After leaving the Pacific coast, our path took us to Reno, Sparks and Virginia City, NV. We spent a couple of days more there than anticipated as the motor home radiator required removal and steam cleaning to stop overheating. The main cause of the problem was that the crankcase breather tube emissions had never been rerouted so that they would not blow back on the rear radiator, despite extensive warranty repairs where the factory defect should have been corrected.
Reno and Sparks from the road between Reno and Virginia City.
Old Timer is Virginia City
(I did not hide behind the cutout very well!)
Street scenes in touristy Virginia City. It really is well worth the time to visit.
Lots of gold and silver was mined beneath the nearby hills of the Comstock Lode. I was told by a lady in the mining museum that a gold mining operation was soon to be opened nearby. With the current price of gold, ore bodies formerly uneconomic now economically can be mined.
Two tourist trains now are operated by the standard gauge Virginia & Truckee RR. One provides a ride of 35 minutes round trip using an old diesel switcher with 7 trips a day. The other is a daily train Thurs. – Sun from Carson City to Virginia City and back after a layover of 3.5 hr. in Virginia City. It is powered by a diesel locomotive on Thursdays and Fridays and a steam locomotive Saturdays.and Sundays. The longer ride takes about 1.5 hr. each way.
The city museum in Sparks has nice displays on the Southern Pacific (now Union Pacific) facilities in Sparks. Other displays show artifacts of historic daily life in Sparks. (Sparks is named for an early governor of Nevada.)
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