All Aboard!

Steam Train Ride in Ely, Nevada

The Nevada Northern Railway is the last of its kind - the sole survivor from a grand era of railroading in Nevada.  This is a National Historic Landmark and we purchased tickets to ride on one of the last working steam trains left in the country.  We got dirty and gritty from the cinders of the smoke billowing out of the stack, heard the whistles of times long ago, and had a wonderful 2 hours riding up to a ghost town of Ruth and then returned back to Ely.  We spent most of the ride on the open gondola car - was more scenic but way more gritty.  Got a nose full of cinders and could taste the stuff much later in the evening.  This ride was the real deal, nothing imitation, no fake or reproduction - everything we saw was the original engine or car or whatever.  Even the machine shop had the original tools and equipment to repair these big magnificent machines.

Our Conductor on the open gondola car 

At first we thought this train ride would be disappointing......we have been on other train rides and they were boring.  But we had a big WOW factor with this ride.  First class operation.  Even though we traveled 8 miles an hour up a hill and through two tunnels (the conductor got angry with the engineer on the way back down - we traveled at a whopping 11.8 mph - going too fast for picture taking he said!) seeing old remnants of abandoned mines and structures humbled us when we thought of how far this country has come in terms of mining today and how technology has progressed.  The second largest silver and copper mine was above the ghost town of Ruth and seeing this mine relatively up close was amazing.

After the ride we had a tour guide take us through the machine shop where the trains are restored to their original beauty.  This operation has many dollars budgeted to restore and operate and promote this history from the past.  He explained the other buildings we saw and the function of each.

Going Thru a Tunnel

The tour guide - we surmised he is 86 years old - knew everything that we were looking at.  The age and how that particular engine came to Ely and what it's service was, what happens when an engine broke down and how they fix it, the history of all the engines and cars we saw in various stages of repair and restoration.  And he was never associated with railroads other than as a young boy started his hobby of having an electric American Flyer train set, he sold medical equipment for a living!  We wondered afterward who will carry on this knowledge and craftsmanship of the trains. So much history displayed in this town.

One of the engines we saw in the repair shop was the one used in the Wild Wild West movie and series. The NNR offers ghost train rides, a geology ride, a starlit ride where you can see the night skies - this area of Nevada has one of the darkest nights in the country, a cowboy robbery ride, and of course in December the Polar Express.  You can pay extra and ride with the Engineer, have hands-on experience with the throttle, or you can work on the railroad during a week long program that includes working on the tracks, working on the equipment, or even spend a night sleeping in the working caboose or in the crew's bunkhouse.  Pretty amazing and big WOW!  Absolutely loved the day.    

Wild Wild West!