The steam locomotive of the Boone & Scenic Valley Railroad, a heritage railroad that operates excursions out of Boone, Iowa, awaits its run. The railroad was started in 1983 by a group of volunteers who wanted to preserve a scenic section of the former Fort Dodge, Des Moines and Southern Railroad. In 1983, an eleven-mile section of the line was purchased by the Boone Railroad Historical Society and its 2254 charter members for $50,000. This stretch of track, winding through the Des Moines River Valley, includes a 156-foot-tall bridge spanning Bass Point Creek. The line runs from Boone through the old coal mining town of Fraser and ends at the site of the former junction with the Minneapolis & St. Louis Railway at the town of Wolf. Photo by Carol Highsmith.