V&T Survivor: GENOA The California State Railroad Museum is fortunate to have 3 of the 9 surviving Virginia & Truckee Locomotives in its collection. The one seen here is Number 12, Genoa, a classic 4-4-0 American, built for the line in 1873. With her tall drivers, Genoa was faster than most of the line's other locomotives, so most of her assignments were passenger and mixed trains. She served faithfully until 1908, when she was retired and squirreled away in a stall in the line's large, Carson City engine house. There she sat for the next 30 years, covered and protected by those who understood her value. Finally, in 1939, she was sold to the Eastern Railroads Presidents' Conference and began a second career as a showpiece and excursion engine. She appeared at the 1939-1940 New York World's Fair and several rail-related events and celebrations over the next 40 years. She even stood in for the long-scrapped Central Pacific Jupiter at the Centennial of the Golden Spike Ceremony in 1969. Her last operation was in 1979, just before she was rolled into the CSRM, where she remains theoretically operable today. She is displayed on an 1884-era cast iron railroad bridge, coupled to a wooden combine and restored to her 1902 appearance with a sunflower-style stack.
