Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum

08/30/2026

Boxcar day at the NCNGRR museum. We finally did the finishing touches on our newly built NCNG boxcar #58 and moved it outside to make room for the former F&CC boxcar #507/SPNG #26 in the shop. The #58 car is a ground up replica of the original #58 that was built in the Grass Valley shops in 1911. The car was 26 feet long and sported Carter Brothers 10-ton trucks of which one of the trucks on this new car are original. This car was the last boxcar left at the Grass Valley depot in 1943 after the railroad was abandoned due to WWII and served as a storage unit there until 1957 when it was destroyed by a fire. Fortunately, a couple of modelers measure the car and did drawings of the car before it was destroyed. This car will also serve as a storage unit as its predecessor and an example of a Grass Valley shops-built boxcar.
The F&CC boxcar #507, now NCNG #142 was built in 1899 and is one of 200 built for that road. The NCNG acquired 21 of these cars in 1928 from the NCO. This particular car was transferred to the SPNG in 1928 and subsequently sold to Universal Studios in 1955. Only two complete examples of these cars exist, the other at Golden Colorado, with ours having the original trucks still on it. The car was completely rebuilt in 1999 by the museum and is now in need of a full servicing to include new roofing materials to protect the original wood roof and a catwalk. The car now has a HO model railroad in it for the enjoyment of our visiting children and adult patrons. After any wood maintenance and painting, the car should be back in service in a month.

07/29/2026

The former White Pass & Yukon RR passenger car #238, the Lake Watson arrived and was successfully unloaded today at the Northern Queen Inn loading track. This car was retired in 2018 and was in storage outside Burlington, WA for several years until it was generously donated by the railroad located in Skagway, Alaska.
The car will be moved behind F&CC combine #60 and will remain in its cover until next year when it will be serviced, repainted and lettered as a NCNGRR car.
The unloading went off without any problems using the Auburn Crane company to lift this heavy car off the Southerland Trucking rig which hauled it down from Washington. The car was placed on refurbished former White Pass friction bearing passenger trucks which had been modified with the newer type of swivel plates that are now used on their current roller bearing trucks. It was a good morning and everyone left happy with this new acquisition.
The last photo I took of the car in Skagway in 2018 before it was shipped down to the lower states.

07/12/2026

Today on the Narrow Gauge.... What began in February with a pair of freight car trucks and loads of timber milled by Rough Sawn Lumber of Penn Valley, NCNGRR Excursion car #71 emerged today to the delight of volunteers from the restoration shops. Following a brake test and successful trials in the meadow coupled to sister car, Lake Tahoe Ry. #56, she's set to double our passenger capacity behind Engine No. 5 in time for tomorrow's Second Sunday Steam-Up. 🙂

07/11/2026

Steaming up this Sunday in Nevada City. We'll see you here! :-)

06/29/2026

06/15/2026

Today on the Narrow Gauge... Not much time for photos, but we wanted to thank the volunteers and nearly 500 guests who braved the heat and long lines in making Second Sunday Steam-Up a non-stop success! Special Thanks also to the Gra-Neva A's for their wonderful cars, plus CoCo's Creamery, the Top Dog and Tim Brown for the Old West Town and his bandits. Truly a wonderful time was had by all! 🙂