Eureka and Palisade Tonnage Paperwork

Last weekend’s event at the CRRM was quite a special event. In addition to all of the steam and goose action, the book sale offered some truly amazing deals and I now have to find more space on my bookshelves...

In addition to the seemingly never ended supply of books, I was a bit shocked at some of the paperwork that was available for next to nothing, even by day 2 of the sale (which I had thought was day 1…oh well).

In any case, I thought I’d share a couple pieces of information I managed to pick up. First was totally accidental. I bought a copy of “Narrow Gauge Nostalgia” because it contained a chapter on the Bodie and Benton. To my complete surprise, on flipping through it once at home, there was a report from the Eureka and Palisade wedged in between two of the pages, image attached below. It is a letter from G.D. Abbott, the Superintendent, to Mark Requa, the receiver in San Francisco, showing the tonnage and passenger report from December 1901. This is an interesting timeframe based on reading Greg Maxwell’s excellent E&P book as it was during the short receivership prior to reorganization in 1902, shortly after the E&P began soliciting livestock shipments and one month after the resumption of daily mixed train service after several years of 3 times weekly service.

Here's what it reports. First section is in pounds, with the first number being northbound and the second being southbound, and last being total.

The Northbound tonnage is predominately Ore (77%), with smaller amounts of Livestock (13%), Wood (5%) and Scrap Iron (4%) (dismantled mine machinery perhaps?), with a couple of other small items. The southbound tonnage is much more varied, reflecting inbound shipments necessary for the populace and also less than half the volume. Hay (19%), Merchandise (17%), Wood (15%), and Feed (12%) being the highest volumes Southbound. Interestingly, the wood volume both North and South was relatively similar. Also note nearly 7.5 TONS of liquor…. The call outs for Tybo and Ely Freight, and over 10 tons of “Packages Returned Free” are of interest.

The passenger counts underscore why the E&P never needed much in the way of passenger equipment. On a daily basis, a combination car would be more than ample as it works out to about 8 passengers carried daily. Loaded freight meanwhile works out to about 5 cars per day

Ore – 923,470 – 0 – 923,470
Merchandise – 7,605 – 86,820 – 94,425
Liquors – 0 – 14,570 – 14,570
Hides – 2,655 – 0 – 2,655
Flour – 0 – 27,675 – 27,675
Feed – 0 – 62,220 – 62,220
Sugar – 0 – 470 – 470
Oil – 0 – 18,800 – 18,800
Powder – 35 – 800 – 835
Hay – 0 – 96,630 – 96,630
Coal – 0 – 26,100 – 26,100
Wood – 60,000 – 75,000 – 135,000
Livestock – 150,000 – 0 – 150,000
Lumber – 0 – 38,400 – 38,400
Wheat – 0 – 7,520 – 7,520
Beef – 1,980 – 340 – 2,320
Scrap Iron – 47,350 – 0 – 47,350

Tybo Freight – 0 – 9,840 – 9,840
Ely Freight – 0 – 28,225 – 28,225
Packages Returned Free – 200 – 20,010 – 20,210
?????? Freight (Torn) - 3,650 – 75 – 3,725
Total – 1,196,945 – 513,495 – 1,710,440

Loaded? (torn) Freight Car Mileage – 6,546 – 4,724 – 11,270
Loaded Freight Car Mileage, Co. – 0 – 0 – 0
Empty Freight Car Mileage – 1,404 – 3,480 – 4,884

Ton Mileage, Commercial Freight 63,466; Free Freight 848
Ton Mileage, Company Freight – 121
Loaded Cars: Way 22; Through 125; Total 147; Company: Way 0, Through 0; Total 0.

Passenger Report
Number of Passengers, Way 97; Through 145; Total 242
Passenger Mileage, South 7791; North 7065; Total 14,836

I also managed to pick up several annual reports from the Nevada-California-Oregon railroad, spanning a fairly long timeframe and will post some highlights of those as well in the coming days.