V&T Survivor: Inyo. One of four of the Virginia & Truckee's fabled 4-4-0s that survived the railroad's demise is #22, Inyo. Built in 1875 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, PA, she was the last of 5 V&T engines that were built specifically for passenger service. Like many of her sisters, she was built as a woodburner, and converted to burn oil in the early 20th century, when wood became too expensive...LOL! Although the V&T began selling off or scrapping many of its older 2-6-0 freight engines after 1900, the railroad hung on to several of the pretty 4-4-0s, squirreling them away in the massive Carson City Enginehouse, known as the "Great Stone Fort". Engines such as the Inyo were kept in semi-retirement, and brought out now and then for special excursions. In the late 1930s, when the movie industry craved western films, the 4-4-0s were sold off to movie studios to begin second careers as movie stars. Inyo ended up at Paramount Studios, where she made numerous films. In the 1950s, she was loaned to Walt Disney studios, where she played one of her most famous roles as the Locomotive "Texas" in the "Great Locomotive Chase". In the 1960s, Inyo filled in for the long-since-scrapped Central Pacific "Jupiter" at the Centennial of the Golden Spike Ceremony. In 1974, the Inyo was acquired by the State of Nevada and was restored to her 1875 appearance. She now resides in the halls of the Nevada State Railroad Museum in Carson City, but she is hardly stuffed and mounted. Inyo is still an operable wood-burner and is steamed up and run on the museum grounds, each year on the Fourth of July.
