middlegate station, NV

Middlegate Station was originally a camping area for James Simpson who was hired by the government to survey a route through Nevada and the frontier. Simpson called the cuts through the mountains gates in 1850. By 1860 near where the Middle Gate is located a Pony Express Station was built although short lived the Overland Stage & Freight Company used it after for those journeying to other boom towns during the Silver and Gold Rush. Travelers could rest their head perhaps get a hot meal then be on their way to other towns such as La Plata, Wonder, Fairview, Stillwater, Tonopah etc etc. When the automobile came to be in the early 1900's the need for such a stage station became obsolete thus it remains abandoned till the 1940's leaving this historic station in peril because the ranchers were dismantling its walls for the Zeolite stones. When it was restored in 1942 it became a cafe, gas station and bar for those traveling the Lincoln Highway the loneliest road in America. Once again it became abandoned and was purchased as well as restored a second time by the Stevenson family in 1984 which today serves as an oasis for those on the road who need a room for the night, ice cold beer or a hot meal. Known for its Monster Burger Middlegate has been featured in books, movies and is well visited by quite a few celebrities including Hank Williams Jr. and Stephen King who wrote his novel desperation while temporarily living in Middlegate. I hope that this tour can bring in more tourism so we can help keep Middlegate Station open for years to come and preserve all the wonderful artifacts which can be found both inside and outside the grounds surrounding this historic landmark. Not many Pony Express or Overland Stations remain especially one that you can physically drink a beer at therefore this truly is a wonderful piece of American Wild Western History!

http://ParanormalGhostSociety.org/MiddleGateStationNevada.htm

Amazing Plan - Distressed by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100738
Artist: http://incompetech.com/

The sheer artistry of four sleek, sharklike U.S. Navy F-5 jet fighters starting up and taxiing for takeoff at Naval Air Station Fallon, Nevada, in October 2005 is captured in this unique video. Fly Navy! (Uploaded February 2013)

Recorded June 4, 2019

The most famous segment of U.S. Highway 50 is largely useless, running through Nevada about 100 or so miles south of Interstate 80, which is what sane people use today to travel the state. And yet this 287-mile stretch of highway has attained legendary status as the "Loneliest Road in America." The designation was made by Life magazine in 1986 and has stuck, in good part because Nevada tourism authorities recognized what the acolytes of ruin porn have long known about the strange magic desolation works on the human spirit. There are, today, "Loneliest Road" signs along the road, and some stores in the sparse towns along Route 50 display "I survived Route 50" signs in windows covered with geologic layers of grime.

Shortly after sunrise I depart Ely and set out across Nevada on this desolate stretch of highway. The index below contains the details of my adventure...

0:00:00 Depart Ely, Nevada bound for Reno
0:03:08 71 miles between towns
0:09:41 Eureka, Nevada
0:14:59 31 miles of nothing
0:18:46 Bean Flat Rest Area
0:20:20 34 more desolate miles
0:24:24 Austin Summit
0:28:46 Austin, Nevada
0:30:40 63 miles to the next town
0:35:39 Historic Middlegate Station
0:40:42 22 miles of desert
0:44:26 Sand Mountain Recreation Area
0:48:36 25 more desolate miles
0:49:46 Fallon, Nevada
0:58:02 Leave Fallon and the road is no longer desolate
1:00:23 Exit U.S. 50 and head north
1:03:41 Virginia City, Nevada
1:12:26 Geiger Summit
1:18:41 Hyatt Place Hotel at the Reno Airport
1:23:41 Downtown Reno (Biggest Little City in the World)
1:30:50 Outback Steakhouse

Be sure to check out all the videos in this series in the following playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLS6aoV2jqXu4IL4zbgmxHPW963zGn9Dbx

From: http://timvp.com

"Loneliness" on the Loneliest Road in America reaches its depth near Cold Springs Station before gradually giving way to the more urban traffic of Fallon and Fernley, Nevada.

Video time points
(includes select oncoming-car times in "lonely" areas)
0:51 Oncoming car
1;10 Oncoming car
0:55 Alpine Road turnoff
1:30 Oncoming car
3:44 Cold Springs Station
http://www.forgottennevada.org/sites/cold_springs.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_Springs_Station_Site
http://www.xphomestation.com/nvsta-coldsprings.html
12:00 SR 722 to Eastgate & Ione
13:52 & 14:04 Oncoming cars
14:04 SR 361 Middlegate turnoff sign
14:31 "Fallon 47; Reno 107; Carson City 108"
15:57 Sprinting deer on road
16:20 Oncoming car
17:00 Oncoming car
18:09 Oncoming car
19:57 Oncoming car
21:27 Oncoming car
21:30 Oncoming car
24:38 U.S. Naval Reservation (left)
26:22 SR 839 Rawhide turnoff
28:10 "Fallon 30; Reno 93; Carson City 94"
28:29 Sand Springs Pass (4,644 feet / 1,416 m) Churchill County
http://passbagger.org/pb-nv-sand-springs-pass.htm
31:02 Sand Springs Pony Express Station Historical Marker
31:15 Sand Mountain
52:45 Entering Fallon
58:12 Leaving Fallon
1:20:05 Entering Fernley
1:20:35 On ALT US 95 north to Interstate 80

Map of this drive:
https://goo.gl/maps/3oStBABce182

This video may also be accessed as part of a playlist of all video captured on this day's drive:
2016-06-05 Loneliest Road in America: Cedar City-Panaca-Ely-Eureka-Austin-Fallon-Reno
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZiOqJL_FqTSxiejv_kYa_B0GAvz9ORle

This is the paved route from Austin, NV to Eastgate (effectively Middlegate) through White Rock canyon. The original route goes through private property.

An alternative to this paved option is to take the dirt road to goes out towards the playa and then connects back to the pavement right before the climb into the canyon.

I must say though, the pavement is a nice break after the ride from Salt Lake City!

This is the second clip, so it's same descriptions as before. I thougt that I also could upload this, but this isn't as good as the other one.

Timelapse travel east from Reno to Austin along US Highway 50, "The Loneliest Road in America," Aug. 17, 2004. At 54 seconds in you will pass the Middlegate Shoe Tree on the left, a beloved regional landmark that was cut down by vandals about Jan. 1, 2011.

Home of the old Double A Fly-In Ranch- Mad River.
The Throttle is the white vernieer knob I'm constantly adjusting to control descent into the airfield.
2781' elevation
3500' runway

Listing: http://www.thecornerstoneway.com/?q=node/278

Music:
"Leaving Missouri"
Ry Cooder

Sorry about the lack of transitions; YouTube's editor seems to hang if I try to use them, and I have no software that otherwise allows me to edit MPEG video.

Anyway, here's the first of two sets of clips shot on May 15, 2010 at Silver Springs Airport in Silver Springs, Nevada.

Previously I uploaded a video I shot on board that red and white New Standard biplane.

I'll get the next set up clips up before too long, I hope...

I forgot to allow my camera to shoot at more than 60 frames per second (which is required for indoor shooting), so the image stabilization didn't work too well when I zoomed in a lot; 60 fps is the slowest shutter speed at which it works at all, but it definitely works better at higher speeds. That I was in full motorcycle gear on a very hot day and had bags of sheet music on my shoulders (for I was heading over those snow-capped mountains to get to Sutter Creek later that afternoon, and dressed for the colder temperatures of those mountains) certainly didn't help in holding the camera steady -- especially as I couldn't turn on my heels to pan when wearing my motorcycling boots.