Cleaning up a little mishap. The Nevada Northern Railway's 100-ton Steam Wrecking Crane A makes short work of a empty derailed ore hopper that ended up on the ground during switching moves ... (more)

The crew of steam-powered Nevada Northern Wrecking Crane A pose with their charge in the yard at East Ely, Nevada, on February 5, 2006.

Dead Lined..... Squirreled away on a little-used, overgrown siding off the C&O Durbin Branch, sits a rather rusty piece of machinery that I never expected to see as I hiked along the Greenb... (more)

Anatomy of a Big Hook. Here is a little different view of the Nevada Northern Railway Museum's Big Hook...the 1907-vintage Steam Wrecking Crane A. This contraption weighs as much as a st... (more)

Big Hook: A very useful engine. Wreckmaster John Henry watches as this Nevada Northern wrecking crew rigs a derailed hopper for a lift back onto the iron in the East Ely Yard. Nevada No... (more)

Nevada Northern Wrecking Crane A lifts a flatcar at Lavon siding on the Adverse Branch north of East Ely, Nevada, on February 3, 2007. The crew is performing a “derailment cleanup” with the st... (more)

Where do you find parts for a 100 year-old steam engine? The answer is....you usually don't FIND them, more often then not, you have to MAKE them. At the Nevada Northern Railway Museum, th... (more)

Got a hopper in the dirt? That's no problem if you've also got a big hook. And the Nevada Northern Railway Museum does have a big one....a 100-tonner, as a matter of fact. This unit was b... (more)

Hand signals are given to the crane operator to position the big hook to where it needs to be

The 1907 100-ton steam crane re-rails an ore car in the Ely Yard. Thanks to the dedication of the museum members, this historic piece can still be seen working as it would have over a century ago.

I’m thinking that cleaning the flues of a boiler on a steam wrecker goes to the low man on the seniority list! This young railroader uses high-presure air to blow out accumulated soot and grit f... (more)

Steam wrecker rainbow
A rainbow forms in the dry desert air as a member of the wrecker crew blows down the boiler of Nevada Northern Wrecking Crane A at Lavon siding on the Adverse Bran... (more)

The operator of Nevada Northern Wrecking Crane A waits for the next move at Lavon siding on the Adverse Branch north of East Ely, Nevada, on February 3, 2007. The crew here is performing a “dera... (more)

One of the railroaders on the crew of Nevada Northern Wrecking Crane A pauses a moment toward the front of the wrecker at Lavon siding on the Adverse Branch north of East Ely, Nevada, on February ... (more)

Nevada Northern Wrecking Crane A easily moves a flatcar at Lavon siding on the Adverse Branch north of East Ely, Nevada, on February 3, 2007. The crew is performing a “derailment cleanup” with... (more)