Tag: vtrailroad

Of all the things for me to miss...Peter Barton of the Nevada State Railroad Museum posted this message to Facebook today (Thursday):

A little before 9am today the railroad restoration shop crew at the Nevada State Railroad Museum in Carson City eased McKeen Motor Car, V&T No. 22 out of the shop and gingerly, ever so slowly, onto the turntable. Amazingly the wheel sets just fit on the table. So, the next obvious question to answer was whether the car could be turned. She could and we did. So now, lined up to the A” Line should we tempt fate and make the ultimate test of our confidence and move the car onto the railroad? We did. She moved smoothly through the first set of switches, over the diamond and down into the “hole.” More switches, moving southbound now, headed to Wabuska Depot. Crossing the first grade crossing and easing up along the platform at Wabuska. Would she clear the platform? She did. We observed carefully to insure she fit under the water tower. She did. More switches, more power and we started up the hill. Around the loop the car moved almost effortlessly. Brakes worked fine, power was ample, back to the Depot. We climbed off and stood silently in the sun observing the car and the depot – a scene of a century ago yet frozen still in time. Filled with emotion, we couldn’t speak but we knew the importance of this moment. Back aboard, retracing our route and back onto the turntable. On the ground admiring this awesome living artifact sitting astride the turntable, we shook hands and noted those who made this day possible: DeWitt, Stiver, Hobold, Tatum, Harding, Huffman, Ackerman, O’Cain, Smith, Wyatt, Drew, and Bernhard to name but a few. Chris DeWitt backed the car off of the turntable and back into the shop.

Now that I would have liked to see.

Tickets have now gone on sale for the 2010 runs of the reconstructed Virginia and Truckee Railroad. The trial runs last year proved to be very popular, with most of the Saturday runs selling out for 12 weeks straight. So this year they're bumping up the number of runs, starting on Memorial Day weekend and going until Nevada Day, 23 weekends in all. And they're expanding to also run the steam train on Sundays, for a total of 46 days this year. And, if that isn't enough, they'll also be running the diesel train between Carson and Virginia on Thursdays and Fridays. So Eastgate Depot is going to be a hopping place, with trains running through there four days out of the week this summer.

They're going to be keeping the same schedule as they had last year. All of the Carson-to-Virginia runs will leave at 10 am and return around 4. Though because they're running on back-to-back days the deadheads will be a little different. The steam train will deadhead down to Carson on Saturday morning at 8 am, then deadhead back Sunday night at 5:30. The locomotive will spend Saturday night at Eastgate Depot so it will ready for the next morning's run. And the diesel will deadhead Thursday morning and Friday night.

And with the addition of the diesel runs, a whole new tier of pricing has been introduced. The round-trip steam runs are keeping the same price as they had last year, $48 for adults, $40 for seniors and $30 for kids. That $48 they charged last year was said to be a trial price, and I guess selling out all the tickets proved to them that it's not too high. The one-way steam deadheads will be slightly lower, at $29/$25/$20. The diesel round-trip tickets will be that same price, $29/$25/$20, and the one-way diesel trip will be your cheapest option, at $17/$15/$12. Also keep in mind that the V&T will still be running trains between Virginia City and Gold Hill like they have for decades, and those will be priced around $10 for a round trip. I'm not sure how the Carson City excursions will affect the schedule of the Gold Hill trips, but I guess when the diesel is in Carson the steam will be in Virginia City, and vice versa.

So this year will really be the moment of truth for the reconstructed V&T. Last year there was a high level of excitement because it was the inaugural season, and all the people who had been waiting for decades to ride the train all bought tickets at once. All over town now I see bumper stickers that say "I rode the V&T". The price of $48 seemed really high to some, but all the runs sold out so they thought they were justified in charging that much. Now that price has returned this year, and we'll see if there is still enough interest to keep the runs sold out this summer, or if all the people who were interested in riding the railroad for that price already rode last year. It might prove that the price is just right, and the train stays popular all year because demand is high enough. Maybe all the people who wanted to ride last year didn't, because the tickets sold out. That will lead to a strong first part of the season as everyone finally gets to buy their tickets. The big question mark hanging in the air is, how many of those people are there? And how many people who paid $48 to ride last year will decide to pay it again, and ride again this year? That percentage is probably low. Although the success of this train isn't going to come from locals, this train is meant to be a draw that pulls people in from all over the country. The V&T is meant to make Western Nevada a destination, and bring people here that wouldn't have come here otherwise. And how effective that will be is something we can't predict now; all we can do is sit back and watch how well these tickets sell.

Until then, railfans can look for the train crossing the Hwy 50 bridge several times a week. The first diesel excursion is on May 27th, and May 29th marks the return of steam to Eastgate Station. Should be a busy summer out there in east Carson!

