Article and photos by Doug Jensen
My first visit to The Nevada Northern Railway Museum was Labor
Day weekend of 1994. I rode my motorcycle from California to Ely, Nevada
so that I could join MOW on a trip from Ely to Shafter - a 129 mile trip with an
overnight campout at Shafter to watch trains on the Union Pacific Railroad and
enjoy the camaraderie of my fellow speeder enthusiasts. That trip featured wild
horses, antelope, marvelous old stations, skeletal old semaphores in the middle
of nowhere, and miles of straight track through the scenic Steptoe Valley. Thus
began a long term love affair with a railroad loaded with history, scenery,
wonderful old equipment, historic buildings, and great people.
PHOTOS FROM THE EARLY YEARS
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THE RUINS OF AN OLD RANCH ALONG THE LINE |
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A BRIEF STOP TO SMELL THE SAGE |
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THE FREIGHT HOUSE IN CURRIE FROM ATOP THE SEMAPHORE AT DEPOT |
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LOOKING SOUTH AT CURRIE. LOOK CLOSELY AT THE END OF THE SIDING AND YOU CAN SEE THE OUTLINES OF THE WYE THAT WAS REMOVED |
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DAVE MCCLAIN AND DOUG JENSEN AT CURRIE |
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WESTBOUND UP FREIGHT TRAIN AT SHAFTER - THE NN CONNECTS ON THE RIGHT |
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DAVE McCLAIN'S MT-19 SPEEDER AT SHAFTER |
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SOUTH BOUND SPEEDERS COMING INTO CHERRY CREEK |
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CHUCK HARRISON'S MT-19 COMING INTO ELY |
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THE REST OF THE GROUP COMING INTO ELY |
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Over the years the speeder clubs have returned to the tracks
with a brief hiatus from 1996 to 1999 as the leasing railroad of the tracks from
McGill Junction to Shafter stopped allowing speeders on the rails. In 2002 we
again were thwarted from going on those rails as the owner, Los Angeles Power
and Light, was in litigation over the status of the line. A brief history
of the railroad may help to explain. In 1983 when the owner of the local Copper
Mines, Kennecott, decided to shut down their operation they deeded 30 miles of
the railroad to the City of Ely. This included the tracks from Keystone to
McGill and most of the buildings in and around the railroad yard in East
Ely. Los Angeles Power and Light, in the meantime, purchased the line from Cobre
(the old Southern Pacific connection at the north end) to McGill Junction as
they had plans to put in a coal fired power plant at the town of Cherry Creek.
In the mid 90's though, those plans were put on hold thanks to a recession and a
subsequent power surplus that developed. Since then attempts have
been made to purchase the line by the City of Ely but more litigation has caused
delays so we have not been allowed back onto those rails.
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