The Nevada State Railroad Museum, located in Carson City, Nevada, preserves the railroad heritage of Nevada, including locomotives and cars of the famous Virginia and Truckee Railroad. Much of the museum equipment was obtained from various Hollywood studios, where they were used in movies and television. The museum is operated by the Nevada Department of Tourism and Cultural Affairs. Opened in 1980, it was originally named the Virginia & Truckee Railroad Museum, often shortened to V&T Railroad Museum, but was renamed the Nevada State Railroad Museum in 1985.

Carson City is an independent city and the capital of the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2020 census, the population was 58,639, making it the 6th most populous city in the state. The majority of the city's population lives in Eagle Valley, on the eastern edge of the Carson Range, a branch of the Sierra Nevada, about 30 miles (50 km) south of Reno. The city is named after the mountain man Kit Carson. The town began as a stopover for California-bound immigrants, but developed into a city with the Comstock Lode, a silver strike in the mountains to the northeast. The city has served as Nevada's capital since statehood in 1864; for much of its history it was a hub for the Virginia and Truckee Railroad, although the tracks were removed in 1950.