Photo by Feral Boy, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
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No ticketed events are currently listed for St. Louis Iron Mountain & Southern Railway. Many heritage operators publish schedules seasonally or run on regular open hours instead of dated events.
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About St. Louis Iron Mountain & Southern Railway
Heritage operation on former Cotton Belt trackage between Jackson and Delta; steam locomotive #5 leads weekend excursions, dinner trains, Civil War-themed runs.
History
This Jackson, Missouri tourist railroad takes its name from the original St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway — the 'Iron Mountain' — which ran from 1856 until its 1917 merger into the Missouri Pacific Railroad, was swept into Jay Gould's empire in 1883, and was famously robbed by the James-Younger Gang at Gad's Hill in 1874. The modern heritage operation took shape in the mid-1980s: in 1985 Shelby Brown arranged the purchase of steam locomotive No. 5 for the Southeast Missouri Steam Locomotive Association, and the engine was moved to Jackson, where a tourist railroad was being developed over former Missouri Pacific trackage. No. 5 returned to service in 1986, pulling passenger trips under the revived Iron Mountain name between Jackson, Gordonville, Dutchtown, and Delta. The steamer made its final run in 1999 after failing an FRA inspection with damaged flues, but the railroad has continued operating roughly six miles of shortline in Cape Girardeau County with weekend excursions, dinner trains, and Civil War-themed runs, while a fundraising and restoration effort launched in 2021 works toward returning No. 5 to steam and restoring trackage between Jackson and Gordonville.
The Trains
The railroad's signature piece is St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern No. 5, a 2-4-2 'Columbian' type steam locomotive built by H.K. Porter in June 1946 — one of the builder's last steam engines. Constructed as a saddle-tank switcher for the Central Illinois Public Service Company, it was converted to a tender engine in the 1970s on the Crab Orchard and Egyptian Railway, then hauled this railroad's tourist trains from 1986 until 1999. No. 5 is currently under restoration, with a team since 2021 raising funds and sourcing new components to return it to operation; in the meantime the railroad's excursions, dinner trains, and themed runs continue over the former Missouri Pacific line.
Nearby
Jackson is the county seat of Cape Girardeau County in southeast Missouri, about seven miles northwest of the city of Cape Girardeau along US Route 61. Named for Andrew Jackson — the first town to bear his name — it was platted in 1815, and in 1877 it was linked to Cape Girardeau by the first long-distance railway service line in Missouri. Uptown Jackson centers on the public square and its 1908 courthouse, with several National Register historic districts nearby.
Where to Stay
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