The Nevada State Railroad Museum Boulder City is a railroad museum in Boulder City, Nevada which is an agency of the Nevada Department of Tourism and Cultural Affairs. The railway is located on the Boulder City Branch Line, the historic railroad route installed to support construction activities at the Hoover Dam. [1] The state obtained the tracks and right of way from the Union Pacific Railroad in 1985.
The museum operates a heritage railroad which offers passenger excursion trains using historic railroad equipment on a 7-mile, 45 minute round trip. Operations began in 2002, and the museum also offers the opportunity for passengers to ride in the locomotive cab, the caboose and to operate trains (subject to reservations and availability). [2]
This ride features a preserved former Union Pacific EMD GP30, No 844, which became famous for necessitating the renumbering of steam locomotive 844 to 8444 from 1962 to 1989. [3] It weighs approximately 125 tons and has a turbocharged V16 engine that develops 2250 hp. [4] It was donated to the museum and refurbished in Union Pacific colors.
As part of the Interstate 11 project NDOT has replaced the bridge over US Route 93 that was taken out of service in 1998 during the widening of Highway 93 into Interstate 515. In April 2018, a grade separation was put in place at the former grade crossing near Railroad Pass Casino, re-linking Boulder City and Henderson together. [5]
| Number | Description | Build Date | Photo | Original Operator | Gauge | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #264 | Baldwin-built Harriman Standard Consolidation | 1907 |   | UPRR | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) | On static display. |
| #35 | Baldwin Mikado | 1923 |   | PALCO, HVRX | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) | On static display. |
| Davenport 30-ton | 1936 |  | United States Bureau of Reclamation | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) | On static display. | |
| #1855 | Fairbanks-Morse Model H12-44 | 1953 |  | U.S. Army Transportation Corps | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) | Operational. |
| L-2 | GE 25-ton |   | Jackass & Western | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) | On static display. | |
| L-3 | GE 80-ton | 1953 |    | Jackass & Western | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) | On Static display. |
| #1000 | Type NW-2 | 1939 |   | UPRR | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) | Operates on special occasions. |
| #2314 | Baggage and postal car | 1911 |   | Oregon Short Line (OSL) | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) | On static display. |
| #3505 | Pre-Harriman Non-Common Standard Class caboose | 1882 |  | Oregon Washington Railroad & Navigation Company (OWR&N) | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) | On static display. |
| #12 (second) | Baldwin narrow gauge steam locomotive | 1896 |  | Eureka & Palisade Railroad | 3 ft (914 mm) | In storage awaiting restoration. |
| 6976 | EMD SDP40F | 1974 | Amtrak, Santa Fe, BNSF | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) | Operational; owned by Dynamic Rail Preservation. Initially Amtrak 644, donated to the Atchison, Topeka, & Santa Fe Railway in 1984. | |
| 231 | EMD F40PHR | 1977 | Amtrak | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) | Operational; owned by Dynamic Rail Preservation. Awaiting repairs for traction motors due to past vandalism in Oregon. Repainted in it's Phase III and "Operation Lifesaver" scheme in April 2024 and appeared in Amtrak livery for the first time in 22 years. | |
| Fairmont Railway Motors CompanySpeeder | mid-1950s |  | Jackass & Western | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) | Operational | |
| Ellsmere | Private Business Car | 1899 |  | Wagner Palace Car Company | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) | On static display awaiting restoration. |
| WP 449 | Steel body caboose |  | Union Pacific (Ex-Western Pacific) | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) | Undergoing restoration. |
The museum hosts a 7+1⁄2 in (190.5 mm) gauge railroad. The miniatures are 1/8th full size and accommodate children and adults easily..
The California State Railroad Museum is a museum in the California State Parks system that interprets the role of railroads in the Western U.S.. It is located in Old Sacramento State Historic Park at 111 I Street, Sacramento, California.
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe 3751 is a class "3751" 4-8-4 "Heavy Mountain" type steam locomotive built in May 1927 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Eddystone (Philadelphia), Pennsylvania for the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway (ATSF). No. 3751 was the first 4-8-4 steam locomotive built for the Santa Fe and was referenced in documentation as type: "Heavy Mountain", "New Mountain", or "Mountain 4-wheel trailer". No. 3751 served in passenger duties until being retired in 1953.
The Boone and Scenic Valley Railroad is a heritage railroad that operates freight and passenger excursions in Boone County, Iowa.
Marshall station is a railroad station in Marshall, Texas. It is served by Amtrak, the national railroad passenger system, which operates the Texas Eagle through Marshall each day, with service north to Chicago and west-southwest to Dallas, San Antonio and Los Angeles. The station also houses the Texas and Pacific Railway Depot & Museum.
Union Pacific 844 is a class "FEF-3" 4-8-4 "Northern" type steam locomotive owned and operated by the Union Pacific Railroad for its heritage fleet. Built in December 1944 by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) of Schenectady, New York, No. 844 is one of four surviving FEF series locomotives and the only one in operation.
