This vintage postcard shows a train wreck in the 1800s in the snow of Nevada. Here we see men digging the train out of the snow, while stopping to pose for the picture.
The card says “V. & T.R.R. Wrecked 1889 Ploughing Snow, Gold Hill, Nevada.” This is a wreck of one of the Virginia & Truckee Railroad engines that ran at the height of the silver and gold rush between the mines in Virginia City, Nevada and Truckee, California across the Sierra Nevada Mountains of Nevada.
This vintage postcard of a large steel locomotive from the early 1900s, thrown off track and wrecked by the snow of the Nevada mountains, is a great view into the history of the train in the Western United States during those times. It is also a great view into the attitudes and fortitude of the men of the Sierra Nevada Mountains region of that time. Digging out the train that was supposed to be ploughing the snow is all in a day’s work for them and some even seem to find it funny.
We have created a funny Christmas holiday card called Train Wreck 2010 with this image. If you’ve had a tough year, or your friends have, this card may put a little lightheartedness into the holidays.