The Nevada State Railroad Museum in Boulder City, Nev., recently completed the restoration of a rare switcher that was used in the construction of the Hoover Dam. 

The Davenport Locomotive Works built the switcher in 1936 for the U.S. Department of Interior. The three-axle switcher was assigned to the Bureau of Reclamation to aid in the construction of the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River between Nevada and Arizona. Although much of the dam was completed by 1936, power plants and electrical transmission infrastructure still needed to be built. To handle the 4 percent grades on the construction railroad, the government opted for a mechanical chain drive on the gas-powered locomotive to retain greater tractive effort (luckily, loads were carried downhill and empties uphill). When the final transformer was installed in 1963, the locomotive was sold to a local industrial park.

The Davenport switcher as it appeared in the 1930s. Courtesy Photo. 

The locomotive was donated to the Nevada State Railroad Museum in 2003. Last year, staff and volunteers began a cosmetic restoration of the locomotive to how it appeared in the 1930s. 

The Nevada State Railroad Museum was founded in 1991 and has several pieces of historic equipment, including steam and diesel locomotives. It also offers excursions. The railroad recently broke ground on a new visitor’s center that will be a centerpiece of the Great Western Railroad Roundup planned for October 2026. For more information, visit boulderrailroadmuseum.org. —Justin Franz