FAQs

The 1880 Train is a two-hour, narrated 20-mile round trip between Hill City and Keystone. Passengers enjoy vistas of Black Elk Peak, mining encampments, scenery, and perhaps wildlife. Trains follow the original route of the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad laid down in the late 1880s to service the mines and mills between Hill City and Keystone. We are the oldest continuously operating standard-gauge tour railroad in the nation and operate three steam and two diesel engines throughout the season. One of our locomotives is more than 100 years old!

In 1957, the 1880 Train was started by a steam railroad enthusiast named William Heckman. He believed "there should be one working steam railroad, for boys of all ages who share America's fondness for the rapidly vanishing steam locomotive." Because he wanted a railroad that was reminiscent of the rapid American rail expansion of the 1880s, the name stuck, and the 1880 Train has been chugging through the Black Hills ever since for boys and girls of all ages.

The train is now owned and operated by the Black Hills Central Railroad, formed by a small group of stockholders who were passionate about preserving steam railroading.

The train operates on the original mining rail spur between the towns of Hill City and Keystone in the central Black Hills. You can start your ride from either end.

It’s an hour ride each way, with a 15-minute layover time. Budget 2 1/2 to 3 hours for a complete roundtrip if you’re returning immediately, or longer if you choose to make a layover.

Absolutely, schedule depending. During our peak, mid-summer season we offer numerous options for you to lay over, enjoy lunch, take in family activities, or explore the opposite town on foot. When booking, simply choose a later departure time based on how much time you wish to spend during your layover. Tickets and seats assignments are time specific, so you must check your tickets for details or speak to a ticket agent if you would like to extend your layover.

Yes, we can accommodate up to two wheelchairs per departure. The BLUEBIRD passenger car is designed with mobility assistance features such as wheelchair seating and a vertical lift for those who need additional assistance boarding. Rows 1-2 are specifically reserved for families with wheelchairs—choose seat 1A or 1D for wheelchair if unable to transfer to a regular seat. Wheelchair seats are available on a first come, first serve basis. Reservations are required to ensure availability. There are multiple handicap-marked parking stalls in our Hill City parking lot and the Town of Keystone maintains multiple handicap-marked parking stalls in the on-street parking and in the paid, all-day lots near our Keystone depot. ADA-compliant restrooms are available at both depots.

Our Hill City depot has free parking on site with handicap parking spots.

In Keystone, on-street parking lot is limited to three hours, with nearby handicap parking available. Several city and privately owned parking lots offer all-day parking for a fee and are a short walk from our depot.

Train tickets must be picked up the day of the train ride. Tickets are available in your departure depot as soon as the train prior to your departure leaves the station. We do not print tickets further in advance or mail tickets. You must check in at our ticket counters and have your tickets printed with passenger car and seat assignment. An email or screenshot of online purchase does not constitute a ticket, and failure to check in prior boarding the train can result in the cancellation of your reservation and seats.

Tickets should be picked up at least 30 minutes prior to your reserved departure. Parties not checked in 15 minutes prior to scheduled departure may incur cancellation of the reservation, and require rescheduling to a later departure.

All seating is assigned at the time of purchase. Advanced reservations are highly recommended to secure your preferred seating option.

All our seating is two seats per a single bench. You are permitted to purchase the extra seat next to you if you do not wish to share a bench with someone from a different party or want extra space to spread out. Any two benches can be flipped to face as a booth, which is great for families and groups, especially with children.

On rare occasions we must make changes to the passenger car lineup due to a mechanical issue. If an equipment substitution is required we will do our best to honor your original seat type and location within the train, but some exceptions may occur.

All seating is assigned at the time of purchase. Early purchase of tickets for popular events, such as our Sunday evening Old West Shootouts or Holiday Express, ensures that your party can sit together. Because seating is assigned, we recommend that multi-family groups purchase seats together under a single reservation.

Additional seats can be added to an existing reservation after purchase, but must be done so by calling our reservation line at 605-574-2222. As long as adjacent seats remain available, we will add seats to your existing reservation or suggest an alternative location within the train that can accommodate your additional seats.

Steam locomotives are scheduled for all summer-time departures. The completed restoration of our second large steam locomotive in 2020 allows for the continuous operation of steam power.

Our vintage diesel-electric locomotive #63 is used for Holiday Express departures in November and December.

As with any railroad, scheduled motive equipment is subject to change for mechanical reasons. This may necessarily include the use of the diesel locomotive if a steam locomotive should be temporarily out of service.

The railroad route from Hill City to Keystone is in the original configuration laid down at the turn of the last century and was never improved upon to reduce sharp curves or steep hills common in early railroad construction. We still operate some of the steepest mountain grades left in the United States. Specifically, the first climb out of Hill City known as Tin Mill Hill takes every ounce of locomotive effort to get a loaded train to the top—the locomotive is going as fast as it possibly can! Speeds average ten miles per hour, varying based on grade and curves. It’s a wonderful speed for taking in the passing sights.

The train travels through typically beautiful Black Hills scenery, with a narrated story of the historic mines, camps, and settlements you pass on the way. Much of the route follows Battle Creek, once home to gold, silver, and tin prospectors. The train passes through National Forest Service land with distant views of Black Elk Peak and Wilderness area, wooded canyons, and open meadows. Many of the original mining claims are now residential, so you’ll pass an interesting variety of homes along the way.

