The T&T Chronology

Mather and Thorkildsen quit P.C.B. and form a rival company in Ventura County, Ca.  C. Zabriskie, Mather's protoge, takes over publicity.
 

When the comptroller, R.C. Baker objects to the continued suggestion of a railroad, U.S. Borax agrees to build a tractor road. Three tractor trains were ordered, capable of 300 tons capacity. Smith sees this as potential for a later railroad grade!
 

The tractor road's grade is reduced to 8 feet in width and is completed to a point opposite of Sandy (Valley). Inyo Independent article.
 

The road is complete, costing $153,000 and running 104 miles. The tractors are still 'on the drawing board'. The steam tractor "Old Dinah" is once again tried, and once again fails. The idea of tractors is given up by all.
 

The 20 Mule Team Wagon Train is resurrected and sent to the St. Louis Exposition. With the publicity gained at the Fair, the Borax brand is now known world-wide.
 

Smith forms the T&T Railroad Co. in New Jersey. He is its president, Zabriskie is sec./treas. and John Ryan is the general manager. The Borax Consolidated, Ltd. guarantees $2,500,000 in bonds for construction.
 

Ryan finds and plats a route from Soda Lake almost due north to the mine, then on to Bullfrog through the Amargosa Valley.
 

Senator Clark's men have selected a route for his railroad, which includes a 30 mile spur to the Lila C. Smith is invited to build that portion.
 

Smith announces an agreement with Clark to build the whole of the line from Las Vegas to Rhyolite and on to Tonopah.
 

The building of the T&T commences at Las Vegas, NV.
 

With 12 miles graded, Clark's attorney suddenly orders the T&T crews off the right-of-way connection with the SP, LA & SL. Senator Clark is nowhere to be reached (he was 'vacationing' in Europe).
 

Ryan meets Clark on his return - the T&T will not have a connection. Ryan moves all men and material to Ludlow as an agreement with the Santa Fe, including undisclosed support for the T&T, has been quickly reached. They will build over the route first platted in 1904. Some 30 additional miles are needed to reach Ludlow.
 

Bullfrog Goldfield Railroad incorporates with John Brock as president..
 

Clark forms the LV&T and pays the T&T $30,000 for the grading work.
 

The first rails are laid at Ludlow. Soon grading is proceeding well and rails are being laid at 1 mile per day.
 

The rails cross Silver Lake, being laid directly on the floor of the 'dry' lake.
 

The Bullfrog Syndicate is formed with a pool of $1,000,000 to finance the BGRR. Arthur Brock is named trustee and manager.
 

The Bullfrog Syndicate signs a contract with the Amargosa Construction Co. for the building of the BGRR.
 

About 60 miles north of Ludlow (about Riggs) the pace starts to slow down.
 

The contractor for the BGRR right-of-way, McLean & Ottoman, begins construction in Columbia.
 

With 75 miles done (Dumont) the T&T faces the descent into the Amargosa River Canyon. Huge fills, trestles (up to 500' long) and deep cuts lie ahead.
 

The first rails for the BGRR are laid. Only two miles up the steep 3 1/2% climb are completed by month's end when trackwork is halted by the terrain and lack of rails.
 

With problems getting and keeping work crews, the T&T tries using Japanese labor. After a few days, there are only 17 men 'working' out of the 100 in the crew. Eight are using picks & shovels, nine are 'spraying ' the eight with water!
 

With temperatures still rising, Mexican laborers are tried. They work 15 days, then go to Los Angeles for a 15 day 'siesta'. The constant coming and going makes manpower control difficult.
 

With reported 140* heat, the T&T can not get or keep any crews on the job. When no outside contractor will bid on the work , estimated at $30,000 per mile, work is abandoned for the rest of the summer.
 

A major cut on the BGRR, just east of Milltown, is completed. Rails have just arrived and trackwork begins again.
 

Even with 900 men and 800 animals laboring, the T&T is only able to complete less than 2 miles per month at a cost of some $55,000 per mile.
 

The BGRR completes 15 miles of track from Goldfield to Cuprite.
 

Late in the month an additional 21 miles of the BGRR to Montana station is ready for service.
 

