Has the trackage from the Nevada Northern RR to the outside world been cut? I checked out a Google Street View image of the grade crossing of state route 13 and the railroad in Currie NV and the tracks have sadly been paved over! I know back in 2006 Sierra Pacific Resources was talking about constructing a coal power plant around Eli NV - anything come of that? Around Currie I saw that the tracks were still in place, but are they still in place everywhere north from Eli? And any future plans for them?
Maybe this is too obvious, but have you checked with the Nevada Northern Railway to see if they have the information you seek, or if you can send them an e-mail ?
http://nevadanorthernrailway.net/
As a historical preservation site would they really need a connection with the outside world ?
I’ve combed through their site - I’ve concluded that the tracks are unused… but I found nothing about official abandonment, hence that’s why it was weird when I saw the street view image with the paved over grade crossing. Also, kinda strange, for some reason their site refers to their connection to the original UP mainline west as being with Southern Pacific (the Junction at Cobre), and they refer their connection with the UP as being the junction at shafter, which is correct but that was the WP main not the original UP main. Anyways, the tracks from Shafter to Cobre are abandoned, but I’m wondering about south of shafter… but an email to them would be a good idea!
And I guess they probably don’t “need” a connection to the outside world, but it’s always just sad when a train system gets isolated! Makes the future look bleak!
The line is embargoed, not abandoned according to AAR.
S&S Shortline operating a short piece for City of Ely has had it embargoed for a while. City of Ely actually owns the domant line since about 2008 and has had to fight off the nutcases at Nevada Central to hold onto the line and its connection possibilities.
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What is a rail embargo then? I’ve never heard of it.
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And what piece does S&S shortline operate and what do they haul on it?
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Lastly, mudchicken said “fight off the nutcases at Nevada Central to hold onto the line and its connection possibilities.” - first did you mean Nevada Central or Nevada Northern? If Nevada Central, who are they? I can only find some info about Nevada Central being a narrow guage line… if Nevada Northern then do they want to rip up the connection or something? Why would the city of Ely be fighting with the Nevada Northern?
The line north of the Club 50 crossing (us93) hasn’t been used in years and you would need a chainsaw to clear the sagebrush from between the rails. The line north from the museum to the Club 50 crossing saw quite a bit of work 2 summers ago, new ties and balast, and the Club 50 crossing itself was replaced. The line from the old WP connection was to be rebuilt with 136 lb. rail to Cherry creek, location of the 2 proposed power plants, and lesser rail south to the Club 50 crossing where the NN could reach the outside world again. then Quadra (the mine in Ruth) was to start shipping concentrate by rail again (to Portland where it’s exported). But when the economy tanked one of the proposed power plants put it’s construction plans on hold and that changed things. I did hear a rumor that some track work is slowly beginning to be done from the WP south, but I haven’t been home in a while to check it out.
Here are a couple shots of the Currie crossing. They were taken 4 years ago, but not much has changed.
I actually emailed the Nevada Northern Museum, they say that the line from Currie to the WP junction has been rebuilt - and is now being used for railcar storage. They also said it is their intention to rebuild the rest of the line down to the museum tracks, they are just trying to get funding for it.
Now THAT would be a worthwhile place to send a charitable contribution, methinks! Great place to go in a PV and I could visit my cousins in Eureka.
Hays