 |
 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]
IRM 703, 704, 705, and 706 - Colorado Railcar DMU - Ex Tri Rail acquired and delivered in 2024 along with unpowered cars 7001-7002. [10] [11]
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 consist of a 20-mile round trip throughout the Hoosier National Forest lasting approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes. A highlight of the trip is passing through the 2,000 foot long Burton Tunnel. [12]
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 American Locomotive Company was an American manufacturer that operated from 1901 to 1969, initially specializing in the production of locomotives but later diversifying and fabricating at various times diesel generators, automobiles, steel, tanks, munitions, oil-production equipment, as well as heat exchangers for nuclear power plants.
The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington Route, the Burlington, CB&Q, or as the Q, it operated extensive trackage in the states of Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Wyoming, and also in Texas through subsidiaries Colorado and Southern Railway, Fort Worth and Denver Railway, and Burlington-Rock Island Railroad. Its primary connections included Chicago, Minneapolis–Saint Paul, St. Louis, Kansas City, and Denver. Because of this extensive trackage in the midwest and mountain states, the railroad used the advertising slogans "Everywhere West", "Way of the Zephyrs", and "The Way West".
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The Monon Railroad, also known as the Chicago, Indianapolis, and Louisville Railway from 1897 to 1971, was an American railroad that operated almost entirely within the state of Indiana. The Monon was merged into the Louisville and Nashville Railroad in 1971, and much of the former Monon right of way is owned today by CSX Transportation. In 1970, it operated 540 miles (870 km) of road on 792 miles (1,275 km) of track; that year it reported 1320 million ton-miles of revenue freight and zero passenger-miles.
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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).
The Boone and Scenic Valley Railroad is a heritage railroad that operates freight and passenger excursions in Boone County, Iowa.
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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 | ||