End-O-Line Railroad Park and Museum packs big history into small-town Minnesota

City parks are all across Minnesota. But a town in Murray County has one that's gone off its rails.

Currie, Minnesota, is truly small-town America. The population hovers at just over 200. But on the northern outskirts, you'll happen upon a place with plenty of bells and whistles: End-O-Line Railroad Park and Museum.

"It's like a little village from way back when. You have your church. You've got a school," said visitor Larry Diedrich.

You've also got railroad relics, up and down the tracks.

"1901 was when the first line was put in here," said Jake Halverson, site manager for End-O-Line Railroad Park and Museum.

Halverson said Currie was once a thriving railroad town. In fact, it was the end of the line for steam engines heading west. If you wanted to go east, Currie was your gateway to the rest of the world. The first stop was Bigham Lake.

"From Bigham Lake they could go to Minneapolis, from Minneapolis to Chicago, from Chicago to New York," said Halverson.

But by mid-century the last train had left the station. No sooner did that happen than teenagers from the local 4H club began to clean up the abandoned turntable.

The platform was used to turn 400,000-pound steam engines around when they hit the end of the line. Thanks to the 4Hers, it still works today.

The club also bought the train depot for $1 from the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad Company and moved it closer to the turntable.

"That is really the beginning of maybe bringing more attention to the history of the railroad here," said Halverson.

It's history that comes in all shapes and sizes, including a model railroad that's a replica of a time that was.

"It was built to look like what Currie was 100 years ago," said Halverson.

Much of what you see at the park and museum is original, including a 125-year-old water tower that was moved to the site from Walnut Grove.

The caboose nearby originally came from South Dakota. The locomotive once ran in Georgia.

The rail business may have left Currie, but the love for trains never did. It's a chance to celebrate big history in a small town.

"Wherever there have been trains, there have been people who are fascinated by them," said Halverson. "I think this is an opportunity for individuals to learn about not only this part of Minnesota but to know where this part of Minnesota fits in with the rest of the world."

The End-O-Line Railroad Park and Museum is open from Wednesday through Sunday from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day.