With a potential boom in copper ore from the Greenwater District, the T&T interests incorporate the Tonopah & Greenwater Railroad. Nothing was ever begun on that railroad.
 

Three feet of snow almost completely stop the BGRR construction. Supplies are few due to the T&G's freight blockade.
 

J.H. Lester & associates form the Tecopa Consolidated Mining Co.
See the Tecopa RR pages for its history.
 

With the wet winter, mud has now stops the BGRR's construction efforts. The construction camp moves from Hick's Hot Springs to Johnston's Spring, two miles north of Beatty.
 

The Ground Hog didn't see his shadow, but the BGRR did see those of the other railroads. With little fanfare or notice, service opens to Montana Station from Goldfield with 20 passengers.
 

Regular train service commences between Ludlow and Sperry on the T&T.
 

BGRR Timetable #5 is issued listing service from Goldfield to Springdale (11 miles from Beatty), once a day.
 

An unofficial BG 'last spike' is driven and the railroad is opened from Goldfield to the first BGRR station in Rhyolite (Bonanza townsite).
 

Beatty holds the 'Official Opening' of the BGRR.
 

Tecopa at last! 88 miles done and another 41 yet to build to reach the Lila C. The cost for this 13 mile stretch (Dumont - Tecopa) has been given as being over $800,000. Some 600 tons of ore from the Gunsight and Noonday mines awaits the T&T's arrival.
 

The first through north-south service in Nevada begins via the T&G, BGRR and LV&T.
 

Using the pair of wagons stored at Daggett since 1904, the first ore is hauled 28 miles from the Lila C. to the end of the T&T's road at Zabriskie - 92 miles from Ludlow.
 

Regular passenger service begins from Goldfield to the new station in Rhyolite (proper). The BGRR is finally completed.
 

The T&T's rails reach Evelyn (named for Smith's wife) a distance of 108 miles from Ludlow.
 

The spur from D.V. Junction is completed to the Lila C. and the wagon trains are replaced by the T&T's services. The first load is hauled out on Aug. 21^st.
 

The grading of the T&T roadbed is done. Fifteen miles of track remain to be laid. A shortage of rail halts construction until the 15^th of October.
 

Calico prepares to be shut down, and equipment begins moving to Ryan Camp on the Lila C. Spur.
 

At 3 PM, the last spike is hammered home at Gold Center. The T&T is done. Connection to Beatty and Rhyolite is via the rails of the Bullfrog Goldfield.
 

Through freight car service is inaugurated to both Los Angeles and San Francisco.
 

Through Pullman Service to Los Angeles commences with 30 passengers. Ticket prices are about 25% lower than via the LV&T. Shorter, Faster, Cheaper!
 

Since construction began, the BGRR has been operated by the Amargosa Construction Co. Partly due to the financing difficulties and L.Teller's legal suit. In settlement, the T&T now operates the BGRR.
 

The Borax Roaster and other equipment begin operation at the Lila C. mine. The miners and the rest of the buildings are moved from Calico.
 

The stocks of the Bullfrog Goldfield Railroad and the Tonopah & Tidewater Railroad are placed into a holding company, the Tonopah & Tidewater Company. The holding company then takes over operation of both railroads. Separate accounts are maintained for each portion of the route.
 

The T&T fails to meet its expenses for the first fiscal year of operation.
 

"T&T All The Way" becomes a reality with the beginning of combined operations.
 

A Cloudburst in the Eagle mountains near Evelyn sends a torrent of water down the Amargosa. The tracks are washed out at Gerstley with three deaths in the wreck of the southbound train.
 

Lycurgus Lindsay buys a group of claims from D. Morrison and partners, known simply as The Talc Mine. L.L. owns the Western Art Tile Works and also the Independent Sewer Pipe Company, both large users of talc. He incorporates the claims as the Pacific Tile & Terra Cotta Co.
 

Work begins on the 11 mile Tecopa Railroad.
 

The T&T sells construction materials to the Tecopa Railroad.
Inyo Register article.
 

The Tecopa Railroad (11 miles) is completed to a junction with the T&T at Tecopa.
 

Silver Lake floods for the first time in the T&T's history, with water almost up to the fireboxes. The tracks are raised 6".