A listing of Model Railroad & Railfan
Events and News
from around Southeastern Wisconsin,
including Trainfest and the NMRA 75th Anniversary Convention

Welcome to the Schedule Board - a listing of model railroad and railfan news and events in and around Southeastern Wisconsin. Compiled and hosted by Joe Russ (a member, and former board member, of the WISE Div., NMRA) as a service to the model railroad and railfan community.

WISE Division Meets:
(updated 3/4/10)
The WISE Division's next meet is March 21 in Milwaukee. Hope to see you there.

Department of Corrections: Domes show
The train display at the Domes ended on February 14 and not the 24th as was listed. I apologize for the error. -JR.

Milwaukee-Area Railfan Guide Link
To help those looking to visit Milwaukee for Trainfest and the NMRA convention next summer, visit the Milwaukee-Area Railfan Guide Google map. As of March 5 more Kenosha hobby shops, a TMER&L substation and some depot locations in Plymouth have been added.

Tweet About Updates
For the past few months I have been experimenting with Tweeting on when I do monthly updates and important, last-minute events. If you Tweet and would like to get Tweets from the Schedule Board, you can do so by joining the ScheduleBoard Tweet.

No. 261 has been sold, er, maybe not (February 19)
A month after everyone thought the greedy gang at the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay have found a way to get more money out of Milwaukee Road No. 261, things have changed. According to the reseller Sterling Rails web site, the locomotive has a "sale pending" sign and is listed for a mere $225,000. Meanwhile, Railway Preservation News has an ongoing discussion. Stay tuned.

The museum's executive director, Mike Telzrow, resigned from the museum a few weeks ago to take a job with a museum in Madison.

Avalon Rail wins VIA contract
Avalon Rail won a contract to refurbish a dozen cars for Canada's VIA Rail, and the cars should start arriving shortly. Read more about it in an article from the November 10 Milwaukee Journal Sentinal. The article also features photos of the Badger #2 restoration.

The news you won't find on the official site...

Price Increase Sinks Trainfest Attendance
With a $2 increase in general admission and a new $2 fare for kids, when other shows were holding steady on their prices, attendance sank for Trainfest 2009. The number attending plummeted to 19,599, as announced at the end of the show, from 21,621 in 2008. That would be a decline of over 2,000, or 9.35 percent, although an audit of the numbers is still pending. In April, Trainfest Director John H. Tews, MMR, told the WISE Division membership at the annual meeting the committee was projecting a decline of only two percent due to the fare increase.

It should also be noted that while Trainfest attendance decreased this year, the iHobby Expo held in October just down the road in Rosemont, IL had a record attendance of 20,606, according to an article on MR Express.

Wisconsin Bits N Pieces Heading West
A favorite at shows throughout Wisconsin for the past 18 years, the Wisconsin Bits N Pieces layout was sold to a buyer from Colorado on Sunday. Thus the layout has made its last appearance at Trainfest, and likely in Wisconsin. A leaner, and improved (if that's possible), Wisconsin Bits N Pieces II is in the planning stages. Thank you for the memories, Bits N Pieces, your departure will leave many hearts in, well, bits N pieces.

Connvetion Countdown: There are

If you would like to help with the convention, please print out the Help form and send it in. The NMRA was founded in Milwaukee in 1935 and in 1985 the WISE Division hosted a very successful 50th Anniversary Convention which drew over 3,000 modelers from around the world. Milwaukee has been the site of NMRA conventions in 1935, 1940, 1950, and 1985.

Local MOW Equipment Manufacturer Sold to Canadian Investor (6/1/09)
Nordco Inc., an Oak Creek-based manufacturer of maintenance-of-way equipment, has been sold to Omers Private Equity for an undisclosed amount.

NRM Messing with No. 261 Lease, Delays Overhaul (6/1/09)
Reportedly, Milwaukee Road No. 261 sits unassembled in Harrison shop in Minneapolis while the National Railroad Museum (NRM) and Friends of No. 261, who lease the locomotive from the museum, continue to work out a lease agreement. However, the rumors (we won't go there) seem to indicate the scrap yard/historical resale shop known as NRM is holding out for a better deal. There is an interesting, and ongoing, discussion on the matter at Railway Preservation News.

Old Sturtevant Depot Moved, NOT Demolished
CP Rail had announced their intention to demolish the old Sturtevant depot by June 1. Preservation Racine is working to bring together groups and individuals who want to save the depot. The Caledonia Historical Society would like to move it to their Lynwood Historical Park, but others would like it to stay in Sturtevant. Preservation Racine's board of directors is going to recommend to their membership they offer $5,000 to move the train station to Lynwood Park, and another $5,000 for renovation. The Caledonia Historical Society is considering a contribution of as much as $15,000. CP Rail is offering $8,500 for a potential total of $28,500. The business that moved another building to Lynwood Historical Park has offered to move the depot for $36,000. Meanwhile, WE Engergies would charge an hourly fee for moving power lines during the move, and a foundation would need to be laid, bringing the total cost of the move to the $45,000 - $50,000 range. If you would like to contribute to this effort to preserve the only remaining Milwaukee Road station that has the corner turret, email Eric Marcus, President of Preservation Racine. Update: Depot was reportedly moved in the wee morning hours of November 2.

