Fremont and Elkhorn Valley Railroad

The Fremont and Elkhorn Valley Railroad (reporting mark FEVR) is a 17-mile (27 km) heritage railroad headquartered in Dodge County, Nebraska. It is owned by the Nebraska Railroad Museum which offers excursion services with the equipment of the FEVR system.

The FEVR line extends from Fremont to nearby Hooper. It was originally built in 1869 as part of the larger system, the Fremont, Elkhorn and Missouri Valley Railroad (FE&MV). In 1903, the Chicago and North Western Railway (CNW) acquired the FE&MV; in 1984, CNW abandoned the Fremont-Hooper line, which was later acquired by the museum.

Inaugurated on Memorial Day, 1986, as an excursion line for the summer months, the trains were powered by 2-8-0 #1702, a 1942 steam locomotive built by Baldwin Locomotive Works. A back-up locomotive, EMD SW1200 (Soo Line 2121), was used until 1996. Since then the motive power is FEVR 1219 (nee CNW 1219, CNW 319) another EMD SW1200, built in 1962.

The line from Fremont to Hooper was sold recently to Mike Williams of Richmond, Mo.-based Railroad Materials Salvage Inc.

The 17-mile line, now known as the Fremont Northern Railroad, and all of the Nebraska Railroad Museum's locomotives were included in the deal.

Williams owns railroads in Idaho, Missouri, Iowa and South Dakota.

The museum in the depot at 1835 N. Somers Ave., surrounding grounds, excursion rolling stock and two siding tracks leading to the depot were not included in the transaction.

Roster of equipment

• EMD SW1200 #1219: a diesel-electric switcher locomotive built in 1962; acquired by FEVR in 1986. Received in C&NW colors, it was painted into FEVR colors ('painted FEVR') in 1988.
• Passenger car 1101: built in 1924 by Pullman; originally a heavyweight sleeper for the CNW. It was acquired by FEVR in 1985 and painted FEVR in 1988.
• Passenger car 1102: built in 1924 by Pullman; originally a heavyweight sleeper for the CNW. It was acquired by FEVR in 1985 & painted FEVR in 1988.
• Concession car 1938: built in 1922 by American Car & Foundry; originally a heavyweight RPO for the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad and later used in maintenance-of-way service for Burlington Northern Railroad. It was acquired by FEVR in 1985 and painted FEVR in 2003. Out of service from summer 2008 to summer 2011 due to various reasons. In July 2011, new knuckles & brake shoes were installed & the car returned to service. Summer 2012 seen the car returned to the original CB&Q paint livery.
• Passenger car 649: built in 1946 by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (Milwaukee Road); originally used on the Olympian Hiawatha. It was acquired by a private owner in 1985 after the Milwaukee Road went defunct, and used by FEVR sporting the yellow scheme used after 1955 by the Milwaukee Road. A second private owner painted it back to the 'original' color scheme. A third owner began restoring the car in 1993, moving it to Chamberlain, South Dakota where restoration work was continued.
• Passenger car 542: built by the Milwaukee Road in 1947; acquired from that defunct road by the same private owner of 649. Both cars later were sold and moved to South Dakota for continued restoration. The 542, originally painted for the Olympian Hiawatha, was painted yellow in 1955 and currently sports the yellow livery.

Equipment not used in Active Service

• General Electric 45 ton siderod centercab switcher #2.
• Whitcomb Locomotive Works (Baldwin Locomotive Works Subsidiary)50 ton end cab switcher, #316. Unit named Dorothy by previous owners.
• Davenport Locomotive Works (Davenport, Iowa) 44 ton center cab #1481 (nee USA 1219.) Unit was one of 20 built by Davenport for the US Army Transportation Corps in 1953. The FEVR purchased the unit from a former Cargill grain elevator in Altoona, Iowa.
• Union Pacific 201 Bay Window Caboose, former Rock Island 17092.^[1]

Route details

The tracks ridden by FEVR trains were laid in 1869-71 by the Fremont, Elkhorn and Missouri Valley Railroad (FE&MV); it is one of the oldest sections of existing railroad track in the state of Nebraska. In its general north-south route, the tracks cross the 1848 Mormon Trail on its way west to Salt Lake City, Utah. The FE&MV was acquired by the Chicago and North Western Railway in 1903 and became a gateway to Chadron in northwest Nebraska, where the tracks then lead north to Deadwood and Rapid City, South Dakota, then on to Colony, Wyoming. From Chadron, the tracks leading west terminate in Lander, Wyoming. In 1984, the section of track FEVR uses was abandoned by the CNW which was acquired by FEVR in 1985. By 1986, excursion operations were inaugurated by Steam Locomotive #1702.

When FEVR started out, it was originally planned out to run trains from Fremont to West Point, Nebraska. The line was purchased to West Point after the abandonment. Unfortunately, the line from Hooper to West Point was removed by FEVR in 1988. Now the line goes from Fremont to Nickerson, passing the historic Rawhide Creek on the line.

Between Fremont and the village of Nickerson, a 'track'-diamond intersection exists in the BNSF Railway's Sioux City subdivision which was constructed by the C.B. & Q Railroad. This diamond was removed in the spring of 2014 by the BNSF Railway. South of Linden Avenue, the FEVR interchanges with Union Pacific Railroad (UP), which owns the connection line from M Street to Linden Avenue. The connection line is currently out of service, with trees growing on the right-of-way, ties needing replacement, and other repairs necessary. FEVR has been interested in acquiring the track for a number of years.

In early June 2015, the railroad's crossings over State and Federal Highways were marked "Exempt", with crossing signals and warning devices bagged, and crossing gates removed. These crossings include Broad Street north of 23rd Street in Fremont (US Highway 77), US Highway 30 / 275 west of Luther Road north of Fremont, Nebraska Highway 91 in Nickerson, Nebraska and US Highway 77 at Winslow, Nebraska.

Fremont Dinner Train

The Fremont Dinner Train is a privately owned dinner train for which FEVR provides track and locomotive with operating crews; it travels on Friday and Saturday nights, and Sunday afternoons. The dinner train cars were built in the 1940s and '50s. Meals are catered rather than cooked on the train. The Fremont Dinner Train ceased operations in early October 2012 to move to Baldwin City, Kansas.

Management

• Dr. Rudolph Daniels, President
• Professor Jeff Blackmore, Vice President
• George Blessing, Secretary

Sources^[2][3]

External links

• Fremont and Elkhorn Valley Railroad

Notes

References

• Rock Island Technical and Historical Society "Captive Cabooses From the Rock Island Line " September 29, 1998. July 26, 2010.