Artist doing his part for V&T restoration

Artist Steven Saylor works in an old converted rail car that stands next to his house in Dayton and that's appropriate considering the topic of his next painting.

Looking back on May 6, 1945, the day Germany surrendered in World War II, "Victory Train" will be the third in a series of Saylor's railroad paintings. He's presently making preliminary sketches and soon will be working with comprehensive drawings.

No date has been set for completion of the painting, but it usually takes from one to two years. Much like his other works of this kind, the painting will incorporate nationally renowned and local celebrities, along with some old Reno landmarks.

"I like painting people I know or those I have run into," Saylor said, noting he picks people he knows as subjects for these paintings.

Commissioned by long-time Reno resident Ron Franzman, the proceeds from sale of prints, (somewhere between 250 and 500), will benefit the restoration efforts of the V&T rail line from Carson City to Virginia City, as well as the McKeen car, a 70-foot self-propelled gasoline rail car built in Omaha, Neb., around 1910.

The McKeen, another old steam engine from the Nevada State Railroad Museum collection, and the Tamarack Bar will be featured in this picture.

Franzman is from an old Reno family and remembers the McKeen when it was a fixture on the line running from Minden to Reno.

"It (the McKeen) was like a bullet. We referred to it as the bullet train. In those days, it was painted red," Franzman said, noting that the track ran (north and south) about 200 feet from Tamarack Bar in Reno.

Brown's Station, the big white house on Reno's south end, was the station, but the Tamarack was the meeting place and as fond as Franzman is of the McKeen, it seems the Tamarack also holds a special place in his heart.

"The Tamarack Bar is a landmark. I owned it, and a lot of people loved it," Franzman said. "A lot of people remember it, and I feel it needs to be a part of history."

After the V&T closed around 1950, the McKeen's checkered past included a stint as a diner. After that, it held plumbing stock when it served as a store for Al's Plumbing on the south end of Carson City.

The one-of-a-kind car fell into the capable hands of the restoration crew at the Nevada State Railroad Museum about three years ago. Renovation is under way but costs for the project have yet to be determined.

"I can't guess at what it will cost to restore," Daniel Thielen, curator of history at the museum said, noting the project is expected to take another two years.

"It will cost a fortune. Much depends on the kindness and serendipity of the community. The state has committed labor and great deal of money but it will cost a great deal more."

Saylor Biography

Nationally renowned artist Steven Saylor drove to Dayton one day in 1972 to look at some real estate, an old cabin built in 1856, and a week later he bought it.

He's done some renovation on the place over the years, added a few frills like power, indoor plumbing and an addition, but he's been living in the cabin ever since.

"I wanted to keep horses and I was looking for a place within an hour's drive of Reno," Saylor said.

At the time he was working as an art director at May Advertising in Reno. It was his first job after graduation from Kent State in Ohio and lasted three years until the agency closed. In a way, it was a crossroad for him.

He could continue his work as an art director with another agency in Reno or accept a position at the newly formed Western Nevada Community College, developing its art program and teaching. He chose the college.

"It gave me a chance to teach, work on my art, and work as a ranch hand," Saylor said, noting that a friend, Don Jackson, managed the Allran Ranch in Dayton and he enjoyed the work. During that time he was also flying to art shows on weekends to display his work.

"I wasn't setting the world on fire, but people were interested in my work, and I was selling enough to make a go of it," Saylor said, noting that eventually he had to make a choice between teaching and his art. He stopped teaching in 1992 after 18 years, and said he still misses friends and associates there. He still goes to shows but primarily works on commission.

He shares the place in Dayton with wife, Johnnye, two horses, three dogs, several chickens and an assortment of well adjusted cats - 42 to be exact. Johnnye operates a cat rescue in Lyon County and this year alone has successfully found home for 300 cats through adoption.