NRM to donate WC GP30 to City of Oshkosh (5/14/09)
In their attempt to rid the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay of yet more equipment with state or local history, Mike Tellzrow, executive director of the museum, has agreed to donate the ex-Soo power to the city of Oshkosh. See the story in the May 8 Oshkosh Northwestern. The alternative, according to Tellzrow, would've been to scrap the locomotive - scrapping has occurred more frequently in the past year, even when other groups have offered to purchase the equipment. [I wonder if Mr. Tellzrow and Ted Thompson took the same course in Green Bay on how to dismantle good collections (of football players and railroad equipment). - JR]

Amtrak Announces New Policy Regarding Photographers
Amtrak has announced a new policy regarding photographers. It states that only photographers with tickets may photograph from station platforms. Here is a link to the policy and an interesting blog on the subject. Anyway, it is something to keep in mind next time you are railfanning around an Amtrak facility.

Meanwhile, behind Wm. K. Walthers... the Indian Head Lines Dismantles
As noted earlier (and in the February 20 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) the Milwaukee Model Railroad Engineers (a.k.a. Indian Head Lines), in the back of the Wm. K. Walthers building, lost their lease and was given a great send off on February 26. Florist Ave. was parked full of cars, and there was a line to get into the club. They had their final rummage on March 21 and 22. The remaining equipment will be sold at swap meets in the fall. Watch for details.

WSOR Sargento Cheese Car Now Edited
Don't know if it was due to the ICC rule on billboard cars, or AAR's Rule 84, but the cheese car had Sargento and Plymouth blanked out in February. Here it is in its current paint. Note: On March 18 it was spotted at the Seneca cannery on the east side of Ripon, Wis.

Warning: Canadian National unfriendly towards railfans in Point and Neenah
If you plan on heading up to railfan the CN in Stevens Point or Neenah, be careful where you step. Word has it the CN has cameras around the depot, all facilities and the area by the Wisconsin River bridge and Hoover are off limits. Crews, along with two railroad police, are monitoring the area and issuing citations to railfans for trespassing. Security has also been beefed up at Neenah, which also has cameras in the yard.

Badger #2 at Avalon Rail for Restoration
On November 20 and 21 the Badger #2 was trucked from North Freedom to Avalon Rail Car in West Allis. Restoration has begun, and you can follow the progress at this link. Despite major flooding in June (where fish were possibly swimming down the right-of-way), on Thursday, July 24, the Mid-Continent Railway Museum received a donation which put it over $475,000 for a matching challenge grant for the restoration of the car. Built by the Pullman Company in 1912 for the Wisconsin Fish Commission, the car has a steel underframe and was fitted with steel tanks so it could carry fish to remote locations around the state to restock waterways. It was also the first car purchased by the Museum. For more information on the car, and restoration plans, see the article from the Wisconsin Natural Resources magazine.
Congratulations, Mid-Continent!

Green Bay Museum Selling Equipment
The National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, which early last year scrapped some cars, including a wooden GB&W refer, is still trying to sell the GP30 the Wisconsin Central donated to them in the 1990s. Price is a mere $20,000, or make an offer. They are also selling their Menasha Wooden Ware Co. box car, a Soo caboose, Milwaukee Road E-9 #38A, St. Paul Union Depot 44-tonner #441, and a Northern Pacific baggage car. Latest word is they have also kicked the HO model railroad club out of the station. It sounds like nothing is sacred to, or appreciated by, the NRM management.

Still For Sale: Union Station Kansas City Inc. selling off former Milwaukee Great Northern equipment.
It seems that almost half of the equipment the Union Station Kansas City Inc. bought for $650,000 from the former Milwaukee Great Northern Midwest Hiawatha bar in Bay View is now back on the market. Aside from the Milwaukee Road "Alaska" (now sold), Railway Post Office/Baggage #103, Milwaukee Road Baggage #104, Milwaukee Road Baggage #105, and Milwaukee Road Caboose #366 are available. The F7 No. 109A was enroute through Kent, Ohio on September 7 to Belington, West Virginia for service on the West Virginia Central Railroad (Durbin & Greenbrier Valley). So much for the collection being sold to KC to keep it together. See the page on the equimpent when it was in Milwaukee, and the August 6, 2004 Journal Sentinal article about it beind sold.

And down in the Valley...
A broad group of partners is working to restore the neglected river valley at the very heart of Milwaukee. For updates visit the Menomonee Valley Partners, Inc.

Other/Old Schedule Board News:
A few years ago a show was cancelled, unknown to me and others, months after the flyers were out. This resulted in me getting a few nasty emails about not making the correction - even though I didn't know about it. So, be forewarned that the information I post is taken off of flyers I have now and if the dates are on them I have no reason to assume they will change. Just like if you pick a flyer up in a hobby shop.

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Pages designed, written, and hosted by Joe Russ, WISE Div., NMRA.
Copyright © 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 by Joe Russ