Mid-Continent Railway Historical Society blog

By: Don Meyer, Manager

This past week I was talking with our banker as we worked on a refinancing plan for our debt situation. Part of our discussion involved an explanation about the purpose for each of our bank accounts. We have seven at this time.

I described for her how we use some of our accounts to accumulate donations over a long period of time for projects like the Badger 2 and the Chicago & North Western No. 1385. Both of the bank accounts associated with these two projects have sizeable balances in them, which is understandably appealing to a banker.

It did occur to her that these amounts will be withdrawn once the work on the equipment associated with these accounts takes place. Our cash assets will become tangible fixed assets in the form of a restored fish car or a working steam locomotive. This is a good result for Mid-Continent, but it is an outcome which is obviously less attractive to the bank since the value of what we have on deposit with them will evaporate as we spend the money to cover restoration costs.

I went on to explain that while we certainly will be spending the existing funds we will just as certainly be starting on a new campaign to accumulate funds for the next project. Opening bank account number eight is a foregone conclusion.

Her bemused response was predictable as she came to the realization that the fund raising process never ends. Each goal attained is just an intermediate step in pursuit of a mission which, of necessity, must encompass a variety of options to grow in order for an organization to stay relevant and viable. And contributions will be the primary means of financing those goals, even for an organization like ours that also generates revenue in the form of train fares, gift shop sales, and dues payments.

At Mid-Continent we have no shortage of projects in need of funding. Most of our collection has yet to be restored. All of it needs to be housed within buildings which will provide adequate protection while affording us the opportunity to interpret their history to museums guests. We have the audacious goal of operating a steam locomotive fleet, not just a single locomotive. And maybe even more daring is the dream of developing a truly educational program that reaches people across all age, gender and ethnic lines.

We intend to grow. And for our banker that means preparing the paperwork for opening accounts eight, nine, ten and so on. Fund raising for any non-profit organization is the one true never-ending story.

Web Cam Highlights:

The trains will be in operation in May on the 15th at 1:00pm; 16th at 10:00am; 17th and 18th at 11:00am, 1:00 and 3:00pm; 20th at 10:00am and 2:00pm; 21st at 3:00pm; and 23rd at 10:00am. Daily operations begin May 24th.

Enjoy the show.

By: Don Meyer, Manager

This Saturday is the official start of our summer season. When that first train pulls away from the depot with its load of passengers, it will mark the beginning of our 46th year for providing train rides at North Freedom.

Each year at this time our hopes are high for a good turnout, not just for the opener but for the entire season. Attendance is a strong indicator of our financial well being that our members look to for reassurance, for the number of riders is also a strong influence on how we value ourselves as an organization. The one statistic we have faithfully recorded for all of those previous 45 years of operation is the number of passengers carried on our trains.

A lot of hours have already been committed to being ready for Saturday’s departure, both from our volunteer/members and by our staff. We are ready for whatever level of response we receive from the general public. The only point of speculation right now is how responsive will the public be given the state of our economy and the price of gas.

These are things over which we have no control. They may be the cause for doubt in some people’s minds, but that has not deterred the members and staff from pouring themselves whole-heartedly into the things we can control in order to be ready for whatever the results may be. Their efforts, therefore, are worthy of a little recognition at the outset as they have done their best to prepare Mid-Continent for success over the long-haul of another season.

E-mails have bounced around the internet network entwining those members who volunteer in the Mechanical Department in an attempt to coordinate the work being done on our motive power. President Jeff Bloohm, who doubles as our General Foreman of Diesels in his spare time, has been very precise and demanding about the sequence of work to be done by Doug, Ed, Kelly, Pete and others on the Nos. 4, 7 and 1256.

No e-mail messages have been necessary for the one-man show I have watched taking place over the past few weeks by member Art Eggert. His means of communication has been the placement of the blue flag in front of the line of coaches we use in revenue service as he has cleaned, painted, and polished the four Lackawanna cars in true anticipation of benefiting our guests. For it is the interior of these cars that provide the setting in which most of our guests will experience the museum.

Then there is the somewhat amusing spectacle of seeing our one-man section crew, Dave Lee, wince in some discomfort from using muscles that have been a dormant over the winter months. Then again it is not everybody who can walk four miles of track, carrying the heavy tools needed for tightening the bolts that secure the joint bars spaced out along the right-of-way at thirteen foot intervals.

Inside the depot, more specifically inside the Gift Shop portion of the depot, Jeff Haertlein is going through the process of pricing and stocking the merchandise he has ordered. We measure Jeff’s involvement in terms of decades not years, which is all the more impressive given that, as a volunteer, he has established a rather lucrative business in the small space afforded him. Appropriately enough the Gift Shop is located in what was once the freight room. Now freight of a different kind is transported in and out its doors as one form of commerce continues to take place in this 1894 icon of the Chicago & North Western Railroad.

