2579

Bodie & Benton Railroad Letter to Virginia & Truckee Railroad

Currency:USD Category:Western Americana / Collectibles - Railroad Start Price:75.00 USD Estimated At:150.00 - 350.00 USD
Bodie & Benton Railroad Letter to Virginia & Truckee Railroad
SOLD
325.00USD+ (65.00) buyer's premium + applicable fees & taxes.
This item SOLD at 2016 Dec 10 @ 17:15UTC-8 : PST/AKDT
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Very rare letter on superintendent's office letterhead. Dateline Bodie, Cal. Aug 18th, 1885. Addressed to Hume Yerington, General Purchasing Agent for the Virginia & Truckee Railroad (and son of Henry Yerington). Thomas Holt, superintendent for the railroad, is requesting the state of their account with the famous Comstock line. Marked answered. Folds, toning. The Bodie & Benton Railway & Commercial Company formed in 1882 out of the Bodie Railway & Lumber Company, which had formed in 1881 to build a railroad for the purpose of getting wood to Bodie. The company principals were brothers Seth and Daniel Cook, R. N. Graves, and Henry Yerington, who ran the Virginia and Truckee Railroad. This railroad is the only small gauge railroad in California that does not hook up to any other railway in the state. Its southern terminus was at Mono Mills and was never completed as envisioned to Benton. The track ran 32 miles from Bodie to Mono Mills. They hired Thomas Holt to supervise the construction. He hired many Chinese laborers, as they were familiar with building rail lines in the U. S., but Holt ended up having severe labor problems because of hiring the Chinese workers. When white laborers threatened violence against the Chinese laborers, Holt had the Chinese workers transported on the steamer Rocket out to Paoha Island on Mono Lake with provisions to ride out the anger! It is no surprise to see communication and business between the V&T and Bodie. Bodie was booming as the Comstock was fading. The railway ended operations in 1917. It is the subject of a recent book, "Railroad in the Sky." 8" x10.5" State: California City: Bodie Date: 1885 FHWAC#: 43044