Nevada -- Dinner Train -- Rides From Ely

Published: August 23, 2026

If you’ve ever wished you could step through a time portal into the hard-working world of a 1900s short line—complete with a sprawling yard, an engine terminal that still feels alive, and trains that run through wide-open desert country—the Nevada Northern Railway in Ely is about as close as it gets. This isn’t a museum where locomotives sit behind ropes. It’s a place where the rails still ring, the shop complex still anchors the scene, and century-old power can still head out on the mainline with passengers in tow.

Nevada Northern 4-6-0 #40 leads a photo special at Steptoe Creek, Nevada on February 7, 2015. Drew Jacksich photo.

Built for copper: the railroad that made Ely boom

The Nevada Northern Railway was born from copper—and from the urgent need to connect remote mines and smelters with the outside world. In the early 1900s, Ely’s mining properties were consolidated into the Nevada Consolidated Copper Company, and a railroad was incorporated in 1905 to link the mining district to the national rail network. Construction began at Cobre, where the new line met the Southern Pacific, and pushed south toward Ely. The ceremonial “last spike” was famously made of local copper and driven at Ely in late September 1906, an event still remembered as “Railroad Day.”

With the mainline established, the Nevada Northern expanded quickly to serve the region’s industrial heartbeat. Additional trackage built in 1907–1908 created what became known as the Ore Line, including routing to the mines at Ruth and a branch (often called the Hiline) reaching the company’s major smelter and concentrator at McGill. At its peak, ore trains were the railroad’s lifeblood—busy, repetitive, and absolutely essential, moving copper ore and related traffic day after day.

Passenger trains, school runs, and the end of an era

While copper was king, the Nevada Northern also provided vital passenger transportation in a very isolated part of the West. For decades it operated regular passenger service between Ely and Cobre—roughly 140 miles, a trip the railroad itself noted took about four and a half hours in typical operation.

That service ultimately faded as highways improved and traffic patterns changed. Regular passenger service ended in 1941, the same year the railroad discontinued its scheduled passenger/RPO service.
Freight and industrial service continued for decades afterward—until the copper industry that built the line began to contract. After mine closures and a long downturn, the McGill smelter shut down in 1983, and the Nevada Northern suspended operations immediately.

Preservation

Here’s the part that makes the Nevada Northern such a standout in preservation circles: when the industrial operation ended, a huge portion of the railroad’s physical plant—yard, shops, structures, and rolling stock—survived in exceptionally intact form. Over time, the property was transferred to preservation hands, and today the site is widely promoted as a rare chance to see (and ride) a living railroad museum rather than a static display.

In 2006, the East Ely facilities received top-tier recognition: the East Ely Yard/shops complex was designated a National Historic Landmark district, underscoring its importance as one of the best-preserved steam-era railroad complexes in the country.

The Nevada Northern’s own “what to see” materials lean into a feeling many visitors immediately recognize: time stopped here. The grounds include 70+ buildings/structures and roughly 30 miles of track, giving the place a scale that feels more like a working division point than a “small museum.”

A Living Museum

Modern Nevada Northern experiences are built around two big ideas:

Train rides that put you out on authentic Nevada Northern trackage with historic equipment.
Hands-on programs that bring you into the day-to-day reality of steam-era railroading—sometimes quite literally in the cab.

On a typical visit, you can pair an excursion with time exploring the yard and enginehouse area, where the scenery isn’t “themed”—it’s the real thing, preserved and interpreted as an operating railroad site.

A quick word on motive power: Nevada’s official state locomotive

The railroad’s steam roster is part of the draw all by itself, and Locomotive No. 40 is the celebrity. It’s a Baldwin 4-6-0 “Ten-Wheeler” built in 1910, and it became so iconic that it was officially designated Nevada’s state locomotive (effective in 2009). Depending on the season and operating plans, the Nevada Northern also highlights other steam locomotives as part of its operating program and special events.

Notable Excursions

Nevada Northern’s calendar blends traditional excursions with wonderfully specific themed rides—exact offerings can vary year to year, but the railroad prominently lists experiences such as:

Daily Excursion Train Rides (the “classic” Nevada Northern outing)
Star Train and other evening-oriented rides that lean into Nevada’s dark skies
Sunset, Stars, and Champagne (a “date night” style experience)
Rockin’ & Rollin’ Geology Train (a themed ride that pairs well with the region’s mining story)
Seasonal and holiday programming (the broader museum operation is known for special events throughout the year)

And if you’re the kind of railfan who wants more than “just” riding in a coach, Nevada Northern also markets hands-on options like Be the Engineer (steam and diesel variants) along with other behind-the-scenes experiences.

Dinner Trains: “A Taste of Italy” in 2026

For visitors who want their excursion served with a side of romance (and a lot of flavor), Nevada Northern’s most notable dinner-focused offering is “A Taste of Italy”—an adults-oriented evening that’s both a special train and a fundraiser.

According to the railroad’s own description, Taste of Italy is an annual gala where your train is pulled by a century-old steam locomotive for a special dinner trip on the Nevada Northern mainline. Guests are treated to a multi-course Italian meal, including wine and dessert, and it’s explicitly marked as adults only.

For 2026, the Nevada Northern’s ticketing/events listing shows A Taste of Italy scheduled on a single day, September 12, with ticket pricing shown at $65 on that listing (always worth confirming at booking time in case of updates).

Final Thoughts

Plenty of tourist lines offer a nice ride. The Nevada Northern offers something rarer: an authentic railroad place—a preserved complex with the physical scale and personality of an honest-to-goodness early 20th century operation, still hosting trains in the landscape it was built to serve. With its copper-country origins, National Historic Landmark recognition, and a lineup that ranges from daily excursions to specialty trains like A Taste of Italy (2026), this is one of those destinations that can satisfy the casual traveler and the hard-core rail nut in the same weekend. To learn more about planning a trip aboard their dinner train please click here to visit their website.

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