Take a ride on the old #6988

Jasper County residents will once again have the opportunity to experience an old-fashioned train ride, featuring giant Chinese steam engines, this weekend in Newton and Mitchellville.

The Newton Fire Department, in conjunction with Progress Industries, is hosting a “Ride for Progress” with the Iowa Interstate Railroad. The fundraiser will take passengers from Newton to Mitchellville, or vice-versa, and back again.

Last year, as a fund-raiser for the Kellogg Fire Department, train rides were offered between Newton and Kellogg. This year, the Iowa Interstate Railroad offered the chance to Newton Fire Department. However, Newton’s Fire Marshal Mike Knoll said Newton was not a non-profit organization, like Kellogg.

“So, I thought of Progress Industries, and how we could donate the proceeds to them,” Knoll said.

Twenty-five percent of the revenues will go to the railroad for the costs of providing a crew and their room and board. The rest will go toward Progress Industries’ programs.

Passengers will be able to board at 9 a.m., 11:50 a.m. and 2:40 p.m. Saturday at the former Maytag/Windstream headquarters, 403 W. Fourth Street N. in Newton.

The train will be pulled by locomotive #6988, built in Datong, China in 1985. When China replaced its steam locomotives to diesel in 2006, the #6988 and its sister locomotive #7081 were brought to Iowa by Iowa Interstate Railroad Chairman and owner, Henry Posner III, of the Rail Development Corp. The #6988, unlike its sister locomotive, has been “Americanized” to give it a little different look.

The coaches for the trip are from the former Montreal commuter trains, built in the 1950s.

Knoll said there are eight coaches available for the ride with room for 100 in each car. Newton has been allotted half of those seats, and Mitchellville the other half. There will be space on each car for a wheelchair, and Knoll said that while the coaches are not handicap-accessible, they are wide enough for a wheelchair, and if someone wants to make the ride, they will figure out a way to get them on.

Tickets are $14 for adults, and children 12 and under are $7. Anyone wishing to ride on the train should call Melissa Butler at Progress Industries at (641) 791-2846, or email her at melissa.butler@progressindustries.org. Seats for the morning rides are at a premium now, but tickets for the afternoon train ride are more plentiful.

John Jennings can be contacted at (641) 792-3121, extension 425, or by email at jjennings@newtondailynews.com.