No. While Keystone and Hill City are the two closest towns to the National Monument, the train passes to the north of Mount Rushmore and the monument is not visible from any portion of the train ride. Mount Rushmore is a scenic 20-minute drive from either depot and can easily be visited before or after your ride. All evening trains return to station before sundown, so there’s ample time to drive to the Monument for the Evening Lighting Ceremony.

Many woodland species call the Black Hills home. Most often, passengers will see white tail deer, mule deer, wild turkey, woodchucks, mallard ducks and cottontail rabbits.

Yes! Passengers of all ages enjoy the sights and sounds. Our visitors are evenly split on how to ride with children. Some families like to break up the ride with an extended layover between legs to grab lunch or to explore the opposite town on foot. Others prefer an immediate return after using the 15-minute layover to stretch their legs, use the restroom, or grab a quick snack. You can find family-friendly attractions in both our depot towns—though please check availability outside the Memorial Day through Labor Day season. When traveling with children, please bear in mind that restroom facilities are available at the depots but not on the train itself.

Yes, your engineer and fireman will be happy to take a few moments to chat with your children while the engine is taking on water at the water towers in Hill City and Keystone. Children can also meet the conductor and brakeman, who circulate through the train as it travels. Our crews love to talk about the train to our visitors young and old.

Black Hills weather can be unpredictable, and temperatures cool down as evening approaches. Dress in layers for comfort both on and off, before and after the train.

Our train has both open and enclosed train cars depending on the time of year. The enclosed cars don’t have air conditioning, but you can open or close the windows as you please. The open-air observation cars offer the best views and have a roof for shade and rain protection.

Yes. Ask our conductor or brakeman for help storing a collapsible stroller at either end of the passenger cars once you board. You can retrieve it as you disembark. Car seats can be brought onboard the train, but passengers will need to hold the car seat or purchase a child’s ticket for the car seat. All seats are two to a bench, so you may wish to purchase an additional seat if you need room to spread out. Any two bench seats can be turned to form a booth, which is great for families with small kids.

Yes, the train ride has a combination of pre-recorded and live narration about history of the area, the mines, and the adjacent communities. The speaker system mounted in each passenger car. The working locomotive can be a bit loud at times, so sitting in the middle of the train or at its rear for the direction of travel will guarantee that you can hear the narration.

A guide book is for sale at either depot as well as onboard the train. It tells about the train’s history and equipment and adds further context not included in the narration.

Drinks, popcorn, and candy bars are available onboard the train from Memorial Day through Labor Day. A broad selection of made-in-house wraps, salads, sandwiches, and sweets are available at either depot and at the High-Liner Eatery adjacent to the Hill City Depot. Any food purchased on the property is welcome on the train. We’re committed to sourcing at least 50% of our food as organic or locally grown!

No. They’re only available at the depots at either end of the ride.

No. Only ADA service animals are permitted onboard the train.

No. For our passengers’ safety, we ask that all riders remain in their seats during the train ride.

200 gallons of fuel are burned and 2,000 gallons of water used for one round trip with our primary locomotives, engines #108 and #110. Our crews must take on water at both ends of the line before departure. Peak summer days consume 800 gallons of fuel per day. Our smaller steam locomotive #104 uses half as much water for a round trip, but can only haul half as many passenger cars. Our oldest locomotive, #7, is an older, saturated steam boiler design and consumes significantly more fuel and double the water used by our primary locomotives.

Our steam locomotives burn ecologically recycled waste oil, the same oil drained from your car during an oil change. Check our Going Green section for more information on our choice of fuel.

It did. In the early years of the 1880 Train, special full-day excursions took place along the High Line to Deadwood and Custer. They ended in the 1970s, before removal of the rail line to make way for the hiking Mickelson Trail, a 109-mile Rails-to-Trails project. The 10-mile spur the 1880 Train currently operates is now all that remains of the original route, which came to be called the High Line because of its difficult grades and elevations.

Our oil-burning engines emit a light hazy fume, but not the dramatic smoke and cinders of a coal-burning locomotive. A small amount of particulate briefly shoots from the stack when the fireman scours the firebox with sand to clean out the flues at the beginning of the ride. The passenger cars are roofed or enclosed to help protect passengers from any fallout.

In the early stages of each trip the fireman completes a process called “sanding the flues” where clean silica sand is poured into the firebox. This sand is drawn through the flues by the hot combustion gasses where it serves to remove soot that has accumulated. The soot and sand are then exhausted from the smoke stack in a black plume and eventually falls back down. This is not a cinder, or burning piece of coal, and will not burn passengers or start a forest fire, but it can be dirty. In the 1960s, 70s, and 80s, this sand sometimes landed on passengers in our completely open-topped cars. All of our passenger cars have roofs now, so this sand rarely is encountered by passengers today but the legend persists.

Visit our Going Green section for more information on our choice of fuel and “sanding the flues.”

The term “gauge” refers to the distance between the rails. Standard gauge rails are 4 feet-8 ½ inches apart, while most narrow gauge rails are 3 feet apart. Narrow gauge railways were cheaper to build and most suitable for mining and logging traffic. Sometimes the term still comes up because the earliest equipment on the 1880 Train was narrow gauge, but today’s equipment is standard gauge.

Two complimentary Clipper Creek J-1772 Level 2 charging stations for electric vehicles are available at our Hill City location. Each charger delivers an independent 7.7kW. Please register your vehicle at the Depot when you check in to get tickets.