In 1902, mining tycoon Senator William Clark of Montana found his interest piqued when his younger brother suggested they construct a railroad between Salt Lake City and Los Angeles in order to cut down on the time it was taking to transport raw materials from Clark's mines to the factories and shipyards he was supplying. Having settled on Las Vegas, with its natural springs, as the optimal spot for a refueling and repair stop along the route, he purchased a 2,000-acre parcel of land that was being farmed by a widow named Helen Stewart and in 1904 workers began arriving to work on Clark's railroad. He announced a land auction to be held the following May and promised that all those who showed up and purchased a plot would have their $16 train fair reimbursed.
In January 1905 Clark's San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake City Railroad was completed, providing both freight and passenger service, and the following May 15, as promised, the auction took place, although at that juncture the Las Vegas train depot was a makeshift affair, comprising a parlor car parked at the end of Fremont Street. A host of other buildings -- some 150 of them -- were also in the process of being built at the time and on the morning of the auction, for which more than 3,000 people had shown up, the Las Vegas Land and Water Company promised to build a depot and railroad repair shops to provide additional jobs and the railroad guaranteed buyers access to the new rail yard. Clark, for his part, had turned a 500 percent profit on the 600 parcels he auctioned off.
The original train depot was built in Spanish architectural style and was surrounded by 63 acres of prime real estate. By 1909, Clark had enlarged the Las Vegas train yard and repair shop and was employing 400 people -- that was the year in which legislators voted to create a new county and name it for him. But the course of the next decade would see tough economic times taking a toll and in 1917 the railroad halted some services in Las Vegas. The following year, Clark's line to Beatty, which was losing money, was discontinued and its rails and ties removed. In 1922 he sold his railroad to Union Pacific.
In 1940, a new Art Deco-style Streamline Moderne station took the place of the original depot building. In 1946 this was further upgraded with the addition of neon lights. However, in 1926 Highway 91, connecting Los Angeles to Las Vegas, was opened and in the same year Rockwell Field opened up Las Vegas and Clark County to commercial air traffic. In 1930 the airfield moved to a new site, where it would later be renamed McCarran Airport. And although the downtown train depot survived for a few more decades, supported by the debut of the City of Las Vegas service between L.A. and Las Vegas in 1956, in '68 what was by then known as the Las Vegas Holiday Special was discontinued. In 1969, the terminal building was torn down to make way for the Union Plaza Hotel and casino, which incorporated a small train and bus depot when it debuted two years later.
Amtrak operated the Las Vegas Limited between Las Vegas and Los Angeles for three months in 1976. A new service, the Desert Wind, began in 1979 and operated on Union Pacific tracks between Salt Lake City Denver & Rio Grande Depot and Los Angeles Union Station, with a stop at downtown's Plaza. But the fierce competition from airlines and the interstate highway system, along with frequent delays caused by UP freight trains, made the Desert Wind unpopular. It was discontinued in 1997, marking the end of commercial passenger rail service for Las Vegas, although numerous plans to reinstate service between here and California continue to be pursued -- so far without success.
