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The Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad (T&T), often abbreviated as T&T, was a historic class II railroad that operated from 1907 to 1940, primarily serving regions in eastern California and southwestern Nevada. Established to transport borax from the Pacific Coast Borax Company’s mines east of Death Valley, the railroad played a crucial role in the mining industry’s logistics during the early 20th century. Crucero Station was a key facility along this line, functioning as an important interchange point that facilitated connections with other major railroads. This report explores the history, significance, and legacy of Crucero Station within the context of the T&T Railroad.

History of the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad

The T&T Railroad was incorporated in 1904 by Francis Marion “Borax” Smith, the founder of the Pacific Coast Borax Company, with the ambitious goal of linking mining operations in Tonopah, Nevada, to tidewater ports in southern California. Construction began in Ludlow, California, where it connected with the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. The line extended northward through the Mojave Desert, reaching Death Valley Junction by 1907 and eventually Beatty, Nevada. Through agreements, it also provided service to Goldfield via the Bullfrog Goldfield Railroad until 1928.

The railroad’s primary cargo was borax, but it also transported lead, clay, feldspar, passengers, and general freight. Peak operations occurred between 1909 and 1914, with regular trains servicing stations such as Crucero, Silver Lake, Tecopa, Shoshone, Death Valley Junction, Gold Center, and Beatty. However, the rise of truck transportation, the discovery of borax deposits closer to markets in Boron, California, and the Great Depression led to declining traffic. The Interstate Commerce Commission approved abandonment in 1940, and the tracks were removed in 1943 for wartime scrap metal needs.

Crucero Station: Location and Development

Crucero Station was located in the Mojave Desert, California, at milepost 25.68 on the T&T line, positioned between Broadwell (milepost 12.68) and Rasor (milepost 29.38). Construction of the railroad reached Crucero by 1906, following initial route challenges and rerouting efforts. The station was established as part of an agreement with the Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad (later acquired by the Union Pacific Railroad), allowing the T&T to cross and interchange at this point. This arrangement was not initially ideal for either party, leading to negotiations and adjustments as construction progressed northward.

Role and Significance of Crucero Station

As a registering station, Crucero was essential for operational coordination, including train orders and signaling under the railroad’s rules. Its primary significance lay in serving as an interchange with the Union Pacific Railroad, enabling the transfer of freight and passengers to broader national networks. This connection was vital for the T&T’s viability, as the railroad never fully reached its intended endpoints of Tonopah or San Diego on its own tracks. Crucero facilitated the haulage of borax and other minerals from remote mines to markets, replacing inefficient mule teams and supporting the economic development of the region.

Notable events at Crucero include a 1942 flood that stranded the T&T’s #99 doodlebug railcar, even after the line’s official abandonment. During its operational years, the station also housed personnel, such as a station agent and family in the late 1940s, highlighting its role as a small community hub in the isolated desert.

Legacy and Current Status

Today, Crucero Station is abandoned, with remnants of the right-of-way, including ties, tie plates, and spikes, still visible in the desert landscape. The site is accessible via off-road vehicles and parallels parts of California State Route 127. Preservation efforts include the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad Historical Society, formed in 2015, and a museum originally in Death Valley Junction that has relocated to Goldfield, Nevada. Archival records are held at institutions like the Huntington Library, documenting the railroad’s history.

The T&T and stations like Crucero represent an era of rail-driven industrial expansion in the American West, underscoring the challenges of desert transportation and the shift to modern alternatives.

Conclusion

Crucero Station was a pivotal component of the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad, embodying its operational and logistical essence through interchanges that connected isolated mining areas to the world. Though abandoned, its legacy endures in historical records and remnants, offering insights into early 20th-century railroading in the Mojave Desert.

Broadwell Station was a minor but strategically located siding and water stop on the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad (T&T), a historic narrow-gauge line that operated from 1907 to 1940 across the Mojave Desert in California and Nevada. Situated near Broadwell Dry Lake in San Bernardino County, California, the station played a supporting role in transporting borax, ore, and passengers during the early 20th-century mining boom. Though it featured limited infrastructure, Broadwell exemplified the T&T’s role in sustaining remote desert communities. The railroad’s abandonment in 1940, followed by rail removal in 1943 for World War II efforts, left the site as a relic of desert railroading, now part of the Mojave National Preserve.

Introduction

The Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad was a 167-mile standard-gauge shortline railroad built to connect borax mines in Death Valley, California, with broader rail networks, while tapping into Nevada’s gold and silver rushes. Incorporated on July 19, 1904, by industrialist Francis Marion “Borax” Smith, the line ran from Ludlow, California—on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway mainline—to Beatty, Nevada, with extensions to Goldfield and Rhyolite via acquired lines like the Bullfrog Goldfield Railroad. Despite its ambitious name suggesting endpoints at Tonopah, Nevada, and San Diego’s “tidewater,” it never reached either. The T&T hauled borax, lead, silver, clay, and general freight, peaking in the 1910s before declining due to the Great Depression and waning mining activity. Operations ceased in 1940, with rails scrapped by 1943.

Broadwell Station, one of many sidings along the route, was essential for operational continuity in the arid Mojave. This report examines its location, facilities, historical role, and legacy, drawing from railroad records, historical markers, and archival sources.

