Special Collections, University Library, University of Nevada, Reno

A GUIDE TO THE COMPANY RECORDS OF THE

Carson and Colorado Railroad

Collection no. NC71

  

  

  

Carson and Colorado Railroad Company 

Carson and Colorado Railway Company 

(1880-1900) 

  

The Carson and Colorado Railroad was incorporated in May, 1880 to service the growing Mining Companies of the west Central Nevada and nearby California.   

 

Work began on the narrow gauge railroad in 1880 and by April, 1881, trains were carrying freight and passengers from Mound House, Nevada to Hawthorne, Nevada, 100 miles south.  By 1882, the Carson and Colorado had reached Candelaria, Nevada, the terminus of the initial railroad.  To accommodate further building and financing Nevada, the Carson and Colorado, Second Division was incorporated and also, the Carson and Colorado, Third Division, to enable the railroad to extend into California.  Officers and stockholders remained the same, D.O. Mills being the major stockholder and H. M. Yerington acting as president and general superintendent of all three divisions.  Although the projected plan called for extending the line to Fort Mohave on the Colorado River, the track actually ended at Keeler, formerly Hawley, California, near Owens Lake. 

 

A decline in mining activity along its route caused financial difficulties for the railroad around 1890 and the company was forced to re-incorporate as the Carson and Colorado Railway Company in 1892.  Some changes in directorship occurred but D.O. Mills and H.M. Yerington remained as key figures.  The railroad was absorbed by the Southern Pacific Company in 1900.   

 

 

Scope and Content 

 

The records of the Carson and Colorado Railroad Company are contained in two archival boxes and approximately 50 bound and unbound volumes.  Records of the original company, the Second Division, the Third Division, and the Carson and Colorado Railway Company are all included in the collection.  Material from the three divisions of the Carson and Colorado Railroad Company are integrated, covering the years 1800- 1892.  Records after 1892 are those of the Carson and Colorado Railway Company. 

 

Loose material is composed of company records including organizational papers, correspondence, documents dealing with right of way through the Walker River Indian Reservation, land deeds and leases, financial statements, and account and time books.  Bound volumes include waybills, account books, freight and tonnage record books, train registers, and a station record book.  Material is original and is handwritten and also, typed, and copied.  Some records are in poor condition and have been wrapped for preservation.

 

This collection is divided into the following series: 

 

Series 1            Company papers 

Series 2            Correspondence 

Series 3            Real Estate 

Series 4            Statements and Accounts 

Series 5            Time Books 

Series 6            Waybills (Bound and Unbound Volumes) 

Series 7            Account volumes 

Series 8            Freight and Tonnage Record Books 

Series 9            Operations 

 

 

Box 1   Series 1          NC71/1            Company Papers 

  

The series includes a variety of company papers generated by and pertaining to the Carson and Colorado Railroad Company, the Carson and Colorado Railroad, Second Division and Third Division, and the Carson and Colorado Railway Company.

 

Included are articles of incorporation and organizational papers; contracts and agreements, 1880-1882; stockholder meeting records, 188-1891; dividend records, 1882-1883; contractors’ receipts for capital stock, 1882-1889; acceptances of railroad by chief engineer, 1881-1883; releases, 1883; law suit documents, 1885, 1892; Certificates of Indebtedness, 1888; route agent’s register, 1883 and reprint of an 1882 timetable.  Materials are arranged chronologically within subject categories.  All material in this series is from the Carson and Colorado Railway Company is contained in one folder. 28 folders.   

  

  

Series 2          NC71/2            Correspondence 

 

Correspondence from 1880 through 1915 is contained in this series.   Material after 1893 refers to the Carson and Colorado Railway Company.  Much of the early correspondence concerns supplies and railroad equipment ordered for the company.  Other subjects covered are land description, sales and acquisition, rights of way, and some explanation of the various Carson and Colorado re-incorporations.  Material is arranged chronologically in folders.  13 folders.  1 letterpress book, 1886-1889.   

 

 

Series 3            NC71/3          Real Estate 

  

The series contains documents dealing with land and property transactions of the Carson and Colorado Railroad and Railway Companies.  Included are right-of-way documents through the Walker River Indian Reservation, Nevada, 1880-1882; deeds to lots in Hawthorne, Nevada, 1881 and other properties, 1883, 1895; leases from the Carson and Colorado Railroad, Second Division and Third Division to the Carson and Colorado Railway Company, leases from the Railway Company; leases to property at Soda Springs, Nevada, a township plat and land patent application, 1887.  Material is arranged chronologically in subject categories.  6 folders.

 

Series 4            NC71/4            Statements and Accounts 

  

Included in this series are a variety of statements and accounts of the Carson and Colorado Railroad Co. and the Carson and Colorado Railway Company general accounts and receipts, 1880-1894; shipping receipts, 1894-1898; construction accounts and freight statements, 1800-1902.  Additional financial records can be found in bound account volume series (7).  Material is arranged chronologically within subject categories.  5 folders. 

 

 

Box 2   Series 5            NC71/5          Time Books and Time Rolls

 

This series contains 106 small time-books and three large time-books recording days worked by various crews on the Carson and Colorado Railroad from1880 to 1895.  Many books contain only one or two pages of records.  The small books are arranged chronologically in tied bundles and are stored in box 2 along with the three larger time- books.  Time rolls include one for each Carson and Colorado station, 1897-1898. 

  

Series 6-9 are bound and wrapped volumes stored on shelves adjacent to the two boxes of Carson and Colorado Railroad Company Records. 

