Bodie and Benton Railway and Commercial Company

Initial operations proved so successful that plans were made to extend a rail line from the Warm Springs station to the Carson and Colorado Railroad, then under construction, at Benton, California.

While the railway never gave an official justification for abandoning the project, the prevailing theory held by locals (at least as late as 1908) was that the owners of the lumber company at Mono Mills feared that access to the wider rail network would cause competition with other lumber operations in the Tahoe area in which they had a financial stake.

[3] In an ironic footnote, when the railway ceased to be profitable in 1918, due primarily to a decline in mining activity in Bodie, the rails and all valuable equipment were pulled up and sold.

The ruling grade was 3.8%, steep for a common carrier but shallow for a logging railroad, which meant the line did not need geared locomotives.

As it stands in a section of the park that is considered hazardous due to the presence of open shafts, it may only be viewed by visitors on special guided tours.