Steel arrives for next two V&T parts

Rails for the future reconstructed Virginia & Truckee Railway are piling up at a storage site in Carson City, but it will be about a year before any of them are spiked into place here.

The 11-track miles of 119-pound rail are being stored at Drako Way until they are ready to be hammered into place on the right-of-way from American Flat to the outskirts of Carson City. Project officials expect to bid this job out in May.

That doesn't mean Highway 50 East commuters will be seeing railroad workers any time soon. Track near the highway probably won't be laid until May 2008, said Gary Luce, a senior engineer with Geocon Consultants, who is working on the project.

The $2.4 million rail purchase was approved by the Nevada Commission for the Reconstruction of the V&T Railway in January. The project is funded by private and public monies.

When the Carson City depot is completed, the final price tag for the entire project is expected to be $54 million. Much of that amount has already been allocated and raised, but project boosters are still about $18 million short.

Rock Smith, superintendent of the Western division for A&K Railroad Materials Inc., said the rail came form the Modoc line, which used to be a Sierra Pacific track from Alturas to Wendel, Calif. Some 112-pound rail will be coming from Arizona and Washington.

He estimates workers will be hauling rail for the next 10 days, using three trucks at 24 tons per load.