Went and walked all the way across the
new bridge over Hoover dam.
On the way back to camp we stopped and hiked through the five abandoned tunnels, following the railroad bed where trains once hauled the materials for building Hoover Dam. This took a couple of hours and we stopped and read signs about the town that was there while the damn was being built.
On the way back to camp we stopped and hiked through the five abandoned tunnels, following the railroad bed where trains once hauled the materials for building Hoover Dam. This took a couple of hours and we stopped and read signs about the town that was there while the damn was being built.
Time Line & Facts
- 1931: Lewis Construction Company began construction under Bureau of Reclamation.
- 1961: Last year railroad in use.
- 1962: Tracks dismantled and sold for scrap.
- 1984: Nominated to National Register of Historic Places.
- Length: 3.7 miles from trailhead to Hoover Dam Parking Garage.
- One of two most difficult sections of track to construct.
- Only remaining section of Hoover Dam Railroad system that is not highly disturbed or under water.
- All tunnels are approximately 300 ft. in length, and 25 ft in diameter. The tunnels were oversized to fit penstock sections and large equipment being transported to Hoover Dam.
- Nine steam and four gas locomotives and 71 people were used to operate the system. It was a standard-gauge, 90-pound rail construction that used Oregon fir ties.
- This section was used in the motion picture "The Gauntlet" starring Clint Eastwood and Sondra Locke for a sequence in which they were on a motorcycle being chased by an assassin in a helicopter.
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