South Dakota State Railroad Museum

The “Best Friend of Charleston” was built at West Point, New York, and delivered by ship to Charleston, South Carolina. She was the first locomotive built entirely in the United States. When she made her inaugural run on Christmas Day 1830, she became the first locomotive in the US to operate in regularly-scheduled passenger service.

“The one hundred and forty-one persons flew on the wings of wind at the speed of fifteen to twenty-five miles per hour, annihilating time and space… leaving all the world behind. On the return we reached Sans-Souci in quick and double quick time, stopped to take up a recruiting party – darted forth like a live rocket, scattering sparks and flames on either side – passed over three salt creeks hop, step and jump, and landed us all safe at the Lines before any of us had time to determine whether or not it was prudent to be scared.”

On this date in 1831, she became the first locomotive destroyed in the USA.

180 years ago today, her fireman became annoyed by the sound of steam escaping from the safety valve, and tied the valve shut. According to some accounts, he placed a board atop the valve and sat on it. The resulting explosion killed the fireman, scalded the engineer, and destroyed BFOC.

Southern Railway constructed a replica of BFOC in 1928, using the original blueprints. That replica now belongs to the Charleston chapter of National Railway Historical Society. It is currently displayed at Norfolk Southern’s corporate headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia.

Flooding on the Missouri River is creating operational challenges for the railroads of the region – including the Union Pacific. To raise their former C&NW transcon line at Missouri Valley, Iowa, by at least three feet, the UP is hauling rock and ballast from the Everist pits at Dell Rapids and Hawarden by the trainload 24/7. Turnaround times and motive power shortages on the D&I line are also dictating the use of UP power on some trains. A set of UP power leads a northbound empty over the Minnehaha Falls in downtown Sioux Falls toward Dell Rapids on June 9.

Thanks to Mike Mancuso of Sioux Falls for this nice view.

Five GP20s lead Burlington Northern train number 856 north past the Crazy Horse Memorial in a never to be repeated image from the summer of 1981. Greg Walters photo, Rick Mills collection

James Arness, who presided over the frontier town of Dodge City as television’s most enduring western hero, the laconic, fair-minded and incorruptible Marshal Matt Dillon of the two-decade-long series “Gunsmoke,” died June 3 at his home in Los Angeles at the age of 88.

Arness and the crew of Gunsmoke filmed the memorable two-part episode titled Snow Train featuring the 1880 TRAIN in the Black Hills in March of 1970.

Fifty years ago (May 22, 1961) the Milwaukee Road’s Olympian Hiawatha made its last departures from Chicago and Seattle/Tacoma. Unnamed Nos. 15 and 16 continued between Minneapolis and Deer Lodge, the first division point west of Butte. A September 1961 photo shows a minimum four-car consist behind an E unit: baggage car, coach, tap-cafe car and Touralux sleeper. It was discontinued west of Aberdeen on January 31, 1964, but its nocturnal turnaround between Minneapolis and Aberdeen lasted until April 16, 1969.

No, this is obviously not the Black Hills, but a shot of our old narrow gauge locomotive friend #69 (The Klondike Casey at the Black Hills Central/1880 TRAIN from 1957 to 1964) is now back at home in the territory above Skagway, Alaska and shoving mightily on a plow train in late April.

Fairbanks scale sign on wooden Grain Elevator display donated by Roger Price

The first phase of a joint exhibit between the Wheat Growers Association and the Museum has been installed – the 16 foot facade of a wooden grain elevator looks imposing, and is the first side of a display which will depict modern WG facilities around the state later this year.

The U.S. Department of Transportation has given final approval to a $4.9 million grant for the Nebraska Northwestern Railroad’s project to rehabilitate rail lines in and around Chadron, Senator Ben Nelson announced today (Tuesday, April 12).

The Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER II) program grant award was announced in October, but funding was put in question by budget proposals in the U.S. House of Representatives. Nelson said in a news release that the attempt to cut funding for the project failed to pass the U.S. Senate.

Nebraska Northwestern Railroad (NNW) announced last fall a $6.1 million project to upgrade rail lines and bridges in the Chadron yard and west to Crawford, where the line joins a major Burlington Northern Santa Fe rail line.

The four-year old railroad company plans to use the existing Chadron roundhouse and yard for repair and refurbishing of railroad engines and other specialized equipment. The wooden roundhouse is one of only a few left in existence in the region, and is large enough to handle some of the biggest diesel engines currently in use.

“We are very excited about (the grant),” Terry Doyle, vice president of operations for NNR said in a brief phone interview Tuesday.

“This grant will ensure continued rail service to Chadron. This creates the opportunity to develop rail-related services and business in Northwestern Nebraska, which will create jobs and provide stimulus to the area economy,” NNW President Jack Nielsen said in the news release.

A timely article by Jill Callison in the Argus:

www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011103160328