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| By: | Matthew Zisi | | Dates: | 6/7/2019 - 6/7/2019 | | Album Info: | Howdy, friends! Today, I went for a ride on the Abilene and Smoky Valley Railroad. It was 100th birthday weekend for ATSF 3415, which used to sit in Eisenhower Park. Then, the Abilene and Smoky Valley Railroad (a heritage line which runs excursions on the former Rock Island tracks east to Enterprise) bought the steam engine in 2001. Fred Schmidt, who spearheaded restoration efforts for the steam-powered carousel in Abilene as well as a steamboat engine from the 1856 Arabia at the Arabia Steamboat Museum in Kansas City, MO, made this his last great restoration effort. After eight years of work, the locomotive became the only operational steam engine in Kansas in 2009. Today, it pulls some of the rides the railroad offers, including the one we went on this day. What a thrill it was to get to hear the whistle blow in real life! If you ever get to Abilene, make sure you take a ride on this!
P.S.--the Abilene and Smoky Valley Railroad runs out of the Rock Island Depot a few blocks south of the interstate. It is not the Union Pacific Depot, which you will see just south of NW 3rd Street, on your right. Nor is it the BNSF Depot, which you will see just north of SW 3rd Street, also on your right. It is the Rock Island Depot, just past the Eisenhower Library and Heritage Center, on your left on 5th Street. You know a town's a big railroad town when it's easy to get the depots mixed up! |
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| Title: |
Rock Island Depot |
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| Photo Date: |
6/7/2019 Upload Date: 7/11/2019 8:54:06 PM |
| Location: |
Abilene, KS |
| Author: |
Matthew Zisi |
| Categories: |
Station |
| Locomotives: |
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| Views: |
19 Comments: 0 |
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| Title: |
Rock Island Depot |
| Description: |
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| Photo Date: |
6/7/2019 Upload Date: 7/11/2019 8:54:55 PM |
| Location: |
Abilene, KS |
| Author: |
Matthew Zisi |
| Categories: |
Station |
| Locomotives: |
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| Views: |
17 Comments: 0 |
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| Title: |
Empire 6 |
| Description: |
Meet the Empire 6, the Abilene and Smokey Valley Railroads "new" diesel. |
| Photo Date: |
6/7/2019 Upload Date: 7/11/2019 9:00:12 PM |
| Location: |
Abilene, KS |
| Author: |
Matthew Zisi |
| Categories: |
Roster |
| Locomotives: |
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76 Comments: 1 |
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| Title: |
Empire 6 |
| Description: |
The engine was donated to the railroad by the Heart of the Heartlands Railroad Museum, but moving it from Asbury, Missouri, to here took a whopping four days! They had to build a special trailer to carry it. That first day, going around curves caused them to only get 3 miles in nine hours. Two days later, a wheel came off. After four days, though, they finally got it to Abilene. You can read the whole story here: http://www.abilene-rc.com/news/close-to-two-years-later-engine-makes-it-to-abilene/article_3abf894a-c0cd-11e8-b96b-1bc24e65a2fd.html |
| Photo Date: |
6/7/2019 Upload Date: 7/11/2019 9:04:51 PM |
| Location: |
Abilene, KS |
| Author: |
Matthew Zisi |
| Categories: |
Roster |
| Locomotives: |
EMPIRE 6(S4) |
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162 Comments: 1 |
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| Title: |
Empire 6 |
| Description: |
The 1953 Alco S4 is right at home in Abilene, though, as this is where it used to work! |
| Photo Date: |
6/7/2019 Upload Date: 7/11/2019 9:05:58 PM |
| Location: |
Abilene, KS |
| Author: |
Matthew Zisi |
| Categories: |
Roster |
| Locomotives: |
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| Views: |
34 Comments: 1 |
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| Title: |
Empire 6 |
| Description: |
Eventually, it is supposed to be another option to pull the excursion train. |
| Photo Date: |
6/7/2019 Upload Date: 7/11/2019 9:07:02 PM |
| Location: |
Abilene, KS |
| Author: |
Matthew Zisi |
| Categories: |
Roster |
| Locomotives: |
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| Views: |
68 Comments: 1 |
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| Title: |
Other Diesels |
| Description: |
Visible down the track |
| Photo Date: |
6/7/2019 Upload Date: 7/11/2019 9:08:06 PM |
| Location: |
Abilene, KS |
| Author: |
Matthew Zisi |
| Categories: |
Roster |
| Locomotives: |
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| Views: |
30 Comments: 1 |
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