Shot in HD for the upcoming video: Unauthorized Biography of the Virginia and Truckee Railroad. This video was shot in 2008 while the tracks through tunnel 2 in American Flat were under construction. This is the very first train to run through the tunnel since the salvage run in 1941. I have recently posted other shots of the actual ballast work, with trains going through the tunnel. This is the first shot. Standing to my left, off camera with his own camera and tripod, was Gare Luce or Geocon, someone who should “just work here” but who instead gets politically involved in indefensible things. More on this in the upcoming Unauthorized Biography of the Virginia and Truckee Blu-Ray / DVD coming out in the next few months. Then we see the owner of the REAL (private company, not government project) Virginia and Truckee Railroad, Tom Gray, walk up to see his train make the first tunnel run. Tom is not paying attention, I have to bug him to get out of the shot. We’ve all gotten mad at railfans in our shots, but I can’t hold this one against him. For more info as the upcoming video progresses, see www.trainarts.com and/or www.virginiaandtruckeerailway.com, my sites dedicated to the process. You can also contact me at jim@virginiaandtruckeerailway.com. The Nevada Commission for the Reconstruction of the Virginia and Truckee Railway is the government agency charged with rebuilding the tracks from Gold Hill to Carson City. Originally budgeted at $10 million, the construction budget is now over $70 million. Their official site is the vtrailway.com site. See their site for a good example of propaganda.

WARNING: I posted this video because it shows a little history. At the same time, the track movements are sped up 4x to compress the time it takes to watch, resulting in jerky camera movements. Plus it gets dark, and so the video is not that easy to see for some of the video. Having said that, around 8:25 as we head back uphill you’ll see some shots of the firebox and the flames leaping out. This footage probably won’t be included in the upcoming Unauthorized Biography of the Virginia and …

Here’s a selection of video I have made of the Virginia and Truckee Railway reconstruction project. As of May 2008 there is a lot of progress in American Flat just past Gold Hill and Virginia City, Nevada. For more project information see www.renorailfans.com, or see the project’s official website at www.vtrailway.com.

Here are some clips of video I took in American Flat of the Virginia and Truckee Railroad locomotive and hopper car being used to ballast the Virginia and Truckee Reconstruction track . This was shot in April and May, 2008.

American Flat Tracklaying for the Nevada Reconstruction of the Virginia and Truckee Railroad.