 

Series 6            NC71/6            Waybills 

 

Included are two very large waybill registers, three books of waybills in fragile condition (wrapped) and 12 waybills press copybooks.  Railroad waybills usually indicated date, point of departure, destination, and charges.  Waybill volumes are numbered and arranged on the shelf in the following order: 

  

1.      Carson and Colorado Railroad Co.  Register of C&C Waybills, No. 2 May 1884-Spet. 1887. 

2.      Carson and Colorado Railroad Co.  Register of C&C Waybills No. 3 Oct., 1887- August 1891. 

3.      Carson and Colorado Railway Co. Three books of waybills wrapped in one package (fragile condition). 

            Waybills posted in chronologically from back to front. 

                Sept.28, 1899- June 29, 1899; Dec. 27, 1899- Sept. 28, 1899; Feb. 28, 1900-Jan. 9, 1900. 

4.      Carson and Colorado Railway Co. Waybill press copybook, Nov 23, 1898- Jan. 16, 1899. 

5.      Carson and Colorado Railway Co. Waybill press copybook, Jan. 17, 1899-March 15, 1899.   

6.      Carson and Colorado Railway Co. Waybill press copybook, March 16, 1899- April 29, 1899. 

7.      Carson and Colorado Railway Co. Waybill press copybook, April 30, 1899-June 13, 1899. 

8.      Carson and Colorado Railway Co. Waybill press copybook, June 14, 1899- July 29, 1899.   

9.      Carson and Colorado Railway Co. Waybill press copybook, July 30, 1899-Sept. 15, 1899. 

10.    Carson and Colorado Railway Co. Waybill press copybook, Sept. 16, 1899- Oct. 30, 1899. 

11.    Carson and Colorado Railway Co. Waybill press copybook, Oct. 31, 1899- Dec. 2, 1899. 

12.    Carson and Colorado Railway Co. Waybill press copybook, Jan. 22, 1900- Feb. 28, 1900. 

13.    Carson and Colorado Railway Co. Waybill press copybook, Mar. 2, 1900- April 14, 1902. 

14.    Carson and Colorado Railway Co. Waybill press copybook, Dec. 25, 1901- April 14, 1902. 

15.    Carson and Colorado Railway Co. Waybill press copybook, April 14, 1902- July 14, 1902.  

 

  

Series 7            NC71/7            Account Volumes 

  

Account volumes of the Carson and Colorado Railroad Company and the Carson and Colorado Railway Company are numbered and arranged on the shelf in the following order:

 

1.      Cash Book, May, 1881- October, 1894. 

2.      Cash Book, Dec., 1897- July, 1900. 

3.      Account Book, Jan. 1, 1890- Dec., 1899. 

4.      Account Book, Jan. 31, 1896- April 30, 1896. 

5.      Account of Stock, July 18, 1896- Jan. 30, 1905. 

6.      Daily Statement and Recapitulation Account Book, Nov. 11, 1898- Dec. 8, 1899. 

7.      Daily Statement and Recapitulation Account Book, Dec. 9, 1899-Aug. 8, 1900. 

8.      Check Book, Sept. 9, 1899- Aug. 22, 1900. 

9.      Account Book, Sept. 27, 1910- 1916. 

  

  

Series 8            NC71/8            Freight and Tonnage Record Books 

  

Freight and Tonnage Record Books of the Carson and Colorado Railroad Company and the Carson and Colorado Railway Company are numbered and arranged on the shelf in the flowing order:

 

1.      Record of Freight, 1881- 1889 

2.      Record of Local Freight, 1902- 1905 

3.      Tonnage Book, 1881-Jun. 30, 1890 (returned to the Nevada State Museum) 

4.      Tonnage Book, April, 1894 – Sept., 1896 

5.      Tonnage Books       1896-1897

                                        1897-1898 large folder 

                                        1898-1899 

                                        1899-1900 

6.      Tonnage Book, Nov. 1896- April 1, 1898 

7.      Tonnage Book, May 24, 1897- June 27, 1898 

8.      Tonnage Book, July 1899- March 1900 

        Dec. 1, 1901- Feb. 28, 1903 

9.      Tonnage Book, Nov. 16, 1899- Dec. 22, 1906 

10.    Tonnage Book, Nov., 1900- Nov., 1901 

11.    Tonnage Book, Nov. 21, 1901- July 14, 1902 

  

  

Series 9            NC71/9            Operations 

 

The Carson and Colorado train registers recorded train number, conductor, engine name, and engineer, also times of departure and arrival at the various stations.  Some also indicated the freight carried.  The train registers are mainly unbound, loose pages and have been wrapped and tied for storage.   Some bound volumes are in poor condition and have also been wrapped.  Packages and volumes are numbered and arranged on the shelf in the following order: 

             

1.      Carson and Colorado Railroad. Train Register, June 17, 1881-Dec. 31, 1881 and July 2, 1882- Dec. 31, 1881. 

2.      Carson and Colorado Railroad. Train Register, July 27, 1883- Dec. 14, 1884 and Jan. 1, 1885- Jan. 5, 1888. 

3.      Carson and Colorado Railroad. Train Register Jan. 6, 1888- Feb. 3, 1891 and Oct. 22, 1891- Aug. 17, 1893 and March 9, 1895- Dec. 31, 1895. 

4.      Carson and Colorado Railroad. Train Register, Oct. 16, 1896- August 26, 1898. 

5.      Southern Pacific Company.  Conductor’s Train Register, 3 volumes, poor condition.       

            Jan. 1, 1903- April 13, 1904 

            July 18, 1904- Jan. 26, 1905 

            Feb. 1, 1905- May 26, 1905 

6.      Nevada and California Railway. Station Record Book.   Mound House, Nevada, 1905-1906.