The Nevada Northern Railway was the company serving
the various owners over time of the eight-square-mile
copper mine located west of Ely, at what was known as
Ruth. The primary mining operation was at Liberty Pit.
The 140 mile line was esentially straight and level
(less than one-percent) from Cobre on the Central Pacific/
Southern Pacific mainline, in the Humbolt River Basin, to
Ely. Fron there it was a steep eight-mile grade up
Robinson Canyon to the mine. The line was openedin 1906
and ended in 1983 when the final owner, Kennecott Copper,
closed the operation due to a downturn in demand.
As luck would have it, a short time later the line was
reopened for tourism and continues to this day. It is
Nevada's oldest operating short line running two original
steam engines and several very old diesels.
Rumor has it that with the copper mine area recently
reopenednd the Nevada Northern Railway may yet
again see ICC Common Carrier freight service.
Ref: See Railroads of Nevada Vol. #1 by David F. Myrick
for more historical information.
Image, Kennecott Copper Corp. 2-8-0 #90
Photograph from the original Paul Eilenburger Collection
This is a view "of Kennecott Copper Corp. #90 of Ely,
Nevada. They had a number of 2-8-0's with single-stage
Westinghouse air pumps mounted on the smokebox front.
#93 is currently operational and was recently used in
Heber City, Utah for the Olympic events there."
... Johnathon Kryger
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