The subject of my modeling is the Nevada Northern Railway, a copper mining railroad from the early 1900s. As a result there are very few commercially available models and this page contains a few of my kit/ scratch building projects. If you would like a more complete history of the line and equipment, visit https://www.nnry.com/ or even better, visit the museum and experience some living history!

The Nevada Northern was incorporated in 1905 in Ely, NV under the control of the Nevada Consolidated Copper Company. Its primary purpose was to haul copper ore from the mine at Ruth, NV to the copper smelter at McGill, NV. But the Nevada Northern also ran general freight trains and various passenger trains over its 165 miles of track. One of its most most well known passenger services was known as the Steptoe Valley Flyer, which ran between East Ely and Cobre, which was at the north end of the line. It was there that the railway connected with the Southern Pacific railway. The Kennecott Copper Corporation (KCC) assumed operation of the mines and their associated trains in 1933 with the Nevada Northern continuing to provide freight and passenger service. Regular passenger service was discontinued in 1941 with dieselization completed by 1952. The only surviving locomotives would be 4-6-0 No. 40, 2-8-0 No. 81, and 2-8-0 No. 93. Mining would continue until 1978, when the mines and eventually the railroad would close.

KCC donated the railroad and its surviving equipment to White Pine County in the 1980s and it has since become a working museum. It is one of the most complete working examples of an early steam railroad anywhere in the United States. One of the most famous pieces of the railway is its engine No. 40, nicknamed "The Ghost Train" as it was it one of the few steam locomotives that escaped the scrappers torch and operates to this day. It is joined by engine Nos. 81 and 93 that have also been restored to operation.