Dirt Is A Nevada Railway Cat Who Always Appears To Be In Need Of A Bath

If you visit the East Ely Railroad Depot Museum, you will get the opportunity to meet Dirt the Railway Cat, one of Nevada’s mascots. He was born there 11 years ago to a wandering stray. He has now established himself as an unmistakable Internet celebrity.

“She [his mom] had her kittens under one of our trains, a 1907 built rotary snow plow to be exact. A Rotary Snow Plow is a huge steam-powered train snowblower. Mom and the other kittens left and this one stray was all alone but scared to come out.

So our train crews would leave a can of tuna on a chair every night for this kitten, eventually, the kitten came out friendly up to the crews,” Eric Mencis, the manager of guest services and social media director of the railroad said.

He likes to roll about on the engine building dirt floors and climb all over the coal stacks on steam-powered trains, so he’s always covered with coal, and the workers named him Dirt. People are intrigued by his peculiar markings, despite the fact that he is filthy and in need of a bath.