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Boone & Scenic Valley Railroad

Point Of Interest

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Contact

Harrison Street, Boone, Iowa

Description

The heritage and excursion railroad was begun in 1983 by a group of volunteers who wanted to preserve a scenic section of the former Fort Dodge, Des Moines and Southern Railroad (FDDMS). The original track was built in the 1890s and electrified in 1907. After massive flooding damaged the power plant (located at Fraser, Iowa) providing electricity to the line in 1954, the railroad soon turned to diesel equipment to pull its trains. The Chicago & North Western (CNW) purchased the entire FD|DMS system in 1968. Shortly after acquiring the line, the Chicago & North Western began to place portions of it up for abandonment. In 1983, an 11-mile (18 km) section of the line was purchased by the Boone Railroad Historical Society, and its 2254 charter members, for $50,000. The stretch of track winds through the Des Moines River Valley and across a 156-foot (47.5 m) tall bridge spanning Bass Point Creek, a tributary of the Des Moines River. The line runs from Boone, through the old coal mining town of Fraser, and ends at the site of the former junction with the Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway at Wolf.