The History

1929: The great Six Companies, Inc. was created.
1931: Lewis Construction Company began construction under Bureau of Reclamation.
1962: Tracks dismantled and sold for scrap to Lucia Brothers.
1981: Last year railroad in use (lower section).
1984: Nominate to National Register of Historic Places.

1729 "A Modest Proposal" by Jonathan Swift. The worsening conditions of Ireland.

The Story

In 1931, a construction contract was let to Six Companies, Inc., a consortium of six major western firms. Together with the government, they built 30 miles of railroad connection Boulder City with all the facilities needed to build Hoover Dam (eg: cement mixing plants, quarry pit gravel sorting plant. Hoover Dam construction railroad system had three segments, The first, from Las Vegas to the Boulder City site, was built and operated by the Union Pacific Railroad. The second segment was built by the US Government. It ran from Boulder City down Hemenway Wash to Himix, the concrete mixing plant on the rim of the Black Canyon over-looking the dam. It provided concrete for the final 242 feet of the dam and the building on its crest. The airline distance from Boulder City to Himix was 6.7 miles. Six Companies built and operated the third segment of the system. The tracks branched off the US Government Construction Railroad at Lawler, about a mile up Hemenway Wash from the Alan Bible Visitor Center. It crossed Hemenway Wash and followed the base of the River Mountains an then looped eastward to the gravel plant on the flat overlooking the Colorado River.

Locomotives hauled tons of gravel and concrete on these tracks 24 hours a day. The foundations of the gravel plant are now 150 feet below the water level of Lake Mead. The Six Companies, Inc railroad was abandoned after the completion of Hoover Dam in 1935. The US Government Construction Railroad section was sporadically used until 1961, when the last generator was hauled over these rails and installed at the Hoover Dam power plant. The tracks were dismantled in 1962 and sold as scrap to Lucia Brothers. The tunnels and trails were nominated in 1984 to the National Register of Historic Places. Today, you can walk or bicycle along the elevated railroad bed used to haul supplies and materials for the construction of the Hoover Dam Enjoy the spectacular views of Lake Mead and the surrounding desert landscape.

Six Companies, Inc. circa 1930

Trail Description:
Along the trail look for desert bighorn sheep, ravens' and owls' nests, lizards, and antelope ground squirrels. You may also see rattlesnakes and scorpions during the summer. Also along the trail you will see a section of rough, rocky road on the south side of the railroad bed that is believed to be the first section of pioneer trail or road for the construction of Hoover Dam. Approaching tunnel 1, on the right, look down the ravine to see concrete plugs taken out of Hoover Dam to install the turbines.

Tunnel 1 has eight sections of vertical supports, five of which have horizontal planks to prevent the fall of loose rock on to the tracks so there would be few delays during the 24-hour dam building schedule. Weight from the rock has damaged the outermost, eastern arch. Tunnel 2 burned in an arson fire in 1990. You can see it looks different from the other tunnels. It was sprayed with shotcrete to fortify the now looser rock. Between tunnels 2 and 3, another pioneer road is visible. Rocks excavated from the tunnels were undoubtedly used for the fills you are walking on now. The outermost east arch was deformed by pressure of the rock in tunnel 3. Tunnel 5 was burned in 1978 and was then sealed. The tunnel was restored and reopened in July, 2001. The trail now continues all the way to Hoover Dam.

These rails, gravel and fir ties are all gone along with some great history, now converted into packed and maintained trails by the National Park Service and the Rails to Trails Conservancy. All tunnels are 25 feet in diameter. They were oversized to fit huge 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. Take a run through some great Nevada history.

A Look To The Future

Trail construction is now complete all the way to the Hoover Dam!