Kansas Belle, Formerly the Fremont Dinner Train
The Fremont Dinner Train, a for-profit corporation, was founded by
a group of eight investors in August of 1988. Negotiations were
consummated with the Eastern Nebraska Chapter of the National
Railway Historical Society to operate on their tracks running from
Fremont to Hooper, Nebraska (representing fifteen miles of track).
The agreement reached then carried forward, calls for the Historical
Society doing business as the Fremont and Elkhorn Valley Rail Road
to provide an engine and crew to pull our dining cars.
Actual operations began on October 22, 1988 with our
car Elkhorn River, while our second car Maple Creek was renovated.
Virtually all of the remodeling was accomplished by local trades
people and it joined the train by December 15, 1988. Over the course
of the next two years, main-line sound and a closed circuit
television/VCR/video system were installed. Additional refinements
have continued to be made to these two cars both in decor and
various systems. A new power car (N&W #410) was purchased in
1990 to provide a more adequate power source and allow potential
future growth.
The goal of the Kansas Belle Dinner Train is a
nostalgic trip back into the 1940's era. You'll experience beautiful
scenery on a 22 mile round trip departing from the Baldwin City
Depot while listening to 1940s music.
Friday and Saturday night evening runs are more formal
and romantic, while the Sunday afternoon dinner run is a more casual
outing best suited for families with a slightly shorter run time.
You may want to enhance your dinner train experience with an
optional murder mystery, WWII USO show, or a
melodrama.
Kansas Belle Dinner Train Web Page
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