Back in the 1990s, a train sparkled its way through the streets of downtown Boise, Idaho during the Boise River Festival. People lined up to see it. Kids pointed as it passed.
Then the festival ended, and the train went quiet.
For years, that seemed to be the end of its story. The float sat out of sight, a piece of Boise parade history that most people no longer knew was there.
When we started planning for America’s 250th birthday, and Idaho’s America250 Parade just blocks from our headquarters in Boise, we brought it back. And we didn’t do it alone.
Things began to take shape with the help of Xanadu, a local nonprofit arts center that opened its doors to the project. Xanadu provided space, tools, craftmanship and expertise, along with something just as important: a place for people to come together and make the train street-ready again.
Volunteers joined from across Simplot. Some stopped by after work simply to see what remained of the old train, then rolled up their sleeves and got started.
That was when the restoration became something shared by a broader community of volunteers.
The finished train looked polished, but it didn’t begin that way. It came back together slowly, one repair and one coat of paint at a time. There were golden spray-painted ropes, a repurposed bell and countless small details that had to be imagined, built and rebuilt.
One volunteer stood in a driveway at 10 p.m., cutting the Simplot Leaf out of wood.
By the time the work was finished, the train carried the fingerprints of everyone who had helped restore it.
For America250, the train received a fresh Simplot look while retaining the features that many people remembered. The tall smokestack, bold red wheels and classic engine shape remained, complemented by updated colors and new details. The design draws inspiration from the steam locomotives of the late 1800s, the machines that first connected Idaho to the rest of the U.S., hauling people, freight, seed and harvest across the West. The Simplot leaf appears on the sides as a nod to the Company's roots and to the railroad history that helped shape them.
On the Fourth of July, the train returned to downtown Boise.
It rolled through the America250 Parade, flanked by an antique tractor from our founder J.R’s collection that rounded out the story. Our volunteers walked beside it in red, waving to spectators and representing the teams, families and partners who contributed to the restoration effort.
For those who remembered the Boise River Festival, it was a familiar silhouette carrying a new story. For everyone else, it was a bright red-and-gold engine moving through the heart of Boise on America’s Independence Day.
Either way, a small piece of the city was moving again.
For the United States’ 250th, the image carried a quiet symbolism. The milestone looks back at what got the nation here and forward to the people still shaping it. The float reflected that idea in plain sight: an old train, remade by new hands, moving ahead.
If we're honest, that's a little of our story too. Simplot didn't grow on its own. It started with Idaho soil, Idaho crops and relationships with communities throughout the state. But our story didn't stop there. Across generations and geographies, employees throughout the Company have helped build on those roots, bringing Simplot's products, expertise and values to communities around the world. Together, they've helped shape Simplot into the global food and agriculture company we are today. Land and labor, rail and road, and people willing to believe in something that might still be standing more than a century later. Look at that train long enough, and you start to see the Company in it.
