The Eureka Mill, among the largest on the Carson River, was erected in 1861 and equipped with 20 stamps and four arrastras, giving it a capacity of 30 tons per day. By 1865 it was processing ore from the Yellow Jacket Mine. In 1871, the Union Mill & Mining Company took over and began rebuilding the mill. The short Eureka Mill Railroad was also constructed to connect to the Virginia & Truckee Railroad by March 1872. Completed at a cost of $200,000, the New Eureka Mill had sixty stamps and a capacity of nearly 200 tons per day, and in 1875 was called the largest and finest mill in the state by the Territorial Enterprise. Unfortunately, the mill was ultimately lost to fire in 1892. A small tailings mill was briefly operated at the site beginning in 1893, but in 1897 the modern Eureka Cyanide Plant was built by A.J. McCone. Enlarged the following year, that plant continued to use the railroad line and lasted until February 1906.




The crew of a Eureka Mill Railroad train... --- 1892 (when the Eureka Mill burned down). The Eureka Mill was located about 1/3 of a mile from Santiago Canyon along the Carson River.




The ore came in standard gauge four-wheel ore cars designed and built in the Virginia & Truckee's shops in Carson City, Nevada. The Ore Bin. There is not much recorded on the Eureka Mill and its little 30-inch gauge railroad and I would like to see more, but maybe it would just confuse me. A close up of the ore "tub" on the railway.

---there were several Eureka Mills. The first built in 1871 burned down, and was then rebuilt, and later improved. Ore was originally hauled in four wheel ore cars by horses to an incline railway, and hauled up to the top of the mill to be dumped into a sorting device called a "grizzly".

In 1887, a Porter was purchased and began operating along the top of the flume until it was realized that the locomotive was too heavy, and a new right of way was built on land, and a deck, parallel to the flume. Both on the horse-powered and steam-powered lines, the little ore cars were hauled up to the mill on the incline railway. Later photos show the incline gone and a track running through the engine house to an ore bin. I do not know how the ore got to the top of the mill from this bin so gravity could do its work. At the other end of the Eureka Mill Railroad, ore was delivered from the Virginia & Truckee Railroad over a branch above the Carson River. The ore came in standard gauge four-wheel ore cars designed and built in the V&T's shops in Carson City, Nevada. When the Eureka Mill Railroad needed ore cars, they ordered cars to be built by the V&T shops.

The ore was dumped into tubs at the top of an incline railroad. There were two parallel tracks, each with a tub. One tub was filled and its weight, as it descended down the incline, pulled the previously emptied tub on the other track up to be filled. Once filled, it was let down pulling the empty back up to be refilled. The ore went into a large ore bin where it was dumped into the Eureka Mill Railroad's ore cars as needed.





While the big railroads tend to get a lot of attention, smaller industrial railroads have always played a role in developing Nevada. The Eureka Mill Railroad, a narrow-gauge line that helped process silver ore from the Comstock Lode at the mill site along the Carson River between Empire and Dayton during the Big Bonanza boom in the 1870s. ⁠




A rights-of-way easement along the old railway bed, and across the entire route on the Carson River Canyon Open Space, was purchased by the Nevada Commission for the Reconstruction of the Virginia and Truckee (V&T) Railway.

Carson River Canyon Open Space is one of Carson City's most historic Open Space properties. This extensive canyon stretches three miles along the Carson River following the historic Virginia and Truckee Railroad Grade. The area plays host to many outdoor activities including fishing, river rafting, swimming, off-highway vehicle exploration, horseback riding, and mountain biking. Enjoy breathtaking views and sandy beaches in one of the many day use areas.

This beautiful canyon was once home to more than a dozen ore reduction mills and lumber mills. In 1869 the Virginia and Truckee Railroad made it's way into the canyon, hauling ore from mines in Virginia City to the mills and returning laden with timbers for the mines.

In 1860, the first dam and ditch were completed five miles upriver from Empire City (now the Empire Ranch Golf Course). Water from the Carson River, a necessary component in mill operation, was diverted to power the Mexican and Mead Mills. Soon after, numerous businesses followed suit. The most notable were the Brunswick Mill, Merrimac Mill, Copper Canyon/Blue Canyon Mill, Vivian Mill, Santiago Mill, and the Eureka Mill. Today, little evidence remains of these once powerful operations. Travel along the remaining Railroad Grade and imagine the canyon as it once was.





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