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"We bought this building in 2000. There were four of us, all retired railroad workers," Roe said.
The other three owners are Richard Hemm, Don Eakins and Jim Bedford.
"The railroad was the life and blood of the town for so many years," Roe said. "So many things have been torn down in Eldon, we didn't want to see this demolished."
Roe said engineering and railroads are something that he has always found fascinating.
"This is actually one of the stations I worked out of," he said.
He started as a fireman for the station and worked his way up to engineer in 1967.
Back when the Rock Island Railroad was still in operation, he said there used to be a switch yard and a round house (railroad garage) across the Des Moines River in Eldon.
"There were 16 engines that ran out of there," he said.
After the building was closed, the four men bought it and started to restore it into a museum, collecting memorabilia from different railroad stations across the Midwest. The group is a non-profit organization and runs off donations and memorials, to keep the museum in operation.
Their annual fundraisers include a Hobo Soup Supper, bake sales and their Christmas tour.
With the help of donations, the men were able to get an old caboose that had been sitting in front of the station for a number of years, up and running.
Roe worked at the Rock Island Station until it closed in March 1980. He moved to Dalhart, Texas, where he worked for the Southern Pacific Railroad Company.
In 1999, he retired and moved back to the Eldon area where his wife is from. He grew up in Ottumwa and graduated from Ottumwa High School in 1955.
A year after he returned, Roe began work on the old railroad station, putting many hours and dollars into the project.
"We've had a lot of people donate old railroad antiques to our museum," Roe said. "We have some from Burlington Northern, the Milwaukee and many others."
Roe and the other three men work as volunteers for the museum, and you can catch him there quite a bit.
"There is something going on here all the time," he said.
Scott Niles can be reached at (641) 683-5360 or via e-mail at sjniles@mchsi.com.
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