Ely Nevada

Leaving Middlegate Station, we again headed East on Highway 50, passing the famous "shoe tree". The trip from Middlegate Station to Ely, about 215 miles, was a combination of picturesque landscapes on perfectly straight 30-mile stretches of smooth highway, to mountain passes over 7,500 feet with snow still on the ground in shady areas.

Passing through Austin, Justin & Sandra found a geocache along the way ... a good excuse to pull off the highway and walk around a bit.

We were fortunate to catch this old steam engine chugging along side the highway, headed back to the historic train station. What beautiful sights and sounds coming from this old steamer, and a couple toots from the whistle in return of our wave.

Arriving at the KOA just south of town, we quickly setup camp then headed to our next adventure ... the historic train museum in Ely. 

The museum was established in 1984 in an effort to protect the integrity of the Nevada Northern Railroad. The offices upstairs are preserved as if personnel had just walked away that day.

Of course, the real "meat" of this incredible museum is the ability to pay a small fee, then walk around on a self-guided tour anywhere you wish to go. Our tour included acres of historic machine shop with huge belt-driven mills, lathes, and drills, where old steam-powered engines are brought back to life. These are just a few of the many pictures I took.

And, the foundry where gears and flywheels are cast in molds, then hammered into tolerances. 

Have you ever wanted to climb aboard a gigantic, diesel-electric locomotive and sit in the Engineers seat, maybe make a few engine noises? Well, you can do it here ... un-interrupted!

There were many different types of locomotives and rolling stock to explore in garages and shops ... like this huge rotary snow plow with on-board engines used only to drive the rotary blades, and requiring two diesel-electric engines to push it along.

A few more pix and I'll wrap this up. Tomorrow we make the last 250-mile leg into Orem, Utah with a week-long visit planned with family. So, stay tuned ...

Inside a caboose and a large passenger car, both being painstakingly restored to historical new condition.