By Justin Franz
EAST ELY, Nev. — Rarely would a railroad magazine write an obituary for a cat. But “Dirt the Shop Cat” wasn’t most felines.
On Wednesday, the Nevada Northern Railway Museum announced that its orange-and-white shop cat named Dirt had died on Tuesday. He was 15 years old.
Dirt was discovered in the railroad’s locomotive shop all alone as a kitten in 2008. Not wanting the little cat to starve, the shop crews started providing him with cans of tuna and soft cat food. It took time, but after a while, the cat started to trust the workers, and shortly after that, the master mechanic brought him to a vet for a checkup.
After a while, the cat realized that the warmest place in the entire shop was in the cabs of the railroad’s two steam locomotives, NNRy 4-6-0 40 and 2-8-0 93. Because of that, the cat’s fur started getting dirty so the crews nicknamed it “Dirtbag.” Later it was shortened to “Dirt.”
“The engine house and machine shop are very dirty, noisy environments. In addition to the locomotives and railroad cars being moved in and out, repair work goes on all the time. Dirt got very wise, very fast, quickly figuring out where not to be when locomotives and cars were moving, or work was being performed,” the railroad’s staff wrote.
A Nevada Northern crew member pets Dirt in the shop in February 2022. Photo by Justin Franz.
A few years ago, the railroad posted a photo on social media of Dirt in the shop. The photo went viral and soon the Nevada Northern became known not just for its steam locomotives and historic facility, but for the cat that called it home. Over the years, Dirt’s photo ended up in publications around the world, including the Washington Post just last year, which noted him in the headline.
Dirt would often spend his days wandering or sleeping in the large shop complex, but employees say he would always come out to see visitors during the daily 2:30 p.m. shop tour. When the tour was over and the guests got their fill of the famous cat, he’d go back to his hiding spot. While Dirt was unusually friendly, even to new faces, the one thing he didn’t like was being cleaned. “He hated being cleaned up, but loved being a railroader,” employees wrote.
Railroad officials said that Dirt was buried near the East Ely depot. The burial site is opposite where the excursion trains’ locomotives sit prior to departure, and it gives a view of the yard, that in addition to the shop, was Dirt’s domain. To commemorate Dirt, the railroad plans on having two life-size bronzes cast of the cat. One will serve as his gravestone, the other will be placed in the machine shop, so Dirt can continue watching over things.
“Dirt has fans that love him from all over the world. But we few at the Nevada Northern Railway Museum are the lucky ones. We got to love him in person,” the railroad’s employees wrote. “Dirt was one-of-kind.”
