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| The historic Nevada-California-Oregon Railway Depot on Fourth Street in Reno |
The city of Reno owes much of its existence to railroads. It was the Central Pacific Railroad that first plated the community (in 1868) and the Virginia & Truckee Railroad once connected it to the fabulous wealth of the Comstock region. Additionally, in the early 20th century the Western Pacific Railroad had a spur line to Reno.
But there was another railroad, the Nevada-California-Oregon Railway (or, as it was sometimes abbreviated, the N-C-O), that was the only one to call Reno its headquarters. Now largely forgotten, the railway went through an astounding number of changes during its existence.
According to the late David Myrick’s meticulously-research book, “Railroads of Nevada and Eastern California, Volume 1,” the N-C-O was originally planned to stretch south for about 133 miles, from Wadsworth (about 30 miles to the east of Reno) to then-thriving mining camps at Candelaria and Belleville.
But recognizing that the planned Carson & Colorado Railroad would be essentially serving the same areas, in 1880, organizers switched gears and announced plans to build a railroad line from the mining towns of Aurora and Bodie, through Reno, and ending at the California-Oregon state line near Goose Lake. This new venture was to be called the Nevada & Oregon Railroad.
Following internal conflicts between the railroad’s board members—and construction of only 17 miles, going north from Reno—the enterprise, which was badly underfunded, went bust.
During the next few years, the N&O stumbled through financial difficulties and management changes. In 1885, the railroad’s name was changed, again, to the Nevada & California Railroad. Additionally, the line was extended to the eastern edge of Honey Lake.
Finally, in 1893, the railroad became part of the Nevada-California-Oregon Railway and, in the following decades, the line was extended to Lakeview, Oregon. Because of the many twists and turns of the line, some informally called it the “Narrow, Crooked, and Ornery” railroad.
The N-C-O presence in Reno reached its peak in about 1910, when the railroad had a roundhouse, locomotive house and machine shop, and it opened a two-story depot/station on Fourth Street (replacing a smaller wooden one on the corner of Lake and Plaza streets).
The new depot was designed by prominent Reno architect Frederic DeLongchamps in an elegant style that incorporated Italianate bracketed cornices, Mission-style façade elements, Roman arches and red Spanish roof tiles.
In 1917, the N-C-O sold 64 miles of its line from Herlong, California, to Reno to the Western Pacific Railroad, meaning it no longer needed its properties in Reno. In the 1920s, the remainder of the line was sold to the Southern Pacific Railroad.
As for the railroad’s Reno properties, the roundhouse burned in 1940 but the depot and the locomotive house and machine shop are still standing.
The depot ceased being used for passenger travel in 1937 (that service was abandoned by the Western Pacific Railroad). It served as the WP offices for many years and, after 1958, was home of the Barengo Liquor Company.
More recently, after sitting empty for about a decade, it was lovingly restored into a popular restaurant and microbrewery and distillery called the Depot Craft Brewery Distillery.
The former locomotive house and machine shop was also sold and has, over the years, hosted a variety of businesses, including a printing business for many years. Recently, it became the home of Black Rabbit Mead Company, a local mead-brewing concern.
The city of Reno has designated both historic structures as key parts of its new Brewery District along Fourth Street. Some eight micro-breweries, micro-distilleries, and a winery are or soon will be clustered in this historic part of the city.
A good source of information about the N-C-O’s history is the Sparks Museum’s website, https://sparksmuseum.org/narrow-crooked-ornery/.
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