Abilene Smoky Valley Railroad

Goal: $20,000.00

Specific Need

If you want Excitement, A&SVRR is the place to be in Abilene!! We are experiencing a rebirth of our organization.  Our ridership has been through the roof the past two years!! We have gone from 8,500 riders in 2022 to over 12,000 riders during 2023 and to a record of 21,383 in 2024!!!  Of course, our expanded success comes with increased costs and expenses.   

We are able to fund our train operations and some part-time staff through ticket sales.  However, our needs for improving our terminal locations in Abilene and Enterprise, including lighting for our night operations, new accessible ramps, waiting space and ticketing locations as well as mechanical and track maintenance are all projects that are beyond our normal financing capabilities. 

We must use grants, gifts and your generous contributions to grow the resources we need to make us a sustainable organization.   We often need raise matching funds for many of the grants we pursue. Your gifts help us grow the endowment that we can use to more easily meet those requirements.

Mission

The purpose of the Abilene & Smoky Valley Railroad Association is preservation, education and entertainment. We preserve and operate vintage rail equipment and use our trips to help educate our riders about the importance of railroads and rail travel in building the United States, Dickinson County, Kansas and Abilene.  We also focus on the how the railroads built Kansas Agriculture and how Kansas Agriculture built the railroads.  We also provide entertainment through special event trains, such as Great Pumpkin Express, Cowtown Santa Express, and Smoky Valley Limited dinner trains that operate between Abilene and Enterprise throughout most of the year. 

Profile

During 2024, the Kansas Legislature unamiously passed two statutes which highlight the importance of our organization and operations to the State of Kansas.  Our ridership numbers tell us we are a regional attraction as we routinely draw riders from St. Louis, Omaha, Denver and Oklahoma City to our Abilene depot and trains.  Communities from throughout Kansas drive to Abilene as well.  Of course, these folks routinely purchase meals, stay in local lodging or purchase gas in Abilene while visiting us.    

K.S.A. 73-4301 declares our ATSF 3415 1919 Baldwin Pacific 4-6-2 steam locomotive is the official Kansas Steam Locomotive. The 3415 is down for a mandatory 15-year rebuilt as a requirement of federal regulations.  We expect to spend upwards of $400,000 on this project over the next few years and have established another fund to ensure the completion of the project and allow us to have funds to keep her operating into the future.

K.S.A. 73-4401 declares that the Abilene and Smoky Valley Railroad Association is the official  Kansas Heritage Railroad.  We were honored to be identified this way!!  It also tells us that we need to continue to develop into the best organization and museum we can be.  Failure is not an option!  We are a museum that is 5.5 miles long and 100 feet wide. There is a museum in the frieght room of the depot with tools, lanterns, etc. that were used in the past plus a working model railroad.

In November 2024, the Abilene Smoky Valley Railroad and our Hoffman Grist Mill received the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development's 2024 Huck Boyd Leader of the Year Award for Tourism in Kansas.