National Register Listing

Virginia and Truckee RR. Engines No. 18, The Dayton; and No. 22, The Inyo

NE corner of Colorado and Carson Sts., Carson City (Independent City), NV

The "Inyo" and the "Dayton" are of considerable historical importance because they operated as part of the Virginia and Truckee Railroad, one of America's most famous short-lines. Of some twenty-seven engines that operated on the line over the years, only nine are still in existence, seven of them in public museums. These two engines are the only ones currently available to the State of Nevada.

Following its completion in 1870 under the direction of William Sharon, manager of the Bank of California in Virginia City, the V&T operated for some eighty years in Nevada, intermittently hauling ore from the Comstock to the mills on the Carson River, freighting timber from the Sierras and carrying supplies and passengers between Virginia City, Carson City, Reno and Minden.

The 1870's were the V&T's most prosperous years, but with the onset of a decline in mining activity in the 1880's, the line neared bankruptcy and only the interchange traffic over the Carson & Colorado kept it solvent. Some spur lines were abandoned in the 80's, surplus locomotives sold and in the 190's dividend payments were suspended.
Mining developments in Tonopah and Goldfield after the turn of the century created much freight business over the line from Reno to Mound House, but the completion of the Hazen Cut-Off in 1906 ended the boom. Auto and truck competition cut into the V&T's freight revenues in the 20's and it was again near bankruptcy in the mid +30's. Much equipment was sold to collectors and motion picture companies and the line went into receivership in 1946 and was abandoned in 1949, the last excursion run from Reno to Minden being made on May 31, 1950.

Both the "Inyo" and the "Dayton" saw intermittent service between the 1870's and the 1930's, the latter perhaps more so than the former. The "Dayton," after its sale to Paramount Pictures Corp. in 1937, was rebuilt in 1939 for a run to New York to return with a publicity train for a Cecil B. DeMille motion picture. Both engines were acquired by Paramount Immobiliare Inc. in the late 1960's when Paramount Pictures Corp. dissolved its interests. Both were loaned to the National Park Service in 1969 for the celebration of the centennial of the transcontinental railroad and are currently on. display at the Golden Spike National Historic Site, Promontory Point, Utah.

In recent years there has been much interest in reviving and restoring the V & T. Many Nevadans feel an obligation to preserve important features of their state's historic heritage through a display of these representative historic items once owned and operated by the V & T Railroad Co. In times of change and troubles this nation seems to look back toward simpler times, the "good old days" if you will, and for many Nevadans and many Americans the railroad heritage of their land is a tangible and important part of their history.

Local significance of the structure:
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1973.