Date Uploaded: April 3, 2025
Permanent Link: http://wnhpc.com/details/fb1232305292230365
Contributor: Virginia & Truckee Railroad Company on Facebook
Source: Facebook: Virginia & Truckee Railroad Company
Source URL: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1232305292230365&set=a.641410611319839
Source Caption: Howdy V&T Nation and Happy Friday! So, what is this week's lie? That the Central Pacific had any claims of ownership to the V&T. But the CP's much more infamous descendent had a vested interest in the Virginia and Truckee. Nor was it the only suitor the Queen of the Shortlines would entertain.
The year is 1905 and the Southern Pacific is making plans on standard gauging the Carson & Colorado (SPNG). Now, the cheapest and quickest way to do that act is just relay the existing rails to 4' 8 1/2" and call it a day. The V&T is acting as a bridge railroad between the SP's two railroads. And Yerington was charging quite the transfer fees. So, to save themselves money in the long run and remove a thorn from their side, San Francisco made an offer to buy the V&T outright for a fairly hefty sum. Mills and the remaining B.O.D. convened a meeting to discuss the affair. Do they sell out, make a nice profit, and go on to other ventures or do they roll the dice and incur the wrath of California's Octopus by denying the sale?
Option B was enacted and boy howdy did that Octopus get furious. So furious in fact, that the SP went through the expense of building an entirely new section of railroad starting at Hazen then running due south to the town of Wabuska where the cutoff meets the original alignment. Thus the V&T's gamble spectacularly backfired and left the shortline completely bypassed and broke.
The next courtship came in the form of a fairly interesting scheme that honestly deserves it's own Two-Truths Tuesday. (Let us know if you want this subject explored)
The Mid-Nevada Railroad was a proposal to merge the disperate Nevada shortlines into a singular north-south railroad connecting Reno with Las Vegas and Barstow (what wouldn't a train or transit nut give for that reality?). According to surviving documents, O.L. Mills was very much on board with the idea as it would turn the Virginia and Truckee from a terminal-only railroad serving a very small geographic area to being a bridge railroad to a larger network. However, the proposal never got beyond the "wouldn't it be nice" stage for two reasons:
1. It was 1933
2. The conceiver of the plan and its main financier caught a very lethal case of death.
Well, two suitors, two disappointments.
Then in 1948, as the V&T needed help the most, a bright light called the Western Pacific showed up. Seeing the potential of the Virginia and Truckee, the Old Wobbly approached the Mills Estate with an offer to buy the whole railroad and the debt the V&T incurred with money backed by the Santa Fe Railroad. Remembering what happened when their grandad dared say 'no' to a merger and eager to offload the railroad, the Mills Family and the railroad's creditors gladly accepted the offer.
There's just one problem.
The Western Pacific's tracks are on the north side of the Southern Pacific's double tracked mainline through Reno and the V&T's are on the south side. No problem! Just get the Southern Pacific to agree to allow a set of diamonds be installed on their busiest mainline and agree to an interchange system. Should go fine!
It's fine!
It's fine?
Oh, yeah, it's very much not fine.
The Southern Pacific understandably refused to allow their two biggest rivals to get an inch more territory in the Espee's backyard. So, lacking a deal to install diamonds and knowing the Southern Pacific would refuse any deal to allow WP freights to seesaw their way back and forth in downtown Reno to get to and from the V&T interchange and the WP interchange, the merger fell through. Two years later and curtains.
It's an odd thing to say, but the lack of a merger probably helped to preserve the V&T.
Especially with the Southern Pacific, their merger partners tended to be completely erased by Market Street. Look at the South Pacific Coast, Nevada-California-Oregon, or North Pacific Coast just to name a few. If the V&T was absorbed by the SP, it's highly doubtful that anything from the railroad would still be around today, let alone the brass-trimmed 4-4-0's that have become synonymous with the road's legacy.
The Mid-Nevada Railroad is certainly up in the air as there's no telling what would have ultimately become of the railroad. Maybe the V&T would've lost it's identity as time wore on, steam engines retired, and diesels moved in or maybe the Mid-Nevada wouldn't last thatlong and the V&T would be bought by a railfan group to preserve the legendary Comstock route. Who knows?
As for the Old Wobbly, the old V&T stock would be around today since most of it was gone by '48 and probably the railroad would exist in some capacity today as a local run by UP. But, it's fairly reasonable to say that #27 let alone the 26 & Big 5 wouldn't be with us today. Our evidence: the number of preserved WP steam locomotives can sadly be counted on one hand. In our timeline, a podunk little shortline can say it has more preserved standard gauge steam locomotives than quite a few Class 1's.
That being said, what merger would you have taken and for what reasons? Let us know in the comments below
Download Photo: JPG (467 KB)
← Previous Photo
Next Photo →
