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Virginia and Truckee Railroad Logopng
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VT
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Nevada
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1870
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present
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The was built to serve the
Silver mining communities of
Nevada . At its height, the railroad's route ran from
Reno south to
Carson City, Nevada . In Carson City, the mainline split into two branches. One branch continued south to
Minden , while the other branch traveled east to
Virginia City .
Today, the V&T operates as a
Heritage Railway , headquartered in Virginia City. The
Northern Nevada Railway Foundation hopes to rebuild the mainline to Carson City by
2010 . The railroad uses the nickname "Queen of the Short Lines." The first piece of equipment acquired was a
1914 2-8-2 steam
Locomotive . The train from Virginia City runs full time from
Memorial Day until the end of October
Cars and locomotives from the original railroad are also on display at the separate
Nevada State Railroad Museum in Carson City.
The Virginia and Truckee's locomotives and other equipment appeared in numerous
Westerns over the years since the railroad operated otherwise obsolete equipment well into the "cinema age." Many of these pieces have been restored, and are currently on display at museums throughout the country.
steam locomotive decorated to resemble historic
Union Pacific No. 119 , rides atop a
Union Pacific Railroad Flatcar as it stops in
Ogden, Utah on May 9, 1969 just prior to the centennial anniversary of the completion of the
First Transcontinental Railroad .]]
Source: "V & T Locomotive Roster" of the Nevada State Railroad Museum.
- National Register Of Historic Places #NPS–04001198 — Virginia and Truckee Railroad No. 27 (also known as Baldwin Locomotive Works #39435)
- National Register of Historic Places #NPS–73002245 — Virginia and Truckee Railroad No. 18, the ''Dayton'', and No. 22, the ''Inyo''
- National Register of Historic Places #NPS–77001508 — Virginia and Truckee Railroad Shops
- National Register of Historic Places #NPS–98001208 — Virginia and Truckee Railroad Depot, Carson City
Officials with the (V&T) held a "silver spike" ceremony
January 3 2006 , in Carson City to commemorate the completion of two
Mile s of
Track near
Gold Hill . The construction, completed in September 2005, is part of an effort to restore the V&T's mainline from Virginia City to Carson City for operations.
Senate Minority Leader
Harry Reid (
D -Nev), who was instrumental in securing
$ 10 million in federal funding for the project, and Nevada Lieutenant Governor
Lorraine Hunt , who secured an additional $1 million in state funding for the project, both spoke at the ceremony.
It is estimated that completion of the line from Gold Hill to Carson City will cost nearly $40 million, and it is hoped that the line, which was originally abandoned in 1938, will be completed and operational once again by December 2009.
