V&T Survivor: #11 "Reno".....back home in Nevada at last. Ending one of the sadder chapters in the storied history of the Virginia & Truckee Railway, the long-lost queen of that line's roster has finally come home to Nevada. From the time she left the Baldwin factory in 1872 to the day she left Carson City for the last time in 1938, V&T Locomotive #11 "Reno" had become the line's favorite locomotive. Used on the famous "Lightning Express" as well as the power that transported four Presidents, she was also used on numerous fan excursions before the Virginia City Line was closed in 1938. Through it all, this engine always retained it's spit-and-polish decor and was often called the line's "Brass Betsy." She went on to a movie career, performing in over 100 Hollywood productions. Sadly, when she came into the hands of Old Tucson Studios in 1970, her royal treatment ended. When she could no longer steam, her tender was gutted and an air compressor installed. When she wasn't being used, she sat outdoors in the desert receiving no love at all. Finally, in 1995, a fire at Old Tucson seriously damaged her and destroyed some of the old wooden rolling stock that she pulled in the movies. For years, the Nevada State Railroad Museum tried in vain to acquire her. It was only after Old Tucson went out of business as a studio and theme park that the door was finally opened.
In late 2021, the owners of the Old Tucson collection sold the Reno and the remains of her rolling stock to Tom Gray, the President of the Virginia & Truckee Railroad Company, which operates the revived V&T. Shortly thereafter, Reno finally came home.
You see her here displayed in the yard at the Nevada State Railroad Museum during the July, 2022 "Great Western Steam-Up" event. She appears in about the same configuration she was in when she left the V&T, as an oil-burner with a cap-stack, and still sporting her shiny brass detailing. As you might imagine, over a 66-year operational career, she underwent a lot of physical changes. She was built as a wood-burner and in her early days, would have looked a lot more like the V&T #22 "inyo" than she does here. During the "Great Western Steam-Up", she was displayed without her tender because the V&T Railroad Company has already begun to restore it at their shops in Virginia City. When the locomotive arrived for the event, she still looked pretty weathered, like she had at Old Tucson, but over the course of 4 days, a lot of love was shown to the old girl. Personnel from the V&T and the NSRM spent many hours buffing off all of the old movie paint, revealing a lot of the shiny brass for which this engine was known. Their work also revealed some Russia Iron. While the project is still very much in the assessment stage, the V&T has announced their intentions to eventually return this engine to operating condition, so she can once again be used for movie work and other special events.
