Expansion and prosperity Virginia and Truckee Railroad

cprr issued ticket passage reno virginia city, 1878

in late 1871, line extension reno begun, connect v&t line central pacific railroad. allow through train service between virginia city , san francisco. construction began track being installed starting @ reno end of line. first train run end-to-end virginia city reno took place on august 24, 1872, pulled appropriately road s newest locomotive @ time, no. 11, reno. milestone marked completion of virginia , truckee railroad. in 1875, railroad earning profit of on $100,000 per month , started paying annual dividends of $360,000 (or $30,000/month) investors.

virginia & truckee railroad right of way, reno, nevada historical marker no. 248. grade constructed in 1871, , in use until 1950.

in 1880, v&t built 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge railroad called carson & colorado. railroad never did reach state of colorado; aim head southern part of california, , colorado river new mining claims being struck. these never did pan out, , 1891 claim sites forgotten. liability v&t, slim princess sold southern pacific railroad in 1900. in words of ogden mills, either built line 300 miles short or 300 years reflected v&t s attitude towards railroad.

shortly after sale of c&c, however, silver discovered @ tonopah, nevada. c&c became prosperous southern pacific (as v&t, had intermediate rail access), , wagon trains (in 1905 tonopah , goldfield railroad) run miles through desert reach narrow-gauge line, carry v&t @ mound house junction. because break of gauge between carson & colorado , virginia & truckee, tonopah ore had unloaded hand narrow-gauge cars , standard gauge cars @ c&c northern terminus, causing backlog of traffic, cars waited transferred. issue apparent on mining materials being delivered mines , town of tonopah, in building boom. southern pacific officials did not arrangement, in 1904 converted narrow gauge c&c standard gauge moundhouse mina, renamed nevada & california railroad. in addition, southern pacific (controlled @ time union pacific railroad) offered buy virginia & truckee, v&t officials set price high (according u.p. president harriman). instead, southern pacific built own line closest available intersect on former c&c. line ran 28 miles hazen fort churchill , connected own main lines, bypassing v&t entirely.

in 1904, corporation changed name virginia , truckee railway. in response agricultural , cattle ranch concerns, v&t built short branch line minden, nv, 26 miles south of carson city, in 1906. branch line brought in increased freight traffic; result v&t purchased 3 new ten-wheelers baldwin: (the first) no. 25, 26, , 27, in 1905, 1907, , 1913 respectively.