The T&T Chronology

The T&T Ranch expands, drilling wells, erecting buildings and growing alfalfa. With the establishment of a small dairy, the ranch is furnishing milk and vegetables to the Furnace Creek Inn and the Amargosa Hotel. Grapes in large quantities, plus nut and fruit trees soon join the list of produce from the ranch.
 

Death Valley Railroad formally abandoned. The Bradford spur to the clay pits is converted to standard gauge and the T&T assumes operation.
 

Francis Marion "Borax" Smith dies at 85.
 

The Carrara Spur is dismantled.
 

With a new method of gasoline refinement, the need for the Death Valley Clay is almost nonexistant. Production at Ash Meadows in 1935 is down to 600 tons - annually!
 

Thanks to the Dispatcher's Log Sheet of Hugh McPhee and an assistant, we have a glimpse into the operation of the T&T railroad. "A Day in the Life of the T&T"
 

The shops and other equipment at Ludlow begin moving to a new headquarters at D.V. Junction.
 

Last service bewteen Ludlow and Crucero is run. The tracks are to be 'abandoned in place' for a year. They remain until 1942.
 

Major flood damage to the T&T.
 

Application is made to the I.C.C. for cessation of operations.
 

Abandonment is first authorized for this date - then postponed to April 1, 1940.
 

The Tonopah & Tidewater is finally "abandoned in place" after two additional postponements. A 'Last Train' special is run. Employees and their wives document the occasion.
 

Nevada Representative James G. Scrugham proposes the T&T and a rebuilt BG RR be operated by the government to provide transportation of the magnesium deposits at Luning, NV. Rehabilitation costs for the T&T estimated at $315,000 and the rebuilding of the BG was to cost $2,400,000. Already approved Lend-Lease funds were to be used, but the plan never materialized and the government requisitioned the equipment and rails the following year.
 

Sharp & Fellows contract with the War Department to dismantle the T&T. Work begins on this date at Beatty and proceeds south.
 

An automobile smashes into an empty T&T flatcar used by Sharp & Fellows with one death resulting from the accident. The jury's award in a lawsuit for damages against S&F is nullified by the trial judge. This action is upheld by the California District Court on 11/09/1944.
 

The last rails are removed at Ludlow. The T&T is no more.
 

The I.C.C. finds that the T&T has not legally abandoned its property and formal authorization is granted at a hearing. The T&T is now "Officially Abandoned".