ABILENE, Kan. — Nearly five years after the last run out of Baldwin City, six passenger cars of Bruce Eveland’s Kansas Belle dinner train have found a new owner and a temporary home.
A Sept. 16, 2024, Facebook post by the Abilene & Smoky Valley Railroad (A&SV) announced the recent acquisition with American Heritage Railways of Durango, Colo., as the new owner. AHR is the parent company of Heritage Rail Management, which is the consulting partner for the A&SV. Adding on to the announcement are plans to relocate the equipment by truck to Abilene yard, beginning sometime this week.
Though stressing both American Heritage Railways as the owner and Abilene & Smoky Valley providing temporary storage, the latter’s president and general manager, Ross Boelling, confirms the possible use of the cars for the tourist railroad: Short and long term. “Heritage Rail Management will likely use some of the Kansas Belle vehicles on its owned and operated rail lines outside of Kansas,” as stated in the Facebook post. “However, those arrangements remain to be worked out, and the A&SV will be able to use the cars in the meantime.
“It is also very possible that some vehicles will remain in Abilene to permanently expand the size of A&SV excursion and dinner trains.”
Since 1988, Eveland has been a veteran in the dinner train business, starting with the Fremont Dinner Train along Nebraska’s Fremont & Elkhorn Valley Railroad. When operations ceased in 2012, he reached an agreement with the Midland Railway and rebranded as the Kansas Belle for the start of the 2013 season. The global pandemic of 2020 set the brakes on the train’s operations, which eventually led to a permanent stop in 2022.
The end result was the trainset’s sale, consisting of four converted dining and table cars which can seat up to 150 passengers — one was built for Illinois Central and later ran on the Rock Island, and the other three for Canadian National. The two other cars hold generators and other equipment to provide head-end power, said Boelling. “Bruce Eveland is to be commended for his decades-long efforts and dedication to keeping elegant passenger train dining experiences alive,” he added, “and while the Kansas Belle name remains with his company, we plan to carry on his legacy by recounting the history of these dining cars as long as they reside in Abilene.
Visit American Heritage Railways and Abilene & Smoky Valley Railroad for more information.
