Railroad Valley (Nevada)

{{short description|Valley in Nye County, United States of America}} {{Infobox valley | name = Railroad Valley | photo = A496, State Route 375, Nevada, USA, the Extraterrestrial Highway, 2016.jpg | photo_caption = State Route 375 through Railroad Valley with the Quinn Canyon Range in the distance  | map = USA Nevada  | location = Tonopah Basin | country = United States | region = Nye and White Pine County | state = Nevada | relief = yes | label_position = bottom | coordinates = {{coord|38|41|14|N|115|29|28|W|region:US-NV_source:GNIS|display=inline,title}} | coordinates_ref = <ref>{{cite web |author1=EROS Cal/Val Center of Excellence (ECCOE) |title=Railroad Valley Playa |url=https://calval.cr.usgs.gov/apps/railroad-valley |publisher=USGS |access-date=10 September 2023}}</ref>  | elevation_ft = 7,036 to 10,745 | elevation_ref = | length_mi = 80 | length_orientation = N–S | length_note = | width_mi = 20 | width_orientation = SW–NE | width_note = | area_mi2 = 90 | type = | border = Quinn Canyon Range | border1 = Grant Range | border2 = White Pine Range | border3 = Pancake Range | border4 = Reveille Range  | footnotes = | embed = }}

'''Railroad Valley''' is one of the Central Nevada Desert Basins in the Tonopah Basin and is about {{convert|80|mi|km}} long north–south and up to {{convert|20|mi|km}} wide, with some southern areas running southwest to northeast.<ref>{{gnis|861046|Railroad Valley}}</ref>

==Description== The southern end of the valley begins near Gray Top Mountain (elevation {{convert|7036|ft|m|disp=sqbr}}) and stretches north all the way to Mount Hamilton (elevation {{convert|10745|ft|m|disp=sqbr}}). To the east are the Quinn Canyon, Grant, and White Pine Ranges, while to the west are the Pancake and Reveille Ranges. Most of the valley lies in Nye County, but it crosses into White Pine County at its northern end.<ref name=nv>Nevada Atlas & Gazetteer, 2001, pgs. 47, 55, and 61</ref> The valley includes numerous springs including Kate Springs and Blue Eagle Springs,[https://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/CollectionInfo.aspx?SpeciesID=508&State=NV] ranches such as the Blue Eagle Ranch,<ref>{{cite book |title= A history of Railroad Valley, Nevada|last= McCracken|first= Robert D|author2=Sharp Howerton, Jeanne|year= 1996|publisher= Central Nevada Historical Society |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rQRlAAAACAAJ |location= Tonopah, NV|isbn= 978-0-9639119-6-4|oclc= 36634605}}</ref> and 2 Tonopah Playas.

The valley has 4 separate Wildlife Management Areas ("Railroad Valley WMA"), and valley communities include Currant, Crows Nest, Green Springs, Lockes, and Nyala. The valley is the ancestral home of the Tsaidüka band of Western Shoshone, who are now enrolled in the Duckwater Shoshone Tribe of the Duckwater Reservation.<ref>[http://www.greatbasinheritage.org/great-basin-heritage-Duckwater-Shoshone.html "Duckwater Shoshone Tribe."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100516091318/http://www.greatbasinheritage.org/great-basin-heritage-Duckwater-Shoshone.html |date=2010-05-16 }} ''Great Basin National Heritage Area.'' (retrieved 17 April 2010)</ref>

==Natural resources== Most of Nevada's oil production (totalling about 553,000 barrels during 2002) comes from several small oil fields in Railroad Valley, including Eagle Springs, Trap Spring, and Grant Canyon oil fields.<ref name=nv/> The first well was drilled in 1954 by Shell Oil Company.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Moreno |first1=Richard |title=The Nevada Traveler: The vastness of Nevada become very real in Railroad Valley |url=https://www.nevadaappeal.com/news/2022/feb/02/nevada-traveler-vastness-nevada-become-very-real-r/ |website=www.nevadaappeal.com |access-date=10 September 2023 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="NVBMG">{{cite web |title=Oil & Gas Historical Summary |url=https://nbmg.unr.edu/oil&gas/HistoricalSummary.html |website=nbmg.unr.edu |publisher=Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology |access-date=10 September 2023}}</ref> The Eagle Springs Field, as it came to be known, included 14 wells with an average production of approximately 20,000 barrels per well per year by 1968. Only 10 wells remained by 1985 producing approximately 3.8 million barrels in total. By 1986, when a second oil field was discovered by Northwest Exploration Co, the Valley had 27 wells producing 6.8 millions.<ref name="NVBMG"/><ref>{{cite web |title=North Grant Canyon Prospect Railroad Valley - Nye County, Nevada |url=https://www.hgs.org/sites/default/files/North%20Grant%20Canyon%20Prospect%20Presentation_September%202018%201%20of%203%20-%20Copy.pdf |publisher=Houston Geological Society |access-date=10 September 2023 |page=15 |date=2010}}</ref>

The Valley also contains a playa with a lithium deposit which is "one of the 10 largest in the world and the largest in North America, with salt deposits 2,000 feet thick."<ref name="Reg-Lith">{{cite news |last1=Vigliarolo |first1=Brandon |title=NASA and miners face off over lithium deposits at satellite calibration site |url=https://www.theregister.com/2023/06/26/nasa_lithium_satellite_nevada/ |access-date=26 June 2023 |publisher=The Register |date=26 June 2023}}</ref>

NASA has used the flat ground for calibrating satellite geodesy, space-based radar, and height measurements, since the 1990s. In June 2023, NASA asked the USA's Bureau of Land Management to withdraw {{convert|36|mi2|abbr=on}} from its inventory of federal lands open to potential mineral exploration and mining, in order that the calibration area was preserved.<ref>{{cite web |title=Public Lands Withdrawn in the Railroad Valley for NASA Satellite Calibration Activities {{!}} Bureau of Land Management |url=https://www.blm.gov/press-release/public-lands-withdrawn-railroad-valley-nasa-satellite-calibration-activities |website=www.blm.gov |publisher=Bureau of Land Management |access-date=10 September 2023 |language=en |date=26 April 2023}}</ref><ref name="2023-06-24_APNews">{{cite news |last1=Sonner |first1=Scott |title=NASA opposes lithium mining at tabletop flat Nevada desert site used to calibrate satellites |url=https://apnews.com/article/nasa-lithium-mining-nevada-climate-change-018e9f36f82bcddff574deb1a0a2c6f2 |access-date=10 September 2023 |work=AP News |date=23 June 2023 |language=en}}</ref> [[File:RailroadValleyNV.jpg|center|thumb|600px|The central portion of Railroad Valley, looking southwest from the summit of Troy Peak.]]

==See also== * List of valleys of Nevada

==References== {{reflist|22em}}

==External links== {{commons category-inline|Railroad Valley (Nevada)}}

Category:Valleys of Nevada Category:Valleys of Nye County, Nevada Category:Valleys of White Pine County, Nevada