The Midland 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 ...

operating 12 miles of line in Franklin and Douglas counties, Kansas between

Ottawa, Kansas Ottawa (pronounced ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Franklin County, Kansas, United States. It is located on both banks of the Marais des Cygnes River near the center of Franklin County. As of the 2020 census, the population of the c ...

and

Baldwin City, Kansas Baldwin City is a city in Douglas County, Kansas, United States, about south of Lawrence. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 4,826. The city is home to Baker University, the state's oldest four-year university. History ...

. It was chartered in 1982 to find an abandoned

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

line to operate. Midland purchased the line from Baldwin City to

from the

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison, Kansas, Atchison and Top ...

in 1987, and began running excursion trains on part of the line later that year. Total length of the line is 11 miles (17.7 km). Midland operates a demonstration historic railroad, and its mission is to "educate the public about the role railroading played, and continues to play, in the commercial, social, and cultural life of America's Heartland." Midland's base of operations is the depot built in 1906 by the

at 1515 High Street in Baldwin City. This building was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1983. Midland has received two matching federal grants to rebuild

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

. Private grants have and are being used to rebuild railroad equipment. Starting in 2004, excursion trains are run all the way from Baldwin City to Ottawa. The regular operating season runs from

Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who have fought and died while serving in the United States armed forces. It is observed on the last Monda ...

(last Monday of May) to October 31 (

Halloween Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observanc ...

). Special events and fairs are held at various times through the year. Weekend

Boy Scout A Scout (in some countries a Boy Scout, Girl Scout, or Pathfinder) is a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement. Because of the large age and development span, many Scouting associations have split ...

camps are held in the spring and fall. Midland's Scout program is one of the few in the country to offer the Railroading merit badge.

Surface Transportation Board

A May 31, 2019 decision by the Surface Transportation Board states:

Baldwin City & Southern Railroad

In 2019, the Midland Railway created a wholly-owned, for-profit subsidiary called the Baldwin City & Southern Railroad (BC&SR). The original plan was for the BC&SR to take over all active railroad operations, while Midland would focus on public education and historic preservation. In November of 2019 the BC&SR was awarded a $750,000 Kansas Department of Commerce grant to help with operational costs to transition from the all-volunteer model under which Midland operates, to an employee-based model, with a grant requirement to have at least 22 employees. However, the BC&SR service was discontinued in March of 2020 following a rent dispute with the operator of Baldwin City’s historic train depot.

Kansas Belle Dinner Train

The Kansas Belle

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 ...

, which also operated out of the Baldwin City depot, utilized Midland’s track and locomotives but was separately owned. That train on March 14, 2020 also suspended services, and had not resumed them by mid-2022.

Stops

* Nowhere, Kansas (ghost town) *

Norwood, Kansas Norwood is a ghost town in north Franklin County, Kansas, United States. It is located approximately east of U.S. Route 59 on Stafford Rd, and south of the Franklin-Douglas county line. History The town was named after Henry Ward Beecher's ...

(ghost town) *

References

External links