(The Reno Gazette-Journal published the following story b Tim Anderson on its website on October 9.)
RENO, Nevada — To rebuild the historic Virginia & Truckee Railroad between Gold Hill and Carson City as a major regional tourist attraction, supporters need 17 miles of track.
Four of those miles are available at a fraction of their value from the downtown railroad trench project in Reno. Granite Construction has offered to donate the rail, but $90,000 needs to be raised by the end of the year to pay for cutting the track into sections and for moving and storage.
“This is a lot of money and we’re working in a short time frame, but it’s a scream of a deal,’’ said Kim Fegert, president of the Gold Hill Historical Society.
Fegert, whose 16-member organization has managed to collect about a mile of track over the past two years, said the rail from Reno has an estimated value of $500,000.
He said Granite needs to know by the end of the year whether supporters of the historic rebuilding project will accept the offer. Otherwise, the track would go to scrappers who would resell the rail.
Plans to rebuild the historic V&T line have been in the works for about nine years. The line would connect to the 2.5-mile segment between Gold Hill and Virginia City that’s already a popular tourist draw.
“Somehow, we’ll figure out a way to get that track here so we can use it for the project,’’ said Carson City Mayor Ray Masayko, chairman of the Nevada Commission for the Reconstruction of the V&T Railway.
Masayko said a special V&T commemorative coin is expected to generate about $25,000. And commission board member John Farahi has agreed to donate $5,000. Farahi is chief executive officer of Monarch Casino & Resort, parent company of the Atlantis Casino Resort.
The Gold Hill organization has a plan for donors to sponsor a foot of rail, Fegert said. For $50, donors will receive a certificate, and for $100, a certificate and their name inscribed on a plaque.
Fegert said about $73,000 is needed to hire a contractor to cut the rail into sections. Another $14,000 will be required to transport the track to Mound House and store it there, pending future use.
The track is tentatively scheduled to be removed in Reno over a two-week period about the first of April next year.
The critical first phase of the ambitious $30 million rebuilding project calls for crossing the Overman Pit directly south of Gold Hill. This involves moving 400,000 cubic yards of earth to the site for fill and is expected to cost about $5.5 million.
About $3 million in federal funds are available for the initial phase and the remainder will come from $1 million in state funds and an increase in Carson City’s room tax. An estimated $200,000 a year is anticipated with the room tax revenue, which will allow the city to sell $4 million in general obligation bonds.
The Northern Nevada Railway Foundation, fund-raising arm for the project, has been actively pursuing additional money. A Nevada Department of Transportation railroad bridge in Las Vegas, removed for the widening of Interstate 15, is being brought north for the V&T project.
The bridge will be used to cross Highway 50 in the Mound House area.