Featuring the National Park Service's Dark Rangers
Fast Facts
WHAT: Come see the heavens through special telescopes for
viewing the night sky. NPS rangers will guide us to find interesting things up in the Heavens on this journey.
WHEN: Select Friday evenings in the Summer
WHERE: Ely, NV, with one of the darkest skies in
the lower 48 states. 245 miles North of Las Vegas, 245 Miles West / Southwest of Salt Lake City, 300 miles East of Reno.
DON'T FORGET: Bring something warm. It gets cool in the evening up here
(over a mile high in elevation). Also, these trains often sell-out in advance. Make your reservation today.
ALSO CONSIDER: Our Sunset, Stars, and Champagne Train departing most Summer Saturday evenings. It is a larger train with similar views of our night sky.
For those of you who aren't fortunate enough to live up here in the
Rural Inter-Mountain West, you are missing our breathtakingly beautiful night
sky. For those of you who live in these parts, you may not have taken the time
lately to stop and gaze at the Heavens. Either way, plan a special night out
with those beautiful stars of ours.
This area has one of the darkest skies in the lower 48 states which provides the
setting for our wonderful night skies.
Nevada Northern Railway's Star Train pulls out of Ely on selected Summer
evenings with the Dark
Rangers of
Great Basin National Park aboard. These rangers love the night sky as much as
we all do, but they probably know a whole lot more about stars than all of us put
together. They will guide us on our journey to find interesting things up in the Heavens on
this journey.
We will stop the train away from town to
take full advantage of the dark night skies. The National Park Service
Rangers will have special telescopes set up for viewing the night sky, and
will be there to tell us all about it.
Our trains feature on-board restroom, wheelchair accessibility, and snacks and beverages available for purchase.
The Star Trains are pulled by one of our vintage diesel locomotives, and leave
around sunset, so you will have a chance to see the sun as it sinks down over
the Steptoe Valley. It is a great time of day to admire the rural
Intermountain West at its best.
It is usually clear up here at night,
but the train will still operate and the Park Rangers will still be on-board
with an astronomy show-and-tell regardless of what Mother Nature dishes up.
Would you also like to take the trip up toward the old Ruth Mining
District on a train pulled by a steam locomotive? Who wouldn't?
We also have a steam-powered excursion train
departing at 4:30 pm on Friday afternoons, and another one at 1:00 pm on Saturday.
During the check-out process you can add a Four-Day pass at a reduced rate to go
on additional train rides while
you are here.
Note that the trains depart from and return to Ely, NV
with National Park Service Rangers on board. The train does not travel
into or from Great Basin National Park. Ely is the closest town to
Great Basin National Park (1h west), so it makes a logical hopping-off point
for an extended visit to the Park. Don't miss the opportunity to
explore the rest of the National Park, including Lehman Caves.
Prices and Discounts
Members receive 10% to 90% discount on train tickets
depending on their membership level. Membership discounts are applied
automatically on-line when you log in to your member account. Memberships start at only $30.
White Pine County Residents who are not members can
sign up for a White Pine Pass for free that entitles you to 10% off train tickets. Sign-up in person for free at the ticket window.
Just bring your drivers license to prove residency. Once you have your card the discount is applied automatically
when you log in to your account.
Groups of 12 or more should call (775) 289-2085 to arrange their group visit at a discount.
Can't Get Enough Trains? We completely understand. You can buy a Four-Day
Pass upgrade to also ride any regularly scheduled excursion train
while you are here. Add the Four-Day pass upgrade option when you check out.
No passes or other discounts apply to these Special / Evening trains.
Any cancelations appear here first, so feel free to check back
on this page often.
If new trains are added, they will appear here first
We do not have a wait list for the Star Trains, but you are welcome to
check back here.
Star Trains are run in conjunction with Great Basin National Park. The
number of trains we can run is limited by the National Park resources,
including their famous "Dark Ranger" astronomy-certified park rangers.
Or, come to Ely and use that as your base-camp. There is
plenty of lodging in town. Then, drive out to Great Basin to attend one of their other
evening Star
Programs. It is only an hour drive. Ely is the closest city to
Great Basin.
Enjoy riding one of the other trains, either the regular
excursion
trains, or the special/theme trains,
especially the Sunset Stars and Champagne Train.
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Comments (5)
New
Joan Helland
1
3
0
Dec 2019
Joan Helland
(Alexandria, Virginia, US)
says...
When do tickets for 2021 go on sale
Admin:
Joan. thanks for asking about the Star Train for next year. We would love to run the train every night, but in reality, the schedule depends on the Great Basin National Park and their Dark Rangers - Night Sky program.
Great Basin will not have next year's schedule available until October or November. We will be sending out an email to all of our members as soon as we finalize our schedule for next year.
erika levine-irigoyen
(Rego Park, New York, US)
says...
Will you be adding another day to the night time star train?
Admin:
We sincerely thank everyone for their interest in the Star Train. We are receiving several comments like this every day. As much as we would like to add more Star Trains in 2020, that is not possible. Star Trains are run in conjunction with Great Basin National Park. The number of trains we can run is limited by the National Park resources, including their famous "Dark Ranger" astronomy-certified park rangers. They also have to run the Night Sky program in the park, so they can not provide us more evenings........Which brings us to the next suggestion:
We understand how frustrating that must be to have missed out on the Star Train for 2020. The best solution to the Star Trains being sold out is
Come to Ely and use that as your base-camp. There is plenty of lodging in town
Enjoy riding one of our other trains, either the regular excursion trains, or the special/theme trains
Drive out to Great Basin to attend one of their other evening Star Programs. It is only an hour's drive. Ely is the closest city to Great Basin.
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Comments (5)
When do tickets for 2021 go on sale
Joan. thanks for asking about the Star Train for next year. We would love to run the train every night, but in reality, the schedule depends on the Great Basin National Park and their Dark Rangers - Night Sky program.
Great Basin will not have next year's schedule available until October or November. We will be sending out an email to all of our members as soon as we finalize our schedule for next year.
Will you be adding another day to the night time star train?
We sincerely thank everyone for their interest in the Star Train. We are receiving several comments like this every day. As much as we would like to add more Star Trains in 2020, that is not possible. Star Trains are run in conjunction with Great Basin National Park. The number of trains we can run is limited by the National Park resources, including their famous "Dark Ranger" astronomy-certified park rangers. They also have to run the Night Sky program in the park, so they can not provide us more evenings........Which brings us to the next suggestion:
We understand how frustrating that must be to have missed out on the Star Train for 2020. The best solution to the Star Trains being sold out is
done this quite a few times.. always fun and cool to see the stars and planets