Gopher State Railway rolls out rides for families
Lucas Landry, left, and his son, Coen, were getting ready for a ride at Gopher State Railway Museum, north of New Prague. The local train museum held Caboose Day, Saturday, May 3, to celebrate the addition of a second caboose on its tracks. (Patrick Fisher photo)
Gopher State Railway Museum, north of New Prague along Highway 21, recently rolled out rides for families on its new caboose during Cabose Day, Saturday, May 3.
Beginning in January, the train museum worked on adding a DMIR C-25 caboose to its tracks. During Caboose Day, families were able to choose from riding in the engine or one of two cabooses. Minnesota Fire Engine Club of Castle Rock also had several fire trucks on display May 3. Families could check out the fire trucks as they shot water from their hoses into a nearby pond, plus vehicles from the Scott County Sheriff’s Office.
“I saw this ad at Skluzacek Quality Meats and it sounded like a good thing to bring the kids to,” said Lucas Landry of Dundas. He and his family are staying with his wife’s family in New Prague while some work is being done to their home. He knew his two older children would like Caboose Day.
“They love trains and fire trucks,” he said of his sons, ages 6 and 4.
Other families said they enjoyed the rides and found it nostalgic. Caboose Day was held 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and more than 50 people had stopped by before 1 p.m.
Ruby Halbmaier, a young member of the Gopher State Railway Museum, said the new caboose had been built in 1900 and was part of the Duluth Missabe & Iron Range line. “Originally, it was shorter and it was extended in 1911,” said Halbmaier, a high school senior from Burnsville. The railroad donated it and other cabooses to the Lake Superior Railroad Museum in Duluth, he said. In 1980 the Duluth museum sold off several cabooses as part of a fundraiser, Halbmaier said.
Brooklyn Park to Gopher State Railway Museum
Gopher State Railway Museum volunteer Jeff Braun explained Bud Bulgrim of Brooklyn Park looked at the DMIR C-25, which was one of the cabooses for sale in 1980.
Bulgrim asked his wife, Anita, about buying the caboose and she agreed, Halbmaier said.
Bulgrim had worked for...
To see more on this story pick up the May 22, 2025 print edition of The New Prague Times.
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