Nevada's Famous Virginia and Truckee Railway

Where to Research the Virginia and Truckee Railway V&T caboose #24 -- photo courtesy the Nevada Historical Society Research Library at Nevada Historical Society University of Nevada Library Special Collections Nevada Historical Society University of Nevada Reno -- Special Collections Nevada PUC (formerly NV Public Service Commission) Nevada State Museum and Nevada State Railroad Museum There are many places on the Internet to learn about the Virginia and Truckee, the Comstock Lode, Virginia City and Carson City. For most people the Internet is a great resource. Occasionally you may want to dig deeper and find primary sources. You may want to get copies or prints of historical documents and photos. You may want to purchase publishing rights to use historic photos in your commercial project. To accomplish this research, two great resources exist right here in Reno -- the Nevada Historical Society and the UNR Library Special Collections. NEVADA HISTORICAL SOCIETY The Nevada Historical Society is located at 1650 N. Virginia Street, Reno, NV 89503, one mile north of downtown Reno on the University of Nevada at Reno campus. The NHS is not part of the University, it's a separate state agency founded in 1904. At the NHS is a bookstore / gift shop with many excellent books about local history. There are permanent and changing museum exhibits. The NHS is worth a visit just to see a local museum. For researchers, the Research Library has excellent sources and a helpful staff. Many local writers use the Research Library, and you never know who you'll meet there. UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA AT RENO -- LIBRARY SPECIAL COLLECTIONS Also one mile north of downtown Reno is the UNR Library.Special Collections. Toward the end of the line for the V&T ... (con't below) (con't from above) Gordon Sampson, the last Virginia and Truckee Superintendent, discovered that some of the V&T files had gone missing and had resurfaced at the UC Berkeley Bancroft Library ( fn. 1 ). To prevent this, he paid close attention to the remaining files and had them donated to the UNR Special Collections. Special Collection holds many historical photo archives. See their website. UNR Special Collections also has an Oral History done by Mary Ellen Glass with Gordon Sampson. This is a great place to visit, right in the heart of the University of Nevada at Reno campus. A Guide to the Papers of the Virginia and Truckee Railroad at UNR Special Collections THE NEVADA PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION Railroads have been regulated by a Nevada State agency for just over 100 years. While the Interstate Commerce Commission regulated the Central (and later Southern) Pacific since 1888, in 1907 the Nevada Railroad Commission was created. In 1911 it became the Nevada Public Service Commission, and was renamed the Nevada Public Utilities Commission in 1997. The history of Nevada's regulatory efforts has been written elsewhere. What should concern researchers is that nearly all the public hearings related to railroads are archived on microfilm at the Carson City office of the NPSC. I have found this to be a wonderful source of historical information, especially in my research of the End of the Line for the Virginia and Truckee Railroad on May 31, 1950. Before abandonment many materials were sent to the commission supporting and opposing the V&T's efforts to abandon service. Because the Virginia and Truckee Railway (nee Virginia and Truckee Railroad) was regulated as a public utility, the railroad was considered to provide a public service like any other utility. The Nevada Public Service Commission regulated the freight and passenger rates, governed the 1938 abandonment applications for the Gold Hill station and the Carson City to Virginia City section NEVADA STATE MUSEUM The Nevada State Museum has a great collection of photos and documents, though they don't focus specifically on railroads. They are reasonably accomodating, but to view their collections you need to make an appointment and a staff member specifically must dedicate their time to you while you do your research. This makes access somewhat limited, as I feel guilty making a staff member look over my shoulder. NEVADA STATE RAILROAD MUSEUM ARCHIVES -- MOSTLY OFF LIMITS BARELY ACCOMODATING: I don't think I can express it any better than Peter Barton recently did explaining that it's just not the mission of the Carson City Railroad Museum to provide public access to their archives: "There is a clear distinction that must be understood at the onset with respect to fundamental differences between the Nevada Historical Society, the Nevada State Railroad Museum and I suspect extending to the University of Nevada Special Collections. That is, the Historical Society was established as a public research archive and library -- the Nevada State Railroad Museum was not. The archives at the Railroad Museum were created for the singular purpose of supporting the exhibits and the interpretive program of the Railroad Museum, period. There was never any intent in the creation of the Railroad Museum that it would have a public research archive program. Accordingly, it is not a research archive and no mention of it being so is found anywhere in the museum's mission, collection management policy or in statute." Whew! Enough said, I wish they would send the Gordon Sampson collection back to UNR Special Collections (who gave it to the railroad museum in the first place) so I could get better access to it. There is no Gordon Sampson exhibit at the railroad museum so I don't really know why they sit on these records and make it hard to do research. (1) Glass, Mary Ellen. "Rails in the Mud: Last Years of the V&T." Nevada Historical Society Quarterly os XV.2 (1972): pp. 37-44.

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