Steamscape - On the Hiline. Nevada Northern's Locomotive 40 hauls the line's "Steptoe Flyer" consist up the Hiline toward Adverse, on a pretty February afternoon. The NN Hiline is a branch of track that parallels the mainline, from just north of Ely to the copper smelting towns of Adverse and McGill, a distance of roughly 9 miles. Whereas the mainline runs along the floor of the Steptoe Valley and is essentially flat as a pancake, the Hiline climbs to the base of the Schell Creek Range, and is a nearly constant grade. The Hiline was mostly used by ore trains, but there was some passenger service, mainly for commuters living in the Ely area and working at the smelting operations up north. The equipment seen here consists of the 1910-vintage Baldwin #4, the roughly 1905-vintage Railway Post Office #20 and the 1882-vintage Coach #5.
