Train Ride

UPDATE: Out of an abundance of caution, the steam trains will not run at the Nevada State Museum in Carson City for Labor Day weekend due to unhealthful air quality, museum officials announced Thursday.

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Climb aboard and take a 30-minute train ride back in time this holiday weekend in Carson City, where the labor of the day was cast in hot iron grit and the Old West churned and turned the wheels of locomotive steam engines along the Virginia and Truckee Railroad line.

Nevada residents receive 25 percent off a round trip train fare on the historic V&T Railroad in August. The discount is good for adult, child and senior/veteran fares for the Sunday 10 a.m. steam engine departures. (Twenty-five percent discount with online ticket purchases by using the code: NEVADA).

All seven Nevada State museums will offer free admission Saturday, July 20, to celebrate newly expanded schedules. Train rides at the railroad museum in Carson City and Boulder City will be half price.

Additional details for Nevada Museums Summer 2013:

• Public invited to Rediscover Your Nevada Museums

• The Division of Museums and History announces additional days and hours of service for the public at all seven museums in the system.

On track with summer vacation, the historic V&T Railroad now offers adventure-seeking children 12 and under the chance to climb aboard and ride a diesel train for free every Friday through summer.

History fills every rivet, trestle, whistle blow and clatter of the tracks. On Memorial Day Weekend passengers can take a journey more than 150 years old and join the ghosts of miners, gamblers, persons of ill-repute and politicians on the Virginia & Truckee Railroad.

This Mother’s Day, give Mom a window seat back in time with a tour of the Wild West aboard the Virginia and Truckee Railroad, Sunday, May 12.

This special edition train ride from Nevada's capital, Carson City, to the 1860s boom-era mining town of Virginia City, will provide Mom with a long stem rose, Old West history, storytelling, shopping and dining in Virginia City to go along with the spectacular scenery.

This Mother’s Day, give Mom a window seat back in time with a tour of the Wild West aboard the Virginia and Truckee Railroad, Sunday, May 12.

This special edition train ride from Nevada's capital, Carson City, to the 1860s boom-era mining town of Virginia City, will provide Mom with a long stem rose, Old West history, storytelling, shopping and dining in Virginia City to go along with the spectacular scenery.

It is time to welcome spring with good friends, good wine, good food and a great Train Ride on the Comstock! The V & T Wine, Cheese and Dessert Train, sponsored by the Carson Tahoe Health Auxiliary, will be held on Saturday, April 6, departing Carson City Eastgate Depot at 10 a.m. for a trip through the Comstock to Virginia City.

Nevada's window into the Old West is now wide open with tickets available aboard the historic Comstock-era Virginia & Truckee Railroad which launches its 2013 season in May with runs from Carson City to Gold Hill and Virginia City through October.

Today, Feb. 9, marks a special day in the life of yours truly. It is my two-year anniversary writing about the Great Outdoors at Internet websites Carson Now and South Tahoe Now.

Time certainly flies when you are having fun, and it has been both a totally enjoyable and a totally memorable two years of writing about all kinds of activities in the Great Outdoors, both near and far away.

Four, fun-loving people from this area spent last Friday, Saturday and Sunday on an Amtrak train trip to and from Sacramento, Calif. Those four individuals were Bob “Slick” and Lynda McCulloch, plus Elaine and I, all of Carson City.

The purpose of this trip was to take a leisurely train ride on Friday over Donner Summit, so we could see and photograph the deep winter snow along the way in the high country, and then have two days of fun in Sacto.
It was a fun-filled three days, and here are some highlights of our adventure:

Amtrak:

The 2012 Polar Express train aboard the historic V&T Railway in Carson City has sold all of its tickets, officials said. The all-ages train ride is set for 15 different dates, Nov. 23 through Dec. 23. The V&T officially sold all 10,794 of its tickets as of Thursday, said Candy Duncan, executive director of the Carson City Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Weeks away, the 2012 Polar Express train is on the fast track Carson City countdown, with 80 percent of the coach class and nearly 99 percent of the VIP Parlor Car tickets sold. This time last year, 39 percent of tickets had been purchased.

All aboard the V&T Railroad for an unforgettable Halloween train ride where the living spirits of Northern Nevada can lift and embolden cancer patients and their care givers.
The Oct. 27 Halloween V&T train is a fundraiser for the nonprofit foundation Empowered Lives through the Cancer Journey, an organization established to support, encourage and empower both the patient and their caregivers throughout their cancer treatment.

