Last weekend I spent out in the wilds of eastern Nevada, some might call it out in the “pucker brush,” at Ely, Nevada - home to the Nevada Northern Railway Museum.
What got me to travel the 320 miles east from Reno, Nevada to the Museum’s home at East Ely was the annual safety training for all train crew members, volunteers and paid staff.
After reading a number of “cattle call” posts for operating crew volunteers by Mark Bassett on some online forums and lists. I knew, it was time to take my railfanning to the next level, operation – you know helping to operate the trains.
Mark Bassett and the Nevada Northern Railway operation ran more than 500 trains last year, he and the museum plan on even more trains for 2005. So, it’s a place to stick my foot in the door and learn about running trains by doing!
With two great museums close to my home at Reno, Nevada - the Nevada State Railroad Museum at Carson City, NV and the Portola Railroad Museum at Portola, California, both with operations – why did I decide on the 320 mile commute to Ely? Because it’s the closest thing to real everyday railroading in this neck of the woods where a person can run trains as a volunteer. No loops here.
Please, don’t get me wrong, I’m a member of both the above named instatutions and support them through membership and donations, but for me…I want to help run trains on a railroad that has some mileage and a serious need for crew.
Well, was able to secure the time off from my job for the Nevada Northern Railway Museum’s training April 9th and 10th, plus was able to get the 7th and 8th too.
To get to Ely, NV from Reno I headed east on I-80 to Fernley, NV taking Exit 48 off of the Interstate to a connection with Alternate US 50 which hooked up with the real US 50 just west of Fallon, NV. This road east from Fallon is billed as the “Loneliest Highway in America,” it certainly lives up to the billing. This highway was built for cruise control, no