How do I get tickets to Railroading Heritage of Midwest America?

Tickets and current schedules are available on the operator's official website at https://rrhma.com/.

Photo by Mark Evans, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

Railroading Heritage of Midwest America

SILVIS, IL

4.9· 22 Google reviews

Upcoming Events

No ticketed events are currently listed for Railroading Heritage of Midwest America. Many heritage operators publish schedules seasonally or run on regular open hours instead of dated events.

Check the operator’s website for current hours and special runs, or subscribe to event alerts and we’ll email you when something is scheduled.

About Railroading Heritage of Midwest America

Inside the cavernous former Rock Island shops at Silvis, Railroading Heritage of Midwest America is bringing giants back to life — including Union Pacific's Challenger No. 3985 and Centennial No. 6936, the world's largest diesel-electric locomotive. The group is developing a museum at the century-old Quad Cities complex, and 6936 already hauls occasional main line excursion trips, returning big-power railroading to Illinois rails for the first time in years.

📍 SILVIS, IL 61244

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History

Railroading Heritage of Midwest America (RRHMA) is headquartered in one of American railroading's great industrial monuments: the Silvis shops, begun in 1903 when the Rock Island Line chose the Illinois town for its largest locomotive repair facility, a 900-acre complex that grew to include a general stores department, repair shop, 45-stall roundhouse with a 90-foot turntable, and twin freight yards. After the Rock Island was liquidated in 1980 the works passed into storage use and later to National Railway Equipment, remaining a maintenance hub for the North American rail industry. RRHMA purchased the facility in late 2021 to develop a museum and to overhaul steam and heritage diesel power and rolling stock. In April 2022 Union Pacific announced the donation of Challenger No. 3985, 2-10-2 No. 5511, Centennial No. 6936, and other heritage-fleet equipment to the group, and that November the collection moved into the Silvis shop. Following inspection and repairs, No. 6936 made a successful test run on August 19, 2023, and in September 2025 it pulled fundraising excursions to South Amana, Iowa and Bureau Junction, Illinois — its first public main line trips in a decade.

The Trains

RRHMA's headline pieces came from Union Pacific's heritage fleet, donated in 2022. Union Pacific 3985 is a four-cylinder articulated 4-6-6-4 Challenger built by ALCO in July 1943 — one of only two surviving Challengers and the only one ever to run in excursion service — now undergoing restoration to operating condition, with new flue tubes and stay bolts delivered in late 2023. Union Pacific 5511, a 2-10-2, is slated for restoration alongside it. Union Pacific 6936, an EMD DDA40X Centennial built in January 1971 and the largest diesel-electric locomotive in the world, has been returned to operation at Silvis and hauled main line excursions in 2025. The donation also included an unpowered E9 locomotive and additional heritage rolling stock.