Nevada
Dennis Cassinelli: Nevada’s Central Pacific Railroad
Wednesday, June 1, 2022
Instantly after completion of the Central Pacific, between 1,600 and a couple of,000 males from that venture went to work on the Virginia and Truckee Railroad from Carson Metropolis to Virginia Metropolis and Reno. Nearly all of these had been Chinese language laborers at a time when the inhabitants of Virginia Metropolis was about 10,000. The everlasting residents had been enthusiastic about mining and different occupations, in order that they had been content material to go away the railroad constructing to the Chinese language.
The Central Pacific went by way of Reno, so it was decided that the V&T ought to connect with the transcontinental railroad on the Truckee River in downtown Reno, therefore the identify Virginia and Truckee Railroad. I nonetheless bear in mind the place the bridge crossed the Truckee to make this connection close to the place the previous “cribs” (brothels) had been situated.
A number of years in the past, I used to be engaged on a freeway building venture between Fernley and Lovelock that occurs to cross forwards and backwards over the previous roadbed of the unique Central Pacific route. Within the early night hours, I had time to stroll over a number of sections of the previous roadbed searching for artifacts and to review the development strategies utilized by the crews who constructed this engineering marvel. A lot of the roadbed and even some drainage buildings had been nonetheless seen.
Being a building particular person, I can’t assist however admire what was completed by these folks between April 1868 and Might 1869. With out heavy building tools, these males constructed a railroad that crossed your complete expanse of the state of Nevada in slightly multiple yr. The roadbed was flat and clean, and the grading was performed with Chinese language laborers utilizing wheelbarrows, picks and shovels. The roadbed was constructed up by taking materials from a “borrow ditch” on both aspect and throwing it up onto the roadbed. In a hill or lower part, the fabric was thrown up over the aspect and never hauled lengthy distances as it’s in trendy building.
The unique roadbed didn’t even have ballast between the ties in lots of areas. This was added later when the road was accomplished and ballast materials might be introduced in on railroad automobiles.
On the Nevada State Railroad Museum, I picked up a exceptional guide titled “The Central Pacific Railroad Throughout Nevada, 1868 & 1997” by Lawrence Okay. Hersh. The Central Pacific Co. employed an official photographer named Alfred A. Hart who took photographs alongside the way in which throughout building by way of Nevada.
In Hersh’s guide he exhibits many of those photographs together with photographs he has taken from the identical places exhibiting, by means of comparability, how these identical locations look as we speak. That is actually a captivating quantity, and I like to recommend it to anybody enthusiastic about railroad historical past. I’ve made a sport of visiting many of those identical locations to see firsthand what traces of the previous Central Pacific can nonetheless be discovered.
To date, I’ve discovered a number of railroad spikes, a damaged brake shoe, some monitor plates and a exceptional cowl plate from a journal field with the inscription “C.P.R.R. — 1875.” I took my field of rusted Central Pacific Railroad artifacts to the Nevada State Railroad Museum, however they stated that they had all of the rusty junk they wanted. Afterward, I used to be engaged on a building venture in Reno alongside Ralston Avenue the place the fashionable trains now journey under the unique floor degree and located the pinnacle of an especially rusted choose that had been from the Central Pacific Railroad. I now put it to make use of in my very own yard.
This text is by Dayton Writer and Historian, Dennis Cassinelli. You’ll be able to order his books at a reduction on his weblog at denniscassinelli.com. Simply click on on “order books”
Nevada
Real-money 5-card draw poker app launches in Nevada, more gaming news
JETT/Terrible’s Gaming announced the launch of Terrible’s Mobile Gaming, a new real-money five-card draw poker app available in Nevada, according to a press release.
The multi-player game includes features such as Royal Flush bonuses of up to $4,500 and four-of-a-kind payouts up to $175. To celebrate the app’s launch, Terrible’s Mobile Gaming is offering a deposit match of up to $500 each week.
Terrible’s Mobile Gaming is available for download on iOS and Android devices.
“JETT/Terrible’s Gaming and the Terrible’s brand in general have been making life more convenient for Nevadans for over 65 years,” said Tim Herbst, president of JETT Gaming & Terrible Herbst Inc. in a statement. “Now, we are excited to bring that same level of convenience to mobile gaming—delivering the excitement of Multi-Player 5 Card Draw Poker directly to our customers, wherever they are, and within the palm of their hand.”
The app is available in collaboration with Real Gaming, the igaming platform co-founded by South Point casino-hotel owner Michael Gaughan and tech entrepreneur Lawrence Vaughan.
“Nevada players know that both the JETT Gaming and Terrible’s Gaming brands mean convenience, and that’s exactly what we’ve delivered,” Vaughan said in the news release.
Culinary Local 226 ratifies Fontainebleau Las Vegas labor contract
Members of Culinary Union Local 226 recently voted to ratify a labor contract with Fontainebleau Las Vegas. According to the union, 99.6 percent voted in favor of the labor deal.
