NEVADA CITY, Calif. May 11, 2018 – The Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum will celebrate its 15th anniversary Saturday, May 19, with demonstration runs of California’s oldest operating steam locomotive, the Antelope & Western Porter Locomotive #1. The museum’s volunteer staff will begin the firing up process to warm up the boiler early in the morning so that by about 10 a.m. there will be sufficient steam to power the locomotive on excursions around the museum’s railyard. Bring your camera and your kids for maximum enjoyment!
In addition to offering a rare opportunity to see the Porter Locomotive in action, the museum will also be running both railbuses on their normal schedules, taking passengers along Gold Creek past the Inn Town Campground to the Northern Queen Inn, paralleling a portion of the original NCNGRR route. Reservations for the railbus rides are strongly recommended. Please call 530-470-0902 during regular museum operating hours. The railbus schedule is posted on the museum’s website: www.ncngrrmuseum.org.
Saturday’s celebration commemorates the end of the long process that brought today’s NCNGRR Museum to fruition; the result of the cooperative effort of city government in obtaining grant funding and building the structures, adjacent landowners who donated rail track right of way easements, and a dedicated group of volunteers who collected and restored rail stock and organized the museum. Although the museum is named for the railroad that was an important part of Nevada County history, the museum exhibits artifacts from all aspects of local transportation history.
Regular museum hours are 10 am to 4 pm, Fridays through Tuesdays. Railbuses operate Saturdays only. The museum is located at 5 Kidder Court, Nevada City. The Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum is operated by the Nevada County Historical Society that has helped to preserve and celebrate our local history since 1944.