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Silver Dollar City Boasts Historic Steam Locomotives, Romantic Ride on the Rails

COURTESY PHOTO The locomotive pulling the Silver Dollar Line blows steam as it exits the tunnel at Silver Dollar City. The park boasts three historic steam engines to carry guests back to the Ozarks in the 1880s.
COURTESY PHOTO The locomotive pulling the Silver Dollar Line blows steam as it exits the tunnel at Silver Dollar City. The park boasts three historic steam engines to carry guests back to the Ozarks in the 1880s.

Chug-a, chug-a, chug-a, chug.

The steam locomotive blew its whistle, and the Frisco Silver Dollar Line pulled away early from the station at Silver Dollar City in Branson, Mo. With each chug, passengers were soothed with the rocking motion of the train -- the most comfortable of lullabies, so say the 100-plus members of the National Railway Historical Society in the Ozarks for the group's annual convention.

Silver Dollar City sees 2 million guests a year, and many ride the train -- pulled by various locomotives. But only a few know that these rides are more than mere reenactments of 1880s Ozark frontier life. The 20-minute ride carries passengers three miles through Ozark forest, complete with a hold up (or Grandpa telling the Christmas story in December).

The line honors the Frisco (St. Louis and San Francisco Railway Co.), which built the first railroad tracks through this part of the country. The railroad also supplied the ties, rail and construction help when the line was built in 1962, according to the guidebook for the convention. Bart Jennings, NRHS conference chairman, provided the history of the Silver Dollar Line in the guidebook, put together from research and interviews with "people who have been around for 40 years," he said.

The park railroad travels over 24-inch-wide track (measured from the insides of the rails), as compared to the 56 1/2-inch Standard Gauge of mainstream railroads set by the Federal Railroad Administration. The seven-man locomotive-works crew oils the entire length of the rails by hand everyday, to inspect the track and keep the train running smoothly for passengers, said Noah Bentley, an engineer and mechanic assistant at the park.

Silver Dollar City boasts two strings of four open-air passenger cars -- carrying 250 people per train -- and five steam locomotives --three in service, according to Jennings' history.

The oldest locomotive dates to January 1922, built by the Davenport (Iowa) Locomotive Works. Henry Ford once owned this locomotive to entertain his grandchildren and to teach them steam locomotive operations, Jennings wrote. In 1962, a tender (car carrying coal or wood to stoke the fire in the engine) and a diamond-shape smokestack were added for a western appearance. Silver Dollar City retired the car, No. 76, from service in the 1980s.

Bearing numbers 7 and 43, two locomotives bear 1934 build dates by the Orenstein & Koppel, an engineering company, in Germany. Both were purchased for the park in 1965. No. 43 carried passengers through the park in June, while No. 7 sits on static display as a wrecked locomotive near the hold-up site.

Another Orenstein & Koppel locomotive, No. 13, was built in 1938, and still pulls passengers. As does the newest engine to the fleet, also bearing No. 76: This 1940 locomotive was built by Ceskomoravka Kolben Danek of Czechoslovakia.

"All of the locomotives have been 'westernized' and painted red to hold the Frisco herald," Jennings wrote.

These locomotives started life as industrial locomotives in German intraplant railroads, Jennings said. Many of the narrow-gauge railroads were built to haul parts and goods inside factories or ports. Similar consists were used across the United States in logging and mineral operations.

"(These narrow-gauge railroads) only ran for about two or three miles," Jennings said, adding the equipment wasn't big enough to run on main-line track. "They were smaller. They cost less. They could handle sharper curves."

Silver Dollar City also boasts its own engine shop -- a boon to the rail fans.

"No one gets to see behind the scenes at a theme park," Jennings said. "They're a mystery to people.

"Plus, (the Silver Dollar Line) is a real railroad," he continued. "It's not just a tourist attraction. It's not just a show.

"Our people want to see real trains. They want to take photos of real trains. They want to see the shops and the tools and the procedures."

Workers learn on the job, including creating an original system of air brakes and building "trucks" -- the wheel assemblies -- for these antiques. The Czechoslovakia No. 76 sat in the shop this summer for a "total refurbishment," including a water pipe, a new boiler and fixing the balance.

The NRHS gathered in June in Springdale for its annual convention, with the Arkansas & Missouri Railroad as the centerpiece. The Missouri park also was included on the time tables because "we were getting into an area of the country where we've never gotten into," said Jennings, a Northwest Arkansas native.

"And we like to include steam. It was the only thing close. This was a unique opportunity."

The lore of the steam locomotive is deep, storied in poetry and song. "It was one of the first powerful tools we had," Jennings said. "It was one of the first things to let us go fast. Steam is a very visible engineering tool. You can see the valves and cylinders working and the rods turning."

Jennings pointed out that only about 200 to 250 operating steam locomotives remain in the United States. Those in Arkansas and Oklahoma only run for the filming of movies, and in Missouri, steam locomotives operate only in theme parks.

Bentley has, along with his skills, built his enthusiasm for the steam power. "It's in my blood," he claimed.

"It takes a lot of work to run steam," he said. The panel sitting in front of a Silver Dollar City engineer surely rivals a modern jumbo jet for the number of levers, buttons and lights requiring attention. Today's modern diesel locomotives seemingly operate on a couple of levers. "If you can drive a car, you can drive a diesel," Bentley challenged. "And (a steam engine is) better looking with restoration."

Historically, the steam created by a locomotive was supplied by burning wood, coal or oil. But if the locomotive worked in a lumber operation, the bark and other industry leftovers were burned, Jennings said. In a sugar factory, it was the sugar cane after it was squeezed and dried.

Today, Silver Dollar City's locomotives run on diesel or heating oil, Bentley said. Burning the fuel heats the water to make the steam, which creates pressure to push the pistons to turn the wheels.

"But it doesn't have the same aroma as wood or coal smoke," Jennings admitted.

As the Silver Dollar Line rounded curves and headed through a tunnel at the park, the engine blew steam -- a few warm drops landing on the faces of passengers. Even on a hot summer day, it was a romantic trip to the past.

NAN Life on 07/30/2014

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