Battle Mountain & Lewis Railroad

Nevada / Common Carriers / Battle Mountain & Lewis Railroad

History

In August 1872 the first mining claim was filed in Lewis Canyon, 10 miles southeast of Battle Mountain, Nevada. By 1876 two mills and three communities were in place: Lewis (Lower Town) at the canyon’s mouth, a mile further up was Middle Town (aka Starr) and another half mile further was Upper Town (aka Dean). Consolidation of the major mines and two mills in 1879 led to a sale to East Coast investors who created the Starr & Grove Company. Lewis boomed.

The Nevada Central Railway, completed in February 1880, passed 9 miles west of Lewis. The Starr & Grove Company filed papers to build a rail connection, the Battle Mountain & Lewis Railway. Grading began in January 1881 at the Nevada Central’s Galena station, which was renamed Lewis Junction and given a siding, wye and depot. The line was pushed eight miles east, reaching Lewis in June. A switchback in town gave access to the mills and started the climb to the mines, which required two miles of stiff grades, sharp curves, bridging and several switchbacks; it took 10 more months to complete on March 10,1882.

The official opening to Lewis was July 31, 1881, with two carded runs connecting with the Nevada Central and timed to meet Central Pacific trains. Heavy freight traffic was reported; passenger service levels weren’t reported.

Before the engine ordered from San Francisco’s Union Iron Works arrived, Nevada Central engines were leased: First 4-4-0 #4, the DB Hatch, and then 4-4-0 #5, the Jos. Collett. When the John D. Hall arrived in August, 1881, the 2-4-0 was described as substantially built but “strange looking.” It was unsuccessful on the grades and sent back to the builder for modification in September. It never returned. A proposed 0-6-0, Starr Grove, was never shipped to the line. NC #5 ran all subsequent trains.

The Starr & Grove Company and the nearby Betty O’Neal company were dealing with labor issues, racial strife, mine explosions and embezzlement. Revenues stalled and on March 31, 1882, the Nevada Central filed an attachment suit against the BM&L for unpaid freight charges, locomotive rental and coal. Operations stopped. In an act of bravado a new line into Battle Mountain bypassing the Nevada Central was surveyed. It didn’t matter: The property was bought on April 26 th by the local interests who sold it originally. They also bought the Starr & Grove Company’s mills and mines. Lewis declined.

The BM&L went dormant, with intermittent periods of operation. There were brief flurries of operation on the tracks by the Nevada Central—in 1883, 1885, 1890 and 1891—but only to Lewis. Track to the mines was left to decay and in 1887 was sold, pulled out and sent to Cortez for the 30” gauge line there. There were recurring rumors of rebuilding and pending sales. 1891 saw the final known operation, cars of lumber arriving in Lewis during a short-lived boom. In 1892 the Lewis Junction station burned down; the agency had already been closed. Finally in

1895 a contract was let to pull out the remaining track. The BM&L was done. But there was still one last railroad scheme to come.

Lewis District mining staggered on for 25 years until Noble Getchel inherited the flooded Betty O’Neil mine in 1920. It was drained, a floatation mill built and a community set up. A top silver producer in Nevada, it was crippled by the bad road to Battle Mountain. In 1923 Getchel talked of building a railroad from Lewis Junction to the Betty O’Neil. The Nevada Central, on its last legs, was more troubled than excited by this news. Sensing an opportunity to unload the failing Nevada Central they discussed selling the entire right of way, equipment and the Battle Mountain shops to Getchel for $250,000. Nothing happened and Lewis’ railroad history finally ended.

Bibliography

Hilton, George W. (1990). American Narrow Gauge Railroads. Stanford: Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-2369-9.

Nevada / Common Carriers / Battle Mountain & Lewis Railroad