Independence Weekend Rides Expanded to Include Monday, July 4

WHAT:
Virginia & Truckee Railroad offers a Monday, July 4 train, an extension of the V&T’s usual schedule running Friday – Sunday.

The train ride includes narration and views of summer colors across the rugged Wild West landscape.

WHERE:
Departing from the Eastgate Depot on Flint Drive, a roundtrip or one-way ride of your choice to Virginia City.

WHO: Visitors, residents, families celebrating Independence Day.

WHEN:
Monday, July 4: 10 a.m.

Friday July 1 – Sunday July 3, 2011. Regularly scheduled rides continue through Oct. 30.

TICKETS:
Available online at vttrain.activitytickets.com or by calling 1-800-NEVADA-1.

MORE INFO:
The Virginia and Truckee Railroad ride is along the historic 16-mile Comstock route between Carson City and Virginia City (www.visitcarsoncity.com). The routes include scenic vistas of the Sierra Nevada and Carson River. Riders will pass through two tunnels and by abandoned mine shafts and old cemeteries, while being treated to occasional sightings of Nevada’s wild mustangs. The V&T travels the same silver path paved by the excesses of the Virginia City mines of the 1860s Comstock silver boom.

The V&T Railway, the richest short-line in American history, originally operated during the raucous silver strike era of the infamous Comstock Lode from 1869 to 1938. When completed in 2011, the reconstructed track traces all 16.7 miles of the 19th century route between Carson City and Virginia City and is expected to serve as a major tourism attraction to the area.