Historically, the train never made it all the way out to Virginia City, and it cost the settlers untold monies, whether they wanted to get goods or even just their mail (more than $1 over 100 years ago, if you can believe everything they tell you on your local tour), but that hasn’t stopped the local chamber of commerce from getting motive with their own chugga-chugga-short-line-choo-choo, and as a kid right in their demographic wheelhouse, I must admit it makes for great fun to ride.
It only goes from Nevada City back a short distance (over really poorly laid tracks) to Virginia City, which everyone just drove through to get there, but that doesn’t take away from the experience one bit. It’s fun with a capital whichever-letter-starts-the-word fun.
G? Doesn’t sound right. P? That doesn’t sound right either. Still, it’s very fun.
F? I don’t think that’s right either. Big-P little-h? That sounds medical, but I know that’s big-p, little-S, so now I’m just confusing myself.
They’ve got a diesel train and a steam train, and they run them depending on the day of the week, except when lightning strikes may fall (we had a delay, but it was exciting) and you get to ride the thing both ways.
As short as the ride is, the price is less-than-tall to match, so even if you don’t have easily-impressed kids along for the visit, I still recommend the train very highly.
The view isn’t spectacular, but it is interesting. You can see the deeply dredged creek from which they pulled eleventy-zillion ounces of gold, remaindered piles of tailings from the operation, some lesser mining museum we didn’t stop at, and if you keep your eyes as peeled as we did, real city re-enactors riding along with you. They aren’t there for fun, but because they need to get from point A to B, even as short of a distance as it is.
The train is operated by the Nevada City park presumably with the help of the adjacent Virginia City council, so thank yourself as the tax-payer and all the merchants for keeping the rates so affordable.
