Death Valley Railroad
| Reporting mark | DVRR |
|---|---|
| Locale | Ryan, California and Death Valley Junction, California |
| Dates of operation | 1914–1931 |
| Track gauge | 3 ft (914 mm) |
| Headquarters | Ryan, California |
The Death Valley Railroad (DVRR) was a 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge railroad that operated in California's Death Valley to carry borax with the route running from Ryan, California to the mines at Ryan C., located just east of Death Valley National Park, to Death Valley Junction, a distance of approximately 20 miles.
When mining operations at the Lila C. Mine were declining around 1914, Pacific Coast Borax Company began scouting the land outside Furnace Creek for richer borax deposits. Once they found some a bit west of the present mines, plans were put forward to build a narrow gauge railroad from the new mines to connect with the Tonopah & Tidewater Railroad at Death Valley Junction to ship the borax away for processing and packaging. The line was built by a separate company from Pacific Coast Borax Company, because they were struggling with financial issues at the time. All the track and maintenance equipment that was used in building the line was salvaged from the old Borate and Daggett Railroad which was located southwest of Death Valley at Daggett, California, and was laying dormant. Its second Heisler locomotive, Francis was used in the construction of the Death Valley Railroad along with a few gondolas and flatcars from the Northwest Pacific Railroad. After the line was completed, two 2-8-0 steam locomotives were bought from the Baldwin Locomotive Works to work the line and Francis was sold off. One train ran per day bringing food and water to the workers at the Ryan mine, and bought ore back late in the afternoon. After better deposits of borax were discovered at Boron, the Death Valley Railroad tried to resort to tourist operations by bringing in a Brill railcar to transport tourists to the old mines. Due to a lack of profit from tourists and freight trains and the closure of the mines, the railroad closed in 1931.
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