Steamscape - Steptoe Valley. With the vast expanse of the Steptoe Valley as a backdrop, Nevada Northern's Locomotive 40 signals her approach to the Lackawanna Crossing on the Ore Line to Keystone. Over the past several years, a number of people have asked me why I keep going back to Nevada every February. This photo provides all of the answers I'll ever need. I just can't get pictures like this in the tree-tunnels of New England. The consist seen here is a series of 4 wooden boxcars dating to 1912. Alas, much of the Nevada Northern Railway Museum's historic freight car fleet is now restricted by FRA Regulations to operations within the yard and the operation seen here was indeed conducted just inside the yard limits. The museum has applied for waivers to remove these restrictions, but so far, the Feds have not obliged. Interestingly, the FRA has no such restrictions on the operation of historic passenger equipment, and it is perfectly legal for the NN Museum to operate coaches that are 30 years older than these boxcars...even carrying passengers on them. Like everything else associated with the government, there's just no explaining the logic.
