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Monday 10am - 2pm Tuesday 10am - 2pm Friday 10am - 2pm Saturday 10am - 4pm Sunday 10am - 4pm

Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum

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Nevada City, CA
Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum

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Docent led tours. Free Admission, Donations Appreciated.

The Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum in Nevada City, CA is dedicated to the preservation of local transportation history and artifacts from the narrow gauge railroad era.

10/07/2026

This weekend is the last chance of the season to experience the Second Sunday Steam-Up events at the Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum (NCNGRR).

09/30/2026

The largest and most unique inventory of model trains are priced to sell at the Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum's Fall Fundraiser slated for Saturday, October 17 in Nevada City. A huge selection of vintage brass, tinplate, Lionel, high quality N-gauge and HO, plus the personal collection of the late-Master Craftsman and Historian, Herman Darr to include many he had perfected personally.

While here, check out the restoration shop and see our latest projects and accomplishments, tour the cab of NCNGRR number 5, ride the rail bus with the whole family and become immersed in your local transportation heritage.

If you don't happen to collect model trains, find out how you may become a volunteer to keep our historic collection of narrow gauge railcars growing and rolling! Spread the word with hopes we see you here! 🙂

09/25/2026

Box car 142, the former F&CC 507, was moved out of the shop after about six weeks of maintenance work, after 20 years of being on static display with an internal HO model railroad to capture the attention of the kids.
In its place, we moved in West Side Lumber Company long caboose #4 for its turn in the wood shop. I obtained this caboose from Beverely Cola in 2011 while located in Placerville, CA, and it was fully restored to its original condition the best we could do while trying to save as much of the original caboose as possible. After fifteen years on display outside, which is where these cabooses always lived, it was time to take care of all the weathering that this historic vehicle has sustained over the years.
It has been a challenge to keep up with all of all our rollingstock needs but so far, our restoration crew has been up to the job to keep up with all the weathering to preserve these historic cars. When this car is finished in six weeks, our winter job will be to begin building a new F&CC 30-foot flatcar for NCNG tank car #185.

09/17/2026

As steam operations are nearing conclusion for 2026, plus wrap-up of the 150th Anniversary of the NCNGRR, be sure and join us for the last two museum events of this wonderful year. Our final Second Sunday Steam-Up is slated for October 11th, followed by the Model Train Sale of October 17th where inspired craftspersons and hobbyists may take their love of the rails indoors for expression during the coming Winter months.

See the flyers, mark your calendars, and let us help to take your passion for railroading and history full-circle with all proceeds going to keeping your transportation heritage ever tangible and alive!🙂

09/13/2026

'Hope to see you tomorrow September 13! :-)

09/10/2026

Our little rail bus Sarah Kidder, the former West Side & Cherry Valley #9, just returned from Carson City today after the Nevada State Railroad Museums three-day motor car rally. It was a fun three days operating on the NSRM's rails and showing off our vintage little railbus.
Primarily, the Sarah Kidders main job was to shuttle passengers from the main museum annex down to the Kabuska Depot which was about a 20-minute trip after backing down into the hole and allowing the other shuttling rail bus to go past us. During the event with seven of these rail buses moving back and forth, there were no incidents or derails which demonstrates the good maintenace of the museum's rails.
A little history on our little shuttle bug, she was built in 1970 by the West Side & Cherry Valley Railroad to shuttle patrons around the former West Side mill site while Shay #15 pulled passenger down six and a half miles to River Bridge. Then called the #9, she met with an head-on accident with a Shay locomotive and was set aside and not repaired.
The NCNGRR museum purchased the #9 in 1986 for $200.00 but did not start rebuilding it until 2005. A second rebuild was done in 2017 which brought the #9 to its current configuration which is not much different from its original build.
Posting a few pictures of #9's past history.

09/07/2026

It's shaping up to be a railroad sort of weekend! Colfax Railroad Days on Saturday and Sunday, plus Second Sunday Steam-Up at the Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum on Sunday., September 13. Both historic and fun filled family events! 🙂

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.

Address

5 Kidder Court
Nevada City, CA
95959

Opening Hours

Monday	10am - 2pm
Tuesday	10am - 2pm
Friday	10am - 2pm
Saturday	10am - 4pm
Sunday	10am - 4pm

Telephone

+15304700902

Website

http://ncngrrmuseum.org/

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