The railroad was constructed to connect Eureka, the center of a rich silver mining area, with the national railway network at Palisade.
Nevertheless, despite the determined and colorful management style of John Sexton, the line succumbed to the effects of flood, fire, competing road traffic, and dwindling amounts of ore extracted in Eureka.
The rails and rolling stock of the last surviving narrow gauge railroad in Nevada were removed in 1938.
[2] The Eureka, one of the railroad's only surviving steam locomotives, is listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places.
[3] Eureka-Nevada Railway's second locomotive number 12 is preserved at the Nevada State Railroad Museum Boulder City.