Fueling up for the run to Cobre. Nevada Northern's Consolidation #81 sits at the coal tipple in the East Ely Yard, taking on fuel for her morning "Steptoe Flyer" passenger run to Cobre, NV. In the early 20th century, the Nevada Northern was engaged in public passenger service and typically ran a couple of trips up the full length of the main line to Cobre. The northbound trip would leave early in the AM, arriving at the north end of the line about mid-day, and after some servicing, would return southbound in the afternoon. Those runs were typically handled by the line's fast 10-wheelers such as #40, but as with any operation, power could be substituted as we see here in this 2022 re-enactment.
Of note in this photo is the fact that there are two coal tipples here. An original one made of concrete, and a smaller one made of wood. The former was used when the locomotives were all hand-fired, and the size of the coal was typically pretty large....fist size or bigger. Later, when some of the heavy freight hogs received mechanical stokers, the railroad required smaller coal, and elected to build a separate coal tipple for that stuff right beside the original one. Locomotive #81 was one of the engines to be retrofitted with a stoker, as she didn't have one originally. When the 81 was restored to service in 2021, after decades as a static display, the Nevada Northern Railway Museum steam crew elected to restore her to her original configuration, without the stoker, which would really be unnecessary for their operation. They also elected to put her back in the green boiler jacket and trim, as the original delivery documents they found indicated she was, in fact, built looking just like what you see here.
