Slim Princess and friend head to Great Western Steam Up
Railroad relics head to Carson City for celebration of locomotives
The Slim Princess is all dolled up and on the road again. And this time the historic locomotive will have a sidekick sharing the trip to a three-day celebration of steam locomotives over the Fourth of July weekend in Carson City, Nevada.
The Southern Pacific No. 18 restored locomotive was loaded on a trailer on Saturday from her home at the Eastern California Museum in Independence and hauled to Carson City. The next day, another big truck pulled into the Laws Railroad Museum and Historic Site and gave a ride to Carson City to the restored Southern Pacific No. 401, a classy red caboose that can carry passengers.
Volunteers at Laws and from the non-profit
Carson and Colorado Railway Company which oversees the operation of No. 18, put in long hours getting the railcars ready for their visit to Nevada. New paint and plenty of polish were applied. Plus, all the mechanical systems of the steam locomotive and the caboose, from breaks to bells, got a double-check.
The two local railroad cars will be taking part in the Great Western Steam Up, which will feature 10 historic locomotives rolling on a mile and a half loop at the Nevada State Railway Museum on the southern edge of Carson City. Thousands of rail fans are expected at the event, which will run from July 1 to July 4.
The Slim Princess and SP No. 401 will be “Inyo County’s ambassadors” at the event, noted Dave Mull president of the Carson and Colorado Railway Company. The locomotive will run on July 1, 2 and 4, pulling various rail cars.
“It will be great for our locomotive and Laws to get more exposure and make solid connections with Nevada and Northern California railroad organizations, museums and supporters,” Mull added.
The two local historic railcars have teamed up before. When No. 18 came back to Laws for a weekend of operations in 2017, the Slim Princess pulled SP No. 401.
The steam up event will celebrate the 150th anniversary of the completion of the Virginia and
Truckee Railroad with “an exciting pageant of steam locomotion, train rides, food, live entertainment, ‘lost art’ demonstrations and more!” the event’s webpage states.
Moving history
The stars of the show will be the 10 operational locomotives, including SP No. 18 the Slim Princess, a total of 15 locomotives operating or on display, including the “largest reunion of existing Virginia & Truckee locomotives assembled in over 75 years.”
The V&T linked Carson City to the rich silver mines of Virginia City, whose massive, very profitable output nearly single-handedly gave the state of Nevada its official Slogan as “The Silver State.”
The restored locomotives from the V&T will be running and carrying passengers, along with an assortment of other locomotives from Nevada’s rich mining history. Tickets are available for each day of the event and included unlimited train rides for the entire day. Food vendors, live music, books, demonstrations and craft vendors.
The Carson and Colorado Railway was a part of the V&T family. The owners of the V&T built the Carson and Colorado line from Mound House, Nevada to Keeler before Southern Pacific bought the line. However, the Carson and Colorado didn’t receive the financial support of the V&T.
“The Carson and Colorado was the red-headed stepchild of the V&T,” said Mull. When the anniversary was being planned, “the Nevada folks really wanted the Slim Princess to be part of the event,” he said.
Nevada wanted the local cars so much it paid for them to be hauled to Carson City and back, said Charley Cross, a licensed steam engineer who was in the cab when No. 18 first fired up in 2016 in Independence.
An event long in the works
The Nevada Legislature allocated funding for the Great Steam Up, he noted, and a number of corporate sponsors and nonprofits also helped make the event happen. Just for the event, the museum added another entire set of tracks to its loop so there is a rail line for narrow gauge and standard gauge trains, he noted.
“This has been being planned for 15 years,” said Cross, a Nevada native who worked at the V&T, then the Durango and Silverton Railway, when he and other DSR train professionals helped rebuild No. 18. He is currently the general manger of the Grapevine Vintage Railroad in Texas. Cross will be leading the volunteer crew running No. 18 during the event.
“It’s going to be an incredible sight to see all those engines” running at once, he noted. “This type of event won’t happen again for years.” Some of the restored locomotives date to the late 1800s. Each day all 10 engines will roll onto the turntable, so visitors can get a side-by-side look at the vintage machines.
So far, the organizers said people from 38 states will be attending, and more than a few countries.
For more information, see www.greatwesternsteamup.com.