In Nevada, US-50 is well-known as the “Loneliest Road.” What’s less well-known is that part of the original route of US-50 was itself bypassed in the late 1960s. The original alignment west of Austin, Nevada, ran farther south, crossing the northern Shoshone Mountains at Railroad Summit, and then dropping south in Smith Creek Valley to cross the Desatoya Mountains at Carroll Summit. It rejoins the present alignment near the famous Shoe Tree. This route was a bit shorter than the current route, but the stretch over Carroll Summit was twisty…
