Crossing the Sierra by horse, bicycle, train and skis celebrated this month

In 1895, Bert Selkirk rode his bicycle 76 ¾ miles from Placerville to Nevada’s oldest town, according to The Genoa Weekly Courier.

Add another 50 miles, or so, and that will be the distance the former V&T Train Genoa will travel next week to participate in the July 1-4 Great Western Steam Up at the Nevada State Railroad Museum in Carson City.

On Saturday, The Genoa’s narrow-gauge cousin, the Tahoe arrived first to the party from Nevada City.

The 2-6-0 Mogul was built in 1875 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works. It and sister Carson & Tahoe Lumber & Fluming Co. train Glenbrook will be united for the first time in decades. Both trains carried lumber from the company’s mill at Glenbrook and flume at Spooner Summit in Nevada.

That well-worn route was traveled by the Pony Express Re-Ride, which arrived in Sacramento 4:30 p.m. Thursday.

Journey of Hope bicyclists rode from Lake Tahoe to Carson City on Friday.

On Friday, Western Nevada College and the Nevada Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities participated in a friendship party hosted by the Boys & Girls Club of Western Nevada.

The fraternity’s cyclists cross the country to raise awareness and donations for people with disabilities, according to their web site.

On June 25, the 21st birthday of the statue of a man thoroughly familiar with the trip over the Sierra will be celebrated in Genoa.

Friends of Snowshoe Thompson will gather at 10 a.m. at the statue of the “Mailman of the Sierra” in recognition of 21 years since its dedication.

They will also host a celebration of life for Nina Eggen Macleod, lunch and a visit from Snowshoe Chautauquan Steve Hale.

The event wraps up 3-4 p.m. with Norwegian dancers

Baldwin built the Genoa in 1873. For more than 30 years, it was used to pull express passenger trains between Reno and Virginia City; and to pull mixed passenger and freight trains.

In 1940, it was donated to the Railway and Locomotive Historical Society, which donated it to the state of California in 1969. The California State Railroad Museum restored it to its 1902 appearance in 1979 and it has been on display at the museum since 1981.