It's not typically a good sign when you see a hot steam locomotive being pushed into a machine shop by a diesel yard goat. It generally means there's a mechanical issue, and it often means she's done for the day. Such was the case in this photo as NN's Alco Consolidation #93 developed a hot rod bearing while hauling a freight up on the hiline. Rather than risk permanent damage, the crew elected to return to Ely and immediately get her some place where the tools existed to disassemble the running gear and find the root cause. Although she missed her assignment on the wreck train this day, the NN crew was able to get the problem fixed relatively quickly, and the engine ran the following weekend on another photo shoot.
The Nevada Northern Railway Museum has excellent maintenance facilites...essentially everything the original railroad had...including all manner of machine tools, as well as a massive overhead crane that is capable of lifting very heavy loads. They also have a very capable staff, including a cadre of full-time employees, as well as a large corps of talented volunteers. When you're working with 100+ year-old machinery, you have to expect the unexpected, and the Nevada Northern folks have demonstrated time and again that they are ready to do what it takes to keep these historic pieces up and operational.
