 |
 Main Station | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | French Lick, Indiana |
| Reporting mark | IRM |
| Locale | Indiana |
| Dates of operation | 1961–present |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
The 'French Lick Scenic Railway is located in French Lick, Indiana, United States.
The Indiana Railway Museum was founded in 1961 in the Decatur County town of Westport with one locomotive and three passenger cars. The museum relocated to Greensburg and then in 1978 to French Lick after the Southern Railway deeded a total of sixteen miles of right of way stretching from West Baden, Indiana, approximately one mile north of French Lick, to a small village named Dubois, to the south. [1] The museum eventually removed all artifacts and became a gift shop and ticket pick up area for the French Lick Scenic Railway which still operates today.
There is no longer a museum at the French Lick Scenic Railway, but its collection included more than 65 pieces of rolling stock and locomotives. The museum had three steam locomotives on display that are not operational and three operational diesel locomotives.
You can still ride the rails to this day! Excursions are typically powered by a diesel locomotive. The train could consist of an ALCO RS-1 or EMD GP16 pulling 3 ex Chicago and North Western Railroad bi-level commuter cars, a concession car, 4 ex Rock Island passenger cars, an ex Northern Pacific Budd dome car, and an ex Illinois Central caboose.
IRM #4 - ALCO RS-1 - Ex Algers, Winslow and Western Railway #4, Built as Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic #103 [2]
IRM #6 - GE 80 Ton - Ex US Navy #65-00356 [3]
IRM #78 - ALCO S-2 - Ex Michigan Southern #78 [4]
IRM #97 - Baldwin 2-6-0 - Built as Mobile and Gulf #97 [5]
IRM 101 - ALCO S-4 - Ex Algers, Winslow and Western Railway #1 [6]
IRM 208 [7] - Baldwin 2-6-0, built as Angelina and Neches River Railroad #208 [8]
IRM 1813 - EMD GP16 - Ex INRD 1813, built as Seaboard Air Line #1810 [9]
SFRTA 704 - Colorado Railcar DMU - Ex Tri Rail 704, acquired and delivered in 2024 along with unpowered cars 7001-7002. [10] [11]
SFRTA 706 - Colorado Railcar DMU - Ex Tri Rail 706, acquired and delivered in 2024. [12]
The museum operates the 10-mile stretch of the line between French Lick and Gradman station as a heritage railroad known as French Lick Scenic Railway.
Scenic excursions are based on a 20-mile round trip through portions of the scenic Hoosier National Forest and the 2200 foot Burton Tunnel and takes approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes.
Other special events are run year round. There is the dinosaur adventure train, the Easter bunny express, and the award winning Polar express.
There are also tasting trains for ages 21+. Wine, beer, tequila, and chocolate are a few of these tasting trains
The Southern Pacific was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the names Southern Pacific Railroad, Southern Pacific Company and Southern Pacific Transportation Company.
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The EMD GP30 is a 2,250 hp (1,680 kW) four-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division of La Grange, Illinois between July 1961 and November 1963. A total of 948 units were built for railroads in the United States and Canada, including 40 cabless B units for the Union Pacific Railroad.
The EMD SW1 is a 600-horsepower (450 kW) diesel-electric switcher locomotive built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Corporation between December 1938 and November 1953. Final assembly was at EMD's plant at LaGrange (McCook) Illinois. The SW1 was the second generation of 3,402 cu in (55.75 L) switcher from EMD, succeeding the SC and SW. The most significant change from those earlier models was the use of an engine of EMD's own design, the then-new 567 engine, here in 600 hp (450 kW) V6 form. 661 locomotives of this design were built, with a gap in production between March 1943 and September 1945 due to World War II.
The EMD GP35 is a 4-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between July 1963 and December 1965 and by General Motors Diesel between May 1964 and January 1966. 1251 examples were built for American railroads, 26 were built for Canadian railroads and 57 were built for Mexican railroads. Power was provided by a turbocharged EMD 567D3A 16-cylinder engine which generated 2,500 horsepower (1,860 kW).
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The Fort Eustis Military Railroad is an intra-plant United States Army rail transportation system existing entirely within the post boundaries of the United States Army Transportation Center and Fort Eustis (USATCFE), Fort Eustis, Virginia. It has served to provide railroad operation and maintenance training to the US Army and to carry out selected material movement missions both within the post and in interchange with the US national railroad system via a junction at Lee Hall, Virginia. It consists of 31 miles (50 km) of track broken into three subdivisions with numerous sidings, spurs, stations and facilities.
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38°33′18″N86°37′01″W / 38.5550°N 86.6170°W
| Preceding station | Monon Railroad | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Baden toward Orleans | Orleans - French Lick | Terminus | ||
| Preceding station | Southern Railway | Following station | ||
| Cuzco toward Huntingburg | Huntingburg – French Lick | Terminus | ||