Nostalgia & History > Exploring the CPRR in Nevada and the ghost town of Metropolis

In 2018 I wandered into the vast Nevada desert west of Wells, Nevada. My goal was to explore the original Central Pacific Railroad ROW that followed the Humboldt River west of town. The California Trail also made its way though this portion of Elko County.  Although barren and isolated, countless immigrants traveled through this land until Chinese workers of the CPRR constructed the railroad here in 1868. 
The following pictures detail what I found out there that day. 
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/18/19 16:19 by mkancle.

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Ah yes, the SP bramch to Metropolis, which I'm told was an ag center though I still maintain
they were just lost.

Out

In the first picture we are looking southbound across the desert towards the Ruby Mountains. 
The second picture shows the Humboldt River. It's not much more than a small creek here near its headwaters. 
The third picture shows part of an 1870's era Brookfield Telegraph insulator laying in the dirt. 

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Part of a guywire for a CPRR telegraph pole with a late 1800's railroad plate near it. 
The railroad passed over the Humboldt River on a wooden bridge. 

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A lone tree, A very old knuckle pin and a fishplate. 

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Nice shots, beautiful terrain... without a train!

Not too sure what the piece of hardware is in the first picture. 
Secondly we are looking at the former railroad bridge with the mountains in the background.
The third picture shows the ROW (If you really look close you can see it :) heading eastbound into the distance. 

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The first two pictures are looking down the former CPRR main. The third shows a fence meandering into the distance. Notice the telegraph pole cross arm some resourceful farmer used in its construction. 

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A couple shots of the desert and an eastbound Union Pacific train near Wells. I was almost back to my car at this point. 

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Now we are at Metropolis, Nevada.
In Wells I found a brochure detailing the history and location of this place. Always up for a little exploring, I drove up there and walked around for a while. 
A large, beautiful school once existed in Metropolis. You're looking at all that's left of its once grand entrance.  



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/18/19 15:00 by mkancle.

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It's getting late in the day now and the sun is setting. 

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Another large abandoned building in this former town. 

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They had a stone monument along main street on which people had placed numerous relics. 

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The first picture shows a close up of a very old fish plate located on the monument along with other artifacts gathered from the desert floor. A railroad spur once ran to this place. 

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A few more pictures of an amazing desert sunset.
Being from Pittsburgh, Pa. I never realized how beautiful a sunset could be until I visited the deserts of the western United States. 

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I hope you have all enjoyed this set of pictures. 

Matt

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Nice job.Thanks for posting.Bill Webb

A wonderful tour of old Nevada. Thank you very much!

Tom

Nice presentation!   Thanks for your efforts to photograph the history of the CP in Nevada.  Great late day Desert light on that last bunch!

Nice job on my backyard!  And you went on quite the walk out there to reach that bridge site. 

The second abandoned building in Metropolis was the old hotel, when built it was said to be the largest and nicest hotel between Salt Lake and Oakland.  If you go a bit to the south the foundation for the old SP depot is still there, though in tall rabbitbrush now.  

Lastly, here's a picture of the dam up Bishop Creek that was intended to impound the water for the irrigation around Metropolis.  The reported use of rubble from the San Francisco earthquake to build the dam has been pretty much debunked, but it's one of those stories that's too good to not be repeated so it refuses to die.  The Pacific Reclamation Company initially planned to irrigate about a quarter million acres around Metropolis with water from Bishop Creek but never came close to that, and the few families that stayed turned to cows to survive.  There are still a small number of families in the area that originally came to that part of Nevada to be farmers, and there are numerous remnants of old homesteads scattered throughout the area around the town of the families that tried their hand and then fled.  

Thanks again!

Jeff Moore
Elko, NV 

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