Nevada Consolidated Copper Co #309

In 1866, Henry Kirke Porter began building small steam locomotives; by 1878, Porter established H.K. Porter & Co (in 1899, incorporated as H.K. Porter Co., Inc) to continue making small locomotives. Porter became the king of small industrial locomotives, making almost 8,000 until the last locomotive was constructed in 1950.

In January 1913, H.K. Porter built a small 0-4-0 tank engine for the Steptoe Valley Smelting & Mining Company as their #3. The locomotive was a small, squat engine for maneuvering inside the McGill smelter facilities. The water tank ran the length of the top of the boiler and smokebox. A squat cab stuck out behind the locomotive, which also did not pass the top of the water tank, either.

Steptoe Valley Smelting & Mining Co. was created in November 1906 and controlled equally by Nevada Consolidated Copper Co. and Cumberland-Ely Copper Co. so as to manage the smelter facility in McGill. Nevada Con absorbed Cumberland-Ely in 1910, and gained full control of SVSMCo. at that time, fully absorbing them in August 1914.

With the absorption of SVSMCo in 1914, #3 was renumbered to NCCCo #309. With Kennecott’s full take-over in 1944, the little engine was re-lettered to KCC #309 at that time.

In 1965, Kennecott sold the tiny engine to Charles Heimerdinger, who moved the locomotive to Pacific Locomotive Association’s Castro Point Railway in Point Richmond, California. There, the locomotive was returned to service in 1970. Over time, the locomotive received modifications to look more “western” including raising the cab roof, shorting the water tank, adding a fake “balloon” stack, and adding a tender. The locomotive was renumbered back to its original designation of Steptoe Valley Mining & Smelting #3 in 1980.

In 1985, operations at Castro Point ended, and PLA began moving their equipment to Niles Canyon to operate over a section of former Southern Pacific right-of-way. SVMSCo #3 was the first steam locomotive to operate at Niles Canyon in 1989. Approximately 2001, the locomotive was disassembled for restoration.

In December 2010, the locomotive was donated by PLA to the Nevada Northern Railway Museum and trucked back to Ely. The locomotive was unloaded onto a flatcar to facilitate movement as the locomotive has been removed from its wheels. Currently, the locomotive is stored pending an overhaul back to service, as it is planned to construct the locomotive a new boiler.