The Branson Scenic Railway is a

heritage railroad 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 ...

Branson, Missouri Branson is a city in the U.S. state of Missouri. Most of the city is situated in Taney County, with a small portion in the west extending into Stone County. Branson is in the Ozark Mountains. The community was named after Reuben Branson, postma ...

. The Ozark Zephyr, Branson Scenic Railway's historic zephyr train, departs from an old depot in downtown Branson and operates in the scenic

Ozark Mountains The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and the extreme southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cover a significant portio ...

for an approximate round trip. As the underlying rail lines are owned by the

Missouri and Northern Arkansas Railroad The Missouri and Northern Arkansas Railroad, LLC is a Class III shortline railroad headquartered in Carthage, Missouri. It is not to be confused with the Missouri and North Arkansas Railroad which connected Joplin, Missouri with Helena, Arkansa ...

(MNA) and are still in use as an active railroad, MNA traffic determines whether a particular trip will operate northbound from Branson to

Galena, Missouri Galena is a city in Stone County, Missouri, United States. The population was 455 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Stone County. Galena is part of the Branson, Missouri Micropolitan Statistical Area. History Galena was platted in 1 ...

, or southbound from Branson to the Barren Fork Trestle in

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

Equipment

The railroad operates a variety of vintage railroad equipment, including two

dome car A dome car is a type of railway passenger car that has a glass dome on the top of the car where passengers can ride and see in all directions around the train. It also can include features of a coach, lounge car, dining car, sleeping car or obse ...

s, a dining car, and several coaches built by the

Budd Company The Budd Company was a 20th-century metal fabricator, a major supplier of body components to the automobile industry, and a manufacturer of stainless steel passenger rail cars, airframes, missile and space vehicles, and various defense products ...

. Motive Power: :On the Northbound end, an EMD F9PHA, built in January 1951 for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad as an

EMD F7 The EMD F7 is a model of diesel-electric locomotive produced between February 1949 and December 1953 by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors (EMD) and General Motors Diesel (GMD). Although originally promoted by EMD as a freight-h ...

, numbered 369 in order #6161 with a serial number of 12668 and frame number 6161-A23. The locomotive was rebuilt in 1981 and served in Maryland with MDOT then MARC before becoming the Branson Scenic 98. :On the Southbound end of the train is an

EMD GP30 The EMD GP30 is a four-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division of La Grange, Illinois between July 1961 and November 1963. A total of 948 units were built for railroads in the United States and Canada ( ...

. This locomotive was built in January 1963 for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad as their number 6973 in order 7631 with a serial number of 27690 and frame number 7631-46. This locomotive went to

Chessie System Chessie System, Inc. was a holding company that owned the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O), the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O), the Western Maryland Railway (WM), and Baltimore and Ohio Chicago Terminal Railroad (B&OCT). Trains operated und ...

with the same number then to

CSX CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...

being renumbered to 4265, before becoming the Branson Scenic 4265 before being renumbered to 99 some time after. This arrangement makes it possible to make the return trip without having to use a wye junction or a

passing siding A passing loop (UK usage) or passing siding (North America) (also called a crossing loop, crossing place, refuge loop or, colloquially, a hole) is a place on a single line railway or tramway, often located at or near a station, where trains or ...

. Passenger Cars: ;"Silver Garden" :Built by the Budd Company on job 9657-112 ordered by the Chicago Burlington & Quincy Railroad in March 1951 and delivered in December 1952. It was built as Dome, Buffet, Lounge number 320 for the Kansas City Zephyr. In addition to the 24 dome seats, there was a coffee shop that seated 17 passengers in front of the dome and, under the dome was a 6 seat lounge with buffet. A 24 seat coach section was behind the dome with a conductor's seat. With the Burlington northern merger the car was to be assigned BN 1100 but, was sold to Amtrak and became their 9800. It was retired in 1977 and, sold to Gerome Bulock of Building Leasing Corporation and, then in 1987 was sold to Tom Johnson of Rail Dome Corporation becoming the RDCX 320 (AMTK 800287) and now operates on the Branson Scenic Railway. ;"Silver Terrace": :Built by the Budd Company in 1952 for the Chicago Burlington & Quincy Railroad as their number 365 for the Kansas City Zephyr. It is a blunt end Observation Dome Parlor car. After the 1970 merger into the Burlington Northern it was to be numbered BN 1192, it became Amtrak 9320. After retirement from Amtrak it was sold and, eventually came to the Branson Scenic as their #9320. When GP30 #99 is out of service, this car will be converted to a temporary

Control car A control car, cab car (North America), control trailer, or driving trailer (UK and Ireland) is a non-powered rail vehicle from which a train can be operated. As dedicated vehicles or regular passenger cars, they have one or two driver compartm ...

by adding

Ditch lights Trains include a variety of types of lights, for safety, illumination, and communicating train status. The most universal type of light is the headlight, which is included on the front of locomotives, and frequently on the rear as well. Other type ...

to the blunt end of the car. ;"Westport" :Build for the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad as their 251, a blunt end Observation Tavern car, the Westport became the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad 5830 and, then Amtrak 3330 before being purchased by the Heritage Rail Corporation. ;"Silver Lake" :This car was built for the Pennsylvania Railroad as a parlor car and, after purchase by Amtrak was remodeled into a lounge. After being retired from Amtrak it found its way to the Branson Scenic. ;"Silver Chef" :This car was built for the Chicago Burlington & Quincy as a diner by the Budd Company on Job 9624-169, ordered in February 1955, delivered in October 1956. The Budd Job was for two diners for the CB&Q's Denver Zephyr, number 201, named the SILVER CHEF, and number 202, named the SILVER TUREEN. The 201 was to become the BN 1165 after the merger. It was sold to Amtrak becoming their 8054. After conversion to HEP it was renumbered 8503. It was retired and came to the Branson Scenic as their 8503. ;"Silver Island" :This car was also built by the Budd Company for the CB&Q. :"Silver Belle" :Silver Belle is a

dining car A dining car (American English) or a restaurant car (British English), also a diner, is a railroad passenger car that serves meals in the manner of a full-service, sit-down restaurant. It is distinct from other railroad food service cars that ...

built in 1949 for the Southern Railway. It was acquired by

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

later on, then sold to Branson Scenic in January 2019 during an auction.

History

The railroad was originally built as the White River Railway between 1902 and 1905. Because of the rugged terrain of the Ozarks, a number of

trestles ATLAS-I (Air Force Weapons Lab Transmission-Line Aircraft Simulator), better known as Trestle, was a unique electromagnetic pulse (EMP) generation and testing apparatus built between 1972 and 1980 during the Cold War at Sandia National Labora ...

and

tunnel A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube cons ...

s were required in order to create a level railroad grade. The lines later became part of the

Missouri Pacific Railroad The Missouri Pacific Railroad , commonly abbreviated as MoPac, was one of the first railroads in the United States west of the Mississippi River. MoPac was a Class I railroad growing from dozens of predecessors and mergers. In 1967, the railroad ...

, and in 1992 were sold to MNA.

References

Branson Scenic Railway
Transportation in Boone County, Arkansas Heritage railroads in Missouri Tourist attractions in Stone County, Missouri Tourist attractions in Taney County, Missouri Tourist attractions in Boone County, Arkansas Heritage railroads in Arkansas {{Missouri-museum-stub