ETER News
Andrew Mueller
From the East Troy Electric Railroad Museum
14th edition- 9-20-99
Hi, there, and welcome to the East Troy Electric Railroad Museum's
Internet newsletter, a little compendium of the events on the line and
in the Friends' campaign to preserve and improve the last remnant of
Wisconsin's electric railway network and keep it available to the
public as a historical treasure.
There's no charge and no obligation for receiving this
newsletter. And, if you'd like to de-subscribe and no longer receive
them, just quickly hit your reply-to-sender button and let us know.
Of course, we're always on the lookout for newsworthy items to
include both in here and on the Museum's main website at
www.easttroyrr.org Send in your observations and great thoughts so
that we can continue to improve the product.
"Reprints" of these newsletters are available in the website, too,
at www.easttroyrr.org/e-news.htm .
Also, if anyone knows of other persons interested in getting on
the list for this newsletter, let us know at et...@execpc.com . We
want to keep everyone in the loop.
Starting with this edition, we're going to tri-weekly. Mostly,
this makes sure there's enough time to get to all the other things
that need to be done to operate a museum, and to make sure that
there's enough interesting material for each one.
And now, for the news...
Boffo Open House/Fundraising Kickoff Covers the Rails With Cars
As often mentioned in this space, last weekend, September 11th and
12th, was the Museum's annual Railfan Weekend. Tied into this already
busy event was the fundraising campaign kickoff, the unveiling of the
Tom Matola model collection, and other good things as well.
General Manager Paul Averdung, seeking to improve the product, as
they say, developed a new schedule for the Railfan Weekend activities
that sought to present the patrons, most riding on all-day passes that
are the feature of the event, the widest possible selection of rides
in a given day. This was more than accomplished with a complex
timetable that had the equipment being used in the mainline service
divided into four, two-car sets comprised of one work/freight unit and
one passenger unit. Then, the operating personnel were arranged into
three groups. These groups rotated every trip into the idle trainset
so that three sets were out at all times, and the fourth was no more
than forty minutes away. With bump-out East Troy station departures
and all cars making a Shop carbarn tour stop, the patrons had a wider
variety of riding options than ever before.
Not only that, but Philadelphia PCC streetcar 2185 was used as a
shuttle from the Elegant Farmer station towards Mukwonago, to offer
that not-normally-passenger stretch to riders as well. This was
crewed by John DeLamater and Brett Foster, and John's report will
appear a little later.
On Saturday, the fundraising campaign kickoff was laid over all
this activity with a dinner train special at five p.m. for donors and
dignitaries. The most recognizable name on the list was the mayor of
Milwaukee, John Norquist, and his family. Mayor Norquist, as some of
the other guests, got to spend some quality time up front, in the cab
with operator Chris Lanning and Superintendent Andy Witkowski.
Certainly, a great way to spend a Saturday evening.
Mother Nature Cooperates to the Fullest
And what a beautiful evening it was! The entire day was
picture-perfect from start-to-finish. In a fitting tribute to the
well-trained, dedicated volunteer car operations people, this very
complicated schedule was presented to them for the first time at the
regular morning staff meeting and they executed it to near-perfection
without so much as a hiccup. It also showed the breadth of the skills
of the volunteers as they were rotated into and out of all types of
jobs. One of them could have easily found himself trading in the L-8
freight locomotive/snowplow for an open streetcar, and then being sent
out with one of the big interurban coaches, and most did. In fact,
one appalling-looking line guy, fresh back from some track-switch
maintenance at the Beulah siding, was then immediately sent out on the
TMER&L line car D-23 without so much as a hosing-off, adding
considerably to the rather authentic ambiance of the trip.
Mechanical glitches were also almost non-existent, not always the
expected result for vintage equipment that has had six or eight
decades to develop a personality. This serves as a testament to the
preparations that the shop folks had put in prior to the event. They
got things as right as could be, and it showed at showtime.
Models On Parade
No, not the skinny kind with ugly makeup. The Tom Matola model
collection just purchased from his estate by a special motion of the
Friends' Board were set up, just in time, in its'new display cases in
the East Troy Depot. A shortage of time (naturally) did not allow
labeling each one, but appreciative onlookers didn't seem to mind, as
hundreds veritably gawked at these O-gauge beauties. Look for
pictures in the website next month, as soon as Your Correspondent
finally catches up on his picture-taking.
