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End-O-Line Railroad Park to Mason City, Iowa 6/4/2017

After a fantastic Milwaukee Road 261 chase from Breckenridge to Wilmar, we next headed to Currie to a place I had wanted to visit for years.

End-O-Line started as a 4-H Community Pride Project in 1972 and Murray County took over management of the park in 1975. What started as a little community pride project by a couple of young 4-H students has become a wonderful tourist attraction in Southwest Minnesota.

Currie marked the end of the line for this particular branch of the Chicago Northwestern Railroad. This line was originally supposed to go through to South Dakota but with lines going through Tracy on the north and Slayton on the south, the railroad did not see a need to continue the tracks past Currie. The turntable was built in 1901 and was used to turn the steam engines around to head back to Bingham Lake. The turntable is on the National Register of Historic Places and is the only one left in the state of Minnesota, on the original site, still operable, and always turned by man power - it was never hooked up to steam or horses.

This museum is a GEM full of railroad history as well as early American frontier history.

The End-O-Line Railroad Park sign.

Georgia Northern 4-6-0 102 built by Alco in 1923. It was sold to Norton Coal in Ilsley, Kentucky as their 102 then sold to Richard Jensen at Ilsley in 1965 and was moved to Chicago in 1984. At some point, it was donated to the Illinois Railway Museum and in 1993, sold to End-O-Line Railroad Museum.

The Milwaukee Road station in Currie.

Track speeders.

Grand Trunk Western caboose 77046 built by the railroad.

Brookville 8 ton switcher 1148 built by Brookville in 1942.

Museum scene.

Armstrong turntable.

Hilfers Railroad Yard Lake Wilson station.

The children's play railroad.

The End of the Line.

Museum view.

Minneapolis and St. Louis Railroad bay window caboose 1133 built in 1945.

The water tower from Walnut Grove. I went inside the office and handed the young lady my business card and asked if she could open the engine house for me and she said yes, so we walked over and I took pictures.

Southern Minnesota Railroad Company 2-6-0 13 is really Ferrocarril de Salavery y Trujillo 2-6-0 No. 6 built by Baldwin in 1876. Much later in its career, it was sold to John Pettingill in Ellenville, New York then in 1972, was sold to an individual in Green Bay, Wisconsin then in 1974, was sold to Marriot Corporation in Dayton, Ohio. Five years later, it was moved to Gurnee, Illinois and in 1983, donated to the Illinois Railway Museum. In 1986, it was sold to Robert Phillippe who later sold it to the Prairie Expo Museum in Worthington, Minnesota before it finally came to Currie.

One last view of Georgia Northern 4-6-0 102. I thanked the young lady for having us come to the End-O-Line Railroad Park today.

We left Currie and headed next to Worthington.

Wothington Milwaukee Road station. Next we drove east to Albert Lea.

Albert Lea Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway station built in 1915.

Albert Lea Milwaukee Road station built in 1914.

The crossing tower still survivies in Albert Lea.

This town also has a third station, belonging to the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific, built in 1954. Next we went south into Iowa to Manly.

Iowa Northern GP20 2000, originally Southern Pacific 7233.

Rock Island caboose 17054 built by International Car in 1964. From here we drove south to Mason City.

Chicago Great Western Mason City station.

Milwaukee Road Mason City station.

Minneapolis & St Louis 2-8-0 457 built by Alco in 1912. This steam engine saw service in Minnesota and Iowa, and hauled troop trains during World War II but by late 1950, the railroad had dieselised and 457 was sold to the American Crystal Sugar Company in Mason City, Minnesota, where it was used to switch carloads of sugar beets during the annual beet harvest season. In September 1959, it was moved to its current location in East Park in Mason City. From here Bill and I stopped at Hardee's so I could get dinner then checked into the Days Inn for the night. I had my boarding pass printed and I was TSA Pre-check so was a happy camper.

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