Hello Hivers and Train Lovers. Many of you know I have been on vacation and I went on a road trip. What I'm going to share with you is part of my last full day of that road trip.
I woke up at 6:00 a.m. and tried to get my son up shortly after. After eating a complimentary breakfast at the hotel we departed the hotel at 9:00. I really wanted to be on the way no later than 8:00. The plan was too visit some caves, see Mount Rushmore, and drive through Custer State Park to see some wildlife. Well we didn't do all that, we got railroaded!!
On the way to one of the caves we hit Hill City, SD. On the corner of an intersection we had turn on was a place called1880 Train. I forgot all about going to see some caves. My trademark I do when I see an old piece of iron on wheels is to take a selfie. This was my first act as parked in the parking lot.
Black Hills Central Railroad Company I thought was an old railroad company of the past.The name 1880 train refers to the route that the Hill City Depot runs. It's first owner coined the phrase from his memory of riding a train in the 1880's, though it's said he didn't have the best memory, haha. Regardless the name stuck.
I would have took up close selfies of all trains if it weren't for the sign. I realized I might have broke a rule on that first one. I was like a kid at Christmas time running to the tree, I didn't see sign, hehe. Still though they were fairly close so I snapped a few other trains.
Now I'm not gullible I knew something was up here. These trains are in nicely restored condition. The not falling apart engine house and a water tower perfectly placed near the track. Signs to keep away from the tracks is a dead give away that there is running activity on these tracks.
It didn't take long my intuitions were confirmed because I heard a whistle from a distance that only a steam engine train makes. The train was ferrying in with a few cars that held passengers. Not going to lie, I either had the biggest grin on my face or was smiling ear to ear. Probably a little of both, I felt 20 years younger!!
It was pretty cool seeing the conductor filling up t train with water. I wondered if that water tower had a garden hose for those beautiful flowers 🤔 Anyways is today the day I finally ride a train for the first time? It must be destiny day because a bucket list item has fell on my lap, totally unplanned.
Was the question above really necessary to ask, haha? I'm freaking doing it unless it puts me back so much that I have hitch hike home. I was probably less than 100 yards away from the Hill City Depot building. It's basically a gift shop that you can purchase tickets at the checkout counter. I asked my son what departure he wanted to go on not if he wanted to go,haha. There were two choices 11:30 & 2:30, he chose 2:30. The price of $39 for a round trip per person seemed ok. The train runs about an hour each way. It goes to Keystone, SD which is about 1O miles away. So it will be a slow and gentle ride that goes right through part of the Black Hills National Forest.
The short train route is one of steepest in the United States and has quite a few curves and turns. That plays a lot to why the train ride is slow.
Since it was only 10:30 we had some time to waste. There was a small train history museum just a short walk distance away. We checked it out. It was really tiny and they used up every inch of it. There was a time line painted on most of its wall. The main exhibit contained a rail car from Chicago Northwestern Railways. That took up a lot of floor space.
Interesting facts above, the locomotive steam engine was designed in 1814. What's really amazing is George Stephenson the designer was only 20 years old. Just shows that young minds can do amazing things even 200 years ago. If he could have lived to see what impact he had. Steam engines were on the tracks a very long time.
The first photo was taken in Creston, Iowa which is about an hour away from my house. This was in the 1880s, oh I wish I could see that many operating steam engines at once ❤️ It was cool to see something close to home 8 hours away being displayed. Just to put it into perspective Creston's population isn't even 8,000, a small town.
Oh the lanterns let's light'em up and see how bright they get. At any train museum I've been to there are always interesting models. Some saying, "Want to see my full size self?"
I love old machinery and seeing this old baggage scale with a baggage chest on it just took me back. Also seeing the signage about the transcontinental railroad was neat to see. The start of it is just down the road from me in Omaha, Nebraska. Pictured above is a collection of advertisement posters to the public to get them to ride the train at 1880's Train.
After checking out the museum we had some time to check some other things out. We first drive by Mount Rushmore. This picture is taken from the road side. We didn't pay to go in the park. We have both been there, to be honest it's a lot of gift shops and some historic facts about it.
We than headed to Custer State Park. I figured we would be there an hour or so. It ended up being about two hours. A lot of that was wanting to see some wildlife. We seen some, particularly a lot of buffalo. Others that we saw were donkeys, prairie dogs, and a mountain lion. I really had issues with my camera phone. I missed capturing the mountain lion. After our visit there we had to start the return back to Hill City for our train ride 😊
We weren't planning on it but we drove by the Crazy Horse monument. This picture was taken on the interstate at a stop light. There was no time to stop and visit. I have heard the museum there is decent. It's one carving that not much progress has been made. It's been just a head shot for a long time. The finished look is suppose to be him riding a horse. It was started in 1948 and I doubt in my lifetime it will be finished. It would be cool to witness it as a finished project. It's a private funding project.
