Hitting the road (Pics posted!)

[Ray Dunakin]

On thursday I'll be leaving for my annual vacation camping trip. I'll mostly be in Nevada, exploring old mining camps and ghost towns, flying rockets, hiking etc. I also plan to photograph and measure some structures (buildings, headframes, etc) to model for my layout. I may also get up to Ely to watch the steam trains there.

I'll be returning on the 22nd.

[Tommy0218]

If you have any pic's can you please post on this forum. I think old ghost towns and mines give inspiration 

[Ray Dunakin]

I'm back! Got some interesting pics of old mines, buildings and mining equipment, which I will post as soon as I can get them all sorted, formatted and uploaded.

[Train 284]

I highly recommend going to Ely! A great railroad! I have been there many times! It is worth the trip!

[Ray Dunakin]

I've just finished posting the pics from my latest Mojave/Nevada camping and rocketry trip.

Unfortunately I didn't get to many of the places I'd planned to visit, including Ely, because I lost an expensive rocket and wasted two full days searching for it. So there's not much that's directly related to railroading. But there are plenty of photos of mines, mining equipment, and old buildings which may be of interest to modelers. I have additional views of most of these things which I would be happy to email to anyone who needs them for modeling purposes.

http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=3009006&a=32287461

I saw some wildlife on this trip, including an antelope, a coyote, a badger, and a couple foxes. One afternoon a tiny bat quietly fluttered around me, also going in and out of the Trooper, briefly landing here and there. This went on for several minutes before he finally flew away.

I also found a large rock on top of a hill, which had Indian petroglyphs on it. Nearby there were 3-4 "sleeping circles". These are small round clearings where the natives cleared away the surface rocks to make a smooth place to camp.

I explored some interesting mining areas, in particular the Noonday mines in the Mojave desert and the Nivloc mine in Nevada. The Noonday mines were a series of silver and lead mines. Each of the mines were originally connected by a small mine tram that moved ore from the mines, across a wooden trestle, and then through a tunnel to be loaded into railroad cars on the other side of the mountain. The Tecopa Railroad served the Noonday mines and several other mines in the area, hauling ore to the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad. Both railroads are now defunct.

The Nivloc mine was operated off and on from the turn of the century until the early 1940's. A steel headframe towers over the shaft, surrounded by several decrepit buildings. Ore from the mine was transported across a wooden trestle to a large wooden orebin. Concrete foundations and other remains mark the site of a sizeable mill.

Although rocketry is a great hobby, garden railroads are superior in a couple of ways:

1. You don't have to drive hundreds of miles to run your trains.
2. You don't risk losing or disintegrating your expensive trains every time you run them!

[billblankley]

Ray,  Nice set of photos.  I'll be glad when I can get back west and do more sight-seeing myself.

Bill Blankley

[Tommy0218]

Nice pic's. Looking at the places you went really takes you back to the days of steam !

[Anonymous]

great pics!
There was an old mine in near johnsville Cali
very nice place
a mile or so from graeagle
but when we came up to the mine
it was a deeeeeeeeeeep wide hole with the purest cleanest bluest water ever.
Was begging to be swam in :P