Nevada Northern Railway Museum facts for kids
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Nevada Northern Railway East Ely Yards, East Ely Depot
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Passenger train operated by the Nevada Northern Railway Museum, at the Museum's East Ely depot, September 2007.
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 Location in Nevada
Location in the United States
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| Location | Ely, Nevada |
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| Area | 40 acres (16 ha) |
| Built | 1905 |
| Architect | Frederick Hale |
| Architectural style | Late 19th And 20th Century Revivals |
| NRHP reference No. | 93000693 (yards), 84002082 (depot) |
Quick facts for kids Significant dates |
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| Added to NRHP | July 29, 1993 (yards), April 12, 1984 (depot) |
| Designated NHLD | September 20, 2006 |
The Nevada Northern Railway Museum is a cool place in Ely, Nevada. It's a museum and a special railroad where old trains still run! The State of Nevada owns it, and a group works hard to keep the Nevada Northern Railway history alive.
At the museum, you can see old trains being fixed up and even running again. They have fun events like Halloween and Christmas trains. Guess what? You can even learn to drive a real steam train! But you need to plan ahead for that amazing experience.
Contents
Where the Museum Is and How It Started
The museum is located at the East Ely Yards. These yards are part of the historic Nevada Northern Railway. This whole area is very important. It's listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places. It's also known as the "Nevada Northern Railway Complex."
The rail yards became a special "National Historic Landmark District" in 2006. This means they are one of the best-preserved old railroad yards in the country. They were super important for the area's copper mining industry. The yards were built in the early 1900s. They moved people and goods until 1983. That's when the Kennecott Copper Company gave the yards to a group that wanted to save them. They even gave all the old company records!
Amazing Train Collection
The museum has a fantastic collection of old trains. It includes three of the railway's original steam locomotives. There's also an electric locomotive and several diesel-electric locomotives. Plus, they have lots of old maintenance equipment. You can see many historic freight and passenger rail cars too.
Two of the steam locomotives, #81 and #93, run regularly for visitors. Locomotive #40 is currently being fixed up. Did you know that Locomotive #40 is the official State Locomotive of Nevada?
The museum also keeps many of its original train cars. These include passenger cars, wooden box cars, and ore cars. They even have work trains, all from the 1910s. The museum has the oldest working tank car in America. It also has the oldest working coal-fired steam crane!
Olympic Steam Team
In 2002, the 2002 Winter Olympics were held in Salt Lake City. The Nevada Northern Railway was part of the "Olympic Steam Team." Locomotive #93 went to Utah to help out. It carried people to the Olympic events.
The day before the games started, #93 joined two other steam trains. They pulled a special train carrying the Olympic flame. This was part of the torch relay!
Train Updates
In late 2020, locomotive #40 was taken out of service. It needed a big check-up and overhaul. This is required by law every few years.
Steam locomotive #81 returned to service in September 2021. It had a boiler test in 2020. The museum also stores Steptoe Valley Mining & Smelting #3. This steam locomotive was used at a smelter. It also had a short life on the early Niles Canyon Railway.
The East Ely Depot Building
The East Ely Depot was the main building for passengers. It was designed by Frederick Albert Hale and built in 1907. The building has a special look called Mission Revival style. It also has parts that look like Renaissance Revival buildings.
The depot has two stories and sits on a stone foundation. The bottom floor looks like rough stone. A painted stone band separates it from the top floor. The top floor is covered in stucco. The roof has curvy gables, which is typical for Mission Revival style.
The inside of the building is well-preserved. It still has separate waiting rooms for men and women. There are also rooms for baggage and express packages. The offices were on the second floor.
The depot was a very important place for the Nevada Northern Railway. It was the main spot for people traveling to the copper mining area of White Pine County.
There was a disagreement about the depot's name. People in Ely wanted it called "East Ely." They thought "Ely" made it sound like it was right in town. They even sued the railroad to change the name!
The railroad was first owned by a copper company. In 1933, the Kennecott Copper Company took over. Passenger service stopped in 1941. After that, the depot was used for Kennecott offices until 1985. The state of Nevada bought the depot in 1990 for the museum. The East Ely Depot was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
The Heritage Railroad Line
The museum and Ely City own the entire original Nevada Northern Railway route. However, only a small part is used today. This section goes from Ruth to Ely. It's used for the fun tourist trains.
Good news! Plans to reopen the line to McGill were announced in 2021. This will happen thanks to a $10 million federal grant. Another part of the line connects to the Union Pacific mainline. This isolated section is used to store train cars.
See also
