Chasing the Black Hills Central Railroad's 1880 train.
M1 Railfan
598 views
In September of 2026 I went on vacation to the Black Hills of South Dakota. While we went mainly for the Buffalo Roundup at Custer State Park, I decided I had to chase the 1880 train. Here's my chase of it from Keystone, SD, to Hill City, SD, and back. I provided some info about the line and the train and will also include the websites.
https://1880train.com/
https://www.sdsrm.com/
The railroad line was originally built by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad (CB&Q) to serve mining and timber interests in the Black Hills. It reached Keystone on January 20, 1900, and was later used to haul equipment for carving nearby Mount Rushmore.
In 1956, two steam enthusiasts, William Heckman and Robert Freer, promoted to“have in operation at least one working steam railroad, for boys of all ages who share America’s fondness for the rapidly vanishing steam locomotive.”They soon gathered financial, political and popular support for this venture adjacent to the tourist destination of Mount Rushmore. The intention was to have summer steam train operations with 1880-period equipment.
Heckman and Freer proposed a new three foot gauge heritage railroad, using the Keystone Branch, by laying a third rail on five miles of the standard gauge track. CB&Q was supportive, and the dual-gauge line was constructed from Hill City to a new terminus with a wye, to be named “Oblivion” about midway along the branch. The choice of narrow gauge was influenced by the availability, also from CB&Q, of a complete 1880s styled "Deadwood Central" trainset which had been assembled for the Chicago Railroad Fair of 1948–49.
This consisted of:
• Colorado and Southern Number 9, a 2-6-0 built by Cooke Locomotive Works in 1882, originally as Denver, South Park and Pacific Number 72, which had been namedChief Crazy Horsefor the Fair.
• Coaches, open observation cars and a railway post office car of 1880s style, but which had been built new by CB&Q.
Additionally, White Pass & Yukon Number 69, an outside-framed 2-8-0 built in 1908 was acquired, to be namedKlondike Casey. The narrow gauge operation began in 1957 and ran successfully for several years until a decision was made to extend the operation to Keystone, which included a change to standard gauge. The third rail was removed in 1964 (although as of 2022, the abandoned Oblivion Wye rails remain in place), and the locos and rolling stock were eventually divested to other heritage railways: Number 69 went to the Nebraska Midland Railroad in 1973, and then home to the White Pass in 2001. Number 9 went to the Georgetown Loop in Colorado in 1988. As of 2020, Number 69 is operable but has been stored since 2013, and Number 9 is on static display at Breckinridge, Colorado, having suffered mechanical damage in 2006.
BHCR gradually acquired its current range of locomotives and rolling stock, and continued operations over the full length of the branch until the 1972 Black Hills flood destroyed the last three miles of track into Keystone. Burlington Northern relocated and rebuilt two miles, to a new Keystone Junction a mile west of the town. During the rebuilding, the BHCR ran its trains out of Custer, 15 miles south of Hill City on BN's Deadwood branch. In 1977 the Black Hills Central returned to the Keystone branch, and in 1981 acquired the trackage from BN, which withdrew freight services after its freight traffic had withered away. The last mile was continued into Keystone in 2001.
In 1986, the Burlington Northern abandoned the Deadwood branch through Hill City, leaving the BHCR as an isolated railroad. (The entire former Deadwood line is now the George S. Mickelson Trail, a long distance rail trail)
Trains operate between early May and early October over the scenic 20-mile (32km) line.
Today's train was hauled by BHCR 110, a Baldwin 2-6-6-2 Mountain Mogul with a split back water tank. It was built in 1928 for Weyerhaeuser Lumber. It weighs 222,000 lbs and has a tractive effort of 37,545 lbs. It features a beautiful CB&Q 5 Chime whistle and a pneumatic powered bell.
0:00 Intro
0:17 Time-lapse following the railroad on Old Hill City Road
2:14 Dreamcatchers
3:45 Camp Judson
5:28 Hinterwood Inn
6:26 Black Hills Windmill
7:46 Keller Williams Realty
8:41 Hill City
9:48 Climbing the 6% grade out of Hill City
11:59 Addie Camp
13:10 S curve by Battle Creek
14:47 along Battle Creek
16:22 KBARS lodge
17:22 Model Trains in the South Dakota State Railroad Musem
18:07 Outro
Chasing the Black Hills Central Railroad's 1880 train.
