Some years ago, there was a narrow-gauge railroad that traveled through central Nevada bringing in and taking away all sorts of freight to and from Eureka. The railroad was The Eureka Palisade Railroad. It ran from a spur off a bigger railroad north of Eureka. The narrow gauge of just three feet is something of a unique thing in the world of railroads. The rails look like toy rails when you see them next to the big boy rails of the Western Pacific and the rest of the transcontinental railroads. Now why do you suppose I bring that all up? Well, here’s a story of the Eureka Palisade Railroad that is kind of cool.
That all-knowing and never-wrong Wikipedia will tell those who read it that the rolling stock and the rails were pulled up from the Eureka Palisade Railroad in 1938. I cannot wholly say it is fully wrong about the rolling stock, but the rails and the ties laid out in lines for a lot longer than 1938. How, Trina, do you know that?
In the late 1950s and early 1960s a farming community was established north of Eureka with hardy souls from all over the country. I know this because I was married to one of those souls. He and his parents laid claim to 640 acres and later he and I added another 320. In the quest to grow the farm it was decided to build a feed lot to feed the alfalfa we raised. Kind of like making a full circle of the whole process. So, a 40-acre feed lot was designed. It would eventually hold 5,000 head of beef brought in from Mexico and fed through the winters. But. Yes, a fully fed “but.” This is about the feed lot, not the cows. As cool as the whole cow feeding thing was.
The feed lot still stands and is unique in a couple of ways. First the fact that it was built with railroad ties from the Eureka Palisade Railroad. Each tie was purchased from whoever was in charge of the disposition of the last of the laying railroad. Each tie was set in a hole dug by an auger on a posthole digger driven off of a three-point hitch on a tractor that had to be pulled each time it was started. No cab, no GPS, nothing but a welded metal seat and a hot cherry red exhaust that you could light a cigarette off of when the engine was set at full throttle. Each hole was dug then cleaned out with a shovel that was bent at a 90-degree bend at the blade that fit down the hole leaving the bottom of the hole clean and flat. There were three huge pens, an array of separating and holding pens, a loading shoot and working pens. In all I think that approximately 1,752 ties were set to create the feedlot that is still being used today by a sheep outfit.
The second thing that makes this feed lot unique is that the lumber that created the pens is all rough-cut lumber. That is to say that the boards that were used were purchased direct from a mill in Idaho. The mill cut the 2” X 12” X 16’ boards and did not send them through a plane to make them what you would buy today. Today a 2” X 12” board will really measure 1 1/2” X 11 1/2.” No, the lumber of this feedlot are all full measured heavy boards. Every pen, every gate, every cross fence. I know the gates are special. I used to hang on them and swing as I closed them. Until I learned that gates take a lot of work to fix after they bend from being used as swings. But I have to tell you, it was so much fun!
Oh, those tiny rails from the narrow-gauge Eureka Palisade Railroad? While picking up ties and bringing them back to build the corrals of course there were rails laying out in the brush that made their way back to the farm too. Over the years the steel rails were used for this and that. We even sold some 4-inch sections as paper weights. Still have some around here. The rails are as unique as the date nails we pulled out of the ties when we found them as the ties were set. There are still a few rails here in a pile reminding me that there are always two sides of the tracks to tell stories about.
In life, you’re lucky if you have a hand in building something unique. Be sure to share the story of YOUR build.
Trina Machacek lives in Eureka. Her books are available online wherever you buy books or email her at itybytrina@yahoo.com to buy a signed copy.
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