This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Guthrie County Historical Village and Museum (GCHV) in Panora. There are about a dozen buildings and several other exhibits for the public to enjoy. One of them is the Panora Depot and Railroad exhibit.

The Depot is one of the central buildings on the campus and was moved to the complex when it opened in 1968. The building was the second to service the Panora area and it was built in 1902. It was a part of a narrow gauge railroad system.

GCHV Foundation Board Member Rod Stanley explains what was different about this railroad. “Narrow gauge means that it was less than what the standard gauge (is). Standard gauge railroad today, and they still use it, is four feet, eight inches between the rails. This narrow gauge was actually three foot.”

Stanley says there were as many as eleven different gauges of rails across America, the standard gauge was fit to accommodate the width of a Roman chariot, and was built that way because it was cheaper.

Stanley also mentioned the Depot had separate holding areas for men and women. Stanley explains why that was the case. “Basically it was because sometimes the men used foul language. Men were smoking and there was a lot of spitting going on. They didn’t want to expose the women to those nasty things that the men were doing.”

At one time, the line was the longest narrow gauge railroad in Iowa, and is the same route that is now used for the Raccoon River Valley Trail.