I will be in Reno Nevada from May 15-20. Anything exciting to see...trainwise? I see on Google maps the have a yard there...planning on checking that out. Any LHS there with n scale stuff ? You can PM me...dont wanna violate any TB rules.
Yeah hop on the 395 and follow the signs to Susanville. Turn across the river when you come into to Portola and visit the Feather River Railway Historical Museum. They have a wide variety of motive power, mainly WP, SP, and UP but also a MILW U25b, some Kennicot Copper power as well as some others. You can even operate a locomotive! They also have a DD40AX there as well. Be sure and take your camera as the UP mainline runs right next to the museum. You could also railfan the Feather River sub, which is something I have never had time to do. I would allow a full day if you are going to visit the museum and railfan. Also, in Sparks there is an old SP depot and a short section of track with a SP steam loco and short train on display. If you go West on the Interstate (dont remember the ###) you can go to Truckee and railfan Donner. MAKE SURE AND TAKE A CAMERA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You'll also be close to the V&T in Virgina City just over the hill from Reno. Also just a neat town to visit.
Nevada State Railroad Museum is at Carson City, 30 minutes south. If you like 19th century steam this is only exceeded by California State RR museum You'll want to mind their hours, they are only open Friday-Monday with state budget cuts: http://museums.nevadaculture.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=412&Itemid=440 V&T doesn't open until May 28 This Reno hobby shop is within a rocks throw of the convention center and was well stocked...but this was a couple years ago. http://www.yellowpages.com/reno-nv/mip/high-sierra-models-13166336?lid=13166336
All good ideas. I highly recommend a trip to Portola and the Feather River, My trainclub recently did V&T. I didn't go with, but they still rave about it. The yard you see is the UP (exSP) yard at Sparks. I always like the annual BBQ cookoff at Donner Pass. "tastes like chicken!" You might ask this in the railfan forums see if you catch any more advice. I assume Reno and environs has hobby shops, but I honestly haven't ventured further than Auburn looking since I moved to Roseville.
Truckee is great for railfanning, and from there you can continue west on I-80 over Donner Pass, but a special treat would be to return from Soda Springs via the "Old Donner Pass Rd." (ex-US40) over the rainbow bridge and down to Donner Lake. From the overlook at the east end of the bridge you have a beautiful view of the original transcon ROW, the Chinese Wall and some of the remaining snowsheds: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donner_Pass At the east end of Donner Lake is the Donner Memorial State Park, always worth a visit if you are a history buff: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donner_Memorial_State_Park You might want to bring a jacket.. it can get a mite chilly up on the pass: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tG59X7bMDpA
High Sierra closed a couple years ago after the owner passed away. There is a small shop near the Nugget in Sparks that has a decent N selection. It's in MRR, I forget the address. I usually stay at The Nugget on the yard side to get pics of what comes and goes. There are a couple of warehouses just up the street that have parkinglots that back up to the main that if you catch it right you catch stuff coming in/out. The Musuem in Portola opens to the public on the 12th so you should be OK. The weekend of the 15th is a work weekend on the CZ cars in the collection. good time to see a little of the restorations in progress. They'll be open 10-5 with the trains running, if they can get qualified engineers, 11-4. www.wplives.org
