Is this old news?


http://www.nevadaappeal.com/article/20050303/NEWS/103030033

V&T construction bid awarded; new steam engine purchased

Becky Bosshart
Appeal Staff Writer


A $420,000 steam locomotive will chug to Virginia City on track laid by Granite Construction, Virginia & Truckee Railway officials said Wednesday.

The Nevada Department of Transportation awarded the $3.8 million bid to a Carson City construction company to reconstruct 1.3 miles of V&T Railway across Overman Pit in Gold Hill.

In addition, the Nevada Commission for the Reconstruction of the V&T Railway recently purchased a steam locomotive to run on the tracks.

Crossing the pit is one segment of a 17-mile project to lay track between the Comstock and Carson City along the historic rail route.

"Granite Construction is the low bidder, and they will start work in April," said Nevada Department of Transportation spokesman Scott Magruder.

The groundbreaking ceremony should be in mid-April, he said. The long-awaited project has hit several bumps over 14 years, but many local officials predict the historic railway project will blow the horn on the regional economic machine.

Kevin Ray, project coordinator for the Nevada Commission for the Reconstruction of the V&T Railway, said the local economy will see a $40 million boost during the construction phase, and $16 million is expected to be brought in annually after the railway is completed.



Project powered by 1914 locomotive

Carson City Mayor Marv Teixeira said the steam locomotive purchase lets everyone know the goal is near.

"In the past, we've been selling a ghost," Teixeira said about fund-raising for the railway. "But now we are selling the tangible. We now have something to fund-raise for."

He said the commission will finance the $420,000 locomotive through a bank over five to 10 years. The mayor recently returned from Washington, D.C., where he petitioned for grant funding for the railway. He said there are many uncertainties concerning federal funding, but he'll know in the next several months if any money will come from Congress.

John Flanagan, V&T commission chairman and Storey County commissioner, said the steam locomotive was bought from a tourist line in Northern California which is going out of business.

"We discussed (the purchase) at two meetings, and after doing research on rail steam engines in the whole country this sounded like a very good deal for us," he said. "It's close by and the fellow who owns it now will store it for us until we're ready for it. It'll be a couple of years until we have track to run it on."

The locomotive is certified to run for another 15 years. Christopher DeWitt, supervisor of restoration at the Nevada State Railroad Museum, said it is an excellent engine for the V&T.

DeWitt was contracted to survey the black-and-silver-lettered engine and conduct the engineering analysis for the California owner.

"Even though it's not a Nevada engine it'll serve the V&T's needs well," he said. "It'll be excellent. And the price is really good considering the condition it's in. It has been really well taken care of over the years."



n Contact reporter Becky Bosshart at bbosshart@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1212.



McCloud

no. 18

Manufactured by: Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia

Date completed: October 1914, purchased in 1915

Owned and operated by: McCloud Railway Co., which runs it near Mount Shasta in Northern California

Weight: 187,000 pounds, with water and fuel it weighs 258,700. It is a 282-wheel configuration Mikado

Description: The locomotive is entirely black, except for its brass bell and silver letters on the side.

Other notes: Its original bill of sale still exists. It burns oil to make steam.



Source: Christopher DeWitt, supervisor of restoration at the Nevada State Railroad Museum

I don't know Tom, buty it's great news.

I've always been a big fan of the V & T

Paul

Has anyone in Cumberland, MD shown this article/project to the powers that be in the city?

Honestly, I have little hope for the WSMR though I WANT to be wrong. This is the same place that rode Jack Showalter out on a politcal rail.

Rob

[redacted]

There are three separate tourist train / Railroad preservation entities operating along the V&T Carson City – Virginia City corridor. They are:

The Nevada State Railroad Museum in Carson City. This is the State owned/operated railroad museum with a wonderful collection of V&T equipment and relics. The museum is located on the south side of town near to the one of the original wood yards, and along what became the Minden Branch. The collection includes three operable standard gauge steam locomotives. As I understand it, none of the equipment from this museum will be used on the new line. The Museum has a support group called the “Friends of the V&Tâ€

[redacted]

I don't track their activities carefully, but they have over the years been consumers of steam locomotives.

They started operations with former "movie" equimpment leased from Short Line Enterprises including a D&R 4-4-0. Most if not all of that equipment was later sold to the State of Nevada and became part of the Nevada State Railroad Collection. They later used a 0-4-0t, then a couple of other leased or purchased locos, mostly former logging engines. At least one came from the Portola Railroad Museum.

I believe most are still on the property, but non operable.

