California Eastern Railway
The California Eastern Railway was an eastern Mojave mining feeder line. It succeeded the Nevada Southern Railway, begun in January 1893 by interests headed by Isaac C. Blake of the Needles Reduction Company. The road left the Santa Fe main line at Goffs and reached Manvel in July 1893. Manvel, later Barnwell, became the railhead for Vanderbilt, the New York Mountains, and nearby mining camps in southern Nevada. [1][2]The Nevada Southern was planned as the beginning of a much longer railroad, with Pioche, Nevada, among the proposed destinations. The mining decline and the silver panic of 1893 ended those ambitions. The company entered bankruptcy in 1894 and was refinanced and reorganized the next year as the California Eastern Railway. [1][2]
The line revived at the turn of the century. Development of the Copper World Mine in the Ivanpah district, together with the Needles smelter, created new freight traffic. With Santa Fe financial support, the California Eastern resumed construction in April 1901. From Barnwell it crossed the New York Mountains, passed through Vanderbilt, and continued north into Ivanpah Valley. It reached its terminus in 1902. That rail terminus was also called Ivanpah, but it lay about 15 miles south of the older Ivanpah mining camp on Clark Mountain. [1][3][4]
A proposed extension to Goodsprings was surveyed but never built. On July 1, 1902, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway acquired the remaining California Eastern stock and made the road a Santa Fe branch. [1][3][4]
The branch soon faced competition. In 1905, the San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad crossed the California Eastern north of Vanderbilt at Leastalk, later known as South Ivanpah. Other railroads entering the surrounding mining country further reduced the California Eastern's prospects for traffic and expansion. [1][3]
Regular service between Goffs and Ivanpah continued until 1913. The track north of Leastalk then fell out of regular use. Service from Goffs to South Ivanpah continued until 1918 and thereafter ran only when traffic was offered. On March 10, 1921, Santa Fe abandoned and dismantled the California Eastern north of Barnwell. [1][4]
The Goffs-Barnwell portion lasted a little longer because it also served the separate Barnwell and Searchlight Railway. Cloudbursts in September 1923 washed out that line in several places. The Interstate Commerce Commission approved abandonment in 1924, ending rail service north of Goffs. [1][4]
References
[1] Hensher, Alan. "Manvel, Vanderbilt, Hart & Vontrigger." In Old Ores: Mining History in the Eastern Mojave Desert. 2005. https://vredenburgh.org/mining_history/pages/hensher2005-manvel_vanderbilt_hart_vontrigger.html[2] Vredenburgh, L. M., G. L. Shumway, and R. D. Hartill. Desert Fever: An Overview of Mining in the California Desert. Canoga Park, California: Living West Press, 1981, pp. 107-109.
[3] Wilkerson, Gregg R. "Railroads and Mining in the Mojave Desert and Southwestern Great Basin, California and Nevada." 2023.
[4] Myrick, David F. Railroads of Nevada and Eastern California, Volume 2: The Southern Roads. Berkeley, California: Howell-North Books, 1963, pp. 841-848.
Nevada Southern
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