Frisco Silver Dollar Line 76: Spring Steam in the Ozarks

Sitting atop a hill in Missouri's Ozark mountains, Dollywood's sister park Silver Dollar City has been entertaining guests with top-of-the-line thrill rides, historic craftsmen, great food and live entertainment, and tours of the Marvel Cave for over 60 years. Running through the middle of it all is the Frisco Silver Dollar Line, a 24" gauge railroad carrying guests on a 1.5 mile journey through the Ozarks and towards a humorous meeting with some wanna-be train robbers. Pulling the train in late April 2021 was locomotive 76, a 1940 0-4-0T built by Českomoravská Kolben-Daněk in German-occupied Czechoslovakia. The FSDL fleet also includes ČKD 0-4-0 tender engine 504, two twin Orenstein & Koppel 0-4-0Ts 13 & 14, and another O&K 0-4-0T 43. While not as big & loud as Dollywood's 36" gauge 2-8-2s, these hardy European industrial shunters are still very much a delight to see and ride behind, and they manage quite a respectable bark coming up the grade.