The new contract covers nearly 3,300 non-gaming employees at the Fontainebleau casino-hotel, located at the north end of the Las Vegas Strip. It is the first labor contract with the new resort, which opened in December 2023.
According to previous reports, the Culinary workers’ contract is for slightly less than five years, timed to match the span of the citywide contracts agreed to at the end of 2023 and the beginning of 2024 with other Strip operators.
The deal with Fontainebleau comes as Culinary Local 226 workers at the off-Strip Virgin casino-hotel have been striking for more than seven weeks. The union rejected the casino-hotel’s invitation to arbitration in late December.
Sports wagering
Two U.S. states that haven’t legalized sports wagering are making efforts to win approval in 2025.
Oklahoma state Sen. Dave Rader has introduced legislation in the Sooner state to modify the state’s compact with tribal casinos there to allow betting on sports. The bill’s first reading is scheduled Feb. 3.
Under Rader’s proposal, tribes would be required to pay the state 5 percent of the first $5 million in gross gaming revenue, 6 percent of the next $5 million and 7 percent for any revenue over $10 million as a fee.
A bill introduced in Oklahoma last year never made it out of committee.
In Minnesota, state Sen. Matt Klein said he will reintroduce a bill that failed to win approval last year early in that state’s legislative session. The session opens Jan. 14 in St. Paul.
Bill opponents have blocked passage because of fears of gambling addiction and family bankruptcies. Klein said his legislation has protections that would make it the safest sports-betting law in the country.
Washington D.C. and 38 U.S. states have legalized sports wagering and Missouri is establishing rules and regulations to begin this year.
Raising the age limit
New Hampshire lawmakers will consider raising the minimum age to place a sports bet from 18 to 21 under a bill that is expected to be reviewed Wednesday by the state’s House Ways and Means Committee.
New Hampshire is one of seven states and Washington D.C. that set the minimum gambling age at 18 and most neighboring states — Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, Maine, and New York — have 21 as their minimum age.
If signed into law, the bill would likely take effect in mid-2026. Lawmakers will take into consideration the possible loss of $640,000 a year in gaming revenue with the age increase.
DraftKings is the only online sports-betting option in the state.
Macao
Gross gaming revenue in Macao totaled $28.3 billion (U.S.) in 2024, a 23.9 percent increase over 2023, the special administrative region’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau reported last week.
December revenue of $2.3 billion was off 2 percent from a year ago and was the first month in 2024 to have less monthly revenue than in the previous year.
October was the strongest month of the year with revenue of $2.6 billion.
By comparison, Nevada’s October gaming revenue total was $1.286 billion.
Nevada
51-year-old North Las Vegas man dies in Red Rock Canyon crash
LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – Nevada State Police said a 51-year-old North Las Vegas man died in a crash at Red Rock Canyon.
The crash happened Thursday, Jan. 2 at 2:25 p.m. near Red Rock Canyon and Fossil Ridge roads.
Police say Shawn Raymond Pierson drove too fast during a curve and drove left of center into the eastbound travel lane as traffic approached.
Pierson struck a broken paddle marker base and overturned. Police say he died at the scene.
The investigation is being conducted by the Nevada State Police Highway Patrol – Traffic Homicide Unit.
2025 Year to date: The Nevada State Police Highway Patrol Region 1 (Southern Command) has investigated 1 fatal crashes resulting in 1 fatalities.
2025 fatalities details preliminary and may change/be updated based on final investigation.
Copyright 2025 KVVU. All rights reserved.
Nevada
Missing teen who vanished after family dispute believed to be found dead in desert
A body found in the Nevada desert is believed to be a teenager who went missing last week after a family dispute.
Police in the city of Henderson said in a statement that the body matches the description of 17-year-old Jennaleah “Jenna” Hin.
Hin was reported missing on December 30, 2024, after she left the home in Henderson following a family issue.
“It’s just a normal family dispute, you know, that teenagers have with their parents. Nothing out of the ordinary,” Mark Speer, Red Rock Search & Rescue commander said.
She said something to the effect of, “You don’t have to worry about me anymore,” according to Speer, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
Hin did not have a phone or money on her the night she disappeared, her family members said, according to CBS affiliate KLAS.
On Sunday, Henderson police responded to an area of the desert just east of Desert Sunflower Circle and Spanish Needle Street around 10:42 a.m. after a K-9 unit was alerted to her scent, officials said. They discovered a “deceased female” who they say matches the description of Hin.
According to their “preliminary investigations, there does not appear to be signs of foul play,” police said.
The Clark County Coroner’s Office will release official identification of the body, pending notification of next of kin.
A cause of death has not been revealed.
The discovery of the body comes just two days after her mother pleaded for the public’s help in finding the teen at a press conference on Friday.
“Jenna, wherever you are or whoever you’re with, I just want you to come home,” Hin’s mother, Jennifer Swanson, said, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “I want you safe. We love you so much — please come home.”
On Sunday afternoon, her mother shared a photo of Hin on her Facebook page, writing “Jenna, I love you… Where are you, who are you with, who has you, please come home…”
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