Last summer I was on vacation in Nevada and made a brief stop in Goldfield, a former mining boomtown about 3 hours north of Las Vegas on US 95. On a side street, not far from a 1950 Packard turned into a camper, was a pair of stairway shelters from a train station. They look like they're probably WWI era or earlier, and have signs that say "TO STATION". So they presumably stood on the platform above the steps, and passengers would have walked down to a tunnel to reach the station building. You can see a photo here:
http://i382.photobucket.com/albums/oo262/RedRam331/GoldfieldNV972.jpg
These structures obviously came from a station with enough traffic to warrant an underground passageway. Therefore, it seems rather doubtful to me these would have come from the local shortline, the Tonopah & Goldfield RR, which terminated in Goldfield. The line opened in 1905 and had shops in Goldfield, but the mines had played out 1920 or so. Most of the town was destroyed by fires in 1923 and 1924 and never rebuilt. In the photos on the historical society’s website the streets weren’t even paved. My 1936 Official Guide lists one round trip a day from Goldfield north to the SP connection at Mina, NV. If I’m reading the guide right, the train was either a mixed train or a doodlebug, depending on the day. The town might have disappeared completely if not for the fact that it’s county seat.
So naturally, I’m left wondering how on earth two stairway shelters from a train station ended up in a tiny town the middle of the Nevada desert, and where they came from. That said, given the other things I saw on that trip, there is something perfectly Nevadan about the whole thing.
Tom
Intriguing! I'll bet they came from a subway system, but that's strictly a guess.
Has anyone told the "American Pickers" about these things?
Some of you NJ peeople. Does this appear like some station in NJ?
This is just the sort of thing I'd expect to see at a train station here in the northeast. As UPHogger suggests, it does resemble some of the subway entrances in NYC, though I'd expect the sign would say SUBWAY rather than "To Station" if it came from a subway system.
I loved visiting Nevada. I did the engine rental program at the Nevada Northern and got to run their Baldwin 2-6-0 and an Alco RS-3. The railfan experience doesn't get any better than that!
http://s382.photobucket.com/albums/oo262/RedRam331/Nevada%20%20Northern%20engine%20rental/
The Virginia and Truckee was a nice ride too. I just hope they're able to keep the state railroad musuem in Carson City open. It's not the biggest museum out there but they have some beautifully restored equipment and other nice exhibits.
Fireflite This is just the sort of thing I'd expect to see at a train station here in the northeast. As UPHogger suggests, it does resemble some of the subway entrances in NYC, though I'd expect the sign would say SUBWAY rather than "To Station" if it came from a subway system. I loved visiting Nevada. I did the engine rental program at the Nevada Northern and got to run their Baldwin 2-6-0 and an Alco RS-3. The railfan experience doesn't get any better than that! http://s382.photobucket.com/albums/oo262/RedRam331/Nevada%20%20Northern%20engine%20rental/ The Virginia and Truckee was a nice ride too. I just hope they're able to keep the state railroad musuem in Carson City open. It's not the biggest museum out there but they have some beautifully restored equipment and other nice exhibits.
Yeah, I thought about the subway/station angle after posting, myself.
As far as NN's rental program/railcamps go, doesn't it remind you of the scene in Twain's "Tom Sawyer" where they get others to do their work for them and PAY for the privilege? I still keep thinking of their ad in the magazines where they show a gang laying rail, and the obvious "civilian" wearing shorts and no personal protective equipment (PPE). I have to wonder if OSHA or the FRA have paid them a call over that one? In all seriousness, I'd love to learn steam and would even volunteer my time to do it, but PAY to railroad? I said the same thing when I was a paratrooper and somebody asked me if I went skydiving: I may be crazy but I'm not stupid. They're gonna pay ME to do it! I've been railroading for 16 years now and believe me, I'm here for the finance, not the romance.
Whatever, I like mysteries and you, sir, have posted a good one!
Fireflite:
I you don't mind, I can post that photo over at a subscriber site and probably get you a definitive answer in short order.
Cool! Go right ahead.
There is also a possibility that they may have come from even further afield, such as Britain. Stranger things have been imported to the western desert, such as bridges! I'm curious and hoping someone will be able to solve the mystery.
John
I'm just guessing, but the shelters appear to be cast (possibly cast Iron). It was commonly used for facades on buildings during the period of the 'turn of the Century'.
They may have been hauled out to the desert for any number of reasons. As previously mentioned the reconstruction of "London Bridge" at Lake Havasu, springs immediately to mind. Some wealthy miners built magnificent homes in odd places out in the American West; 'Castles' as well. Lots of money can make folks do weird stuff. Maybe, someone wanted to use them for ticket booths at London Bridge in Az?.
You never know! Any reason up to and including scrap value??
Hey, Blue Streak 1, I'm an ex- New Jersey people, and these look similar, but not exactly the same as the entrance shelters for the Hudson Tubes at the old Erie Jersey city terminal. Check page 13 of "Trackside Around the Garden State" from Morning Sun Books. The thought strikes me, does anyone suppose these are actually Hollywood props? Hollywood's a heck of a lot closer to Nevada than Jersey!
Firelock76 Hey, Blue Streak 1, I'm an ex- New Jersey people, and these look similar, but not exactly the same as the entrance shelters for the Hudson Tubes at the old Erie Jersey city terminal.
Hey, Blue Streak 1, I'm an ex- New Jersey people, and these look similar, but not exactly the same as the entrance shelters for the Hudson Tubes at the old Erie Jersey city terminal.
Yes I thought that I recognized them from somewhere in the NJ - NYC area. Your location certainly could be valid. Looks too substantial to be hollywood props??
Maybe they're too substantial to be movie props, but you have to remember in the old Hollywood days when the studios were at the hight of their power money spent on well built sets was an investment in the future. Note most studios had urban sets, small town sets, rural sets, train station sets, western town sets, European village sets, and so on. Need a set for a production? Give one of the old ones a fresh coat of paint and you're ready to go! But like I said, the "Hollywood prop" guess was just a guess. God knows where those things came from!
On another subject, the hotel in Goldfield was used in the 1971 movie "Vanishing Point" The hotel served a radio station for Cleavon Little. The movie is for gearheads, Barry Newman takes delivery of a 1970 Hemi Dodge Challenger to take from Colorado to San Francisco, California, he makes a side bet that he can do it in 15 hours. Classic muscle car footage....
"The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination."-Albert Einstein
http://gearedsteam.blogspot.com/
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