Mark Bassett

Joan, Evva, and I have a frequent conversation on the fairness of life. Their contention is that life is not fair, and my flippant reply is, “If life was fair, horses would ride half the time.” Now I need to eat those words because life is not fair; it took from us a person in […]

These are exciting times at the Museum; we have a multitude of projects underway with more waiting in the wings. During the past summer, our operating schedule was six days a week with four of those days being steam. Next year, the schedule calls for seven days a week operation with daily steam operations in

It is that time of the year again, the days are getting shorter, the weather is definitely colder, we have had snow on the ground, and the Nevada Northern shop crew is preparing steam locomotive 93 for some very special annual trips. What trips? Why, they are the most special trips of the year. On

It is easy to get wrapped up in the day-to-day activities of your life and overlook the fact that you are creating history. After all, I’m just an average Joe, nobody “famous,” just doing my job. Me create history? Nah, no way. Well, yes you did. As the story below illustrates you created history. Gordon

With the snow beginning to appear on the mountains around Ely, you would think that the museum would start slowing down; that’s simply not the case. We still have two weekends of excursions yet and there are two Haunted Ghost Trains yet to go. To give you an idea of how busy we are, last

Last week was the first part of our adventure in the high country of Colorado. After thawing out in the Royal Gorge, Joan and I headed back into the mountains. Our first stop was Manitou Springs home of the world famous Pikes Peak Cog Railway that runs up to the top of Pike’s Peak. You would think

2004 is a successful year for the museum: ridership is up, projects are being completed, and new ones are being started. With the end of the major portion of the tourist season, it was time to take a little R & R. After all, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. So

The days are getting shorter and the kids are back in school. The museum is plowing new ground by continuing the daily (except Tuesday) 9:30 a.m. excursions. Ridership has been fair, so far. The excursions have paid for themselves and brought additional revenue to the museum. But all of this begs the larger question of

The kids are barely back in school and we have had our first frost. The railroad is now turning its thoughts to winter. This winter there are four opportunities to photograph the Nevada Northern Railway. The four shoots are different in scope; in other words, we are offering something for everyone. The first opportunity is

There is one barometer that I use to see if the railroad is doing its job, and that is how shiny are the rails? I’m glad to report that we have kept the rails very shiny. It is tricky to keep those rails shiny. It takes the dedication of a small army of volunteers supported