Laws Narrow Gauge Railroad Station and Yard

The Carson and Colorado never reached the Colorado. Its three-foot gauge ran 300 miles from Mound House in Nevada down to Keeler, and when Darius Ogden Mills rode the finished line in 1883 he is said to have judged it built either 300 miles too long or 300 years too soon. He was wrong about the valley if not about the ledger: for some thirty years this was the only dependable way in or out. The last train ran on 30 April 1960.

What the plaque says

In 1883 the Carson & Colorado Railroad was built between Mound House (near Carson City, Nevada) through Laws to Keeler, California, a distance of 300 miles. Laws Station was named in honor of Mr. R. J. Laws, Assistant Superintendent of the railroad. Between 1883 and about 1915, this railroad provided the only dependable means of transportation in and out of Owens Valley. Train service was stopped on April 30, 1960.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Bishop — 3.7 mi
  The Eastern Sierras working capital, and the home of the Nüümü who were traded out of their own valley.
• Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest — 9.3 mi
  Trees older than the pyramids, growing on white dolomite at ten thousand feet.

More markers nearby

• First Permanent White Habitation in Owens Valley — 0.4 mi
• San Francis Ranch — 6.5 mi
• Bishop Creek Battleground — 8.5 mi
• Mayfield Canyon Battleground — 16 mi