Has anyone seen anything about the proposed Visitor Center for the Boulder City
brranch? Their web site is quite dated about it!

And while I am at it; they were going to upgrade their open car shed to a complete
Car Barn. Any news there?

Ted Miles who likes railroad museums

The long anticipated construction of the new visitor facilities at the Nevada State Railroad Museum, Boulder City, NV is finally underway. Roadway, site access, and utilities have been brought to the site and foundation and general construction commenced after a groundbreaking ceremony was held late last year. Construction is expected to be completed in mid-2026.

The project had its beginnings nearly 20 years ago and planning began in earnest about 10-12 years ago when the Nevada Commission on Tourism made funds available to hire LGA, an architectural firm based in Las Vegas. Additional funding, enabling LGA to complete design, followed via capital improvement project funds appropriated by the Nevada Legislature. Finally, legislation passed in 2019 (AB 84, Conservation Bond) authorized $30 million for capital projects in the Nevada Division of Museums and History, with most of the funds set-aside for the Boulder City project. Appropriations followed in 2021 and 2023.

While further enclosing the existing open-air pavilion is not part of the current scope of work, future phases propose consierable improvements to protecting the collection. Funding for design and execution of the future phases has not yet been confirmed.

Peter Barton
retired Administrator
Nevada Division of Museums and History
2006-2020

As Peter noted, things are well underway. Our website, www.BoulderRailroadMuseum.org is updated weekly, but is for more stable items such as current exhibits, hours, and ticket sales. I do believe our PIO office posted updates to the website about the groundbreaking and when we moved the switching locomotive into place. For more regular updates, follow our social media where we provide construction updates every other week (next update scheduled for Tuesday, July 22).

Enclosing the existing display pavilion has never been part of the plan; instead the museum intends to build an exhibit hall adjacent to the visitor center. There is a video the museum created and posted on YouTube that goes over the entire master plan for the museum campus.

Current construction update: utilities are nearly complete and framing of the structure is presently underway. Addition of standard and narrow gauge tracks into the new passenger loading platform will be done this fall, with work on the platform following. Exhibits will be installed spring 2026 following substantial completion with opening expected fall 2026.

Christopher MacMahon, Ph.D.
Museum Director
Nevada State Railroad Museum Boulder City