Lake Tahoe Trip: Riding the Rails

6 July 1984

Having toured the movie set that represented Virginia City on the TV Show Bonanza the previous day, we drove to the “real” Virginia City the next morning.  Like many of Nevada’s cities and towns, Virginia City was a mining boomtown.  It appeared virtually overnight as a result of the Comstock Lode silver strike of 1859.  The city was once the richest on earth, with more millionaires than anywhere else.

Local lore has it that Virginia City was named for James Finney — aka “Old Virginy” — who hailed from Virginia.  Finney, whose real name was James Fennimore, had fled Virginia after killing a man.  He is credited with discovering the Comstock Lode.

Virginia City is just 15 miles from Carson City.

Our goal wasn’t so much to visit the city as to take a train ride on the railroad that was built in 1869 to serve the silver mining communities of Nevada.  But first, we had to …

… spring Mui out of the Virginia City Territorial Prison of 1869!

Here’s how the brochure described our ride on the Virginia & Truckee Railroad:

The Virginia & Truckee Railroad is by far the most famous of all American short lines.  In its heyday as many as 45 trains a day arrived and departed Virginia City.  A US president and dignitaries from the world over rode these trains.  The line was completed in 1869 and in the ensuing 70 years hauled millions of dollars in gold and silver ore from the mines of Virginia City.  Years after the last train left the Comstock, you can once again ride over this historic railroad.

Take a close look at the railroad bed between Virginia City and Carson City
and you’ll see why it earned the nickname “crookedest railroad.”

Our 35-minute train ride took us from the depot in Virginia City to Tunnel No.4 in Goldhill, where the Comstock Era gold strikes began.  The tunnel was one of five built for the 1600-foot (488 m) descent to the valley floor.

Ticket in hand, we're ready to ride the rails.

Engine #29, the “Robert C. Gray,” was built 1916.  It came to Virginia City in 1977.

We had a choice of sitting in the caboose or in the open car.
Guess which one we chose!

Short though the ride was, we enjoyed our trip back into history.  We kept an eye out for gold seams in the nearby hills, but alas … no luck.