Cities tie campaign to rails of V&T

As Virginia City and Carson City look forward to the restoration of the railway that linked them more than a century ago, the two cities are combining forces to promote themselves to tourists.

The convention and visitor authorities are launching their first joint campaign this summer.

The goal is to couple the cities in visitors' minds before the Virginia & Truckee Railway reconstruction is completed in the next few years.

"It's selling the region as a destination," says Susan Sutton, executive director of the Virginia City Convention & Visitors Authority.

"This connects us once more as we were in the 1800s."

Built between 1869 and 1872, the V&T carried supplies to the silver mines in Virginia City and hauled silver ore from the Comstock lode to the mills in the valley.

Decades later the railway declined and was abandoned in 1938.

A 2.8-mile section was rebuilt in the 1970s and today a train continues carrying tourists the short distance between Virginia City and Gold Hill.

The Nevada Commission for the Reconstruction of the V&T Railway, created by the Legislature in 2001, is leading the project to extend the railway to Carson City.

As the first step in working together, the two convention and visitors authorities launched this summer's "Sisters In History" campaign, which includes a brochure with maps, history of the two cities and coupons to restaurants, hotels and shops in both locations.

The brochures will be available at many locations in both cities, and the coupons will help the authorities track success of the project.

The campaign was funded by a $7,000 grant from the Nevada Commission on Tourism and $5,000 and $3,000 contributions from the Carson City and Virginia City Convention & Visitors authorities, respectively.

The two authorities will also feature one another on their Web sites and tie events together whenever possible.

Virginia City, for instance, will host participants from Carson City's Silver Dollar Car Classic in July to at a "Show & Shine" event on C Street.

Candace Duncan, executive director of the Carson City Convention & Visitors Authority, says the two cities will add new joint campaigns each year as their budgets allow.