Inaugural run of V&T to Carson City set for August

Some 17 years ago, reconstructing the Virginia & Truckee Railway between Virginia City and Carson City was just an idea in the minds of a few people, including project engineer Ken Dorr.

No longer. Starting with an inaugural ride for area dignitaries Aug. 14, the train ride some hope will make western Nevada into a tourist destination becomes reality.

Admittedly, they're still laying track down Carson Canyon. That means the trip to Carson City will actually end at Eastgate siding off Flint Drive at the eastern edge of the capital. When all the track is finally on the ground, Dorr said, the run will end at a depot off Draco Way and include a scenic run down through Carson Canyon.

Nonetheless, Dorr and railroad commission chairman Dwight Millard point out that Eastgate is in Carson City - albeit only a few yards over the Lyon County line.

After the inaugural run Friday, Aug. 14, Millard said the train will carry passengers to Virginia City and back that Saturday and Sunday. Millard said it will run for the next 11 Saturdays this fall until Nevada Day - which he said will help operators, the marketing crew at Carson City Convention & Visitors Bureau and the railroad commission work out timetables, operating procedures and solve any problems that come up.

"There's going to be a lot of learning in the 12 weeks, everybody's excited about," he said.

He said much of the final progress to get everything going has come together in the past few weeks. The commission made a track use agreement with CCCVB Executive Director Candy Duncan, after which the bureau made an agreement with Tom Gray, who operates the existing V&T between Virginia City and Gold Hill, to run the trains.

Duncan and her staff are providing marketing, advertising and ticket sales.

"Because Carson City has so much invested in this, the bureau is sort of taking the risk of ticket sales," Millard said. "We feel there will be sufficient ticket sales to fund it, but if not, the bureau is in a position to augment it a little bit."

Duncan said the weekend of Aug. 14-16 is being advertised as Rail Fest to inaugurate the tourist train.

"There are going to be a lot of events happening in Virginia City and Carson City," she said. "There'll be music, food, the steam trains running. And there's going to be the opportunity to ride that train throughout the rest of the summer and into the fall."

The state of Nevada Railroad Museum on South Carson Street will join in the activities by running its historic steam engine for passengers. The Carson City Arts and Culture Coalition will provide snacks and ice cream and, at 9 p.m. that Saturday, KNPB TV and the railroad museum will broadcast the Ken Burns documentary "The National Parks, America's Best Idea" on the side of its main building.

"The cooperation between Carson City and Virginia City on all of Rail Fest has just been superb," he said.

In preparation for the first passenger run, he said Gray was running his locomotive down the newly laid portion of the track Friday to help set it into the railbed and ensure everything is in good shape for Rail Fest.

In addition, he said the final piece of the puzzle - the arrival of the No. 18 locomotive that will be the primary locomotive used by the V&T to haul passengers - is set for Tuesday.

He said for their part, the Grays have purchased two very nice passenger cars for the train.

Finally, he said CCCVB will have its ticket system up and running on its Web site, visit

carsoncity.com, by Monday.

"Some people didn't think we could get it done as fast as we did," he said. "I'm amazed. Everybody seemed to know the train needed to run this year."