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 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.