M1 Railfan
598 views
In September of 2026 I went on vacation to the Black Hills of South Dakota. While we went mainly for the Buffalo Roundup at Custer State Park, I decided I had to chase the 1880 train. Here's my chase of it from Keystone, SD, to Hill City, SD, and back. I provided some info about the line and the train and will also include the websites.
https://1880train.com/
https://www.sdsrm.com/
The railroad line was originally built by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad (CB&Q) to serve mining and timber interests in the Black Hills. It reached Keystone on January 20, 1900, and was later used to haul equipment for carving nearby Mount Rushmore.
In 1956, two steam enthusiasts, William Heckman and Robert Freer, promoted to“have in operation at least one working steam railroad, for boys of all ages who share America’s fondness for the rapidly vanishing steam locomotive.”They soon gathered financial, political and popular support for this venture adjacent to the tourist destination of Mount Rushmore. The intention was to have summer steam train operations with 1880-period equipment.
Heckman and Freer proposed a new three foot gauge heritage railroad, using the Keystone Branch, by laying a third rail on five miles of the standard gauge track. CB&Q was supportive, and the dual-gauge line was constructed from Hill City to a new terminus with a wye, to be named “Oblivion” about midway along the branch. The choice of narrow gauge was influenced by the availability, also from CB&Q, of a complete 1880s styled "Deadwood Central" trainset which had been assembled for the Chicago Railroad Fair of 1948–49.
This consisted of:
• Colorado and Southern Number 9, a 2-6-0 built by Cooke Locomotive Works in 1882, originally as Denver, South Park and Pacific Number 72, which had been namedChief Crazy Horsefor the Fair.
• Coaches, open observation cars and a railway post office car of 1880s style, but which had been built new by CB&Q.
Additionally, White Pass & Yukon Number 69, an outside-framed 2-8-0 built in 1908 was acquired, to be namedKlondike Casey. The narrow gauge operation began in 1957 and ran successfully for several years until a decision was made to extend the operation to Keystone, which included a change to standard gauge. The third rail was removed in 1964 (although as of 2022, the abandoned Oblivion Wye rails remain in place), and the locos and rolling stock were eventually divested to other heritage railways: Number 69 went to the Nebraska Midland Railroad in 1973, and then home to the White Pass in 2001. Number 9 went to the Georgetown Loop in Colorado in 1988. As of 2020, Number 69 is operable but has been stored since 2013, and Number 9 is on static display at Breckinridge, Colorado, having suffered mechanical damage in 2006.
BHCR gradually acquired its current range of locomotives and rolling stock, and continued operations over the full length of the branch until the 1972 Black Hills flood destroyed the last three miles of track into Keystone. Burlington Northern relocated and rebuilt two miles, to a new Keystone Junction a mile west of the town. During the rebuilding, the BHCR ran its trains out of Custer, 15 miles south of Hill City on BN's Deadwood branch. In 1977 the Black Hills Central returned to the Keystone branch, and in 1981 acquired the trackage from BN, which withdrew freight services after its freight traffic had withered away. The last mile was continued into Keystone in 2001.
In 1986, the Burlington Northern abandoned the Deadwood branch through Hill City, leaving the BHCR as an isolated railroad. (The entire former Deadwood line is now the George S. Mickelson Trail, a long distance rail trail)
Trains operate between early May and early October over the scenic 20-mile (32km) line.
Today's train was hauled by BHCR 110, a Baldwin 2-6-6-2 Mountain Mogul with a split back water tank. It was built in 1928 for Weyerhaeuser Lumber. It weighs 222,000 lbs and has a tractive effort of 37,545 lbs. It features a beautiful CB&Q 5 Chime whistle and a pneumatic powered bell.
0:00 Intro
0:17 Time-lapse following the railroad on Old Hill City Road
2:14 Dreamcatchers
3:45 Camp Judson
5:28 Hinterwood Inn
6:26 Black Hills Windmill
7:46 Keller Williams Realty
8:41 Hill City
9:48 Climbing the 6% grade out of Hill City
11:59 Addie Camp
13:10 S curve by Battle Creek
14:47 along Battle Creek
16:22 KBARS lodge
17:22 Model Trains in the South Dakota State Railroad Musem
18:07 Outro