Morning ride

This morning started with a trip to the East Ely depot which is the home to the Nevada Northern Railway Museum,.

The depot itself was an impressive show of one upmanship designed to best the competing Ely depot.

While there we captured some of the equipment that we would be riding on later in the morning.

These cars were originally built in the 1920's for commuter service on the Lakeshore Line in Chicago.

Our engine for the day was #400. A 4-6-0 Baldwin which is celebrating its 100th birthday next month. For those who aren't rail fans the 4-6-0 designation is the wheel configuration of the locomotive. In this case there are 4 leading wheels, 6 drive wheels and no trailing wheels.

 Another look at #400

We also got a close look at the coaling tower and the water tower.

After the train ride that lasted about an hour and a half. Mel had just above a quarter tank of fuel. We figured on filling before leaving town, We passed a couple of stations that weren't configured to accommodate Mel's size and soon we were out of town. After traveling 50 miles we again encountered one of those silly no gas signs. This one said no gas next 78 miles. Mel and I had a long talk about fuel economy and it was decided to turn off the air-conditioner and feather the accelerator. Of course after taking these measures the problem was compounded by more hills to climb and a nice head wind. The only other consideration was the lack of shoulders on this highway to pull onto if the gas tank ran dry. All this stress was for naught as Mel did a fine job of sipping instead of gulping and we arrived in Wells with 3 gallons left in the 55 gallon tank. Today's lesson boys and girls is that when driving in the west, especially Nevada, three quarters of a tank of fuel is probably marginal. 

We've found a nice place to bed down in Wells and will check the town out tomorrow. Remember running on fumes is not the way to enjoy the good life.