Earlier this month, the Nevada State Railroad Museum welcomed its new Curator of Education Chenay Pointer, and she has already hit the ground running.
A number of new activities have already begun or are in the works including the Whistle Stop Stories story time for children, plans for a Family STEAM Sunday experience, new lecture series for adults, collaborations with other local entities and much more.
Pointer’s background encompasses a range of experience including anthropology, museum studies, education and more.
She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Nevada, Reno in Anthropology and French, prior to the offering of Museum Studies.
“But I took one of the museum classes, and volunteered in their little tiny museum, and I thought: ‘This is it. I love this,’” she said.
She received a Masters in Museum Studies from the University of Oklahoma, while at the same time juggling volunteering at the Discovery Museum with her job at the FBI.
“It’s a lot more exciting than it sounds,” Pointer said. She had a family member who worked in the Bureau, and encouraged her to take the position. She said she’d first worked in the Las Vegas office before transferring up to Reno, but knew that her true passion lay back in museums, and set about completing her master’s degree online.
Over the years, she has held part time positions at virtually every local museum in the region, including the Children’s Museum, the National Automobile Museum, the Nevada State Museum, and the Nevada Arts Council among others.
Through the Arts Council, she learned how to write grants, and hopes to use that to expand offerings at the Railroad Museum.
Recently, she worked as a paraprofessional with the Carson City School District, and through this experience she also discovered her love of education.
Immediately after taking the position, Pointer began working on how the Railroad Museum can begin engaging the younger generations outside of the ever-popular train rides.
This led to the Whistle Stop Stories, a story time occurring every Thursday at 9:30 a.m., and hopes to expand these further with potential weekend dates, or outdoor story times.
Soon, they will expanding weekend programming with the Family STEAM Sunday series, which will engage Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math — with a focus on the rails.
“We’ll be alternating activities each week, one Sunday focusing on art, the next on science,” she said. The activities will include hands-on projects such as building model train cars out of recycled materials, having children design their own “dream trains,” and learning how real trains stay stable on the tracks using edible props like Rice Krispies balancing on licorice “tracks.”
Pointer hopes to collaborate with a number of nearby institutions like the Carson City Library, the Children’s Museum, the school district, and many more.
“We need more people — young people, families,” Pointer said. “You can’t just live in a silo; you have to be connected to everyone.”
For adults, they plan to launch or revamp the museum’s previous lecture series, whether as a “brown bag” format or through evening events, to highlight railroad history and preservation efforts.
Pointer said that with the vast knowledge of their staff and volunteers, there would be endless opportunities for education.
As the Railroad Museum has long been in the heart of Carson City, many may not realize that it is part of the larger Nevada State Museum network — including its membership.
Becoming a member is only $60 a year for the family purchased through the Railroad Museum, and includes free admission to all Nevada State Museums, all year round, including the Nevada State Museum in Carson City, the Railroad Museum, the Nevada Historical Society in Reno, the Nevada State Museum in Las Vegas, the Lost City Museum in Overton, the Boulder City Railroad Museum and the East Ely Railroad Depot Museum.
Plus, as always, children are free at the railroad museum.
Events
Eggstravaganza April 19 and 20, 2025
Pointer is also gearing up for the highly popular Easter Egg Hunt, The Carson City Eggstravaganza, one of the most popular in the city.
Egg hunts will take place across Easter weekend on April 19 and 20, with multiple times offered, as well as a “premium hunt” which includes a tote bag, swag, and larger egg hunt prizes such as toys and plush animals. New this year: a petting zoo!
The premium egg hunt costs $25 per child, or $60 for three children, and takes place at 11 a.m.
The standard egg hunt for little hunters ages 1 to 4 takes place at 1 p.m., and the standard egg hunt for ages 5 to 10 takes place at 3 p.m.
Tickets are $26 for adults and ages 12 and up, $10 for children 4 to 11, and free for children three and under. Museum members receive a 50% discount.
Included in the ticket prices are the standard egg hunts, the petting zoo by Stockton Well Keystone, tickets for two train rides (30 minutes each), and admission to the museum.
The Eggstravaganza will take place from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. April 19.
Fourth of July Celebrations July 4, 2025
While details are still being hashed out, a multi-day celebration will take pace to celebrate the Fourth of July at the Railroad Museum this year. Plans include live music, historical talks, train rides, food vendors, and more. Details to come later.
Behind the Scenes
Many may be surprised to find that the museum is not only focused on showcasing the past — they are actively preserving it. Hidden within the shop at the back of the property, engineers are constantly manufacturing, machining and restoring parts that keep the railroad operating smoothly, often using the same techniques from the original processing in the 19th century and early 20th century.
According to Kevin Owens, restoration specialist, the team produces new parts out of bronze, brass, or cast iron as needed, either by machining solid metal or by creating wooden patterns for casting — similar to how the same pieces were created in the original steam engines.
Owens said most medium sized components are made in-house using a classic engine lathe and a Bridgeport mill. They also use specialized tools and jigs to support the restorations. According to Owens, it’s not uncommon for one or multiple people to be working in the shop on a daily basis.
This is because while the steam engines are sturdy creatures by design, they stay that way because of their constant maintenance and upkeep.
“There’s annual maintenance that’s involved [for many components],” Owens said. “Unlike your car that just runs forever until it doesn’t, and you slap a new one in, there’s maintenance that’s done periodically, based on how often [the train] runs. Here, I do it every two or three years, but in service, it would have been done multiple times a year.”
Recently, after over a century of maintenance, they had to create a new replacement throttle valve by hand to replace the previous original piece for one of the locomotive engines.
The process involved taking a carbide grit and “lapping” the seals, “because as steam rushes by, even though the gray cast iron holds up well to steam, it’ll start taking just a little bit of the cast iron with it, and you start to get cuts,” Owens said. “If you let the cut [of the valve] get bad, then you have to take a lot of material off to fix it. If you just do a little bit every time, keep it running good, well, over 120 years, there’s not much left to lap out of the main valve there.”
Owens said for the replica he created to replace the valve, he used a solid “chunk” of cast iron, which he expects will “last for at least another 500 years” now.
They’ve also used original pieces from the trains to create brass lanterns, bells, signage, and many more aesthetic features for the trains that allow passengers to truly feel as though they’ve stepped into the past.
They also take on unique speciality projects — including the restoration of two cannons currently being worked on.
To learn more about the Nevada State Railroad Museum, Pointer’s new plans and events, historical information about Nevada’s long railroad histories, or become a member, be sure to follow the Nevada Railroad Museum on Facebook, or check out their website here.
They are located at 600 N. Carson Street in Carson City, and are open 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Thursday through Monday.
