End-O-Line Railroad Park and Museum is a 12-acre county park and historical site located on the northern edge of Currie, Minnesota. It features a unique collection of historic buildings, rail structures, and vintage rolling stock dedicated to preserving and interpreting the early history of Currie, the Lake Shetek area, and 20th-century railroad heritage. Whether you’re planning a large group tour or a quiet family visit, you’ll be surprised by what you’ll discover at this beautiful and educational destination.
Although Currie was the first village platted in Murray County in 1872, it did not have rail service for its first 30 years. That changed in 1900 when the Des Moines Valley Railway Company of Minnesota completed a 38-mile branch line from Bingham Lake (Cottonwood County) to Currie. Soon after, the line was purchased by the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway—commonly known as the Omaha Road—and later acquired by the Chicago and North Western Transportation Company. While there were rumors the line would extend further west, Currie remained the last stop—giving the town its nickname, “End of the Line.”
Because Currie served was the “end of the line”, a hand-operated turntable was installed in 1901 by the American Bridge Company of Chicago to allow locomotives to be turned around. The original 56-foot wood-and-steel turntable was replaced in 1922 with a 70-foot steel bridge turntable (relocated from Pipestone, MN) due to damage. That turntable, now fully restored, still stands today as one of the park’s central features.
The tracks in Currie branched out to four main lines: one leading to the water tower, sand tower, coal shed, engine house, and turntable; and three others extending across the road to grain elevators, a freight line, and a passenger depot. The original depot served daily trains beginning in August 1899 after delays caused by an incomplete well. By the 1920s, Currie’s passenger rail traffic was at its peak, but it declined over the decade. Passenger service officially ended in 1928, and by the 1950s, only minimal train activity remained. The line was officially abandoned in January 1980.
Even before the line was abandoned, community members began efforts to restore the neglected railyard. In 1972, a Minnesota 4-H initiative called Community Pride challenged clubs across the state to make local improvements. Two Currie teenagers—Colleen Illg and Roxanne Probst of the Poco-a-Poco 4-H Club—chose to clean up the overgrown turntable site with the guidance of leaders Louise Gervais and Dorothy Ruppert. Their project was recognized as one of the top eight in Minnesota out of 400 statewide entries.
The following year, the original Currie depot was listed for sale. With encouragement from their club leaders, the girls reached out to the Chicago & North Western Railroad, which agreed to sell the depot for $1 on the condition it be relocated. After two years of fundraising, the depot was successfully moved to its current location near the turntable.
By 1975, the park project had grown beyond the scope of a volunteer youth group, and Murray County officially adopted it as a county park. Louise Gervais was appointed seasonal park director and curator, a role she served in passionately until her retirement in 2010. She continued to support the park until her passing in 2017.