ELY, Nev. — Nevada Northern Railway has unveiled its repainted locomotive for America’s semiquincentennial — the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, coming on July 4, 2026. The design, unveiled on Friday (July 4, 2025), was chosen through a contest held by the museum railway earlier this year.
SD9 No. 204, a former Southern Pacific locomotive, has been renumbered to 250 and wears the scheme submitted by Ryan Boettcher. He will receive $1,000 and the opportunity to operate the locomotive on a 14-mile round trip on a date of his choice. In the message accompanying a Facebook video unveiling the locomotive, the museum said the work was funding by a grant from the White County Tourism and Recreation Board, as well as Nevada Northern Railway Museum supporters.
The locomotive is slated to wear the paint scheme through 2026, and in 2027 will be returned to No. 204 wthe Southern Pacific paint scheme it wore when operating on the Nevada Northern for then-owner BHP.
The locomotive will be featured in Nevada Northern’s Be The Engineer program, which allows visitors to operate the unit on a 14-mile round trip. More information is available at the Nevada Northern website.
Yes, very nice, colourful paint-scheme. Kudos to the Nevada Northern for this creative paint-scheme ….
Thankfully, not original to the Nevada Northern. Looks good though. Looking forward to Espee repaint in 2027. A “Cadillac” should not be forgotten!
Outstanding. I wonder if any Class 1’s will follow suit like they did in 1976 for the 200th anniversary.
Impressive sixty-nine year old American rail hero… Amazing paint job!
Dr. Güntürk Üstün
Nicely done. Excellent design, one of the best