Here it is "my train" a 1926 steam engine labeled No. 108. Also pictured is the rail car I road in, the Redfern. Unknown to me is the year it was built but it was converted from a baggage car to a passenger transport in 1915. There were two type of passenger cars to choose from. The open view side or the window side view (rail car behind Redfern above). It was a hot day and I wanted a better view so I chose the open view. What I noticed is the open view sided cars had wooden seats while the window sided cars had cushion seating. I can't confirm this though I didn't see inside all passenger cars. The pros and cons but I can't be for sure that was the case for all the cars. On the departure out of Hill City we were the third car back from the train.
Once seated in our seats we got a quick safety briefing. Just prior to departure the conductor yells, "All aboard!" Shortly after that the conductor sounds off with two whistles and the train moves forward. We had a host who spoke to us through out the ride giving us the history of the railroad, information on the landscape and describing many of the buildings on the route.
Only is the ride fun there is so much scenery to see. The blacks hills are very pretty with all the pine, spruce, & evergreen trees. So when they map out rails for trains sometimes the land scape needs carved out. You cant have too steep of a hill with a train. It's not a roller coaster after all, haha. It was cool to see the different kind of rocks on the side of the train. It was so close you could touch with your hand.
I learned something about train whistles. Well according to the host, dating back to the Victorian days the Queen's ship would sound off a horn upon arrival at the sea port. It was two long blows, a short one and a long one. I wasn't quick in the video I missed the first whistle. I don't know if the Queen tale is correct or not but what is true, they both serve a warning that they have the right away.
I think I heard close to 20 whistles. Did I get bored of them? Absolutely not each one made feel happy and brought me back to times way before I was born. There was a pass area that was kind of domed and when the trains whistle went off it echoed all throughout the forest. I so wish I got that on video that was amazing. I need to work on my novice video capabilities.
If you ever take a good look at railroad tracks you will notice a lot is flat. There is sometimes a degree or two of incline. These inclines are what makes the train have the chugga chugga or the "I think I can, I think I can". In the video we were climbing at 4 degrees and it puts stress on the locomotive. Also in the video the brakeman was collecting our tickets. I wonder what would happen if you didn't have your tickets? Would you get the big boot from a moving train?
On the route there were many houses. Some have really settled in the final dream houses. Some of these places have served as different front ends over the years. Some have served as hotels, taverns, and eventually homes.
I like the turn of the century farm. I didn't show it but there were some old lines along part of the route that were hung on T shaped poles. This wasn't telephone line but telegram and lines that Morse Code was used on. The place really has an old west kind of feel on some of the path.
Do you see the tree in the rock? It's a small tree. I wonder how a tree survives in just rock with no soil. What's amazing is it's at that top of the rock.
This area was heavily mined. The mineral most thought after was gold. The gold here is distinct and it's multiple colored, it's called Black Hills gold. Gold was not the only mineral mined others included silver, lead,tungsten,zinc, and even gypsum. There's still old buildings that show the aftermath of the mining operations that were once conducted here. The mine above was a tungsten mine and apparently very little was found.The mine is surprisingly still in good shape but is no longer mined.
About an hour later we arrive at Keystone Depot.The train unhooks and fills up with water. Not much here just the Depot/gift shop and a water tower. Only a 15 minute stop, just enough time to go to rest room and grab a drink.
There's no turn around for the train so the train makes a switch back and forth on the track across from it. The train can't push the cars, it has to pull them. Also the train is going to run backwards on the way back. So instead of being the third car back we are the fifth car back now.
The ride back was a little longer because it was more uphill. As a rider we sat on the opposite side of the car to get a different view point. If you ever decide to ride the 1880 Train I do have some tips.
The first tip is to go out of Hill City. There's just more to see there and plus they have a railcar resteraunt that serves decent food. The second tip is to sit on the left side of the car on the way to Keystone Depot. This offers the best view points plus the host does the majority of the talking. The host was pretty quiet on the return out of Keystone. The third tip is do a round trip, it's $4 more. Also take a early train tout of Hill City and take a later departure out of Keystone. There's a lot of attractions right there in Keystone just not at the train depot.
Well this is all I have for you. I'm finally a train rider 😁 and I would do this short ride again if I visit. I can't tell you how many times I have listened to the videos. Apparently YouTube has a train following as well, I got quite a few views. That was not my intent it was to give you all part of the experience. I am not turning into a vlogger, haha.
Take care, be safe, and enjoy the upcoming week. Until next time!
All pictures and videos are mine. They were all done on my smart phone.