Renovation cost for V&T cars uncertain

Five rail cars destined for use on the reconstructed Virginia & Truckee Railway will be temporarily housed in Portola, Calif., until the state commission in charge of rebuilding the railway decides who will renovate them and at what cost.

Whether the five Southern Pacific Harriman suburban coaches will ever ride the rails again is unknown.

It's a risk the Nevada Commission for the Reconstruction of the V&T Railway took late last year when it decided to purchase the cars for $25,500 from Golden Gate Railroad Museum at Hunters Point Naval Base in San Francisco.

Commissioner Ron Allen said the 1923 rail cars must be off the base by Feb. 15, which is why the commission had to quickly decide how to move them and to where. The railroad museum's lease in San Francisco was recently canceled by the Navy.

"All the steel (on the cars) is in good condition," said Allen, who inspected them before the commission purchased them. "They have no rust. The cars are serviceable."

On Monday, the commission decided to invest another $29,000 into moving the cars to the Portola Railroad Museum.

Chairman Bob Hadfield said by the time the cars get to Portola, the commission will have invested $54,000 in them without knowing whether they will work well on the V&T track or the cost to renovate them.

Commissioner Marv Teixeira said he doesn't know how the cars will be used.

"Probably, the sale was good," he said. "Maybe it wasn't."

The cars will be towed behind a locomotive owned by the Portola museum, which is operated by the Feather River Railway Society. The society also purchased rail stock from the San Francisco museum.

Allen said it has agreed to charge the commission $4,000 to prepare the cars for transport and $25,000 to tow all of them to Portola.

Teixeira asked what would be done with the cars after they arrive in Portola, which is 78 miles from Carson City.

"They want to work out an agreement with us to do the restoration on the cars themselves," Allen said.

Restoring a historic rail car could cost from $5,000 to $100,000. If the commission decides not to give the contract to the Portola museum, it would have to pay the museum to store the cars. Commission members in past meetings have discussed passing the project along to the Nevada State Railroad Museum in Carson City.

That's not possible, according to Peter Barton, director of the State Railroad Museum. His crew is working on the historic McKean car, with a renovation priced at $400,000, and a couple of locomotives.

"I couldn't predict when we could even entertain the thought of doing five cars," he said. "Perhaps 10 years in the future we could do the work. But I don't think that's on the commission's schedule."

The V&T is expected to be operational by 2009.

-- Contact reporter Becky Bosshart at bbosshart@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1212.