V&T Railroad steams through history

The historic Virginia & Truckee Railroad train runs every Saturday through Oct. 31, along a 12.8-mile reconstructed portion of the 16.7-mile original route between Nevada’s sister cities.

Trains leave Carson City at 10am, arriving in Virginia City at 11:30am. The train departs Virginia City at 3pm, returning to Carson City at 4:30pm.

Roundtrip tickets are $48 per adult, $36 for children 12 and under and $40 for seniors over 65. One-way tickets are $29 adults, $23 for children and $25 for seniors. To reserve tickets, call 800-NEVADA-1 or visit www.VisitCarsonCity.com and click “buy tickets.”

The 60-90-minute train rides include scenic vistas of the “old west” countryside, views of the Carson River, two tunnels and occasional sightings of wild stallions.

The V&T Railway, the richest short-line in American history, originally operated during the raucous silver strike era of the infamous Comstock Lode from 1869 to 1938. The 1860’s V&T was privately funded and featured the finest appointments with the most luxurious interiors money could buy, including gold-leaf and brass-adorned locomotives to wooden coaches.

The line brought entrepreneurs, gamblers and aristocrats to the Comstock. Along with these characters, the train carried the Mother Lode’s gold and silver to Carson City and lumber from Lake Tahoe to build the mines in Virginia City.

The $55 million project, which links the area’s storied past with the present and provides a promising future has been 17 years in the making.

V&T Railroad, Photo by Jim Grant