Lev Lazinskiy

Nevada State Railroad Museum

Other Railroad Museums have some huge shoes to fill compared to the California State Railroad Museum. Nevada’s museum is much smaller, with fewer trains, and a more forgotten history. However, I was still pretty impressed with the exhibits and the focus on local railroad history.

Most notably, the Virgina and Truckee railroad which was a short line that operated in the local area during the height of the mining boom in western Nevada received a lot of appropriate coverage and contained many relics from the golden age of this line.

The pride of the museum was the Virginia and Truckee Motor Car 22 that was on display. This is one of the few remaining cars from this era and it is actually still fully functional.

The museum offers seasonal rides on the railroad but unfortunately I was not able to partake. The staff was friendly and very helpful. One of the volunteers in the gift shop was a retired BART train operator and he told me some fascinating stories about his time on BART including being inside the bay bridge tunnel during the 1989 earthquake. I picked up American Railroads which chronicles the history of the development and impact of the railroad industry throughout American history.

Although not as impressive as California’s, the Nevada State Railroad Museum is a must see attraction if you are ever in Carson City.