Historical Background of the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad

The T&T’s origins trace to Smith’s Pacific Coast Borax Company, which sought efficient transport from Death Valley mines to Los Angeles refineries. Initial plans involved a connection from Las Vegas via Senator William A. Clark’s Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad, but competition led Smith to pivot to Ludlow as the southern terminus in 1905. Construction began in August 1905, crossing Broadwell Dry Lake early in the build, and reached Gold Center, Nevada, by 1907.

The line’s route traversed harsh terrain, including Amargosa Valley and the Panamint Mountains, with key stations like Shoshone, Tecopa, and Death Valley Junction serving mining hubs. It connected with the narrow-gauge Death Valley Railroad at Death Valley Junction for spurs to the Ryan borax works. By 1908, acquisition of the Bullfrog Goldfield Railroad extended service to Nevada boomtowns, boosting passenger and ore traffic. Daily trains carried up to 20 cars of freight, supported by water towers, section houses, and sidings.

Economic decline hit in the 1920s–1930s: borax operations waned, gold prices fluctuated, and truck competition emerged. Segments like the 26-mile stretch from Ludlow to Crucero (near Broadwell) were abandoned in 1933. Full suspension came in 1940, with the company dissolving by 1946. Today, parts of the grade are hiking trails in Death Valley National Park or parallel California State Route 127.

Location and Facilities

Broadwell Station lay approximately 10–15 miles north of Ludlow, California, on the T&T’s southern end, at about milepost 10–12 from Ludlow. It was positioned adjacent to Broadwell Dry Lake, a vast playa that facilitated rapid early construction in 1905, as the flat, firm surface allowed quick track-laying across the dry lakebed.

As a siding station, Broadwell’s infrastructure was modest, typical of T&T’s remote outposts:

• Siding Track: A short spur for passing or storing cars, essential for single-track operations.
• Water Facilities: Likely a basic water tank or pumping station, critical in the water-scarce Mojave for steam locomotives.
• Section House: A small maintenance shed or bunkhouse for track crews, though not as developed as larger stations like Tecopa.
• No Major Agency: Unlike Shoshone or Beatty, Broadwell lacked a full telegraph office or passenger depot; it served primarily freight and operational needs.

The station’s proximity to Interstate 15 off-ramps today makes remnants accessible, though erosion and off-road use have obscured much of the site within the Mojave National Preserve.

Role and Operations

Broadwell’s role was operational rather than commercial. During construction (1905–1906), crews used the dry lake for efficient grading, reaching Dumont (milepost ~50) by May 1906. In service from 1907, it handled southbound borax from Death Valley and northbound supplies to Nevada mines, with trains averaging 10–15 mph over the desert grades.

Traffic peaked in the 1910s, with the T&T moving thousands of tons of borax annually—e.g., from Harmony and Ryan mines—plus gold ore from Rhyolite. Broadwell facilitated crew changes or water stops for the 4-6-0 steam locomotives, like T&T No. 1 (a Baldwin built for the Wisconsin and Michigan Railroad). Passenger service, via mixed trains, offered basic accommodations, but Broadwell saw minimal boardings.

By the 1930s, talc and clay shipments sustained the line, but the Ludlow–Crucero segment (including Broadwell) closed in 1933 due to low volume. The station’s isolation amplified challenges like dust storms and flash floods, yet it symbolized the T&T’s endurance as the last Death Valley railroad, outlasting rivals by decades.

Decline and Current Status

The T&T’s fortunes mirrored the region’s: mining busts post-1910s, the 1929 crash, and highway trucking doomed it. Post-1940 abandonment, rails were recycled for WWII, leaving ties repurposed in local buildings. Broadwell’s remnants—faint grades and scatters of ties—are now Mojave National Preserve features, viewable via off-road trails from I-15. No formal markers exist at the site, but nearby Ludlow’s Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad Shops Historical Marker (dedicated 1994) references the dry lake crossing.

The route’s legacy endures in museums like the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad Museum at Death Valley Junction, with artifacts, photos, and model trains. Hiking trails along the grade, such as near Baker, CA, allow exploration, highlighting the engineering feats of desert railroading.

Conclusion

Broadwell Station, though unassuming, was integral to the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad’s mission of bridging Death Valley’s isolation with America’s industrial heartland. It embodied the grit of early 20th-century expansion—fueled by borax barons like Smith—while underscoring the fragility of boomtown economies. Today, as a faded trace in the Mojave, Broadwell invites reflection on how railroads shaped the American West, paving (literally) the way for modern highways and preserves. Preservation efforts could further illuminate such sites, ensuring the T&T’s “Nevada Short Line” story endures.

References

• Abandoned Rails. “The Tonopah & Tidewater Railroad.” Accessed via web search, 2025.
• Historical Marker Database. “Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad Shops Historical Marker.” Ludlow, CA, 1994.
• Myrick, David F. Railroads of Nevada and Eastern California, Volume II. Howell-North Books, 1963.
• Shoshone Museum. “Tonopah & Tidewater Railroad.” shoshonemuseum.org, accessed 2025.
• UNLV Special Collections. “Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad Records, 1905–1977.” special.library.unlv.edu.