Nevada Northern & Railroads of White Pine County

Timeline

Safety First for The Ely Route.
The logo on the tender of NN 4-6-0 No. 40
February 1984

1867	First mining claim staked in the Robinson district.

1886	Ely designated as county seat of White Pine County.

Nov 17, 1904	Mark L. Requa establishes the White Pine Copper Company, the forerunner of the Nevada Consolidated Copper Company.

May 29, 1905	Nevada Northern Railway Company (NNRy) was incorporated.

Sep 9, 1905	Construction began at Cobre.

March 1906	The Guggenheim interests of New York obtained control of the Nevada Consolidated Copper Company (NCCCo) and with it the NNRy.

July 4, 1906	NNRy tracks reached Cherry Creek Station.

Sep 29, 1906	NNRy tracks reached Ely.

Oct 1, 1906	Branch line opened from McGill Junction to McGill.

Oct 1, 1906	Regularly scheduled passenger service between Cobre and Ely is inaugurated.

Aug 1, 1907	NNRy tracks reach the Veteran mine and Kimberly in the Keystone mining district.

Mar 15, 1908	Hiline branch completed betwenn Hiline Jct. and concentrator at McGill.

April 12, 1908	McGill smelter begins operation.

April 13, 1908	First ore train arrives at McGill from Copper Flat.

May 15, 1908	Mill at McGill goes into full production on a 24-hour basis.

Sep 1920	NCCCo assumes operation of the ore trains between Copper Flat and McGill from the NNRy.

Nov 13, 1920	All Pullman service discontinued.

June 12, 1933	Kennecott Copper Corporation (KCC) acquires full control of the Nevada Consolidated Copper Company and changes the name to Nevada Consolidated Copper Corporation.

Aug 1, 1941	Regular passenger service between Ely and Cobre discontinued.

Jan 1, 1943	Name changed to Kennecott Copper Corporation, Nevada Mines Division.

July 1948	Dieselization of ore trains begins and most KCC steam engines are retired.

Sep 1952	NNRy dieselizes with the purchase of EMD SD7 #401, replacing steamers #80 & #81 on the mainline.

Jan 31, 1958	KCC acquires the contiguous property of Consolidated Coppermines Corporation.

1958	Last of the pit locomotives retired from the Liberty Pit.

June 1968	Mining of Ruth Pit commenced. 60 million tons of overburden removed before reaching ore in 1971.

Jan 12, 1969	Liberty Pit abandoned.

Sep 1978	Mines are closed and ore trains to McGill discontinued.

May 1982	Last passenger excursion trains operated from Cobre to East Ely and East Ely to Copper Flat.

Jun 20, 1983	McGill smelter closes.

Jun 20-21, 1983	Last NNRy freight operated from East Ely to Cobre and return using NNRy SD7 #401. NNRy ceases operations.

1983	A predecessor of Alta Gold Co. obtained a lease from Kennecott to mine gold in the Robinson district.

Oct 19, 1985	KCC donates the East Ely depot building including all furnishings and records, the transportation building, the wooden freight shed and 2000' of track in front of the depot to the recently formed White Pine Historical Railroad Foundation, Inc. (Nevada Northern Railway Museum).

May 24, 1986	KCC donates Baldwin 4-6-0 #40, four wooden coaches and the rip track building to the WPHRF.

1986	Gold mining resumed in the Robinson district beginning at the Star Pointer deposit.

Apr 22, 1987	Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) purchases dormant NNRy from Cobre to McGill Junction (to preclude its abandonment) for proposed coal-fired power plant near Cherry Creek.

Apr/May 1987	KCC donates the remainder of its assets including 32 miles of former NNRy trackage between McGill Junction and Keystone, the complete East Ely complex of machine shops, roundhouse, yards and rolling stock, the McGill Depot, and all historic buildings on the mainline between Cobre and Ely including the Cherry Creek Depot to the WPHRF.

1990	Alta Gold Co. enters into a joint venture with Magma Copper Co. to buy all mining rights from Kennecott, with the principal intent of resuming copper mining in the district.

1990	WPHRF deeds the East Ely depot and freight house to the State of Nevada.

1991	Magma purchases all mining rights and becomes the sole owner of the mining property.

1992	After restoration to its 1907 appearance, the depot is opened to the public as the East Ely Railroad Depot Museum, a unit of the Nevada State Railroad Museum, and staffed with a full-time curator.

Jan 1, 1995	Northern Nevada Railroad Corporation begins operations as a rail common carrier to operate the abandoned railroad properties of the former Nevada Northern Railway.

July 1995	Pre-production mining began.

Jan 1996	Magma acquired by multi-national BHP (Broken Hill Proprietary Co., Limited). Operation organized as BHP Copper North America, Robinson Operations.

Feb 6, 1996	First shipment of concentrate arrives at Shafter interchange with the UP and subsequently railed 1,745 miles to the BHP smelter in San Manuel, AZ.

June 7, 1996	BHP Nevada Railroad Company (BHPNR) acquires freight operations of the Northern Nevada Railroad Corporation that had operated over the original NNRy route since 1995.

June 25, 1999	BHP ceases Robinson mining operations. Facilities put on "care and maintenance" status.

July 9, 1999	Last BHP ore train leaves Riepetown and passes Ruth at 10:45am on its way to East Ely and finally the UP interchange at Shafter, NV.

June 28, 2001	LADWP announces its intention to sell the ex-NN ROW between McGill Junction and Cobre.


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		Last updated 10 March, 2003 by Keith Albrandt