Construction begins today on the next phase of the V & T Railway. The four and a half mile section will run from American Flat in Storey County south to Mound House in Lyon County.
Granite Construction is doing the work under a $5.2 million contract.
The entire 18-mile track is expected to be done by 2011 and will run from Virginia City to Carson City. About a mile and a half from Gold Hill to the Overman Pit was finished in 2005.
There will be a ground breaking ceremony Friday.
The Nevada Commission for the Reconstruction of the V & T Railway, the state agency in charge of the construction, will have its monthly meeting 3 p.m. today in the Sierra Room of the Carson City Community Center, 851 E. William St.