The Abilene and Smoky Valley Railroad (A&SV) is a non-profit heritage railway located in Abilene, Kansas, United States.[citation needed] The A&SV is an experiential learning museum, where tourists ride on a train of vintage railcars while narrators tell the story of how railroads built Kansas’ agribusiness-oriented economy. Passengers are allowed to tour antique passenger cars and talk with staff members about their roles in making the trains operate.
The A&SV’s Flint Hills Express excursion train runs from April through September. Special trains run during the Halloween and Christmas seasons. The Smoky Valley Limited dinner train offers some of Kansas’ best home cooking, with trains running weekly during the summer and early fall. The Meadowlark Flyer is a special school charter for elementary schools in the region. Additionally, the railroad offers private charters for class reunions, family reunions, birthdays, anniversaries, company parties and other special events.[citation needed]
The railroad is home to two National Historic Register treasures: Abilene’s 1887 Rock Island Depot and ATSF 3415, a 1919 4-6-2 Pacificsteam locomotive. The depot is located in Old Abilene Town, south of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum. Santa Fe 3415 is the only operational steam locomotive in Kansas and was restored in the fall of 2008, making its first run May 23, 2009, after having sat as an inanimate park exhibit for nearly 40 years. In 2024, the Kansas Legislature designated ATSF 3415 as the state’s official steam locomotive.
The railroad also uses vintage diesel engines to power its trains. A 1945 ALCO S-1 was donated to the A&SV in 1993, and a newly restored 1940 General Electric 44-tonner center cab engine that was acquired in 1995 and only recently restored.
The A&SV operates on 5.5 miles (8.9 km) of track between Abilene and the neighboring Dickinson County community of Enterprise, where trains stop at a replica 1800s milling operation, the Hoffman Grist Mill. Using vintage milling equipment, the facility grinds locally grown grain into a variety of flour products, as well as corn meal and grits, that are packaged and sold in the mill’s gift shop. During the Enterprise layover, passengers are also allowed to explore the caboose and locomotive.
History
The A&SV was founded in 1993 to preserve the legacy of the railroad industry in Kansas and was designated as Kansas’ official heritage railroad in 2024 by an act of the state legislature.[citation needed] The Abilene and Smoky Valley Railroad operates on rails that were initially laid by Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad in 1886.[citation needed] The 49-mile line, originally known as the Herington-Salina subdivision, was built to connect the Rock Island’s main line with the grain elevators and flour mills in Salina, Kansas.[citation needed]
As of 2005-2006, once a month an all-day excursion between Abilene and Woodbine is operated. At Enterprise passengers are transferred to a hyrail busSilver Flyer Rail Bus, which can travel on both road and rail.[1][2]
