Winter Steam Spectacular Photoshoot — Nevada Northern Railway

The Nevada Northern Railway, a National Historic Landmark in the high desert of east central Nevada, stages its Winter Steam Spectacular as a ticketed photo shoot for photographers. The operator describes steam locomotives pulling vintage freight and passenger cars that are original to the railroad, made up with wooden cars whose origins go back more than a century, with crews in period dress.

The operator lists what may run during the shoot: steam pulling the original wooden passenger consist of a railway post office and baggage car plus a passenger car, ore trains, a fleet of original wooden boxcars with arch-bar trucks, and the original steam-powered wrecking crane, which it stages even if there is no mishap. The operator also points to the enginehouse, machine shop, carpenter shop, blacksmith shop, depot, dispatcher building, coaling tower and water standpipes as part of the working railroad.

A photo shoot here means loading up at the station, riding a few miles down the line, unloading, and repeating the move two or three times as the train backs up and comes ahead. The locomotives and train sets are switched during the weekend. The railroad has three branches, about 28 miles of track, and the group works on all three. The grounds, yard and right-of-way are for the exclusive use of ticket holders, whether they photograph or only watch.

The railroad is a non-profit foundation and says the photo shoots are an important fundraiser for the museum. It offers scholarships to photographers aged 18 to 30.

Two and a half days of photography: the operator starts on the Friday afternoon, which includes a night photo shoot, then runs from about 7:00 am to about 4:30 pm on the Saturday and Sunday. Participants may stay on the train at a stop but must then remain on board until the next photo location. A continental breakfast and a hot lunch are included on the Saturday and Sunday. The exact schedule, including which line the train works and when, is given to all participants on the Friday afternoon and depends on weather and equipment positioning. The operator does not do anything special to make the locomotives smoke.

Boards at the Nevada Northern Railway, 1100 Avenue A, Ely, Nevada. A ticket is needed to watch as well as to photograph, and the operator does not sell a ticket for a single day. Ely sits at about 6,500 feet and is very dry; the operator warns of strong sun and of weather ranging from clear skies to blizzard, and advises dressing in layers and wearing waterproof hiking boots, gaiters for deep snow. Participants walk and stand a lot, must be able to climb into railcars, and may face a three-foot drop from the last step. Drones and selfie sticks cannot be used: the railroad is a drone-free zone. Selling photographs commercially requires a licence from the Nevada Northern Railway Foundation. There are no rental cars and no ride-hailing in Ely; the operator suggests flying into Las Vegas rather than Salt Lake City.