Kimball purchased the Sidney Dillon locomotive for $400, preventing it from being sold for scrap in Japan. It was a 2-6-0 steam locomotive built in April 1881 by Baldwin Locomotive Works for the Nevada Central Railroad, which ran between Battle Mountain and Austin, Nevada, until it closed in 1938 due to competition from road vehicles. It was renamed Emma Nevada, after the late 1800s opera star Emma Nevada. Kimball named his railroad Grizzly Flats Railroad (GFRR), which eventually consisted of 900 feet (274.3 m) of 3 ft (914 mm) narrow-gauge track, including a 500-foot (152.4 m) mainline. The GFRR became the first full-size backyard railroad in the United States. |