(The Salina Journal posted the following story on its website on March 3.)
ABILENE, Kan. — And old steam engine is on a comeback here, thanks to $283,092 in grants.
The Abilene & Smoky Valley Railroad received a $67,092 Kansas tourism grant and a $216,000 federal grant to refurbish its 1919 Baldwin steam engine.
The project will take about two years, said Mary Jane Oard, manager of the railroad. The railroad offers daily excursion train rides from Abilene to Enterprise from Memorial Day through Labor Day, and on the weekends during May, September and October. Private charter, dinner trains and rail bus excursions are also offered.
The Santa Fe Railway donated the oil-burning steam engine to the city of Abilene in 1955. It was donated to the Smoky Valley Railroad Association in 1996 and moved from the city park to the group’s track off South Buckeye.
Oard said the steam engine is expected to increase spectator numbers.
In 2003, there were nearly 10,000 riders from 44 states, 67 Kansas counties and six foreign countries.
Even with the grants, more money is need, Oard said.
Send donations to the Abilene & Smoky Valley Railroad, Box 744, Abilene, KS, 67410, or call (785) 263-1077.