East Troy Platforms Extended and Repaired
Amon and Sons, an asphalt paving contractor in Walworth County, is
operated by Richard Amon, who is also a keen railfan with a couple of
unpublished railroad histories in his desk. His company was engaged
to complete the repairs to the East Troy Depot platform following the
track rehab project a while back. With a partial donation of paving
from Amon and Sons, it became possible to finally complete the paved
walkway along the runaround (north) track in the East Troy station
area. It now runs all the way from Church Street, in front of the
Depot, to Division Street, where pedestrians may then continue a trip
the Shop Carbarn on the existing driveway.
This also makes the regular Dinner Train boarding area complete,
so that the those patrons may make their way to their arranged car on
hard surfacing.
We extend our thanks to Mr. Amon.
The Shop Is Now A Walk On The Mild Side
Just in time for the Open House, the East Troy Shop Carbarn
received a concrete job. Acting on a recommendation from Richard
Amon, GM Paul Averdung contacted a concrete contractor from Elkhorn
declared "interested in historical things." This description proved
true, as he was willing to do the concreting so long desired by the
shop forces for a very low rate.
Part of the arrangement included the proviso that it would be a
short-notice happening, so as to be convenient for the contractor.
The notice was short, indeed. Instead of waiting until late in
October, as first expected, the call came in August. Volunteers
immediately set to work, preparing the grade, removing all the stored
materiel, rail-straightening (courtesy of Volkmann Railroad Builders,
Inc.), rail-bonding, and then, the night before, evacuating the
railcars for the section getting done.
Budget restraints prevented the entire barn from getting the
new-floor treatment. The aisles outboard of Track 1, plus those
between 1 and 2, and 2 and 3 were done, from the front doors all the
way back to the existing side service door, plus a little bit more
between 2 and 3. Still, this constitutes over half of the barn.
The whole thing was done in two days, and the results are
spectacular. Five inches with double mesh were used, and finished
very nicely. Almost too nicely; it looks like we're going to have to
keep the place a little neater, so we can see the floor, now that it's
worth looking at.
The project was accomplished barely in time for the guests of the
Railfan Weekend/Open House double event, and not a moment too soon.
Many visitors were able to browse the Shop Barn in comfort, without
having to constantly watch their step and without worrying about the
dust from the former dirt floor tracking into the cars they were
viewing.
The next huge benefit of the floor was realized shortly thereafter
(not counting the thankful crews not stumbling about while switching
and hostling railcars for regular service and restoration). As the
shop work resumed, it was discovered that suddenly, it was easy to set
stepladders to work on the car exteriors. Shop carts moved about
easily. Dropped parts and tools became possible to find. There was a
whole new place to put down your coffee.
At this point, the dancing of the happy shoppies is the only
concern, lest they wear it out prematurely.
Friends Makes an Early Car Purchase
There were six more units to go in the Friends' purchase of the
collection, which had been hoped to have been completed in the first
part of 2000. The schedule got advanced somewhat, as Friends
President John H. Tews secured a donation of $20,000 from his family
to permit the immediate acquisition of the Ravenswood, Dinner Car 25
(ex-South Shore 25). This generous gift covers the largest of the
remaining amounts in the purchase, and makes the end of this phase of
Friends' mission just that much closer.
But, this wasn't all the news pertaining to the original ETER
Dinner Train car:
A New Floor For the Ravenswood, Too
As previously hinted at, the first project by the newest Friends
Director, Dr. James Loftus of East Troy, got done, also just in time
for the Open House. The good doctor negotiated a favorable deal with
a local decorator and got the flooring of the Ravenswood replaced,
both carpeting and galley linoleum. The new carpeting drew audible
gasps from volunteers first seeing it, it's so beautiful. A floral
print, rather darker than the gray of the original, it not only went
perfectly with the existing decor, it added a richness the car always
needed. Not only that, it is of a very high institutional quality
that should last many years, and still look as good as it does today.
Thanks, Dr. Loftus!
Time to shut down the substation for this issue. Thanks as ever for
checking in. There's an awful lot of new news piling in that'll take
some time to percolate, but we're expecting a report on the Car 26
(Sheboygan interurban) Fundraising Dinner, one on the Open House
raffle, plus there's more painting of cars and buildings going on on
the ETER, a whisper of a rumor about two new frieght jobs, and lots of
other good news. Not only that, we're looking into accounts of
President Tews having been seen weed-whacking. Spy photos coming.
A quick reminder that Fall Fun Days starts in two weeks- be
there. Also, it appears that all of the regularly-scheduled dinner
trains have filled for the season. Wait'll next year.
Of course, there'll also be the usual special report on measuring
continental drift using L-6's crane wire rope and a set of TMER&L
marker lights. As soon as we take someone's cigar lighter away to
light the markers with.
Thanks, and
Sparks to ya!
Your Correspondent