Steamscape: Lower Tunnel. Nevada Northern's elegant 10-wheeler drifts out of Lower Tunnel and on down the ore line toward the East Ely Yard in a light snow shower. The Nevada Northern is a railroad with some pretty sharp contrasts. From Ely on north, the line is flat as a pancake, running in a wide, open valley for nearly 140 miles to its northern terminus at Cobre. Go south from Ely on the 9 mile run toward Keystone and you'll travel in a tight canyon over grades that top 2%. Although this spot on the Keystone run makes for a pretty winter photograph, the truth is that the fast passenger train seen in this image would have rarely found itself out here. Rather, the "Steptoe Flyer", as she was called, would have made her living on the daily passenger runs from Ely to Cobre and back.
