The Boone and Scenic Valley Railroad is a tourist railroad operating out of Boone, Iowa. The railroad was started in 1983 by a group of volunteers primarily to preserve a scenic section of track in the Des Moines River valley that includes a beautiful high bridge. It runs approximately twelve miles from Boone through the small town of Fraser, Iowa and ends at the site of the former town of Wolf. The Railroad was an immediate success and has expanded regularly since its founding. A permanent station/museum/ticket office building was built with considerable parking areas for the busy summer season. The railroad now owns numerous locomotives and dozens of cars. It gained notoriety in the late 1980s for acquiring one of the last new steam locomotives built in China. This locomotive has had problems but is still running. In 2003 the BSV acuired and restored a diesel F Unit that was formerly a passenger locomotive on VIA rail Canada. It was restored in Chicago Northwestern colors and runs a dessert train. The railroad also runs a short trolley ride and has even begun to do light freight switching at Boone industries in recent years. It's station is located just one block from the Union Pacific mainline.