Stouffer's Railroad Map of Kansas 1915-1918 Dickinson County

The Abilene and Smoky Valley Railroad is a

heritage railway A heritage railway or heritage railroad (US usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) i ...

located in

Abilene, Kansas Abilene (pronounced ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Dickinson County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 6,460. It is home of The Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum and the G ...

, United States. It is a

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

that offers public

excursion train An excursion train is a chartered train run for a special event or purpose. Examples are trains to major sporting event, trains run for railfans or tourists, and special trains operated by the railway company for employees and prominent customer ...

rides May through October. The depot is located in the Historic 1887 Rock Island Depot, Old Abilene Town, south of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library & Museum. A 1919

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

was under restoration from 2005 to 2008. It was first steamed up and moved under power in the fall of 2008. Starting May 23, 2009 the ex-

Santa Fe 3415 Santa Fe 3415 is a preserved class 3400 4-6-2 "Pacific" type steam locomotive built in 1919 by Baldwin for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. Retired in 1954, it sat in Eisenhower Park in Abilene, Kansas until 1996. At that point, it wa ...

became the only operational steam locomotive in the state of Kansas. The

4-6-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and two trailing wheels on one axle. The locomotiv ...

Pacific locomotive Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and two trailing wheels on one axle. The locomoti ...

hauls the train once a month. When the steam engine is not running, the regular tourist train is pulled by an

ALCO S-1 The American Locomotive Company (often shortened to ALCO, ALCo or Alco) was an American manufacturer of locomotives, diesel generators, steel, and tanks that operated from 1901 to 1969. The company was formed by the merger of seven smaller locomo ...

locomotive A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the Power (physics), motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, Motor coach (rail), motor ...

that used to work for the Hutchinson Northern Railroad (HNRR). The locomotive, #4, was donated to the A&SVRR by the HNRR when it was retired. The locomotive is a type normally used for switching and has 660 horsepower.

Dinner train A dinner train is a relatively new type of tourist train service whose main purpose is to allow people to eat dinner while experiencing a relatively short, leisurely round trip train ride. This contrasts with conventional passenger trains, whose ma ...

s are operated once a month. The trip travels along an old

Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad (CRI&P RW, sometimes called ''Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway'') was an American Class I railroad. It was also known as the Rock Island Line, or, in its final years, The Rock. At the end ...

line that used to run from Herington to Salina. Currently the train operates on approximately of trackage between Abilene and

Enterprise Enterprise (or the archaic spelling Enterprize) may refer to: Business and economics Brands and enterprises * Enterprise GP Holdings, an energy holding company * Enterprise plc, a UK civil engineering and maintenance company * Enterprise ...

. At Enterprise passengers are allowed to explore the caboose and locomotive. Seating in the diner or in open-sided gondola cars is available. Once a month an all-day

excursion An excursion is a trip by a group of people, usually made for leisure, education, or physical purposes. It is often an adjunct to a longer journey or visit to a place, sometimes for other (typically work-related) purposes. Public transportation ...

between Abilene and Woodbine is operated. At Enterprise passengers are transferred to a hyrail bus ''Silver Flyer Rail Bus'', which can travel on both road and rail. After a short tour of Enterprise the bus is placed on a second section of trackage that extends east out of Enterprise, travels through

Pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium carb ...

and ends in Woodbine. The trip is narrated. At Woodbine lunch is provided as part of the ticket price. After lunch the bus travels back to Enterprise with stops to showcase some of the older stone work buildings still located in the area. Upon arrival in Enterprise, the afternoon train returns to Abilene.

Caboose A caboose is a crewed North American railroad car coupled at the end of a freight train. Cabooses provide shelter for crew at the end of a train, who were formerly required in switching and shunting, keeping a lookout for load shifting, damag ...

and

cab rides are available at extra charge.

References

External links

Abilene & Smoky Valley Railroad

Dickinson County Map
Heritage railroads in Kansas Tourist attractions in Dickinson County, Kansas Rail and road vehicle {{Kansas-museum-stub

See also

References

External links