The Little Train at the Santa Fe Depot

The North East Kansas Railroaders, Inc. (NEKR), is a widely diverse group of individuals who have one common interest – “RAILROADS”.  Our goal is to keep alive the history and glory of America’s great railroads.  If you share this love of trains and railroading, the North East Kansas Railroaders, Inc., extends a welcome to you.

We are a group of volunteers that maintain and operate the Atchison & Western Railroad (aka The Little Train).  The Little Train is a 12″ gauge railroad for the young and the young at heart.  The original railroad consisted of 600 feet of track, one Ottaway steam engine, three cars, and a homemade diesel engine.  The railroad was purchased for the club by Bud and Sally Cray and Paul Adair in 1990 from an amusement park in the Ozarks.

In the summer of 1990, club members assembled the track on the site at the Atchison Rail Museum and The Little Train was born.  In 1993, a third engine was purchased.  This engine, an Ottaway diesel engine was a complete basket case when it was originally purchased.  After several months of hard work by club members, the engine was completely refurbished and painted in the colors of the Santa Fe Super Chief.  In 1997, the original diesel engine purchased in 1993 was completely dismantled.  A ground up transformation then began.  The new engine is a scale version of an SW1500 Missouri Pacific Switch Engine.

In the summer of 1998, an expansion of The Little Train began. Club members, working two evenings a week and several weekends, completed the expansion in October of that same year, bringing the train ride to half a mile in length.

Come visit The Little Train at the Santa Fe Depot in Atchison, Kansas.