Finding shades of the past on the rails of the West

On Tuesday morning, the shop door at the Nevada State Railroad Museum lifted and a century-old ghost rolled out. Virginia & Truckee McKeen car No. 22, under restoration for years, puttered out under its own power.
 
This is a rare car, possibly the only one that’s complete today. McKeen’s nautical interests are apparent everywhere – from the bow-like knife front to the porthole windows in the passenger compartment and the boat tail. The car is set for its public debut on May 9, 100 years to the day after the self-propelled car was put into service on the Nevada short line.
 
For years, this amazing car was part of a plumbing supply company. Craftsmen from the museum shops have been hard at work on the car for years and completed the car just in time for its centennial.

Also on Tuesday, CLASSIC TRAINS Editor Rob McGonigal and I had the pleasure of chasing a Union Pacific freight with a third Kalmbach staffer on board. TRAINS Senior Editor Matt Van Hattem was riding a 110-car UP stack train from Roseville, Calif., to Sparks, Nev., and after our visit to see the McKeen car at the museum, we headed north U.S. 395 and then west on I-80 just in time to catch UP No. 7888 eastbound at Truckee, Calif. Matt’s working with locomotive columnist David Lustig to prepare a report on distributed power trains for an issue later this summer.

Lastly our trip took us to Roseville, where we witnessed Rio Grande GP60 No. 1901 tied up in the yard next to Atlantic Street. This was a patch job, but the Rio Grande lettering was showing through. David Lusting says this is only one of a small number of units that are floating around the UP system in predecessor colors.
 
From a century old McKeen car to a UP stack train and a Rio Grande patch – what a great day!

Related: Virginia & Truckee is back from the dead, and it’s awesome