Carson & Colorado Railroad

By 1880 the ores of the Comstock had dwindled and the men who founded the Virginia and Truckee Railroad and owned most of the mills on the Comstock needed to restore their high level profits. Mining bonanazas in the southern deserts set a plan afoot to bring ore and new profits to the Comstock. A mining railroad starting from the V&T in Mound House would go all the way to the Colorado River in Arizona – the Carson & Colorado Railroad.

Rails passed through Dayton in November 1880, in 1881 the first depot was erected at Dayton. Mining developments then drew the railroad from Colorado to Owens Valley ending at Keeler, California in July 1883. Rail traffic boomed in the 1880’s but by 1900 profits declined and the line was sold. Unfortunately for Dayton, in 1905 the “Hazen Cutoff” was put through to the Transcontinental Railroad and the line from Churchill to Mound House was bypassed. Various segments were abandoned over the years with the last remnant in the Owens Valley running until 1960.

Use of the Dayton Depot diminished after the 1905 bypass and the line through Dayton was completely abandoned in 1934. The depot was converted to a private residence and in the 1950’s it was moved to the corner with Main St. to make way for Hwy 50E. Lyon County purchased the depot in 2007 using federal highway funds won by the Historical Society of Dayton Valley, which also became the steward of the depot. Today it is one of only three original C&C passenger depots remaining, and the only one located in Nevada.

Dedicated July 30 2016 (6021) by the Snowshoe Thompson Chapter #1827 and the Slim Princess Chapter #395 of the Ancient and Honorable Order of E Clampus Vitus