Old rail car in another celebration

While Marion celebrates Chingawassa Days (with two S’s) this weekend, one of the few remaining traces of the original Chingawasa (one S) Springs resort will be part of another celebration 119 miles away in Concordia.

The National Orphan Train Museum in Concordia features a restored version of one of two original passenger cars from the Marion Belt and Chingawasa Springs Railroad.

From 1889 to 1893, the car ferried passengers to Chingawasa Springs resort from the Santa Fe and Rock Island railroads 4½ miles away in Marion.

The museum will be sponsoring its 15th annual orphan train celebration with four days of speeches, tours, and other events Thursday through Sunday. A complete schedule is at http://orphantraindepot.org/.

From 1854 to 1929, orphan trains transported nearly 200,000 homeless children from crowded Eastern cities to foster homes largely in rural areas of the Midwest.