Museum Day

[kevin_standlee]

When we renewed our membership in the Friends of the Nevada State Railroad Museum, we learned that it includes admission not just to the NSRM, but to six other state museums, only one of which (the East Ely museum) we visited recently. So on Saturday, we drove over to Carson City to visit the one we'd been to many years ago, the Nevada State Museum at Carson City. The museum is located in the former Carson City Mint, and not surprisingly there is a good portion of the museum dedicated to the former mint operations. We thought of pcornelius and Lisa said, "Take a picture!" when we got to the coin/mint operations section.


This is one of the coin presses once used to strike dollars from Comstock Lode silver at the Carson City mint. It has been restored to operation and they demonstrate it once a month. Nowadays it's used to strike various medallions, some of which you can buy in the gift shop.

Yesterday wasn't the operating day, but the one time we visited here (long before we moved to Nevada) we saw them operating. The press is designed in such a way that it takes two hands to activate it, which is deliberate to prevent an operator for getting his/her hands in the press, which would be very messy.

The nice thing about having a free admission to a museum near where you live is that you don't feel pressured to look at everything and read everything. We'll go back another day to look at the exhibits we missed yesterday. We also will make a point of going to the Reno museum, and probably someday the Las Vegas one, and of course we must find time to to the NSRM Boulder City as well, although unfortunately our next trip that direction is likely to be when they are not operating.

Comments

[kalimac.livejournal.com]

Not sure if it's on the list, but my brother visited The National Atomic Testing Museum on his recent visit to Las Vegas, and found it extremely interesting. It also discussed Yucca Mountain but did not, however, as far as he recalled, tell the story of Bullfrog County.

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

Lisa says she would like to see that LV museum, especially as she's from Los Alamos NM.

The seven state museums are:

• Nevada State Museum, Carson City


• Nevada Historical Society, Reno


• East Ely Depot Museum, Ely


• Nevada State Railroad Museum, Carson City


• Nevada State Railroad Museum, Boulder City


• Nevada State Museum & Historical Society, Las Vegas


• Lost City Museum, Overton

Bullfrog County is a funny story. The idea of a county with no residents is amusing.

[delosharriman]

Thank you!
This is the only coin press in the world to bear the nameplate of the Virginia & Truckee Railway. Shortly after the press had been put into operation, the frame cracked, & the only shops anywhere nearby with the ability to refound it (you can see how massive it is) were those of the V&T.

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

Lisa says that should you ever be able to make your way to our area again (we were too busy buying a home and moving when you were here for Worldcon), we'd be happy to take you to Carson City and this museum. They apparently have one of only a small handful of twenty-cent pieces ever struck for US circulation, among many other coin-related exhibits.

[msconduct.livejournal.com]

I really enjoyed the National Atomic Testing Museum. I was in Vegas in March and drove past the Railroad Museum at Boulder City on the way to Hoover Dam, and wondered if you had visited it. It looked like a good one, but like you said before, so many railroad museums, so little time...

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

Yeah, we drove past on our way to San Antonio for Worldcon, but only were able to pull out and take some pictures of the excursion train, as we had to make it to Williams AZ that night to stay on schedule.