Nevada History Segment: How the Railroads Built Nevada | Fourth Street Live Podcast

Welcome to our Nevada History series!

Today we’re diving into how the Railroads shaped Nevada. Before the neon, before the casinos, before Las Vegas became the entertainment capital of the world… Nevada was a railroad state.

In this episode, we explore how the transcontinental railroad, the Virginia & Truckee, and the early lines of Southern Pacific and the Las Vegas railroad transformed empty desert into thriving cities. Learn how Reno, Sparks, and Las Vegas all owe their existence to steel rails, steam locomotives, and the men who carved tracks across the high desert.

You’ll discover:

🚂 How the Central Pacific Railroad chose the site that became Reno

🏔️ The brutal construction across the Sierra Nevada

🪙 How the Comstock Lode gave birth to the Virginia & Truckee Railroad

🏭 Why Sparks was created almost overnight as a new railroad town

🌵 How a desert rail stop became Las Vegas in 1905

🚆 And how modern freight and Amtrak still follow the same routes todayNevada wasn’t built by neon or mob money — it was built by railroads, one spike and one mile at a time.

If you love Nevada history, railroads, old mining towns, and the forgotten stories of the Wild West, you’re in the right place.

👉 Subscribe to Fourth Street Live Podcast for more wild stories from the Silver State — outlaws, casinos, and the real history behind the neon. The past is never really dead, and Nevada is just waiting to be told.#NevadaHistory #RenoHistory #LasVegasHistory #SparksNevada #NevadaRailroads #RailroadHistory #VirginiaAndTruckee #CentralPacificRailroad #TranscontinentalRailroad #ComstockLode #WildWestHistory #NevadaStories #RenoNevada #VegasHistory #BiggestLittleCity #HistoryDocumentary #AmericanHistory #OldWest #NevadaLore