Restoring The Line
Officials with the Commission held a "silver spike" ceremony January 3, 2006, in Carson City to commemorate the completion of two miles of track near Gold Hill. The construction, completed in September 2005, is part of an effort to restore the V&T's mainline from Virginia City to Carson City for operations. Then Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev), who was instrumental in securing $10 million in federal funding for the project, and Nevada Lieutenant Governor Lorraine Hunt, who secured an additional $1 million in state funding for the project, both spoke at the ceremony.
It is estimated that completion of the line from Gold Hill to Carson City will cost in excess of $55 million, and it is hoped that the line, which was originally abandoned in 1938, will be completed and operational once again in 2012.
On August 14, 2009 the ceremonial first run from Virginia City to Mound House (Mistakingly referred to as "Carson City Eastgate" in official material) occurred for VIPs. On the 15th and 16th the line opened to the public. Funds raised from these runs will be used to pay for the tracks through the Carson River Canyon, and will continue throughout the fall, every Saturday from August 22 through October 31. The runs will use the V&T Railroad's equipment (such as steam locomotive #29) and not that of the V&T Railway (owned by the Commission). Ticket price is set at $48.
The railroad is currently building up its collection, acquiring passenger cars from the nations museums & other private owners.
In May 2010, an ALCO S-4 was acquired from Montana in operable condition. It has been numbered D-2 (the number was previously used for a leased 44-tonner).
On July 24, 2010, the No. 18 steam locomotive was brought on-line for revenue service. The locomotive had recently come back from Hollywood, appearing in the movie Water for Elephants.
In December 2010, an ex-CB&Q railcar was trucked into Virginia City. It was to be operational in time for the 2011 season, but is still undergoing restoration work.
As of June 2011, No. 29 is once again down for maintenance. In her absence, D-1 has been fitted with a rare Hancock 4700 air whistle to keep the familiar sound of a whistle around, though some return riders believe it was due to sound complaints, as her old horn, a Nathan 3-chime horn, was very loud & could be heard all over town, echoeing off the canyon walls.
Read more about this topic: Virginia And Truckee Railroad
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—Eudora Welty (b. 1909)