The Great Western Steam Up was held on the grounds of the Nevada State Railroad Museum from July 1 – July 4, 2022, in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Virginia & Truckee Railroad. Nine operating steam locomotives were featured with many more on display. The event was billed as the largest reunion of existing V&T locomotives in over 75 years.
Daily events included rides behind visiting narrow and standard-gauge steam locomotives, a daily pageant of steam locomotives, historical vehicle and equipment displays, local food trucks, live entertainment, and “lost art” demonstrations.
This image is from the third day of the event, July 3.
The featured locomotives were:
Glenbrook, narrow gauge 2-6-0 (Baldwin 1875) built for the Carson & Tahoe Lumber & Fluming Company and used at Glenbrook, Nevada, along with an identical twin, Tahoe (see NCNG 5, below). It last ran in the 1920s and was acquired by the Nevada County Narrow Gauge for parts. In the 1940s it was placed on exhibit at the Nevada State Museum in Carson City and beginning in 1981 was restored to service (completed in 2015). It has been returned to its 1875 appearance.
No. 1, Joe. Douglass, narrow gauge 0-4-2T (H. K. Porter 1882) built for the Dayton, Sutro & Carson Valley Railroad. It operated at a mine in Dayton, Nevada, and later helped build Lake Arrowhead dam in California. It was cosmetically restored to its present appearance in 1994 and is displayed at the Nevada State Railroad Museum. It is a wood burner, but not operational.
No. 1, narrow gauge 0-4-0T (Porter 1889) built for the Sacramento Brick Company. It was later acquired by Hal Wilmunder and operated on his private Antelope & Western Railroad near Roseville, California. The engine is now owned and cared for by the Wilmunder family, and can usually be seen at the NCNG Museum in Nevada City, Calif.
No. 1, standard gauge 2-truck Heisler (Heisler Locomotive Works 1916), built for Bluestone Mining & Smelting. It originally worked on a 2.5 mile line near Mason, Nevada, before being acquired by a quarry in California. This oil-fired locomotive is owned by Chris Baldo and sees frequent use at Roots of Motive Power in Willits, California.
No. 1, Lyon, standard gauge 2-6-0 (Gentry/Strasburg/Kloke) which is a partially completed replica of the first locomotive built for the Virginia & Truckee. The original was manufactured by the Union Iron Works of San Francisco in 1869. The full-scale working replica was donated to the Nevada State Railroad Museum by Stan Gentry, builder, and is being completed by the museum shop staff. It will burn wood as did the original.
No. 3, standard gauge 0-4-0T (Porter 1909) built for the Santa Cruz Portland Cement Company. Upon retirement it was used as a billboard for a chicken restaurant in Stockton, California. It was restored to service by Stathi Pappas beginning in 2006 and is currently located at the Placerville & Sacramento Valley Railroad in Folsom, California. Nicknamed “Chiggen,” it is oil-fired.
No. 4, Eureka, narrow gauge 4-4-0 (Baldwin 1875), built for the Eureka & Palisade Railroad. Retired in 1938, it was later featured in several Hollywood movies. This classic wood-fired locomotive was restored by Dan Markoff in the 1980s and is usually kept at his home in North Las Vegas, Nevada.
No. 5, Tahoe, narrow gauge 2-6-0 (Baldwin 1875) built for the Carson & Tahoe Lumber & Fluming Company and used in logging service. It was later sold to the Nevada County Narrow Gauge of Grass Valley, Calif., and was retired in 1942. It then appeared in numerous movies and TV shows for owner Universal Pictures. No. 5 is now part of the NCNG Museum in Nevada City, Calif., and was restored to service in May 2022. This oil-fired locomotive has been restored to its 1940s appearance.
No. 8, standard gauge 4-4-0 (Cooke Locomotive & Machine Works 1888) built for the Denver, Texas & Fort Worth Railroad, and later operated on the Dardanelle & Russellville in Arkansas. It was used in 1976 on the V&T tourist railroad at Virginia City. Oil fired, it last steamed in the early 2000s.
No. 11, Reno, standard gauge 4-4-0 (Baldwin 1872) built for the Virginia & Truckee. The most renown of all V&T’s Americans, the Reno was retired in 1937 and sold to a movie studio. It spent over fifty years at Old Tucson Studios in Arizona before being acquired by the V&T tourist railroad of Virginia City, Nevada, in 2021. It is currently under restoration. Oil fired.
No. 12, Genoa, standard gauge 4-4-0 (Baldwin 1873) built for the Virginia & Truckee. It was a back-up locomotive to the Reno and was retired in 1908. For the past 40 years it’s been on indoor static display at the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento. It last ran in 1979 and was never converted from burning wood to burning oil, like most V&T 4-4-0s were.
No. 18, narrow gauge 4-6-0 (Baldwin 1911), built for the Nevada-California-Oregon and last used by the Southern Pacific. Restored by Carson & Colorado Inc. in 2017 after being on display in an Independence, Calif., park since 1954. It is normally kept at the Eastern California Museum in Independence. Oil fired.
No. 18, Dayton, standard gauge 4-4-0 (Central Pacific Sacramento Shops 1873) built for the Virginia & Truckee. Ran on the V&T for nearly seven decades before being acquired by a movie studio. It was cosmetically restored for display in 1982 by the Nevada State Railroad Museum. Oil fired.
No. 21, J. W. Bowker, standard gauge 2-4-0 (Baldwin 1875) built for the Virginia & Truckee. Bowker served as a switch engine in Virginia City. It was later purchased by the Sierra Nevada Wood & Lumber Company. Wood-fueled but not currently operational, it has been exhibited at the California State Railroad since 1976. An oil burner, it is not currently operational.
No. 22, Inyo, standard gauge 4-4-0 (Baldwin 1875), built for the Virginia & Truckee Railroad. It served in passenger service and was nicknamed “Brass Betsy.” It was later sold to Paramount Pictures and appeared McLintock, Union Pacific, and The Great Locomotive Chase. Restored to operation in 1983 and currently housed at the Nevada State Railroad Museum. Wood fired.
No. 25, standard gauge 4-6-0 (Baldwin 1905) built for the Virginia & Truckee to handle both freight and passenger trains. It was the first new steam locomotive purchased by the V&T and replaced older 4-4-0s on the passenger run between Reno and Carson City. Oil fired, it was restored to operation in 1980 and sees frequent service at the Nevada State Railroad Museum.
