Virginia City

Virginia City is about 25 miles southeast of Reno, NV. More information can be found here.

This wagon wheel has certainly seen better days! Taken near Virginia City 10/2001.

Some old mining equipment and a building, in the same area. Taken near Virginia City 10/2001.

More old mining equipment. Taken near Virginia City 10/2001.

Not much left of this! Taken near Virginia City 10/2001.

Equipment left out in the desert can last for many, many years, as it doesn't readily rust in the dry conditions. Taken near Virginia City 10/2001.

Someone is either very creative, or has way too much time on their hands! Taken near Virginia City 10/2001.

Someone put a lot of creative energy into this, and the one pictured above. Taken near Virginia City 10/2001.

More old mining stuff, but some of it looks like farming equipment. Anyway, what do I know; I've never been a farmer! Taken near Virginia City 10/2001.

This is an area called American Flat, just east of Virginia City.  There is a very interesting loop road that you used to be able to drive around, but a mining company is operating there now and has blocked access.

A view from the Ophir Hill access road looking down towards Virginia City.

A homemade danger sign blocking access to a mine shaft. The area around Virginia City is riddled with abandoned mine shafts, so if you are walking around the desert, be extremely careful where you step!

This and the following several pictures are of what appears to have been an unrealized project of someone who had created a replica of an old western town. (October, 2009)

Another view

One of the storefronts. I didn't attempt to enter any of the buildings.

A short walkway...

An old wagon.

A mine shaft replica; it doesn't go anywhere.

A hearse

Wagon wheels. There was quite a bit of stuff laying around.

A building. I have no idea what its function was.

It looks to be well constructed, despite the damage to it.

It might have been interesting to look inside, but it was locked.

From the condition of the roof, there might not be anything inside that is intact.

The steps need a bit of repair.

 
This and the next two pictures were taken in Sixmile Canyon, that runs between Virginia City and Highway 50 between Dayton and Silver Springs. (Taken October of 2009)

 
This rock formation caught my eye

 
I like this picture because of both the unusual formation and the spectacular colors.

This is the Cemetery at Virginia City. Interesting to walk through, it presents a little bit of history of the area. (taken August of 2010)

Unfortunately, much of it is in disrepair, as you'll see. The organization that takes care of it accepts donations.

Vandalism, too. They repair what they can.

The majority of the graves are very old.

The Cemetery sits on a hill, so the view is pretty nice. This is looking towards Virginia City.

I like taking pictures of old trees!

Some of the inscriptions are pretty sad; it is very difficult to lose a loved one.

 
Being the desert, it is a hard life for trees.

Some of the markers are very beautiful

This is looking approximately west towards Virginia City

This looking south from the Virginia City train station. (taken June of 2010)

This is one of the trains that one can ride on a historical tour of the area.

One can ride this train from Carson City to Virginia City and back! The track started in Virginia City, and was gradually extended, over the course of at least fifteen years, to Carson City. (June of 2010)

A closer view of the engine.

This is the car we rode in on the round trip between Carson City and Virginia City

Tour guides

This is a place called American Flats; we stopped here for a short tome while the train crew made minor repairs to one of the cars. The building is United Comstock Merger Mill, a cyanide mill used back in the mining days of the area.

This is where we were stopped.

They backed the train away from us while they did the maintenance.

When the work was completed, they came back and we reboarded the train.

The engine crew.

This is another part of American Flats.

 
Sadly, the trip was over, and I got a few last pictures before we drove back home. This was the trip we had been anticipating for many years, and it was well worth the wait! I'd enthusiastically recommend it to anyone with an interest in history and steam trains.