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Washington Evening Journal
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Train ride draws crowd to Marengo
MARENGO — Hours before the Marengo Fall Festival opened its vendor booths and started children’s activities and entertainment on the square, a crowd gathered on the south side of town to board five Pullman cars bound for Victor.
People from all over the state arrived in Marengo Saturday morning to ride Iowa Interstate Railroad’s Pullman cars, dating from 1928.
Colbee Altenhofen and her children, Bexlee, Keera and Jorei, were part of a party of eight catching the first ride of the morning.
“I grew up in Deep River and Millersburg,” said Altenhofen. When she and her family heard that Marengo was offering train rides, they grabbed some tickets. “We thought we’d bring the kids up for some fun.”
The children aren’t strangers to trains, said Altenhofen. They’ve ridden the Polar Express in Mt. Pleasant.
Saturday’s ride was much warmer, with sunny skies and mild autumn temperatures.
The event was more than a pleasure trip, however. It was a fundraiser for the Marengo Fire Department and Marengo Community Development.
In 1984, Heartland Rail Corporation, owned at the time by Maytag, Pioneer Seed, CRANDIC, Pella Rolscreen and other businesses, selected Iowa Interstate to operate its railroad.
Heartland purchased track rights and reestablished rail service from Council Bluffs and Chicago in 1985 which had ceased following the liquidation of Rock Island Railroad in 1980.
In 2004, Pittsburgh-based Railroad Development Corporation purchased the company, becoming its sole owner.
Following an Iowa Interstate derailment several years ago in Illinois, to which firefighters responded, the company began giving train rides to raise funds for fire departments, according to Volunteer Conductor Ron Rahn.
Iowa Interstate contacted the Marengo Fire Department about conducting a fundraiser after an explosion and fire at the C6-Zero plant in Marengo in December 2022, said Marengo Community Development Director Corienne Dally.
About 15 fire departments, two hazmat teams and multiple other agencies fought the fire at the C6 plant, which recycled asphalt roofing shingles for use in alternative fuels, according to news reports.
Doug Spence, who has been with the Marengo Fire Department since 1989, said chemical got into the bunker gear and gloves, and they had to be replaced. The fire department asked Marengo Community Development to organize the event, offering to share the proceeds.
Decked out in a blue uniform with gold buttons and a conductor’s hat with gold braid trim, Volunteer Conductor Bill Nelson, of Rock Island, directed passengers to the train cars.
Other volunteer conductors greeted passengers and answered questions as they boarded the train cars and during the trip.
The volunteer conductors don’t have to have railroad experience, said Conductor Ken Roehrs. They are people who like railroads, he said.
Roehrs has collected N-gauge model trains for years, and he belongs to Railroading Heritage of Midwest America in Silvas, Illinois, an organization collecting train engines and cars in preparation for building a railroad museum.
Rahn is also a member of Railroading Heritage. His grandchildren know him as Papa Choo-Choo.
Rahn sat in one of the last three cars as the train traveled to Victor Saturday. He’s been volunteering on the trains for 18 years, he said. In addition to Iowa Interstate rides in Oxford and Brooklyn, Rahn has been a conductor for Polar Express holiday train rides in Minnesota and for cross-country excursions to the west coast.
Saturday was the first time Iowa Interstate took its passenger cars to Marengo.
“It’s a lot of fun,” said Rahn. “You meet a lot of people. We’d like to see a lot more younger people get into this.”
The five Pullman cars can carry up to 36 passengers each, and Iowa Interstate made the round trip to Victor three times Saturday.
Tickets sold out in 10 days after the event was announced, Dally said. She estimated that the fire department and community development would each see about $4,500.
Marengo Community Development used the event to showcase the town and to give it an economic boost. Dally hoped that people who came from other communities to ride the train would stop in town and spend some money with Marengo businesses.
“C6-Zero gave our town such a negative [reputation],” said Dally. She hoped Saturday’s train ride and fall festival gave people a positive view of the town.
