For those who don't know a new CA/NV SPV Atlas is out and with it comes a question for you "Nevada experts". This new SPV atlas shows that UP apparently built a new alignment through Elko in where both lines (ex-WP and ex-SP) come together somewhere west of Elko and run on this new alignment through the Amtrak Elko station and then split again just east of there. Does anyone know when this new alignment was done and exactly how long is it? From the new SPV it appears it might be close to 5 miles, but this can't be exactly determined.

I had to look up some references to help answer the specifics. The City of Elko was behind the relocation, not UP. Various citizens of the city first proposed the project around 1971, and on 13 August 1973 President Nixon signed a bill providing money for the relocation. On 17 August 1973 various public officials staged a "spike pulling party" in which they removed 104 spikes from the SP main out in front of Stockman's Casino, with an SP crew following right behind them to replace the pulled spikes. The Federal Government paid 95% of the costs, with the two railroads (SP and WP) and the local governments providing one-third each of the remaining five percent. The responsible government agencies let the first contracts in 1978.

If you look at a map of Elko, find Hot Springs Road on the west side of town, opposite about the mid point of the airport runway. The new SP alignment departed from the original grade about 2,000 feet west of the Hot Springs Road crossing and cut to the southeast to join up with the WP alignment, which departed its original grade right at the point where it crossed Hot Springs Road. The new SP line cut across the middle of what had been the west end of WP's Elko Yard. The two railroads then ran side by side along the Humboldt River next to Water Street through the middle of downtown, and just east of the 12th street bridge they started swinging back to the north. If you locate Manzanita Avenue where it leaves Idaho Street and then makes a ninety degree bend to the left...if you draw a straight line out from that first stretch of Manzanita Street, that's where the new alignment crossed what had been the original WP grade, and the WP peeled off onto it. The new SP grade continued trending to the northeast until it regained the original SP line right behind the shopping center that now has Albertson's and some other stored, or directly across from where East Jennings Way intersects East Idaho Street. There was one further realignment further east, where WP got an entirely new switching yard and shop complex as part of the project. The SP line maintained its original alignment, and the WP main got a new alignment around the outside of the new yard complex.

UP opened the new yard complex on 8 OCtober 1983, and on 12 November the "Last Train Through Town" operated, a passenger excursion that carried locals and dignitaries on both the old and new alignments. The work carried on, however, until 15 December 1983, at which time the work on the SP tracks were completed and the project wrapped up.

Total length of the primary part of the reroute (excluding the yard area) appears to be about four miles. Portions of the original mainlines- the SP main on both ends of town, and the WP main on the east side of town- were left in place as industrial spurs, but the various industries they served closed down or switched to trucks. The last of these shippers is Tricon Steel on the old SP main on the west side of town, though it's been a while since I've seen them get any cars and the spur is now filled with idled covered hoppers. The crossing of Mountain City Highway/Silver Street is now paved over, but the rails are still intact in the mainline and several industrial spurs all the way down to 3rd street. On the east end of town the WP main served a warehouse, and the SP main served a propane dealer, but both stopped shipping by rail about four years ago. Much of the end of the WP main was scrapped here a few years ago, and the warehouse is now an indoor sports complex.

Back in November 2007 I had some time and wandered around the east end of town. The results are on a thread over at railroadforums...

[www.railroadforums.com]

Lastly, one final legacy of the project is the Humboldt River. As part of the project the river was straightened and channelized, and that action alone has screwed up the hydrology of the river for decades to come.

Jeff Moore
Elko, NV