So I had to take a whirlwind business trip to Reno, NV earlier this week. On the bad side, I had no time to get out of downtown into the beutiful desert country. On the better side, during one of my few free moments I was able to wander a block from my hotel to the Reno Amtrak station just in time to see the eastbound Zephyr make its station call, conveniently (for me) 40 minutes late.

The SP depot in Reno is pretty beat up, but it still functions as a station should, with baggage carts that go out to meet the train, and station agents who compare notes with the conductors during the crew change. The agent did tell me there are plans afoot to restore the station.

Inside the waiting room by the ticket window was a big wheeled scale the agent uses to weigh checked baggage. This scale has a floor weighing pad, and a vertical stand that branched off at chest height to hold the balance beam. The vertical cast iron stand and the brass balance beam were both stamped "SP Co." The scale pad itself was stamped with the name of the manufacturer (a New England firm) and two patent dates: if memory serves, 1869 and 1871.

Even allowing that the scale was actually manufactured well after the patent dates, it still made me wonder how long that piece of equipment has been in Reno. It would not surprise me if that scale has been there for well over a century. I found myself imagining the trains and the changes it had seen...

I really like that kind of inadvertent railroad "preservation through use." With manned interlockings and so much else having gone by the wayside (or more accurately having disappeared from the wayside), it's neat to find an old tool still in use, in unbroken succession from the earliest days...

eledbetter@rypn.org

Here's a recent street-side view of the Reno station along with a brief history. The modern addition on the leftmost side of the station has just been demolished, so it actually looks a bit more as built now.



Reno station
eledbetter@rypn.org

One of the descriptive statements in the Reno station link illustrates just how pathetically Amtrak is underfunded. It notes the Reno station has "indoor waiting rooms, checked baggage service and restrooms", something many Amtrak stations do not have. Can anyone imagine an airport without such things?

ryarger@rypn.org

I'm a Reno resident and am very familiar with this station. It's a treasure in a town that has lost many of it's historical railroad related things over the years (much of the SP Sparks shops, manned helpers over Donner Pass, all of V&T north of Carson City).

Recently the "Turf Club", the sports book next to the station whose positioning iwht shadows made the station so hard to photograph the station has been torn down, making the photogenic qualities of the structure better.

I have heard mixed rumors on the stations future. The origional ReTrak plans called a new underground station to built and the old SP station to be flattened. Last May the station employees were still under the impression this was going to happen sometimes in the next two years.

But some historical groups, sensitive to losing building soooo many historical buildings downtown (Mapes Hotel, etc.) have made a stink and I've heard rumors that they may try and force the city to preserve and move it.

On another subject, the old SP frieghthouse, a block east of the pass. depot is slated for destruction. It's beautiful art-deco structure that is still owned by UP and has been redeveloped for commericial use.

But the UP has kicked the Indian rug outlet that was renting the frieghthouse and will tear it down to make way for ReTrak.

Email me if you want to about any other "hidden" treasures of Reno. Like the NCO depot on 4th St. or the practically forgotten about NCO section shed on Record St. that has been turned into a very charming cafe and art gallery.

terry_dempsey@hotmail.com