Steam & Excursion > Even In Her Last Days, This Railroad Still Put On A Fine Show!

The Virginia & Truckee Railroad was one of those iconic railroads that attracted the earliest railfans in the hobby.  Likely, it was the quaint old equipment that had suvived intact into the late 1930's the first caught the attention of visiting railfans.  But even after most of that early rolling stock was sold off to Holllywood studios, the railfans kept visiting the "Silver Shortline" to take in the lines scenery and historic legacy.

Here in early 1950 we see one of the final freigh trains on the V&T.   Former Nevada Copper Belt 2-8-0 #5 is in charge on this morning of a freight from Reno bound for Carson City.  The snow in the Sierra Mountains behind her show that Spring is in the air.  The final train on the V&T would be run at the very end of May of this year and #5 would be run up to Reno one last time to be stored looking for a buyer.  Sadly, no buyer would be found and #5 would be cut up later in 1950.

Today she lives on only in photos like this.

Martin



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/19/21 01:31 by LoggerHogger.

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Thanks for all your first-class posts.
A historic scenic beauty.
Bob

That is one stunning image.
—Mac

Great photo, Martin! I see a couple of passenger cars in the rear of the train. Was V&T running mixed trains this late? 

Tom

Railfan4Christ Wrote:
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> Great photo, Martin! I see a couple of passenger
> cars in the rear of the train. Was V&T running
> mixed trains this late? 
>
> Tom

Yes, they had mixed trains right till the end.

Martin

Eight freight cars on the drawbar.....they still had customers using rail service.  What was the reason that the V&T ceased operations?  I'm sure that there were other shortlines that survived with eight cars of traffic per day.

Railroad was worn out, track and management, and lacked the resources for major track work.

Out

And #5 did not help.  The 4-6-0's were pretty good on the track, but when they wore out and the RR bought the much heavier and less flexible #5, the track simply fell apart.