In Nevada, 'most authentic' railway site has steam, smoke -- and a cat

[mahatmakanejeeves]

TRAVEL

In Nevada, ‘most authentic’ railway site has steam, smoke — and a cat

By Justin Franz
April 15, 2022 at 8:00 a.m. EDT



A Nevada Northern Railway Museum volunteer inspects a locomotive in February. The site has a remarkably complete archive and offers rides along the same route that copper ore traveled a century ago. (Photos by Justin Franz for The Washington Post)

One of the things Mark Bassett noticed on his first visit to the Nevada Northern Railway Museum some 25 years ago was the lack of warning signs, glass cases and velvet ropes protecting the artifacts. ... “There were no signs saying, ‘Don’t Go There’ or ‘Don’t Touch That,’ ” said Bassett, then just a visitor but now president and executive director of the railroad. “It was very unusual for a museum.”

That’s because the Nevada Northern Railway Museum is not your typical museum. William Withuhn, the Smithsonian’s late transportation curator, called the museum complex one of the “most complete, most authentic, and best cared-for” historic railroad sites in North America. Spread out over 56 acres on the edge of Ely, Nev., are more than 100 historic rail cars, 58 buildings and structures, three restored steam locomotives, one Internet-famous cat and countless artifacts that contribute to the site’s designation as a National Historic Landmark. It’s one of the few historic railroads in the country to achieve such distinguished status.

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Nevada Northern Railway locomotive No. 40, which was put into storage in 1941 when the railroad stopped passenger service, is seen in its new role in 2016, leading the Steptoe Valley Flyer.

Passenger trains stopped running in 1941 after better roads opened up in the area, but the government regulator that oversaw the railroad required it to keep one passenger train — steam locomotive and all — just in case those newfangled automobiles didn’t pan out. That decision would have a big effect on the community a few decades later.

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Two of the Nevada Northern Railway Museum’s steam locomotives are prepared for a day of service in February.



Con Trumbull, archivist and trainmaster of the Nevada Northern Railway Museum, shovels coal into the firebox of locomotive No. 40 in 2019.

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Light streams through the East Ely railroad shop on Feb. 25.

Franz is a writer based in Montana. His website is justinfranz.com. Find him on Twitter (@jfranz88) and Instagram (@justinfranz).

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[OldBaldy1701E]

1. The museum is often featured on 'American Restoration'.

Rick and the gang often do restorations for the museum. My fave is the little orange rail coaster that they use to carry people up and down the tracks.