Brad Horn/Nevada Appeal Driver Ron Bunker, of Las Vegas, walks to the back of his trailer after hauling this 105,000-pound piece of the Virginia & Truckee Railroad bridge from Hawthorne to Carson City, Saturday.
Dr. James Parker was looking out his kitchen window Saturday morning when a section of bridge planned for use by the reconstructed Virginia & Truckee Railway passed by on Highway 50. He had offered his land as a storage place for the bridge but expected it to arrive that afternoon. The steel train bridge - which originally crossed Interstate 15 in Las Vegas - arrived in three parts on three trucks about three hours early.
"This is the first tangible evidence that the people of Northern Nevada have seen that the V&T project is real," Parker said.
Members of the Nevada Commission for the Reconstruction of the V&T Railway gathered on Parker's land off Flint Drive to witness the bridge's arrival.
Commissioner Ron Allen has been working on the project since 1959. His father helped start the effort to rebuild the historic rail line.
"You can't even really put it into words after all these years," he said. "It's just great to finally see something happen besides meetings and spending money."
Commissioner Bob Hadfield said people will now know they are serious about the project.
"It's going to happen," he said. "This will help raise the additional money needed."
Parker, who owns 40 acres between the Carson City Landfill and the Pick-n-Pull car lot, plans to display the bridge for passing motorists. A private airplane runway left unused since the construction of Pick-n-Pull three years ago will be home to the bridge for now.
"We're going to put it together so it actually looks like a bridge rather than just three pieces of junk," he said. "We can put banners on it to keep people excited."
A crane from Jake's Crane service in Las Vegas - the same company which hauled the bridge north - is scheduled to move it into the temporary display position Monday morning. The bridge will eventually span Highway 50 on the Lyon County line.
The bridge was donated by the Nevada Department of Transportation after they removed it during a highway widening project in Las Vegas.
"I've driven under that bridge a million times on I-15," said Jim Frehner, one of the truck drivers who moved the bridge north. He said there were no problems during the trip - despite driving the 60-foot, 150,000-pound sections through downtown Fallon.
"It went smooth. The highway patrol did a real good job."
Each truck had three Nevada Highway Patrol escorts and 58 wheels.
"That's a lot of air pressure checking," said Frehner, a Boulder City resident.
Kim Fegert, the president of the Gold Hill Historical Society, has been working to bring the V&T project into the Comstock. He helped acquire leftover track from the Reno train trench.
"Looking at the bridge now I think we've got a really good piece of equipment," he said Saturday. "Because the climate (in Las Vegas is so dry) there's very little deterioration. It's pretty much like a brand new bridge."
He's also working to restore the Gold Hill train depot.
"We're having a little railroad renaissance," he said.
A Saturday night fund-raiser at the Carson Nugget was expected to raise about $3,500 for the V&T reconstruction, said project coordinator Kevin Ray.
During a commission meeting on Monday members will review acquisitions and appraisals of land needed for the V&T right of way as well as next year's budget.
Contact Karl Horeis at khoreis@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1219.
