First depot built on the Carson & Colorado Railroad, and today the only passenger depot remaining in Nevada: Beginning in 1881, the Carson & Colorado narrow-gauge railroad operated from Mound House, where it connected with the standard-gauge Virginia & Truckee, through Dayton, to Keeler, California, at the southeast end of Owens Lake.

In the reputed words of Darius Ogden Mills, one of the founders, the railroad was built "300 miles too long or 300 years too soon". It was the ultimate in economy to serve the mines and mills in the deserts of Nevada and Southern California. Soon after the first trains departed in early 1881 they were returning with tons of ore for processing in the many mills in the Dayton area.

Dayton's 1881 Carson & Colorado Railroad Depot, under SP ownership in 1914.

The Dayton depot was not only the first built on the line but was also the pattern for all that followed. Today it is one of only three original C&C passenger depots remaining and the only one in Nevada.

When the line from Mound House to Churchill was abandoned in 1934 the Dayton Depot was converted to a private residence. Then, when U.S. Hwy. 50E was widened in the 1950s it was moved out of the right-of-way and across the road to the corner at Main Street, where it continued to serve as a private residence.

The Dayton Depot has now been purchased with federal "Transportation Enhancement" funds through the Nevada Department of Transportation. Under the ownership of Lyon County with a stewardship agreement with the Historical Society of Dayton Valley, the depot will be preserved and restored to its original 1880s appearance to serve as the "Gateway to the Comstock" -- a Visitor's Center and site for C&C RR exhibits. It will also be the only C&C depot returned to its original 1880s appearance.

History of the Carson & Colorado Railroad

Dayton-Oriented Chronology of the C&C RR

Route Map of the Carson & Colorado Railroad

The C&C Railroad Station today -- before restoration.

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