The Heber Valley Railroad (HVRX) is a heritage railroad based in Heber City, Utah. It operates passenger excursion trains along a line between Heber City and Vivian Park, which is located in Provo Canyon. The HVRX carries over 110,000 passengers a year.
The Kentucky Railway Museum, now located in New Haven, Kentucky, United States, is a non-profit railroad museum dedicated to educating the public regarding the history and heritage of Kentucky's railroads and the people who built them. Originally created in 1954 in Louisville, Kentucky, the museum is at its third location, in extreme southern Nelson County. It is one of the oldest railroad stations in the United States.
The Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad (YMSPRR) is a historic 3 ft narrow gauge railway with two operating steam locomotives located near Fish Camp, California, in the Sierra National Forest near the southern entrance to Yosemite National Park. Rudy Stauffer organized the YMSPRR in 1961, utilizing historic railroad track, rolling stock and locomotives to construct a tourist line along the historic route of the Madera Sugar Pine Lumber Company.
Southern Pacific 4449, also known as the Daylight, is the only surviving example of Southern Pacific Railroad's GS-4 class of 4-8-4 Northern type steam locomotives and one of only two streamlined GS class locomotives preserved, the other being GS-6 No. 4460 at the National Museum of Transportation in St. Louis, Missouri. GS is an abbreviation of General Service or Golden State, the latter of which was a nickname for California, where the locomotive was used to operate in revenue service.
An excursion train is a chartered train run for a special event or purpose. Examples are trains to major sporting event, trains run for railfans or tourists, and special trains operated by the railway company for employees and prominent customers.
The Pacific Locomotive Association, Inc. (PLA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of the physical aspects and atmosphere of Pacific Coast railroading during the period from 1910 to 1960.
Union Station, also known as Ogden Union Station, is a train station in Ogden, Utah, United States, at the west end of Historic 25th Street, just south of Ogden Central station. Formerly the junction of the Union Pacific(UP) and Central Pacific (CP) railroads, its name reflects the common appellation of train stations whose tracks and facilities are shared by railway companies.
The GE 80-ton switcher is a diesel-electric locomotive model built by GE Transportation Systems. It is classified as a B-B type locomotive. It was designed for industrial and light switching duties around railheads and ports.
The Eureka is a privately owned 3 ft gauge steam locomotive based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is one of three preserved Baldwin class 8-18 C 4-4-0 locomotives in the United States, of which it is the only operable example. It is listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places.
The Eureka and Palisade Railroad was a 3 ft narrow gauge railroad constructed in 1873-1875 between Palisade and Eureka, Nevada, a distance of approximately 85 miles (137 km). The railroad was constructed to connect Eureka, the center of a rich silver mining area, with the national railway network at Palisade.
Steamtown, U.S.A., was a steam locomotive museum that ran steam excursions out of North Walpole, New Hampshire, and Bellows Falls, Vermont, from the 1960s to 1983. The museum was founded by millionaire seafood industrialist F. Nelson Blount. The non-profit Steamtown Foundation took over operations following his death in 1967. Because of Vermont's air quality regulations restricting steam excursions, declining visitor attendance, and disputes over the use of track, some pieces of the collection were relocated to Scranton, Pennsylvania in the mid-1980s and the rest were auctioned off. After the move, Steamtown continued to operate in Scranton but failed to attract the expected 200,000–400,000 visitors. Within two years the tourist attraction was facing bankruptcy, and more pieces of the collection were sold to pay off debt.
Union Pacific 4014 is a steam locomotive owned and operated by the Union Pacific (UP) as part of its heritage fleet. It is a four-cylinder simple articulated 4-8-8-4 "Big Boy" type built in 1941 by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) at its Schenectady Locomotive Works. It was assigned to haul heavy freight trains in the Wasatch mountain range. The locomotive was retired from revenue service in 1959 and was donated to the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society; thereafter, it was displayed in Fairplex at the RailGiants Train Museum in Pomona, California.
The history of the Union Pacific Railroad stretches from 1862 to the present. For operations of the current railroad, see Union Pacific Railroad; for the holding company that owns the current railroad, see Union Pacific Corporation.
The Southern California Railway Museum, formerly known as the Orange Empire Railway Museum, is a railroad museum in Perris, California, United States. It was founded in 1956 at Griffith Park in Los Angeles before moving to the former Pinacate Station as the "Orange Empire Trolley Museum" in 1958. It was renamed "Orange Empire Railway Museum" in 1975 after merging with a museum then known as the California Southern Railroad Museum, and adopted its current name in 2019. The museum also operates a heritage railroad on the museum grounds and on a right of way into Downtown Perris, CA.
The Union Pacific heritage fleet includes commemorative and historic equipment owned by the Union Pacific Railroad. The fleet currently consists of two historic steam locomotives, three historic diesel locomotives, seventeen modern diesel locomotives in historic or commemorative paint schemes and nearly four dozen passenger cars used on office car specials and excursion trains.
