Do you remember the Kansas Belle Train? The dinner train ran from Baldwin to Ottawa using the Midland railroad tracks from 2013 to 2020 before stopping operations due to COVID, then Midland Railway ceased operations in March of 2022, leaving owner Bruce Eveland without a host railroad to operate. The six car train has sat in Baldwin ever since, until now. The rail cars will be moved from Baldwin by truck to Abilene this week, where they will have a new temporary home on the Abilene and Smokey Valley Railroad. They will be used to expand seating capacity for the upcoming Cowtown Santa Express Train in December and be used as dinner cars, in Abeline.
One of those cars is named the “Marais des Cygnes River.” It was built in 1947 by the Pullman Company and used by the Illinois Central as a passenger coach, then later converted into a dining car. The new owners say they want to carry on Eveland’s 36 year legacy by recounting the history of the dining cars and have a chance to experience fine dining on the rails just as American society did 80 years ago.