Pre-sale tickets for the popular 2012 Polar Express™ train aboard the historic Virginia & Truckee Railroad are now available. Be sure to purchase your tickets now to this officially licensed event, as last year's 7,500 Polar Express sold out before the inaugural ride.

Aspiring young actors have two audition opportunities in Carson City and one in South Lake Tahoe beginning this weekend.

Back by popular demand, the historic Virginia & Truckee Railroad will pour out and dish up its popular Toast of the Canyon wine and appetizer round-trip train rides from Carson City to the canyon on Saturdays through September 1.

Carson City is getting a big present this upcoming holiday season with the return of The Polar Express™ train that will roll through the frosty Northern Nevada landscape on 15 different dates throughout November and December.

For the second year, the Virginia & Truckee Railroad is one of the officially licensed Polar Express Train Ride events nationwide this holiday season. This historic 100-year train, complete with decorated passenger cars and Christmas music, leaves the Carson City Eastgate Depot and travels nearly two miles before staging at Santa's mythical North Pole retreat.

This is the second in a series of four articles on a recent sightseeing and fishing trip that Elaine and I took to the Yukon in June. This one is about an unforgettable train ride over White Pass Summit.
We arrived in Whitehorse late on June 18 and the next morning, we left, bright and early, for an all-day combination tour bus and train ride from Whitehorse, Yukon to Carcross, Yukon; to Fraser, British Columbia; to Skagway, Alaska; and then the return to Whitehorse.

This is the first of a short series of weekly articles about a fabulous, first-time-ever, 11-day, sightseeing and fishing trip that Elaine and I took in late June to the Yukon in Canada.

This Mother’s Day, take mom on an historical train excursion via the Virginia and Truckee Railroad Sunday, May 13.
This special edition train ride from Carson City to Virginia City will provide mom with a long stem rose, Wild West history, storytelling, shopping and dining in Virginia City to go along with the spectacular scenery. The train features a 1953 ALCO heritage diesel locomotive leading 100 year-old Pullman coaches displaying the distinctive yellow and green of the V&T.

The good news is that the V&T Railway is expected to make a profit of $164,132 on their popular Polar Express event for the coming year.

The bad news is the railway's main runs between Eastgate Siding and Virginia City is projected to lose $108,192, even with an expected $67,250 in donations.

The resulting $56,000 in projected profit is almost enough to pay for the $60,000 shortfall in the previous season's sales tax revenue that pays for the bonds that helped rebuild the historic railway. That is a shortfall that is expected to continue and grow larger.

Six weeks after tickets went on sale, The Polar Express™ has officially sold out, according to the Carson City Convention and Visitors Bureau.
More than 7,500 riders will board the magical holiday train on the Virginia and Truckee Railroad, the only officially licensed Polar Express event in the region this holiday season.

The enchanting appeal of The Polar Express™ has spread to Carson City and has families planning ahead for the holiday season. After merely three weeks, 3,000, or 40 percent of Virginia & Truckee Railroad’s Polar Express™ tickets have been sold, with 4,500 tickets remaining.

The Virginia & Truckee Railroad is one of a handful of officially licensed Polar Express Train Ride events nationwide this holiday season, Nov. 25 - Dec. 18.

Labor Day weekend at Carson City — there’s no better place to kick back, have a barbecue in the park, take a train ride, eat at any number of great restaurants, buy some fresh fruit and produce and, above all, celebrate the fruits of our working lives. Go here for the latest Carson City Convention and Visitors Bureau blog on what's happening this weekend around the capital city.

CARSON CITY, Nev. — Carson City’s Old West meets the North Pole this holiday season as the Polar Express™ train will take weekend railway runs across the frosty Northern Nevada landscape Thanksgiving through Dec. 23, according to the Carson City Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Soroptimist International of the Comstock will host the second annual Train Ride event on Friday, with proceeds benefiting the lives of local women and children.The evening begins at 5:30 p.m. at T...

Soroptimist International of the Comstock will host the second annual Train Ride event on Friday, with proceeds benefiting the lives of local women and children.The evening begins at 5:30 p.m. at T...

--Soroptimists' train ride set for TuesdayJuly, 28 2011 11:37 pm MST...

Soroptimist International of the Comstock will host the second annual Train Ride event on Tuesday, with proceeds benefiting the lives of local women and children.The evening begins at 5:30 p.m. at ...