Nevada’s railroad history is long, rich, and varied, dating back to 1868 when the Central Pacific Railroad reached the state, building east from Sacramento, California. In the century-and-a-half since, the Battle Born state has been served by a handful of railroads. One aspect of their legacy is the railroad depots and facilities built to serve local communities. A century ago, there were hundreds of depots dotting the state. Today, just over two dozen passenger and freight depots survive in Nevada. Some are threatened, some are preserved. Their present day uses range from Amtrak stops to museums; homes to a brewery; businesses to tourist railroads.
 
Jean-Guy T. Dube’ is an author, architectural draftsman and historian. He has studied Southern Pacific depots since 1983 and is the author of Railroad Depots: A Southern Pacific Collection. Dube’ works for the State Historic Preservation Office of Nevada as the Architectural Historian for National and State Historic Registers.

Follow Roy Frisch from boyhood to the night in Reno when he mysteriously disappeared. On March 22, 1934, now almost 80 years ago, Frisch vanished and would never be seen again. What conditions in 1934 Reno allowed his disappearance with no trace despite the presence and sustained efforts of numerous Bureau of Investigation agents? Take a trip through the many contemporary and later accounts along with the FBI website “Vault” to discover both the old and new facts of the case and to gain a better understanding of why Roy Frisch was the man who never returned.

Michael E. Fischer is a retired dentist who has many years of private sector cultural affairs management experience.  Fischer has served on the Board of Directors of the Western Folklife Center, is a life member and serves on the board of the Douglas County Historical Society as well as the board of the Thunderbird Lodge Preservation Society and the Nevada Agricultural Foundation. Fischer is actively involved with the H. F. Dangberg Home Ranch in Douglas County, and was a Douglas County Commissioner for eight years. He was appointed Director of the Department of Cultural Affairs by Governor Gibbons in 2007 and served in the Sandoval Administration until Cultural Affairs was merged with Tourism. Fischer’s interest in Nevada history began as a child when his family visited historic sites around the state.

In Stories from Reno in World War II historian Chuck Weller will relate stories of the Reno Army Air Base and other military presence in the city, a Japanese balloon bomb shot down over Reno, the gift to Admiral William “Bull” Halsey, Jr. of a saddle from the war bond buyers of Washoe County and more.

Chuck Weller is the historian for the Reno chapter of the United States Navy League. His book Nevada during World War II was released in May. Weller received his undergraduate degree from St. Joseph’s College in Philadelphia, a juris doctorate from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and a master’s degree and Ph.D. from the University of Nevada Reno. He practiced law in Reno from 1982 through 2004 and hosted a weekly talk program on KKOH radio, Chuck Weller and the Law, from 1991 to 2004. He served three elected terms as a District Court Judge in Reno from 2005 through 2021 and continues to serve as a senior judge.