IRON MOUNTAIN RAILROAD ROLLS AGAIN THIS WEEKEND

JACKSON -- The St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railway Company begins its seventh year of operation of the steam-and-diesel-powered tourist railroad this weekend.

"We're really excited about the start of the new season," said the railroad's general manager, Taleah Byrne. "Our operating people have been busy during the winter months and especially the past several weekends getting everything ready for opening weekend."

Byrne said the Iron Mountain will open the season with a Railroad Memorabilia Days featuring displays about railroading at the Iron Mountain Railroad ticket office and depot. The depot is at Jackson Boulevard and North High, east of the Jackson Fire and Police station complex.

In addition, during opening weekend, all tickets will be half-price for the day trips and "buy one, get one free" for the Saturday evening dinner trip.

Trains leave the Iron Mountain passenger station in Jackson for a round-trip to Gordonville at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday. The dinner train leaves at 6 p.m. for a round trip to Dutchtown.

On Sunday, trains leave Jackson for Gordonville at 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. During June, July and August there will also be a special excursion to Gordonville and back leaving at 1 p.m.

The Gordonville trip is a 10-mile round trip that takes about one hour and 20 minutes, unless a special event weekend requires extra stops.

The evening dinner trips to Dutchtown are 20-mile round trips that last about two hours.

Once a month, on Saturday, the train leaves for a 36-mile round trip to Delta for a dinner and murder-mystery-on-the-train trip that takes about five hours. When the train arrives in Delta, passengers walk a short distance to Woodard's Cafe for a buffet meal.

Byrne said the railroad, founded in 1985, has made several major capital improvements since last season. They include acquisition of a diesel locomotive and installation of a heating system in the passenger coaches.

"With the diesel locomotive and heating in the coaches, we can now operate the railroad year-round," Byrne said.

The Iron Mountain is named for its real-life namesake, the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern, that was built in sections in 1857. The Iron Mountain was the first rail line into Southeast Missouri.

The railroad's tracks from Jackson to Delta are remnants of the original Iron Mountain's Belmont Branch that once extended from Bismark to Belmont on the Mississippi River south of Charleston.