Dirt, our beloved shop cat, passed away on January 10th. The outpouring of support that we have received has been overwhelming and incredible.

We knew he was beloved, not only by us, but also by people around the world. Our Facebook post that announced his passing has reached nearly 2 million people. Phenomenal! Because of this outpouring of support, I would like to make two announcements.

The first is that we will be honoring Dirt, Boss Shop Cat, on the Sunday of Memorial Day Weekend, May 28th. Secondly, we have hired a sculptor to create two life-size bronzes of Dirt.

We plan to unveil Dirt’s statue and headstone on Sunday, May 28, 2023, at 10:00 am. We will be operating two trains that day: the first one is 11:30 am (for tickets: shorturl.at/amKLS), the second train is at 2:00 pm (for tickets: shorturl.at/sAD08). Included in the ticket price are guided tours of Dirt’s home our machine shop and engine house building.

Because of all of the interest and support, the museum is committed to having two bronze statues made. One statue and a gravestone will be over his burial place. This is near the East Ely Depot where he can look out over the train yard and watch all of our activities. The second statue will be displayed in the engine house where he was born at the Nevada Northern Railway National Historical Landmark in Ely, Nevada. If you would like to contribute to having the bronzes made, we have a special account set up for contributions. It is named Dollars for Dirt, to contribute click here: https://nnry.doubleknot.com/registration/donate.aspx…

In Dirt’s passing, he has transformed from being our Boss Shop Cat to becoming an ambassador for Heritage Railroading across the country and around the world. Dirt’s physical presence has left us, but his spirit is still with us and will be for as long steam locomotives operate.

I consider Dirt following in the paw prints of Smoky Bear. Smokey was a real bear cub that survived a forest fire. Since 1944 he has been a symbol of forest fire prevention, “Only YOU can prevent forest fires.”

I see Dirt, Boss Shop Cat, doing the same thing. Dirt will help us reach new people to explain why the preservation of our steam railroading heritage is so important and he will also be instrumental in helping us teach railroad safety to children. Dirt was and still is truly amazing. As long as the big wheels keep turning here, Dirt will be with us all. It’s a tall order, but then again, who knew that the runt of the litter, a little orange and white ball of fur would become such a colossus in the world of heritage railroading!

I hope you can join us on May 28th, and we look forward to having you join us in celebrating the life of Dirt, the Boss Shop Cat. We will try to livestream the event for those of you who can’t make it.

We will continue to carry Dirt items in our gift shop. Some items are currently out of stock by are on order. Access our online gift shop here shorturl.at/eBY24