The Midland Railway is a heritage railroad headquartered in Baldwin City, Kansas. It was chartered in 1982 to find an abandoned railroad line to operate. Midland purchased the line from Baldwin City to Ottawa, Kansas from the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway in 1987, and began running excursion trains on part of the line later that year. Total length of the line is 11 miles. Midland operates a demonstration historic railroad, and its mission is to "educate the public about the role railroading played, and continues to play, in the commercial, social, and cultural life of America's Heartland." Midland's base of operations is the depot built in 1906 by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway at 1515 High Street in Baldwin City. This building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. Midland has received two matching federal grants to rebuild track. Private grants have and are being used to rebuild railroad equipment. Starting in 2004, excursion trains are run all the way from Baldwin City to Ottawa. The regular operating season runs from Memorial Day to October 31. Special events and fairs are held at various times through the year. Weekend Boy Scout camps are held in the spring and fall. Midland's Scout program is one of the few in the country to offer the Railroading merit badge. On May 3, 2019, Leavenworth, Lawrence and Galveston Railroad d/b/a Baldwin City & Southern Railroad Company, a noncarrier, filed a verified notice of exemption under 49 C.F.R. § 1150.31 to permit it to enter into an agreement to operate a rail line owned by its corporate parent, Midland Railway Company. The Line extends between milepost 14.95 at Baldwin, Kan., and milepost 26.04 at Ottawa, Kan., a total distance of 11.09 miles. Leavenworth states that Midland is a historic, nonprofit operator of a passenger excursion railroad. According to Leavenworth, Midland purchased the Line in 1988 from Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad, after ATSF obtained authority from the Interstate Commerce Commission, the Board’s predecessor agency, to abandon it.
