RICHEST -- Short Line in the World - Virginia & Truckee Railroad - Virginia City, NV, USA
N 39° 18.620 W 119° 38.975
11S E 271557 N 4354563
This historical marker stands in the center of town, on a large, four-sided, composite rock base monument, with informative plaques on each side commemorating historical events and people of Virginia City, Nevada.
Waymark Code: WMGCW1
Location: Nevada, United States
Date Posted: 02/15/2013
Views: 3
This monument is situated on the edge of a parking lot on the east side of C Street, between Union Street and Taylor Street. This is one of seven historical markers attached to the monument, it reads:
DESTROYED BY FIRE IN 1875, VIRGINIA CITY WAS QUICKLY REBUILT AND BECAME A METROPOLIS OF 25,000 PEOPLE, SERVED BY STATE LINES AND THE WELLS FARGO BANK AND EXPRESS COMPANY. IT WAS LATER THE TERMINAL OF THE VIRGINIA AND TRUCKEE RAILROAD, RICHEST SHORT LINE IN THE WORLD.
THE TERRITORIAL ENTERPRISE, WITH A STAFF OF JOSEPH GOODMAN, MARK TWAIN, ROLLIN DAGGETT, DAN DeQUILLE, AND C.C. GOODWIN, BECAME THE MOST CELEBRATED AND POWERFUL NEWSPAPER IN THE WEST.
ALL OF THE FAMOUS THEATRICAL STARS OF THE ERA APPEARED IN JOHN PIPER’S OPERA HOUSE.
"Nevada's most famous short line is the Virginia & Truckee Railroad which connected Reno with Carson City, Virginia City and Minden. Operating for 68 years between Virginia City and Carson City, the V&T was Nevada's Bonanza Railroad as it hauled valuable Comstock ore to quartz reduction mills located at Silver City and along the Carson River east of Carson City, the capital of Nevada. The United States Government built the Carson City Mint in 1870 to facilitate the minting of silver coins from silver extracted from silver ore wrestled from deep within the ground by the men working in the mines in and around Virginia City.
The Virginia & Truckee Railroad Company was organized in Nevada on March 5, 1868. The objective was to connect Comstock ore producing mines with quartz reduction mills and, on the return trip, to bring in needed lumber, mining timbers and cord wood for fuel. Surveyed by local surveyor Isaac E. James, the 21-mile standard gauge line was completed on January 29, 1870 between Carson City and Virginia City. A 31-mile extension north from Carson City through Franktown, Washoe City, and Steamboat Springs connected the Comstock with transcontinental rail service at Reno in August of 1872.
The Virginia & Truckee Railroad Company was headquartered at Carson City. A massive complex of railroad shops were erected in Carson City. The shops were proclaimed by the Central Pacific Railroad to be equal to or better than their great locomotive and car building facilities at Sacramento, California. From these shops poured nearly every conceivable type of essential machinery for communities throughout Nevada and Eastern California. For decades the Virginia & Truckee was hailed as the wealthiest short line railroad in the world!" (
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