[Freight Receipt Book for the Carson City Station of the Virginia & Truckee Railroad in 1877]

[Carson City, Nv, 1877. Good plus.. 246 leaves. Oblong octavo. Original quarter cloth and marbled boards. Spine and edges somewhat worn; text block cocked. Internally clean. A fascinating manuscript receipt book that documents the types and amounts of freight carried by the Virginia & Truckee Railroad during the first half of May 1877. The railroad, completed in January 1870, was built between Virginia City and Carson City to serve the mines of the Comstock Lode, and carried a vast amount of freight between the hub of the Nevada mining boom and the state capital. At the peak of the bonanza in 1876 and 1877, twenty-two V&T locomotives and 361 freight cars transported over 400,000 tons of freight per month, running thirty to forty-five trains per day. The present register dates to the latter portion of this period, and well demonstrates the variety and volume of materials that were hauled along this twenty-one mile section of track. The railroad carried lumber, coal oil, ore bags, tin ware, flour, butter, liquor, cigars -- in short, everything that was needed to keep the Comstock boom towns booming. Each leaf of this log, which contains over 245 entries for the period of May 1st to the 17th, registers the type of freight being shipped, its weight, its consignee, its place of origin, the V&T car number that carried the load, and the total charges for the shipment. An excellent document of this Nevada railroad that played a critical role in the state's mining industry.