Brad Bokoski, senior manager at Cox Automotive and a resident of Battle Mountain, gave a presentation to the Lander County Commissioners on the Nevada Central Railroad Historic Corridor, advocating its history and potential, and proposing some ideas for its future.
The Nevada Central Railroad Company ran 92.178 main line miles between Battle Mountain and Austin. Bokoski clarified, “Its whole existence came into being when a Pony Express rider discovered some silver [in 1861] and within a year or two, Austin had 10,000 people.”
The NCRR was incorporated in 1879, and began operation in February of 1880. It opened up vast areas of settlement and mining, and carried silver, gold and copper ore from Austin to Battle Mountain for transfer to the transcontinental railroad to ship to various markets throughout the country.
Bokoski told of the tumultuous life of the NCRR, how it was sold, foreclosed upon and reorganized many times throughout its life. Bokoski said, “The railroad had its share of disasters – floods washing out miles of track, fires, derailments and cash shortages. It struggled and survived for 58 years, went bankrupt and was sold for scrap in 1938. Not much of it remains today but a scattering of railroad ties.”
Bokoski presented slides and photos, following a timetable from 1899, beginning in Battle Mountain at “a blazing speed of 25 miles per hour,” the train traveled back and forth between Battle Mountain and Austin.
“How do we protect what we have for the future?” Bokoski said. “It’s a very cool piece of history that ties Battle Mountain and Austin together.” In his weekends of exploring, Bokoski thought, “This is great. We should be able to enjoy this; have a bike trail, hiking, off-highway vehicle trails, campsites and historical interest sites along the way.” Bokoski stated he would like to use this to make the public aware and give them a sense of pride in their history, and engage children with field trips to learn about the railroad and mining sites.
Bokoski appealed to the commissioners, “It could be a feather in the cap of Lander County and could encourage industrial and other economic development. It could promote ongoing sustainability, get some tourism between Ely and Carson City, folks with railroad interest, and pull more people, more funds and economic resources into the county.” Bokoski believes it could link together and promote other facilities in the county, like the Shoshone OHV trail system and the Copper Basin Trail. “There are so many locations with petrified rocks, petrified wood, ghost towns; all kinds of cool things. You just have to go out and look for them and this could help promote all of that.”
Moving forward, Bokoski said, “If the county wanted to do something with this and take it to another level – get down to more detail – I would be happy to formalize some ideas.”
