Virginia and Truckee Railroad Freight Depot Audio Tour

In 1869, the last rail of the Virginia and Truckee (V&T) Railroad was laid to connect Virginia City with Carson City. A few years later a freight depot was built here at Sutton and E Streets to handle large shipments and from mills, as well as goods for the city’s booming population.

The great fire of October 1875 destroyed the original freight depot. The shed here today was rebuilt in 1877 at the cost of $3,332.

At one time the area just north of the depot held a sawmill, wood and coal yard and trestle tracks crossing over Mill Street. Three rows of tracks once ran by the east dock of the freight shed and continued south to a car house and passenger depot on the now empty block to the south. From that point the V&T then entered a tunnel and ran beneath E Street past St. Mary’s in the Mountain Catholic Church, emerging near Washington Street and continue on towards Gold Hill.

The freights shed operated until 1938 after which time it was used as a stable, lumber year and storage house. Today, it remains largely unaltered and serves as a ticket location for the train operations.