V&T (Virginia &
Truckee) Division of the Norfolk & Western Railway by John Paganoni
Stan
Burroughs takes you on a journey from Nevada, in a bygone era, to
Virginia in the days of steam. The genesis of this unique “across
America” venture was the result of a flood in his basement layout
room. His first layout was focused on the Virginia and
Truckee Railroad with vintage locomotives and cars, including well done
“varnish” passenger cars. When the “flood” virtually destroyed this
layout in 2011, Stan decided to rebuild his V&T as a Division
under the management of the N&W. Stan grew up with many
memories of trips he took between Norfolk and Richmond behind a Class J
locomotive, thus the incentive to merge the two railroads. He is able
to do continuous running of one train while doing local switching at
the same time.
His
industries are well thought out and focused on the textile industry. He
moves cotton on the N&W to the S&B Textiles plant in
Carson City then the fabric is shipped to the Reno Fabric &
Quilt Factory Outlet. This was a very wise choice of industries since
his wife is an avid and professional quilter! He also runs excursions
on the V&T behind a factory painted Key Imports brass
4-6-0. A scenic highlight for passengers is the view as they
cross a wonderfully done high wooden trestle.
Now
that the track work is done and the trains are operating extremely
well, Stan plans to get busy doing scenery work.
The
layout tour was very successful and all who attended had a wonderful
time with many visitors staying a long period of time enjoying the
layout, Stan’s innovations such as his unique homemade manual turnout
controls, and just plain enjoying the greatness of model railroading.