By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
ELLIS — Vandals almost permanently destroyed a beloved Ellis landmark, but the community of Ellis has rallied to save and beautify part of its history.
The Ellis Railroad Museum is nearing the completion of a two-year $250,000 improvement project.
"The city's history is tied to the railroad," said Pauleen Edmonds, president of the Community Foundation of Ellis. "Ellis would not be here if it wasn't for the railroad."
Two years ago, the mini passenger train that runs around the museum grounds, 911 Washington, was seriously vandalized. The one-third scale replica of GM’s 1950s Aerotrain train provides leisure rides a three-quarter mile-long track.
There are only four other mini-trains like the one in Ellis in the United States.
The mini-train, which has been at the museum for 28 years, has long been a popular part of Ellis community events including the annual Polar Express during the Christmas holiday season.
"We could tell the passion of the people in town and how upset they became when they heard the mini-train had been vandalized and it would not be able to operate until it got fixed, so that is why we took on this project," Edmonds said.
The Community Foundation of Ellis began fundraising to fix and restore the train as well as build a storage building in which the train could be secured. They dubbed the effort the Little Engine That Could Project.
Edmonds explained the importance of the railroad history to Ellis.
The Kansas Pacific Railway needed a water station as it moved west. The railroad built a water station on the present site of Ellis in 1867, purchasing the site under the Homestead Act. Ellis was an ideal location because of it location near Big Creek.
In 1870, the U.S. Postal Service opened an Ellis office. The Kansas Pacific laid out Ellis in 1873, establishing a depot, a crew hotel, and locomotive and car shops. Settlers from New York and Kentucky arrived to work for the Kansas Pacific.
The family of Walter P. Chrysler of Chrysler car fame settled in Ellis because of the railroad. Walter's father was a machinist for the railroad and this may have sparked young Walter's interest in mechanics.
Ellis was eventually chosen as the division point between the Union Pacific Kansas Division and Colorado Division. Train engineers also settled in community.
By 1886, Bukovina Germans had started settling in the area and by January 1888, Ellis was incorporated as a city, according to the Railroad Museum's website.
Artist Dennis Schiel of Hays was commissioned to paint three murals for the museum. Schiel has painted murals across the region, including the murals on the sides of the Fox Theater and VFW in Hays.
A mural that will be placed on the inside of the train building depicts the history of Ellis, including some of the historical buildings linked to the railroad that are no longer standing, Edmonds said.
One mural on the exterior of the train building will depict other sites of importance in Ellis. The other will promote the Railroad Museum.
The mural on the interior of the train building is finished and is waiting to be hung once the building is painted. The exterior murals are still in progress.
"We want to make sure we are portraying and keeping vital the history of the railroad,"Edmonds said.
The first phase of the project to fix the mini-train involved fixing windows and mechanical issues on the engine including the air brakes.
The foundation also decided to make sure the engine and all of the cars received a new paint job. One of the three cars has yet to be painted, and likely won't be finished until after this year's Polar Express event.
The foundation needs to raise about $8,000 to finish the restoration of the last car.
Because of the restoration project, the train has been out of commission for a year. The train only began to run again earlier this month.
The storage building was built with a platform from which train riders can enter the train. This includes a wheelchair ramp for access to the train's accessible car.
The storage building was also built to allow workers to have easy access to the train for maintenance purposes, Edmonds said.
Work on the mini-train tracks is also scheduled. Ties need to be replaced and some spikes.
The museum restoration project also will include new landscaping, benches and outdoor historical markers that will be available to visitors even when the museum is not open.
The foundation also paid for repainting the caboose that is located on the museum property.
The final phase of the project is a restoration of the museum's depot, which was brought to Ellis from Penokee many years ago. This will include painting the depot, replacing the shingles and gutters and building foundation work.
The Community Foundation of Ellis was the recipient of a $12,500 grant from the Union Pacific Foundation to restore the depot.
Earlier on, the campaign received $40,000 for the Dane G. Hansen Foundation, $7,300 from the Heartland Foundation, $1,000 from Midwest Energy, $1,000 from Equity Bank and $500 from Golden Belt Telephone. CCR & Landscaping donated in-kind services to the project.
Funds are still needed to finish the project. Edmonds said the foundation has raised about 82 percent of the total funds needed for the entire Little Engine That Could Project.
Interested donors can call 785-726-2660 or visit the Ellis Community Foundation on Facebook for more information. Checks can be mailed to the foundation at 820 Washington, Ellis, KS 67637. Note on the check funds are for the Railroad Museum project.
Edmonds said she hoped the project, which she thinks will enhance tourism in the community, will be complete by the end of the year.
"We are really lucky here in Ellis to have three very important museums — The Bukovina, Walter P. Chrysler and the Railroad Museum. This was very important to restore the museum," Edmonds said.