From this toppled switchman's shack at Hiline Junction to the Nevada Northern's terminus at Cobre is a distance of just over 135 miles. Over that expanse, the scenery doesn't change a whole lot. The mountains of the Egan and Cherry Creek ranges tower to the west, while the Schell Creek range dominates to the east. In between, there is nothing but a seemingly endless high desert plain called the Steptoe Valley. Here, a Nevada Northern hopper train has just 4 miles to go in its southbound journey toward the yards at East Ely.
