Caboose 3303

Title

Caboose 3303

Artist

Pat Turner

Medium

Photograph - Digital Photos

Description

This Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad (LA&SL) wooden caboose #3303 was built in November 1903 by the Pullman Company. It was retired from service in October 1928. The LA&SL Railroad operated independently until April 1921 when it was acquired by, and operated as part of, the Union Pacific Railroad. Caboose #3303 with its wheels removed and placed on timbers is now located in the ghost town of Rhyolite, Nevada. At one time, the caboose was part of a "gas station" that consisted of a storage tank, and a pump.
During the ensuing gold rush, thousands of gold-seekers, developers, miners and service providers flocked to the Bullfrog Mining District. Many settled in Rhyolite, which was located in a sheltered desert basin near the region's biggest producer, the Montgomery Shoshone Mine.

Industrialist Charles M. Schwab bought the Montgomery Shoshone Mine in 1906. He invested heavily in infrastructure, including piped water, electric lines and a railroad, that served the town as well as the mine. By 1907, Rhyolite had electric lights, water mains, telephones, newspapers, a hospital, a school, an opera house, and a stock exchange. Estimates of the town's peak population ranged between 3,500 and 5,000 in 1907–08.

Rhyolite declined almost as rapidly as it rose. After the richest ore was exhausted, production fell. The 1906 San Francisco earthquake and the financial panic of 1907 made it more difficult to raise development capital. In 1908 investors in the Montgomery Shoshone Mine, concerned that it was overvalued, ordered an independent study. When the study's findings proved unfavorable, the company's stock value crashed, further restricting funding.

By the end of 1910, the mine was operating at a loss, and it closed in 1911. By this time, many out-of-work miners had moved elsewhere, and Rhyolite's population dropped well below 1,000.

By 1920, the population was close to zero. After 1920, Rhyolite and its ruins became a tourist attraction.

Uploaded

July 16th, 2020

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