All aboard at Glencoe Station

Temperatures approaching the 100-degree mark on a recent Sunday did not prevent dozens of families from traveling to the Wabash Frisco & Pacific Railroad’s (WF&P) Glencoe Station in Wildwood for a miniature railroading experience.

Now in its 50^th year at its second location, the WF&P gives riders a taste of the golden age of rail when there was no better way to get to where you wanted to go than by hopping on a train.

Pulled by miniature, true-to-life locomotives powered by coal, oil or gasoline, the railroad’s passenger cars carry 45-50 people per trip along a one-mile set of 12-inch-gauge tracks. The ride starts at the Glencoe Station and extends through the mostly wooded countryside north of the Meramec River to a Y-shaped turn-around where the return trip begins. The round-trip takes about 30 minutes.

A project to extend the tracks another 3,500 feet now is under way.

When a group of rail enthusiasts formed the WF&P Railway organization in 1939, the operation was located at Brown and Natural Bridge Roads. Twenty years later, rising land values in that area forced the railway to seek a new site.

After a two-year search, the new location was found at a no-longer-used Missouri Pacific Railroad right-of-way on the south side of what would later become Wildwood. Glencoe Station is just east of Old State Road, a few yards north of the Old State Road-Route 109 intersection.

In addition to installing rail tracks, the organization erected a roundhouse for locomotives and a car barn for other rolling stock, as well as a turntable where locomotives are reversed to be in position for the next trip. Counting rail sidings, total length of track at the site will total some two miles when the extension is completed.

Formed as a non-profit educational organization, the Wabash Frisco and Pacific Association is the railroad’s official operator. The group has about 150 members, with a core group of 35 volunteering the many hours needed to run the operation. Trains run from 11 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. every Sunday from May through October.

According to Steve Marx, the association’s president, only a few current members have any kind of railroad experience.

“The common denominator is simply an interest in railroads and their history,” he said.

Jim Foster is a typical member of the core volunteer group. A retired charter bus driver, he has been a WF&P volunteer for more than 12 years. On the recent sweltering Sunday, he was stationmaster, directing passengers as they got on and off the trains.

Since its 1939 founding, the organization has overcome a host of challenges. The relocation to its current site in 1961 probably was the biggest hurdle. Since then, floods, vandalism and arson have damaged facilities on a number of occasions. Through it all, the operation has prevailed and today ranks among the top miniature railroads in the nation.

As many as 14,000 passengers have ridden on the railroad during a season, and revenue comes primarily from passengers. A donation of $4 per person is suggested, while children age 3 and younger are able to ride free. Birthday parties and other groups can be scheduled with advance notice.

For additional information, visit www.wfprr.com or call 636-587-3538.