Tag: vtrailroad

The Virginia & Truckee Commission seems to finally be coming to their senses a little, and realizing that they need to work with the Gray family, who owns the current V&T operation in Virginia City, not against them. It's always been the most obvious thing in the world to have the V&T that now runs from Virginia City to Gold Hill just continue on the new track that's being built all the way down to Carson City. But the Commission seemingly has been against that idea from the start, first by buying their own locomotive, then by choosing Sierra Railroad to be the operator of the new V&T, then by threatening to take the current V&T's tracks by eminent domain. This, of course, is lunacy, and the first hints that maybe the Commission is changing their minds seem to be shining through.

This story details how the Commission is considering extending the first olive branch by letting the Grays run regular excursions on the new track next year. Which of course is the only logical thing to do, but the fact that this announcement is news says a lot about the Commission. Maybe they're finally starting to realize that keeping the local operator in place, the one that's been running a successful train business in Nevada for over 30 years, is better than bringing in an outside company to do it. And that actually running regular trains on their new track is better than letting it sit and rust and grow weeds.

Sierra Railroad, of course, is pissed about this, but I think the best thing for the Commission to do would be to kick them to the curb, and fast.

In today's Nevada Appeal - V&T chugs ahead toward uncertain future:

The failure of a Carson City ballot question that would have raised $10 million for the V&T tourist railroad will delay the project’s completion by at least two years, but the public commission managing the construction could run train rides on the track that has been completed.

News Carson City is reporting that they've broken ground on the railroad bridge that will carry the Virginia & Truckee tracks over Hwy 50 in Mound House. This bridge is a little bit west of the original alignment of the V&T, right at the peak of the hill on the Carson-Lyon county line. The bridge itself, if I remember the details right, is an old Union Pacific bridge out of Vegas that was donated to the V&T a couple of years ago. So all they have to do is built supports for it, then set the thing down over the roadway. Estimates are for the bridge to be in place by January, then the tracks will be laid across it next summer.

After that the project will be out of money, and the tracks will end somewhere in the brush above Pick N Pull. So if they want to go any further they've got to start raising funds soon. But at least the rails will be within spitting distance of Carson City, and conceivably the Grays could start running excursions to Mound House and back.

In the RGJ: V&T reconstruction project reaches another milestone. Details the October 25th run of the V&T which was the first ticketed excursion to pass through recently-repaired Tunnel #2 since the 1930s.

It seems the government doesn't like the people getting involved in government affairs. Jim Lohse has found this out over and over again while attending meetings of the Nevada Commission for the Reconstruction of the V&T Railway. He had another run in at a meeting yesterday, where he stood up to try to make public comments, which at a public meeting you're supposed to be able to do. The Commission shut him down and wouldn't take his comments, so he went to the newspaper instead. He also wrote up a report on the meeting on his website.

It's a good thing that the V&T Railroad is finally being rebuilt, but it seems like it's being mismanaged at every turn. Jim is doing a good job of exposing this.

Hey, Carson City residents. You've paid over $20 million dollars into rebuilding the V&T Railroad, and up for a vote next month is a proposal to spend $10 million more. Now this is your money, your tax money, going into this project, so you might as well get something for free out of it. That's why the Carson City Convention and Visitors Bureau has arranged for free train rides for Carson City residents during the month of October. Anyone who wants to head up the hill and grab a seat on the 4pm train is free to do so. It's normally a $9 fare to get on board. This deal is for Carson City residents only (so I'm disqualified since I live in Douglas County). I suppose you have to show a driver's license or something with your address on it to get the tickets. You can get them from the visitors center in the Railroad Museum parking lot, or up in Virginia City at the V&T ticket office.

The Nevada Appeal reports (twice, in fact) that the Sierra Railroad, the company that was chosen to be the operator for the new V&T line between Carson and Virginia, is in the process of being sold. And that the new prospective owner, Patriot Rail Corp, has no interest in providing passenger or tourist operations. If this is true, the V&T is kind of left in the lurch with lots of brand-new track and no one to run trains on it.

Now if only there was another option, another operator available, preferably one based locally, like in Virginia City, that could take over running trains on the new tracks. We'd probably never find anyone like that...

Last year the V&T bought a couple of new railroad cars to run in Virginia City. These cars are fully enclosed and decked out with upholstered seats, lighting, and heat. The first one arrived on the Comstock in July after being trucked across the country. They're going to be fixed up and run on special occasions, maybe even during the wintertime. These cold people below sure could have used one.

But anyway, the reason I'm writing about these new cars now is because I came across this video. The Comstock Historical Society drove out I-80 to meet the new car at the border and take some photos and video. Instead he ended up getting recruited to be a pilot car, and had to follow the car closely all the way back to VC. Once at its new home, the train car had to be lifted off the semi truck and placed on the rails. This video shows the whole process.

Rick Cooper, of washoevalley.org, has put up on Flickr one of the Then and Now photos that I've wanted to do for a while.

Photo by Flickr user RickC
Photo by RickC

On the left is the V&T Railroad steaming through Washoe Canyon, at the north end of Washoe Valley. Locomotive #11, the Reno, is at the head of the train. On the right is the same scene as it appears today. The wooden bridges that crossed the creek are still standing, but have rotted away after 58 years of disuse. They're one of the last tangible remnants of the old V&T, besides the equipment itself. #11, the Reno, is on display in Arizona at the Old Tucson theme park, but it's in bad shape and been left to bake under the hot desert sun.

There have been a lot of cool videos of the Virginia and Truckee Railroad showing up on YouTube lately, most of them the work of Jim Lohse of the Virginia Truckee Railroad Historical Society. You can find most of the videos listed under the usernames livingsteam, virginiatruckee, and renorailfan. Some of the movies are like this one, riding the train along the new tracks that have been laid to American Flat.

Or the five-part series, that starts here, showing Locomotive #29 coming out of the shop earlier this summer to pull its first passengers in six years.

Jim also runs several websites dedicated to V&T history, like www.livingsteam.com, www.comstockhistoricalsociety.com, www.renorailfans.com and www.trainarts.com. There is lots more information there, more videos, as well as DVDs you can buy. He's doing a lot to bring the history of the V&T to the internet, a lot more than I've been able to accomplish so far. Maybe one day I'll catch up.