Virginia & Truckee Railroad July 31, 2019

(This post is part of a (mostly) non-ship series about a trip to the West I took during July and August of 2019)

This railroad began construction in 1869 and operated from 1870 through 1950. The steam locomotive running today’s train, #29, is named Robert C. Gray after the person responsible for bringing the V&T back to life in 1976. Click here to read more about the history of this railroad.

Although this is the first train ride I have written about on this blog it is hardly the first train ride I have done. Trains have always been a big love of mine and I fell into shipspotting by accident. I guess I just love big machines of all sorts.

This train ride is roughly a half hour round trip going a couple miles down the track to the town of Gold Hill and back. It passes through the scenic desert mountain filled with mining history with narration being provided. They make a big deal about not standing up while the train is moving – very strange; I don’t recall having encountered this rule during any other scenic/tourist train ride.

The ride starts and ends at the historic 1870 passenger depot in Virginia city that has some historic equipment. The locomotive always faces North as there’s no way to turn the locomotive around at either end of the route and therefore runs backwards half the time. They make 7 departures a day and the cost is $14 for steam, $12 for diesel, $7 or 6 for kids. They have an all day pass for $28 or $24 dependent on motive power.

Be sure to check out more history and videos on their website by clicking here! Although the bizarre no standing rule puts a bit of a damper on the experience this is definitely a must do ride for any railfan! Also check out my video below and more photos I took here.