricks remain.
 
For many years a "Metropolis Reunion" was held and attended by former residents. The final one was Oct05, 1996.
 
The idea of erecting a monument for Metropolis was talked about for many years. Finally, in 1989, a concrete foundation was poured in Metropolis and a plastic plaque was attached with a picture of the hotel, school and dam. The dedication of the monument took place Jul22, 1989.
 
And so SP's Metropolis Branch has earned itself a small place in Company history… unfortunately, not a pleasant one.
 
 

BoilingMan, I forgot to suggest another assignment for your aerial photography. In the same area, only east of Montello have you looked for remnants of SP's former Tuttle Branch?  It connected with the mainline at Tecoma and lasted until 1940. - Tony J.
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/25/16 20:28 by TonyJ.

Another one I can't find on Google Earth.    I notice that when I zoom in really close, the picture goes "sideways" toward a 3D mode and I can't get it to stop doing that.

Here you go
SR

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TonyJ Wrote:
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> BoilingMan, I forgot to suggest another assignment
> for your aerial photography. In the same area,
> only east of Montello have you looked for remnants
> of SP's former Tuttle Branch?  It connected with
> the mainline at Tecoma and lasted until 1940. -
> Tony J.
>  

Ha!  There are SO many places!
This was a 4 day rounding-the-bases proof-of-concept kinda trip.  I picked out 6 targets (Ismay Roundhouse, Moor Wye, The UPRR Cut, Cobre Wye, Montello "Roundhouse", and the Terrace Roundhouse.  The criteria for the list centered on places with features easily seem on Google Earth, but near impossible to convey well using a camera on the ground. I threw in  the Maiden's Grave and Metropolis just for my own amusement- two places I'd never been to, but really don't present any photographic obstacles- but what the heck.
I learned a lot about what worked, and didn't, and will spend some time perfecting the system this winter.  I'll try again in the spring.
SR

I noticed that the Metropolis Branch crossed another abandoned r-o-w. Was this the original Central Pacific alignment that rounded a sharp curve to enter Wells? So this branch only tied into the newer alignment that runs thru Alazon and Tulasco. Finally, I measured the crow distance between the former Twin Falls line and Metropolis. It would have been at least 3.5 miles of new track in order to bring trains back to the existing Metropolis wye r-o-w.

Here's a look where the two r-o-w's overlap.
https://www.google.com/maps/@41.1487939,-115.101462,1266m/data=!3m1!1e3

First off, to fix the problem with Google Earth, click to "Tools" item on the menu, select Options, then the Navigation tab on the box that should pop up.  In the right middle of the box you should see a "Navigation" heading with three options underneath it, I don't remember which of the three is the Google Earth default, but you want to check the "Do Not Automatically Tilt While Zooming" line, that should take care of the image wanting to go sideways on you as you near ground level. 

Second, to add to Tony's fine post, UP on their Wells Branch did have a station called "Melandco" (short for Metropolis Land Company) just on the east side of the Bishop Creek Canyon from the town.  They had a water tower, livestock yards, and at least a couple buildings there.  UP replaced the Wells branch with interchanges to the SP and WP in Ogden and Salt Lake about 1972 ish, and formally received permission to abandon the line around 1978.  Pacific Reclamation Company did manage to get a large number of German immigrants more or less right off the docks to come to the town.  You can still find quite a few old homesteads in varying levels of condition scattered in the country around the town.  The foundations of the old SP train depot are also there and interesting to wander around...especially in as much as the agent living there one time won on occassions an award from SP for the best groundskeeping and gardening on the station grounds.  Hard to miagine that now standing next to crumbling concrete in 4-foot tall rabbitbrush and 5-foot tall sage.

Thanks again, Jeff Moore, Elko, NV 

gonx, you are correct, the Metropolis branch was built after the original CP alignment had been abandoned, and as such the branch crossed the original mainline grade but never connected to it.

Jeff Moore
Elko, NV

This is great stuff.  I am enjoying your unique look at these areas that people have mostly forgotten.

Thank you.

SP had a collection of "WTF" branches, the Peters branch in California comes to mind. You go out there now and you
just scratch your head. Great pictures and some reminders of trips taken long ago though that drone sure would have
made things a lot more interesting. Thanks for those postings and I appreciate Jeff's input on the Metropolis area,
the connection with that middle of nowhere UP station now makes much sense.

Out

BoilingMan, I just want to thank you for your series in northeastern Nevada.  Love the drone shots to give perspective that we've never had before.  This is a part of the country that few have ever been to, and what a great perspective! 

Lee Hower - Sacramento

TonyJ Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> BoilingMan, I forgot to suggest another assignment
> for your aerial photography. In the same area,
> only east of Montello have you looked for remnants
> of SP's former Tuttle Branch?  It connected with
> the mainline at Tecoma and lasted until 1940. -
> Tony J.
>  

When I went out to Terrace that morning I was undecided were to go next after I finished.  There are a couple of wyes and deep cuts RR east of Terrace that had defied my attempts at definitive photos in the past, but I wasn't sure my poor rental car would make it.  A safer fall back plan was the area around Lucin were the lines split- easier to reach.
but I lost the nut on the prop shaft in Terrace and my decision was made for me- I had to fall back to Montello for repairs.
SR

JDLX Wrote:
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> gonx, you are correct, the Metropolis branch was
> built after the original CP alignment had been
> abandoned, and as such the branch crossed the
> original mainline grade but never connected to
> it.
>
> Jeff Moore
> Elko, NV

Thanks you guys- that crossing of two abandoned grades is exactly the thing I'm trying to photograph! 
It's on the list.
SR

Interesting stuff. I've always wondered what's over the next hill.

Went to Google and found a number of entries, some under Nevada Ghost towns. This Link has a number of interesting details, with some names and info about the Dam. There's also some Images but no real location info.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolis,_Nevada