I visited the north end of the Nevada Northern on my way east. I wound up talking to a fellow on a track gang who was working on the N.N. For the past few weeks they've been replacing many track joints, many ties, laying ballast and doing surfacing, raising it to FRA standards, on the northernmost 30 miles of track. (south of Shafter). I drove some length of the track, it looked really good. The three-track siding near Shafter, one of the tracks at the south end was really mangled, now it looks great.

He told me the plan was to store railroad cars on the 30 miles.

We had a short conversation about the northernmost 20 miles between Shafter and Cobre. He was familiar with the section, but told me they have no plans to work with it. Doesn't seem likely as the interchange at Cobre is cut, and not as well situated as the interchange at Shafter. (at Cobre, the interchange would plug into a passing siding. At Shafter, it plugs into a house track off the siding, similar to Niles Canyon.)

My god, there isn't anything in that picture! Talk about desolate. I guess I'm just used to the northeast's trees, rivers, lakes, hills and other stuff!

Actually, it looks pretty green to me. Go look at parts of the Trona, or UP's LA&SL routes for some desolate track. Of course, guess we could start a whole thread on desolate stretch's of track. :-)

Brandi

Several hundred feet of track have been removed at Cobre, along with pretty much the entire yard that used to be there. A lot of track would have to be rebuilt at that end to make it usefull again. Even if this did happen, the line would still be isolated unless UP consents to re-installing the old diamond at Shafter, which could be done but is highly unlikely (at least in my view). On the plus side, pretty much all of the old NN tracks are still in place at Cobre- a wye, a couple sidings, and the spur into the old enginehouse- and it is pretty interesting to go linger with those ghosts.

My job takes me through Shafter quite a bit, though I haven't been there since the track work started (though I have seen it through binoculars). The first thirty miles south of Shafter pass through areas used by wild horses and cattle who have become accustomed to nothing being there- it's going to be interesting to see what effect stored cars will have on them, especially the horses...

Jeff Moore
Elko, NV

No kidding. Downtown Shafter was behind the above picture, but there's not much more. Aside from the WP and NN mains, there's a signal shanty, some propane cans, pole lines, some old ruins of building foundations, the remnants of two side-dump hopper cars, an interchange track, couple of trail crossings, the grading of an old wye, and a Starbucks.

Shafter proper. In the distance are the derelict side-dump husks, some equipment of the RR contractor (S&S Shortline) and a few of the contractor's crew.

Were both photos taking facing south? Never been on the north end of the NN and amy trying to bet my bearings.

I though I heard something about a year ago that the power plant that was contemplated for the Ely area got the green light and that the NN would be hauling coal for it. Is that correct or am I not remembering correctly?

Yes. The first was 1-2 miles south of Shafter. The secondwas just north of the "diamond".

And here's the ad from the storage company.

http://railswap.org/cb/cl/classifieds.c ... =retrieval

Permitting for the power plant has been delayed due to the need to invent technology which captures carbon dioxide. I think this is unfortunate as the technology already exists in nature (plants, duh). Perhaps they are not willing to fund that much planting, however. Here is the PR about the shelving of the plant:
http://www.lvrj.com/news/39357717.html

While undoubtedly good for the local economy, it would also be a major eyesore in a beautiful valley.