Mark Bassett

For the past couple of weeks, I had a notice at the bottom of this column asking whether anyone knew what the old ash pit looked like. Seemed like a simple question, but its answer actually has major ramifications. Let me start at the beginning. Steam engines burn coal. This coal turns into ash and […]

An interesting conversation took place at the museum this past week and I thought I would share it with you. The conversation was with a visitor who was disappointed that he could not rent a locomotive. The original purpose of Kennecott’s gift of the railroad to the community was for the railroad to become an

It’s hard to believe but summer is almost over, the Labor Day weekend is just about upon us. For the railroad, it means another big push and a chance to have some fun. For Labor Day weekend we celebrate Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. The activities start on Saturday, August 30th at 9:00 am with a

I have read Ms. Baker-Anderson’s letter with interest. She does raise valid points if we were going to do a commercial rail operation in the normal sense of the word. The short version is we will not be a normal commercial operation. The Great Basin Railroad is not designed to be your typical commercial operation. Let me start

In August 2002, the management board of the Nevada Northern Railway Museum made the decision to operate trains six days a week during the summer months of 2003. This is part of a long-term strategy that is the realization of a promise made nineteen years ago. When Kennecott gave the railroad to the community, the

Well, the season is here and we are off and running the trains six days a week. (If you live anywhere in East Ely you already know that.) It was a gamble on the part of the museum to adopt such an aggressive schedule. The conundrum that the museum finds itself in is the classic

With apologies to William Shakespeare, as the Nevada Northern Railway Museum moves forward we need to answer this very basic question, to be a museum or not to be a museum, that is the question. Sounds simple doesn’t it. After all, we call ourselves a museum, so we must be one, right? Not quite, it

The Nevada Northern Railroad Museum is applying for two Save America�s Treasures grants. The Save America’s Treasures, a public-private partnership between the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the National Park Service, was established in 1998 to protect America’s threatened cultural resources, including historic structures, art, maps, and journals that document and illuminate our history and

Last season was the largest season the Museum has ever had; we carried over 7,000 passengers. I thought I would share with you where our passengers come from. As you might expect, Nevada leads the list; almost 56% of our ridership is from our home state. The breakdown within Nevada is interesting also; 46% of