By Jeff Terry/photos by the author
“When the Virginia & Truckee banks the fires of its engines at last for the long night, as have so many little railroads before it, it will not come again, for the dead return not,” author Lucius Beebe wrote in 1949 as the Nevada short line was facing abandonment. Despite his efforts to save it, the last V&T train steamed out of Carson City on May 31, 1950, thus ending 80 years of service. A handful of locomotives and cars were saved, many as movie props and, later, museum pieces.
After witnessing the death knell of V&T, Beebe would have been astounded at the sight that greeted visitors to the Great Western Steam Up on July 1, 2022. The event, held on the grounds of the Nevada State Railroad Museum (NSRM) in Carson City, was an epic four-day gathering of historic locomotives in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the completion of Virginia & Truckee. On the museum’s campus were 16 steam locomotives, nine of which were under steam. Even more remarkable was that six of the locomotives were V&T survivors — the largest gathering of original Virginia & Truckee locomotives in 75 years. Truly, the dead had returned.
V&T Steam Power
Virginia & Truckee’s 52-mile main line snaked its way through Nevada’s desert sagebrush between Reno and Carson City, with branches to Minden and Virginia City. It began construction in 1869 near Gold Hill and was completed to a connection with Central Pacific at Reno in 1872. Its primary purpose was to serve the mining interests of the Comstock Lode.
ABOVE: V&T 4-4-0 Inyo gleams in the sun on Independence Day as it makes one final lap, the last official move of the Great Western Steam Up. Number 22 was the first V&T engine to go to Hollywood, appearing in “High, Wide, and Handsome” and “Wells Fargo” in 1937.
Its first locomotive was Lyon, a 22-ton 2-6-0 built by San Francisco’s Union Iron Works in 1869. Although the original machine was scrapped in 1900, an operating replica was started decades ago by V&T fan Stan Gentry. In 2020, Gentry donated the partially completed replica to NSRM, and it was on exhibit (with Gentry himself on hand to answer questions) during the Steam Up. The museum plans to finish work on the Lyon as time and funding allow.
A pair of authentic V&T 4-4-0s, Dayton and Inyo, reside at NSRM. Dayton, numbered 18, was built in Central Pacific’s Sacramento Shops in 1873 and has been cosmetically restored to the way it looked in 1882. Sister Inyo, numbered 22, was outshopped in 1875 by Baldwin and was used to power the V&T segment of the Lightning Express passenger train between Virginia City and Reno (Central Pacific engines handled the train into San Francisco). Today, restored to its 1893 appearance, the wood-burning Inyo is one of the oldest original operating steam locomotives in the world. With its boiler pressure limited to 75 psi, it ran daily during the Steam Up hauling 1872-built V&T coach 4.
Virginia & Truckee 2-4-0 21, J.W. Bowker, and 4-4-0 12, Genoa (both inoperable), were trucked to Carson City from their longtime home at the California State Railroad Museum. Bowker was delivered from Baldwin in 1875 and served as the Virginia City switcher, while Genoa came from the same builder two years earlier and was used in passenger service. Both locomotives will remain in Carson City for the next two years, while Dayton and V&T coach 17 (originally a Central Pacific business car and the only surviving piece of equipment from 1869’s golden spike ceremony) will be loaned to CSRM. Genoa was out in the sunshine for the first time in decades as it has spent the last 42 years on display indoors.
ABOVE: NSRM’s A-frame gallows turntable is a replica built following a 19th century Southern Pacific design. V&T 4-6-0 25 is taking a spin alongside V&T 11 Reno during the midday locomotive pageant on July 1.
Representing the later years of V&T motive power was V&T 25, an oil-burning 1905 Baldwin 4-6-0 that was used in both freight and passenger service. Like many existing V&T engines, it was sold to a movie studio upon retirement (RKO and later, Desilu) which ensured its long-term survival. The 25 was returned to running condition at NSRM in 1981.
Perhaps the most renowned V&T survivor in attendance was 4-4-0 11 Reno, which Lucius Beebe noted was the most beloved of all V&T motive power. Reno was the railroad’s first true passenger locomotive and was ordered from Baldwin in 1872. In the 1940s, it was sold to MGM for movie work, and for the last 50 years has been kept at the Old Tucson studio in Arizona. In poor condition from years of studio modifications and a 1995 fire, Reno is now owned by Tom Gray and the V&T tourist railroad of Virginia City, which plans to restore it to operation. Taylor McCready and several others spent the four days of the Steam Up removing layers of old paint and polishing brass, and by July 4, the 11 was looking much like its old self again.
The only V&T locomotive restored by NSRM not in attendance was 27, a 1913 Baldwin 4-6-0 that was V&T’s last locomotive; it’s currently on display at the Comstock History Center in Virginia City.
Visitors From Near and Far
One of the best features of NSRM is its loop of dual-gauge track that allows operation of both standard gauge and narrow gauge rolling stock. To this end, the museum invited locomotives of both gauges to participate and the result was a lineup of equipment, the likes of which hadn’t been seen since the Sacramento Railfairs of the 1980s and ’90s.
All the operational engines took turns steaming around the loop, many pulling either the scheduled morning or afternoon passenger trains. Attendees could choose to ride aboard a narrow gauge train made up of two flatcars and Southern Pacific combine-caboose 401 (brought in from the Laws Railroad Museum) or a standard gauge train consisting of V&T tunnel car 53, V&T wrecking car 57, V&T caboose-coach 10, and Nevada Copper Belt caboose 3…
