Osceola and St. Croix Valley Railway
The Osceola & St Croix Valley Railway is a heritage railroad in Osceola, Wisconsin. It is owned jointly by the Osceola Historical Society and the Minnesota Transportation Museum. It operates on former Soo Line and Wisconsin Central trackage (now owned by Canadian National Railway). Operations are based out of the historic 1916 SOO Line depot, owned by the Osceola Historic Society. The Society graciously leases the depot to the Minnesota Transportation Museum for its rail operations.
The Railway uses historic diesel locomotives from its fleet of EMD and Baldwin engines, the 1914 combine US Mail Car #1102, several 1920's vintage Rock Island Commuter Coaches, five Great Northern Railway passenger coaches and two First Class Dining Cars.
Originally operating out of Stillwater, Minnesota, the Railway moved to Osceola in 1992, beginning operations in the St Croix Valley that year. Passenger counts since then have exceeded 25,000 per year.
The Railway operates every weekend May through October, plus special events such as the Mother's Day & Father's Day Brunch & Dinner Trains, the Fireworks Train to Marine-on-St Croix, MN, the popular Fall Color Trains and the Halloween Pumpkin Trains.
The Railway also operates the Osceola & St Croix Dinner Train, operating alternating weekends during the season. Meals are served by uniformed staff, on white linen & antique diner china, presenting a taste of First Class dining during a two-hour journey down the St Croix Valley. The emphasis is on a historic presentation of "high dollar" service, combined with an enjoyable dining experience.
In 2014, the Dinner Train achieved "Four Star" ratings on multiple web rating sites and is considered to be one of the better Dinner Train operations in the Midwest.
The route follows the St. Croix River valley on top of the river bluffs, slowly running down the grade to river level, crossing into Minnesota on the 1887 Iron Bridge at Cedar Bend, then on to Marine-on-St Croix. At the Marine stop, passengers get to watch railroading "in the raw" as the crew does a switch turn-around preparing for the trip back to Wisconsin. Following changeover of the locomotive, the train departs Marine, heading back up the valley, through William O'Brian State Park.
Three times yearly, the train stops at William O'Brian for a "whistle stop", picking up campers from the park and running them up to Osceola for a day at the coffee shops, cafes and just plain shopping. Park personnel run with the train crews, telling the history of the line and the St Croix Valley.
Arriving back at Osceola, the crew takes a 30 minute crew break, following which, the "local" departs for Dresser, Wisconsin at 1:00 PM. At Dresser, passengers can deboard for a tour of the Dresser Depot, looking as if the depot crew had just stepped out for lunch. Along the way, our track crews might be seen working on the sidings or doing track checks.
Following the tour, the train heads back to Osceola while passengers get to enjoy the views of rural Wisconsin.
All equipment of the railway operates in a "real railroad" environment, as the line is open for freight operations of the Canadian National Railway. Passengers often watch as 50-60 car "rock trains" pass by the station to & from the quarrys in Dresser, Wisconsin. It is also common for the passenger trains to pull into the Marine-on-St Croix sidings to wait for one of the fast running freights to pass by, giving everyone a thrill of noise, rock dust and the blast of the horns.
Every piece of rolling stock is maintained to Federal Railway Administration (FRA) standards for safety purposes, receiving annual, 90 day and daily inspections by certified personnel. All on-board and ground crew members receive training appropriate for the line and equipment. Annually, the railway is audited by the FRA and is proud to maintain an extremely high rating even when compared against Class I railroads.
Operations are staffed by volunteers from all walks of life, and we welcome others to join us in our living history programs, both at Osceola, and at the Museum.