Tonopah daily bonanza. [volume] (Tonopah, Nev.) 1906-1929, 1912-02-19
Improving Automobile Roads
In Railroad Valley Country


Barndt, president Of the Railroad
Valley Saline company, stated that
the road across the mud lake in
Railroad valley, which is being built
by the joint efforts of those in
terested in the potash fields, would
soon be completed and that the
time required for an automobile
trip from Ely to Tonopah would
thereby be reduced to about ten
hours.
Between $4,000 and $4,000 have
been spent on the new road, which
cuts down the distance between Ely
and Tonopah by several miles and
renders unnecessary the long. rough
detour around the lake which con-
tanned some very bad stretches of
road where all but the largest
and most powerful cars were apt
10 come to grief.
Mr.. Barndt stated that when he
was in Fallon last August, nearly
500 automobile parties making the
transcontnental tour, had already
registered there that season. 1t is
safe to say that considerably more
than 500 cars must have passed
through Fallon during the sum
mer and fall, as many parties went
through without stopping to regis
ter. This tide of travel will stead
lily increase until in 1915 several
thousand automobiles may be ex-
pected to make the trip on theil
way to the Panama-Pacifc exposi
ton at San Francisco.
The automobile journals in tn,
past have warned all tourists abou
making the trip through Contra
| Nevada, telling them that the road
We're almost impossible. that tn
distances between stations was yer.
great and that the trip could onl.
be made by taking great chance
of priyation and hardship. In con
sequence of these warnings, most o
the tourists for Southern alifor
MIA have gone through Arizona
while those going to San Francis
co have stuck as closely as possible
to the main line of the Southern
Pacific, passing away to the mort
J of Ely and all the camps of centra
and southern Nevada.
1t must be confessed that tn
stories in the automobile journal
were not without foundation. Man
cars have come to grief on tn
central Nevada route, and the roa
through Railroad valley was prol
S ABLY the weakest link in the chair
e Through the efforts of Mr. Barnt
5 and others, this drawback has bee
done away with A party of III
business men of Tonopah are a
$ ranging to improve the road froi
that city southwark until 1t col
+ meets with the Owens valley roa
in California, which has been sy
tematically improved at great e
penditure of time and money unit
il is practically a boulevard.
/. While in Salt Lake recently, Ca
!. S. HIoag, secretary of the Ely Cor
J. mercial league was assured tn
n the transcontinental route from Sd
: Lake City to the Nevada line won
IL be put in first class condition +
81 automobiles during the coming Sc
e son. Il Is now up to Ely al
y White Pine county to improve I
& road from the state line over I
d Schellhourne pass into Ely r
he road from Ely westward IS said
"a he I'm fairly good shape but the
y, are some stretches Of bad trayeli
b which should 10 Improved. II !
"a ing remembered always that a chs
n Is no stronger than ITS woakl
u link aud that the central Neva
NJ route has 10 overcome tho han
"a cap Of a bad reputation already
g mhlished
" Many Of cur citizens are indin
o- eut 30 the question Of aulomol
Is roads. thinking that they conc'
e only the very small percentage
: the population who own the "a
This Is great mistake, a. a ~
PREDICTION VIII show Fifty doil