Heartlands
Heart of the
Copyright © 2011-
The Heart of the Heartlands Railroad Club was formed in 1991 and is governed by a nine member board of directors. Heartlands members are dedicated to preserving railroad history with educational programs and providing short passenger train rides. We have established a museum complex in Carona, Kansas to preserve and display railroad memorabilia, our restored depots, full size railroad rolling stock, and other miscellaneous railroad equipment.
Our group has restored three depots: the former Santa Fe Depot in Cherryvale, KS in 1991, the Missouri Pacific Depot in Carona, KS in 1996 and a second Missouri Pacific Depot originally from Boston, MO which was moved to the Carona museum complex in 2006. The Cherryvale depot, built in 1910, is now the operating headquarters of the SK&O Railroad. The Carona Depot, built in the 1940's, was used as a passenger depot until the early 1960's. The depot was then sold and moved 1/4 mile to be used as a hay barn. The John Thompson family graciously donated the depot to the Heartlands organization for restoration. It was then moved close to the SK&O track near its original location and was restored with the help of many area volunteers and Heartlands members. The Boston Depot was built in 1882 in the then thriving community of Boston, Missouri. It was removed from active service in 1932. Our group obtained the depot and moved it to the Carona museum complex on October 7, 2005. Over the next couple of years our members restored the building to its former glory.
With the generous assistance of WATCO and the Webb family of Pittsburg, KS, our group conducts passenger train rides on the WATCO railroads in Kansas and Oklahoma and has established and greatly expanded our museum complex. Our members are able to help with the passenger train rides by selling tickets, assisting passengers, acting as car hosts on the train, and other functions. See the Train Rides pages of this website for the location of scheduled train rides and the Upcoming Events page for train shows and other events in this part of the country.
About Heart of the Heartlands
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