V&T Survivor: "DAYTON" Of the 29 steam locomotives that served the Virginia & Truckee during its life as a common carrier, 9 have survived in preservation. This beautiful, 1873-vintage 4-4-0 is Number 18, Dayton. Unlike many of her sisters, she didn't come from back east. She was built in Sacramento, in the shops of the Central Pacific Railroad, the very same shops that produced the famous "Jupiter", just a few years earlier. With a weight of 78,000 lbs on the drivers, she and sister "Columbus" were the heaviest locomotives yet purchased for the new Nevada short-line. A wonderfully ornate locomotive, she served the line for roughly 65 years, being most noted for her role as "the snowplow engine". Numerous photos exist of this engine pushing an enormous wedge plow.
In 1938, Dayton was sold to Paramount Pictures, and over the next 30 years, she appeared in numerous Hollywood productions. During the Golden Spike Centennial, in 1969, she was used as a stand-in for the long-since-scrapped Union Pacific 119....which was kind of ironic, considering her origin. "Dayton" was finally sold by the movie studios to the State of Nevada in 1974. With her boiler deemed unsuitable for an operating restoration, she was cosmetically restored to her 1882 appearance and went on display at the Nevada State Railroad Museum in Carson City in 1982. In 2005, she became the centerpiece for the newly opened Comstock History Center in Virginia City, where she resided for over a decade. Being just off the beaten path in Virginia City, not many visited her and she was difficult to photograph in that building. In 2018 however, the Director of the NSRM decided it was time to bring her home, swapping her out for the less ornate #27. Although she cannot run, "Dayton" is now in a place where she'll be pulled out in the sunshine for special events, like this Lerro Productions photo shoot in February of 2020. Most days however, you'll find her in the main hall of the museum, facing her sister "Inyo", nose to nose.
