V&T ticket prices draw fire from potential riders

Local residents are apparently unhappy with the proposed ticket prices to ride the V&T Railway, calling the Carson City Convention & Visitors Bureau to complain.

"I get people just yelling at me," said Candace Duncan, visitor's bureau director. "They've been yelling at the board members too."

But Duncan said the adult price of $48 for a round-trip ride on the train wasn't just pulled out of thin air.

"The reason we chose the prices we did is that we're running steam trains and steam trains are more expensive to run," Duncan said.

She said the prices were developed after consulting on operating expenses with the Gray family, who run the existing V&T Railroad between Virginia City and Gold Hill.

She said they have warned that running a steam train is much more expensive than a diesel locomotive. No. 18, the that which will pull the V&T, is an oil-fired steam train.

"We aren't making money to go to the Bahamas," she said. "But we have to make expenses."

Duncan said the complaints are almost all from locals who are comparing the cost with the $12 the Grays charge for the existing and much shorter ride. The V&T, she said, will be a longer trip taking more than an hour each direction.

But Jon Paul Kiel of Carson City said the price "is not commensurate with the service, that being a short train ride through less than impressive scenery."

He said he and his wife have a comfortable income but still feel the cost is exorbitant.

"Getting dumped in Virginia City for over three hours adds a stomach ache to the wallet wallop," he said. "How much fudge must I eat before that train fires up to take me home?"

Brian Brabazon, of north Douglas County, says he won't be paying the $240 it would cost for himself, his wife, college-age daughter Wynn, teenagers Elle and Ian and toddler Mathew to ride the V&T round trip.

Add to that the money spent in the three-hour wait in Virginia City for the return trip, and it could cost three Benjamins for this family of six.

Even adding in gas, Brabazon said, it'd be cheaper to take his family to Six Flags in Vallejo, Calif.

"If somebody comes to visit me and wants to do it, I'll tell them about it, but I'm not going. It's too expensive," said Brabazon, a gas controller with Southwest Gas.

"I just can't see how they came up with that price," he said. "I don't think they're going to get the ridership they hope to get."

Duncan said enthusiasts from outside western Nevada - "people familiar with excursion trains" - don't seem to have a major problem with the ticket prices. She said, in fact, some of them have said the price is low and pointed out that the first public runs on Saturday and Sunday quickly sold out.

Duncan said the Grays, who will operate the V&T when it begins taking customers Saturday, the railroad commission and her staff are hoping they can reduce prices next year when more trains will be running.

The inaugural run of the V&T Railway from Virginia City to Eastgate Siding at the Carson City border is scheduled this evening for dignitaries and invited guests. The first paying customers will take the trip Saturday and Sunday.

Plans are to run the trains for paying customers every Saturday between now and Nevada Day Oct. 31.