Nevada Appeal: State Railroad Museum seeks original riders of the historic McKeen Motor Car

The Nevada State Railroad Museum will mark the 100th year anniversary of the arrival in Carson City of the historic McKeen Motor Car on May 9 with a celebration scheduled for May 10.

The museum is seeking individuals who remember riding the McKeen Car during its original service on the famed Virginia & Truckee Railway between 1910 and 1945.

“We know of some existing residents who rode the McKeen car as children or young adults,” said Peter Barton, acting administrator of Museums & History. “We suspect there may be others out there, considering the McKeen Car was in service for over 35 years.”

Individuals who remember riding the car are urged to contact Teresa Moiola at 775-687-8323 or tmoiola@nevada culture.org to share their story and participate in the upcoming commemorative festivities.

The McKeen Motor Car, which has been under renovation at the Nevada State Railroad Museum for the last 14 years, is finally finished and ready to be publicly unveiled. This isn't the first time it's been out in the sunlight; they've taken it out a few times before, and I even had the perfect timing last year to be able to see it when it was out. But last year only the exterior was finished; the engine or power train hadn't been installed yet. Now it's all done, save a few finishing touches, and a date has been set for it to make its first public appearance.

May 9th, 2010, is the 100th anniversary of when the McKeen car first arrived in Carson City to run on the V&T Railroad. And that is the date the ceremony will be held to celebrate the completion of the renovation. A big gala will be held at Wabuska Station at the Railroad Museum, and a limited number of tickets will be sold to ride the car at $10 per adult.

For anyone who's been watching this renovation project, this is an exciting day. I'll be sure to be there on May 9th, which is also Mother's Day, to see the McKeen Car finally come out of its hiding hole.

More info is at the NSRM Friends site.

Photo by Flickr user RickC

Vintage-style poster by RickC on Flickr.

The V&T Railroad has been acquiring more rolling stock over the last couple of years. Many old cars are rotting away around the country, and the V&T is bringing them in for a second, third, or even fourth life. They're restored three so far, and two more new ones have come in this winter. The latest just arrived last Monday. Here is video from TrainArts, of the car being offloaded from the truck and set onto the rails.

These two newest cars are in rough shape and still need a lot of work done to them. But it will be a good winter project for the restoration crew up there, which has already worked wonders on the Gold Hill and Silver City cars, which were used on the Carson to Virginia runs this fall. These new cars will probably be used next summer, if they're ready, and might even replace the old creaky cars they still use on the short trips to Gold Hill and back.

Video of the Thanksgiving train at the Nevada State Railroad Museum, from trainarts.com.

It turns out this weekend you have your choice of trains to take. The Nevada State Railroad Museum will be running steam trains around their little circle of track all day Friday and Saturday, but the V&T Railway will also be running a few special steam trains on the new tracks between Carson City and Virginia City the same days. If you missed taking the trip this fall, this is your chance to make up for it. They're offering four different excursions:

* Virginia to Carson one-way, Friday morning, $29
* Carson to Virginia round trip, Friday and Saturday, $48
* Carson to Virginia one-way, Saturday afternoon, $29

To buiy tickets online, visit www.dynamicticketsolutions.com/cccvb/, or call (775) 687-7410. The Saturday afternoon train leaves at 4:30, which is right around sunset this time of year. So this will be a night train, which should be pretty exciting even if you've already made the trip before.

This isn't the last weekend the train is running this year; they'll also be running the first three Saturdays in December. But those runs are scheduled to be pulled by the diesel. (They're also $10 cheaper). So this weekend is your last chance to catch a steam train to Virginia City.

Got a great comment yesterday from someone who remembers V&T Engine #29 from when it was still working on a logging railroad in Oregon. I want to bubble this up to the top so people can see it:

It is quite a thrill to see the train again. The last time I saw this train was in the early 1950's when it was pulling logs and lumber from the Grand Ronde,Oregon area.I remember when I was at my Grandfather's home, near the trestle which crossed over the South Yamhill River; I would wait,and listen for the steam locomotive to leave Grand Ronde and come our way.You could hear the whistle and the train as it gained speed on it's way to Willamina and beyond.As it would start to pass my Grandfather's home, I would run as fast as I could and foot race the locomotive.The engineer would always blow the whistle and wave as it went by. I will never forget the sounds and the sight of the smoke it bellowed out from it's stack. What a sight for an eight year old kid. In the near future, I would like to visit Virgina City and see this train that had given me so many fond memories of my youth.

No Safe Place dug up some pictures of the old V&T Railroad yards in Carson City. These are from the 1950s, after the tracks were ripped out, and show the abandoned buildings around the yard. All the buildings are torn down now except the old depot, which is still standing as the headquarters for Debug Computers.