1880 Train celebrates 55 years of rolling through Black Hills - KOTA Territory News

1880 Train celebrates 55 years of rolling through Black Hills

It's been chugging through the Black Hills for more than half a century, and Saturday the 1880 Train celebrated its 55th birthday by doing what it does best.

"The 1880 Train is the oldest continuously operating tourist train in the country," said Meg Warder, president of the Black Hills Central Railroad (the actual name for the train; although the tracks were laid in the late 1800s, it wasn't called the 1880 Train until tourists came up with the name in the 1950s and '60s.)

It's been blowing steam since 1957, but only under the management of the Warder family since 1990.
 
"Our family has dedicated so much time and energy restoring the equipment, laying the track back into Keystone," Warder said, "just preserving a piece of history for America."
 
And for the 100,000 tourists the train brings in every year.
 
"It's actually an incredible experience to be a part of history and to help keep history alive," she said.
 
Saturday, the engine celebrated its 55th year of rolling through the Hills; it's the only one of its kind still on the tracks in the U.S.
 
"We hauled it in from the state of Nevada and completely restored the engine here."
 
That's not just for bragging rights.
 
"We have one of the steepest grades of track, or probably the steepest grade of track, that a standard-gauge train in North America climbs," said Warder.
 
And this engine can handle the hills better than other steam locomotives, one reason Warder thinks the train will still be on the tracks until it turns "155 at least."