Title: Wild West: Nevada Railway
Presenter: Trevor Cochrane & Nigel Ruck
Date: 9th December 2018

The Wild West of Nevada is full of fascinating historical towns, with one such town being Ely.

• Starting as just a post office and stage coach station, the town quickly grew with the discovery of copper in 1906.
• The history of Ely is portrayed in huge murals all around the town. The discovery of copper and the lure of untold riches attracted all types of characters to Ely from both near and far.
• The town is an official stop along the iconic Highway 50 route. Staying at the Hotel Nevada is like entering the scene of a Hollywood movie. Since being built in 1929, it has been a favourite stopover for the rich and famous travelling from California to the Sun Valley in Idaho.
• The most prized attraction in Ely is the authentic steam train on the Nevada Northern Railway. The museum is dedicated to preserving some of the state’s early settlement history, with visitors getting to ride on the steam train for a first-hand experience.
• The section of the track running from Ely to the small town of McGill is still in operation today, driven by the original steam and diesel engines that have been painstakingly maintained by the Nevada Northern Railway Museum.
• At the turn of the last century there were two inventions everyone wanted, electric lighting and telephones, which both requiring copper wires to work. The Copper in the area was very poor quality, with the only way to make money with it being on rail, so the train would couple onto 30 ore cars and take them across the valley to McGill.
• Ely in Nevada gets around 30,000 visitors a year, which is amazing as the town is 240miles from both Las Vegas and Salt Lake.

www.nnry.com