[redacted]

I was there in 1994 doing a segment on the V&T for our first America By Rail video(The Heartland). Anyway, this was the line from Viriginia City to Gold Hill. The two engine crew were real nice, allowed me a cab ride, and on one trip dropped me off at the tunnel, as they backed down to Gold Hill. Then on the uphill, chimney first run, they blasted out of the tunnel making a great video sequence, then a few cars past me stopped the train, while the conductor helped me aboard, then proceeded.
This was indeed 2-8-0 #29. They ran with two cars, one being an open gon, and another open caboose-type of car. It is a stiff grade from Gold Hill to the Tunnel and beyond almost to Virginia City, so the engine put on a nice show. I think the new FRA regs kept the steamer from continuing to run if I am not mistaken. They didn't have the money to pour into another restoration.
I heard at the time about them trying to rebuild the line to Carson City.
My question is with all these separate factions, who will actually run this, and how would that work with the existing V&T that is running today. Would someone else take over that operation, or would the current folks be the new operators of the entire line. I hope it gets done, and we can see some steam on this some day, as it should be a good tourist attraction in an area that is close to Reno, and Lake Tahoe with loads of tourists already.
Greg Scholl

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My understanding is that #29 went out of service due to need for the FRA 15-year overhaul. As Randy said this operation has had the appearance of being a shoestring operation. I don’t think the operator had the funds to do the inspection, etc.

Some years ago (about 15 years ago), I rode the line in late October on a sub-freezing day. The #29's air pump seemed to be working quite a bit on the trip. When we got off the train and walked around the engine we saw an icicle hanging from the weld-on nipple on the main air tank piping connection and vapor coming from the weld area. By all appearances the weld was incomplete and the engine was being operated in that condition. We quickly got into the automobile and left town.

Questions:

Will all three of these entities be physically connected?

Will the new V&T be connected to outside rail connection?

Tim

I have been visiting the V&T operation in Virginia City for as long as I can remember. When I first started going there as a child, the 29 was running everytime I was there (once a year). Later, they leased the #8 from the Feather River Railroad Society to operate and maintain that locomotive. For a while, 29 and 8 operated in concert, spelling each other and sometimes double heading. From the outset, 8 was certainly in poor shape, and had some of the worst valve timing I have ever heard, and leaked like a sieve. Eventually, 29 went out of service to have some serious firebox work done (I have heard everything from side sheets to a whole new box, so I am unsure of the scope of the work) and 8 became primary motive power. This was nearly a decade ago, if memory serves. Eventually, 8 had to go out of service to comply with the new FRA requirements, and thats when the railroad switched to diesel as primary motive power. To the best of my knowledge, both 8 and 29 require major repairs to be brought into compliance. Since 8 is not actually owned by the V&T, it is not a likely candidate, and work on 29 was already progressing, I believe their efforts extend primarily towards it.

That brings us to the current state of the operation. #8 is out of service, I believe indefinitely. #29 is out of service, for how long I don't have any idea. #30, the ex-SP 0-6-0 was torn apart in the late 80's with the idea of restoring it, or possible converting it to a Mogul or Prairie, but with all their other motive power problems, nothing has come of that.

Finally, the rebuild of the V&T will follow as much of the original right of way as possible, but will terminate outside of Carson City, several miles from the NSRM. The rebuild will connect to the current trackage of the V&T reincarnation run by Bob Gray, but I don't know how the operation will work. To the best of my knowledge, the railroad will remain isolated from any other rail access.

On a personal note, I have been waiting for this rebuild to happen since the V&T first extended their route down to Gold Hill more than a decade ago. As a naive child, I expected to simply come back one year, and the route would have been extended. I did not understand the logistics required in reacquiring the right of way and crossing the Overman Pit. Every year, I was dissappointed and saddened by the lack of progress. Now, its like a dream come true. The effort seems to have real funding and government backing. The bridge to cross highway 50 has been purchased, the contractor and funding for the Overman Pit fill has been secured, and McCloud 18 has been purchased. I can't wait for my chance to be one of the first riders when this railroad finally makes it back to Carson City. This will be the first great triumph of rail preservation in the 21st century.

The new V&T reconstruction will be an extension of the existing Virginia City to Gold Hill operation.

The end of the new construction will be across Carson City from the Nevada State Railroad Museum; so, there will be no connection between the two.



No, there is no connection between Carson City and Reno. That went away when the V&T was torn up more than 50 years ago.

Am I the only one who sees something wrong here? THREE different operations for one abandoned RR? Hey, I get that three different groups decided to preserve/save what they could. What gets me is when one makes some headway, the other(s) won't have anything to do with it. And the railfans lose. Again. Why on earth can't entities like this get past whatever "us/them" childishness they may have and work together, just once, to a common goal?

Sometimes you can't help it, like in the case of the D&RGW tracks through New Mexico and Colorado. There was too much track between what are now two separate RRs to keep it all as one operation. But with the V&T, connecting it all wouldn't be tough at all and beneficial to all the tourists who would come to see it. But as it stands, there will be three "V&T" operations, each independent of the other.

There's place for them all, if the trackage can be combined. It could really be as easy as: The museum handles… well, the museum (as well as special trains of original equipment). The other two share off duties running trains. But I guess that won't happen, as each group will likely refuse to concede anything to another group. We see this all the time, and the fans lose every time. And those without a lot of time on their hands are left with a choice on which "V&T" they're going to visit.

God, what a shame.