The frigid early morning air and backlight sunlight makes for a dramatic photo with streams of sunlight passing through the steam, as Nevada Northern Railway engine 81 sits outside of the engine house with the railroads Repair in Place building in the background, as the crew gets it ready for another day at Ely, Nevada on February 13th, 2022.

The Repair in place building, which is better known as the RIP, and during the ore carrying days ore cars led a very rough life, between being banged with shovels, boulders being dropped into them and wear and tear of everyday use. The RIP was built to allow repair of the cars indoors, whereas before they were repaired outdoors all year long. Today the building is used for ongoing restoration projects by the museum.

Nevada Northern No. 81 is a “Consolidation” type (2-8-0) steam locomotive that was built for the Nevada Northern in 1917 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, PA, at a cost of $23,700. It was built for Mixed service to haul both freight and passenger trains on the Nevada Northern railway.

According to Wikipedia: The Nevada Northern Railway Museum is a railroad museum and heritage railroad located in Ely, Nevada and operated by a historic foundation dedicated to the preservation of the Nevada Northern Railway.

Tech Info: Nikon D800, RAW, Nikon 10-24mm @ 14mm, f/4, 1/8000, ISO 500.