Steamscape: American Flat. A Virginia & Truckee freight heads compass west with the vast expanse of desert known as American Flat as a back-drop. The run from Carson City to Virgina City follows the contours of the mountains surrounding American Flat, as it makes a big semi-circle, first heading west, then north, and finally northeast. In a few minutes, this train will traverse tracks at the base of the mountain range you see in the distance, climbing continuously as it does. In the middle of the "flat" you can perhaps make out the shape of an old mill complex. In the early 1920s, the United Comstock Mines Company built the worlds largest cyanide processing mill out there to process the ore mined from the Comstock Region. During its brief existence, more than 1000 men worked there and a small town grew up around it. Then, just as quickly as the bonanza had arrived, the bottom fell out of the price of silver, and within 5 years of its opening, the massive mill was abandoned! Today, it still looks like someone turned the lights out and walked away. Signs warn explorers of the dangers of venturing into the site.
One of the cool things about the Comstock Region is how much of its history is still there for us to see....
