Approximate site of Ancram, looking northwest towards Bonnie Claire. Bullfrog Goldfield grade comes in from left; access road from right.	The grade across Sarcobatus Flat, looking back to the southeast. The berm is well weathered and rounded all the way.

I found the entire section from Beatty to Bonnie Claire very pleasant and peaceful, and obviously not travelled by others for a rather long time.  At a point near the west side of the low hills through which the initial section of the grade passes, I was keeping an eye out for the site of the former stop of Ancram. Even in boom times this was probably no more than an artificial creation of the railroad at the junction of a couple of desert roads, as the area had little to recommend it. On my expedition it turned out to be marked by no more than a scattering of tin cans. Past Ancram, the old grade angles on a more northerly course past the dry lakebed of the Sarcobatus Flat. Far to the east, Highway 95 can be discerned with a sharp eye, but if anything went wrong it would be a very long walk.
 

What are these 3 short posts in the ground on the north side of grade? Possible site of Jacksonville?	Approaching Bonnie Claire. Dry lake at the floor of of Sarcobatus Flat at right background. This is one of the few ties to be seen along the route.

All along the route are sawn-off ends of the telegraph poles which evidently used to parallel the railway. There are hardly any railroad ties left on the berm at all, most having been abrogated as firewood reserves for nearby Scotty's Castle soon after abandonment of the Bullfrog-Goldfield.  Also, since abandonment of this segment was over ten years earlier than the main T&T line, it is not surprising that fewer remains of any kind are left. Surprisingly however, many decayed remnants of spikes and rails can be seen along the grade. Interestingly these are extremely rusted and crumbled, presumably due to the salty environment of Sarcobatus Flat. Even sections of rail are rusted completely through.

As the grade approaches Bonnie Claire, you can see the competing LV&T route coming in from the south, taking a more westerly route. The Bullfrog-Goldfield touches the edge of the Sarcobatus Flat dry lake at its western end and turns north to trundle into Bonnie Claire. Not much is left of the latter burg nowadays, save a couple of buildings and the trees still evident slightly to the south at Thorpe's Well. Near here the grade meets the modern-day paved Grapevine Canyon highway joining Scotty's Castle (at the north end of Death Valley) to Scotty's Junction on Highway 95.

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