Osceola and St. Croix Valley Railway

Osceola and St. Croix Valley Railway

The Osceola and St Croix Valley Railway is a heritage railroad in Osceola, Wisconsin, owned & operated by the Minnesota Transportation Museum. It operates on former Soo Line and Wisconsin Central trackage (now owned by the Canadian National Railway).

History and operations

Originally operating out of Stillwater, Minnesota, the railway moved to Osceola in 1992, beginning operations in the St. Croix Valley that year. Operations are currently based in the historic 1916 Soo Line depot, owned by the Osceola Historic Society and leased to the Minnesota Transportation Museum for its rail operations.

The route follows the St. Croix River valley on top of the river bluffs, slowly running down the grade to river level, crossing into Minnesota on the 1887 iron bridge at Cedar Bend, then on to Marine on St. Croix and back up the valley through William O'Brien State Park.

The railway operates every weekend May through October. On alternating weekends it operates the Osceola & St Croix Dinner Train. Meals are served by uniformed staff, on white linen and antique dinner china.

Railroad equipment

The interior of a passenger coach on the Osceola and St. Croix Valley Railway

The railway uses historic diesel locomotives from its fleet of EMD locomotives, to include the SOO #559, BN #325 & BN #6234. As of 2016, the Great Northern #400, owned by the Great Northern Historical Society, was on an operational lease on the railway and is to be extended from 2016 to 2018.

The railroad uses a variety of passenger cars for various trains throughout the year. The railway runs coach trains every weekend in May through October to Marine on St. Croix (Saturdays & Sundays), and to Dresser (on Saturday)

On specific weekends it operates first-class brunch and dinner trains in Great Northern dining cars, one of which is an open-platform observation car. Another Great Northern lounge/parlor car is expected to be added to the dinner train fleet in the future due to the dinner train's popular demand. The dinner train also runs on special occasions for private parties (anniversaries, receptions, weddings, corporate charters, etc). Each run is oriented towards showing how passengers in the great days of rail travel would be encouraged to take specific railways based on the dining options. At various times, information is presented on the immigrant trains, and how each railroad opened up the lands of the west to settlement.

The emphasis of the operation is on the history of the railroads it represents, with information presented in an entertaining format, either during regular scheduled runs or during the Brunch & Dinner Train dates. Each operational coach represents the roads that operated in the Midwest and passengers are encouraged to ask questions about both the history of each and on how railroads assisted in the development of the region.

All operational equipment is serviced at MTM's Jackson Street Roundhouse, a functional railway roundhouse constructed in 1907. The Museum has its headquarters and maintenance base co-located at JSR, which is open to the public for railroad history. Every fall locomotives and 3–5 cars are ferried to St. Paul for annual servicing before returning to Osceola in late spring.

Locomotives

These are the locomotives that are active or in restoration for service on the Osceola & St. Croix Valley Railway.

Locomotive	Type	Built	Retired	Acquired	Status	Image
Burlington Northern 6234 (Colorado & Southern 839)	SD9	1959 EMD	2003	Donated 2003	Operational
Great Northern 325	SDP40	1966 EMD	2008	Donated 2009	Operational
Soo Line 559 (Rock Island 1223)	GP-7	1951 EMD	---	Purchased 1998	In Restoration
Great Northern 400 "Hustle Muscle"	SD45	1966 EMD	1986	Custodial Loan 2000 (owned by Great Northern Railway Historical Society)	Out of Service
Great Northern 454-A	F7A	1950 EMD	1981	2003	In Restoration
Great Northern 558	SD7	1952 EMD	1983	2018	In Restoration	Currently Unavailable

See also

• List of heritage railroads in the United States

References

External links

• Official website