Sunday April 22, 2012
Ely (
Yesterday afternoon we went out after lunch to -get fuel and go down to the Ely train station where they have the museum and gift shop. I wanted to buy a t-shirt for grandson Shane in Pittsburgh who is interested in trains. It turned out that the steam trains are actually running right now and we could have ridden one today if we’d only known. As we were standing outside the gift shop we chatted with a young boy in railroad gear who was a wealth of information. His Grampa is the volunteer conductor and he told us we should come back and ride the train tomorrow….so we decided that would be a great idea as the weather was good and we aren't in a huge hurry. So even though we had planned to leave we bought tickets for the 9:30 a.m. ride the next day as we may never get another chance to ride the train.
If you are interested in seeing the Ely Nevada Railroad site have a look at http://www.nnry.com/ the site has lots of information and if you ever have the opportunity to stop and have a look on your way through Ely, please do….you won’t be disappointed! I’m not a railway buff but I was overwhelmed by it all. Eric’s father, grandfather, uncle and Eric himself all worked for CN telegraph and so were all associated with the railway and the trains. In the early years when Eric was just a baby he and his family lived in Pacific between Smithers where he was born and Terrace where we now live. In the early days in northern B.C. transportation of people and goods revolved around the railroad. As there were no roads the train was the only transportation link at the time.
Our day started off early as we had to be at the station by 9:00 a.m and I nearly had a fit when I heard the whistle blow at 8:30 am. I thought we were late because I wasn’t exactly sure what the time was here in Nevada but lucky for me it was actually 8:30 and we were okay. So….off to the station for great morning.
There were actually quite a few people up early to ride the train and everyone was really enthusiastic including the boy who we’d talked to yesterday.
The train was to take us from East Ely up the canyon to the mine site at Ruth that we had visited Saturday.
Now for the pictures. I took over a hundred pictures but I’ve pared it down to 50 or so….
Our tickets for the train.
Coming down to the station….see the smoke in behind….that’s the steam engine.
That’s number 40 fired up and ready to go!
Is she beautiful or what?
That’s me in front of the train. Pretty big eh!
Built in 1910.
That’s the way we’ll be heading, past all the shops and up towards the mine at Ruth where we were yesterday.
Eric’s heading up into the engine to have a look. That’s Lennox, the boy we spoke to yesterday and his Grampa the conductor.
That’s the engineer.
That’s the fireman.
This is the boiler where the fireman has the to throw the coal. On #40 his throw is about 8 feet to the coal from the tender into the boiler. On the other locomotive the throw is about 13 feet….a lot more work! It takes about about 1 hour to get the steam up to pressure on a warm day like today but on a cold day it takes about 4 hours.
Ready to ride.
Safety first!
Inside the passenger car.
We decided to ride outside on the flat car for a better look. That’s the caboose at the back.
Heading out on our ride looking back at the station and the yards. The ride out and back will take about an hour and forty five minutes and we’ll travel at about 15 miles per hour. In her glory days #40 was clocked at 100 miles per hour! Amazing.
Steaming up the track.
Heading toward the first tunnel.
The same tailings we’d seen yesterday on our drive to Ruth. I might mention that as we travelled along we had a running commentary about everything that we saw.
Still heading up.
Setup for a shoot out. No one there today. At this point we are on the Y switching to head back down to Ely.
Old mining ore cars used for erosion control.
Me enjoying the ride in the sunshine. On the way up those of us riding outside had been covered in coal cinders when the train had been building up steam on the uphill grade.
Heading back down to Ely. We’d just done a switch on a Y and turned around to head back to the station.
The train yards in the distance.
The water tower is on the left and the coal bunker is on the right.
That’s a spreader car that spreads the rock ballast for the tracks.
Water tower.
At this point we got off the train and prepared for a guided tour through the shops where they maintain and rebuild the trains.
That’s copper ore on the left and coal on the right.
Huge original equipment to repair and maintain the trains. Eric is looking at a lathe to square up the wheels when they get worn.
Look at the size of that press. It is used to press the axles out.
Machines that are still being used and driven by flat belts.
Eric inspecting the machinery. He would really like to get in there and get his hands dirty!
This is #93 the other steam engine used on their runs in the shop for a little maintenance.
#93 is a 2-8-0 which has 8 drivers while #40 is a 2-6-0 and has 6 drivers. So although #93 is much more powerful #40 is built for speed.
Huge, huge machines.
This is the big hook! A steam powered wrecking crane that is still used today to get derailed cars back on the track.
Bottom of the boom.
This is the capacity for lifting of the machine pictured above. Still lifting, working and she was built in 1907!
The tracks head right inside where they can work on the trains.
#40 is finished her work for the day and ready to come inside to rest.
The tour is done and the ride is over and we head back to the station.
Just up the street from the station is this little cafe and we stopped in for lunch on our way home. A charming old cafe and Inn from days gone by.
A great day!
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