Across the yard in the Coach Shed the newly refurbished C&NW drovers caboose is back on display. Stu Mathias led the volunteer work crew in installing the upper berths and a couple of benches to complete this longstanding project. I had the pleasure of showing off the car’s interior during a private tour this past week. The “Wow” factor was in evidence as soon as I opened the vestibule door. The impression was one of a getting a sneak peek at a car fresh from the North Western’s shop before the drovers were allowed to take over and make it a livable space.

Just in time for our opening, this year’s summer and special event brochures have arrived from the printer’s. Once again the artistic talent of Paul Swanson, who handles all of our graphic design work, is in ample evidence. Paul’s day job is that of an engineer for the Wisconsin & Southern Railroad. It is during his off hours that he utilizes his gifts to make Mid-Continent look good, perhaps even better than we are. But then that seems to be the special talent which all of our volunteers bring to their respective areas of involvement with the museum.

For the participation by the staff, Nancy Miller and Lynn Anderson seem to be doing everything else. The pace in the front office tends to be a little frenetic with all of the details that must be tended to before we open the depot doors to the public. That is why I hibernate in the back room in order to stay well insulated from the calls and correspondence which are beginning to dominate the tranquil existence of our once peaceful office.

This weekend we will start our 46th season of train operations at North Freedom. In addition to our usual coach service we will also be offering first class and dinner. This means other members will be on hand to serve as wait staff for this special occasion, led by Tom Buehler, our major domo, and Ron Kokemuller, the bar captain. They will augment the regular train crew – all volunteers – in our customary safe operation of the train along a route that has seen continual service since the first load of ore was hauled out of the LaRue mine more than a hundred years ago.

And while all of these more visible projects have been taking place to prepare for the current season, our shop crew and contractors have worked steadily on the restoration of the Western Coal & Coke #1 with the same anticipation of influencing attendance for the benefit of the museum. Only the goal for them is being prepared for another season, our 47th and the 50th anniversary of the founding of what is now the Mid-Continent Railway Historical Society.

By: Don Meyer, Manager

Last Friday afternoon the first train of the season departed our North Freedom depot with a group of about 40 school kids and their teachers. April school charters constitute for us what in retail would be considered a soft opening. The preparations are a little more relaxed. A few hours of work versus a whole-day’s commitment and the train crew, typically volunteers, can tie-up and savor the fun of operations without the fatigue. Plus the museum gets the benefit of the first little bit of positive cash flow since February’s Snow Train.

At Mid-Continent the first school charter is like the sighting of the first robin. Winter is officially over for us (even though it is snowing again today).

It occurred to me on Friday, watching the train pull away from the depot, that anyone lucky enough to have logged on to our web cam that morning got an eye full of switch moves as the crew assembled the consist. There was plenty to see as the school bus arrived, the kids milled around on the platform awaiting the call to board, and then there was the best part of the show – the train in motion, captured every few seconds by the still images of the camera.

Since I see all of this through my office window, I take such actions for granted. What never occurs to me, though, is to send out an alert to our web cam fanatics that there might be something of value to watch in these days prior to our formal opening besides cars speeding through the crossing. So allow me to make amends by providing the following known schedule for you regarding the dates and times of these special charters which fall outside of our published operations.

May 2 at 2:30pm.

May 15 at 1:00pm.

May 16 at 10:00am.

May 20 at 2:00pm.

May 21 at 3:00pm.

May 23 at 10:00am.

The wonders of modern technology make it possible to enjoy certain aspects of our railway museum without ever having to leave the comfort of your home or office or wherever you might happen to be when you access our web cam. Railfanning in the new age means never having to load all your gear in the truck, van or car to chase trains, an economic benefit during these days of high fuel prices. And we even provide the camera.

So sit back, relax and enjoy the view.

By: Don Meyer, Manager

Last week’s message elicited an unrelated comment, asking for an update on the steam program. This has been a topic I have tried to sidestep for the past several weeks. As noted before, we have experienced a few set backs in our plans and I have wanted to refrain from writing anything about our situation until I knew more about the solutions to our problems.

We have known for quite awhile that the first boiler course was “out of round.” After it was patched and after it was heat treated for stress relief, the course was found to be distorted. And ultimately that was determined to be severe enough that it was beyond repair.

A completely new first course is currently being fabricated. Our own shop crew wrapped the original course in plastic to identify the location of the rivet holes. They then laid the plastic out on the new piece of material, marked it and drilled the pilot holes. We are now waiting for the contractor, Milwaukee Boiler, to roll the material and ship us back a completely new first course.

With the first boiler course removed, it was determined that the second course was also out of round, only not as severe. The remedy in this case was to subject it to a heating and cooling process that helped to restore the second course into a true circular shape. Things look good at the moment, but I suppose the proof in the value of this method will be seen when we attempt to attach the newly rolled first course. Hopefully we will have a match.

There have been other “discoveries” that have required an alteration to our repair plan. These other items have proven to be not as substantial as the boiler work and therefore not as costly to fix. We launched this endeavor knowing that as we peeled back the layers of a project like this there would be some surprises. But the magnitude of these smaller items has been subjected to its own distortion when viewed in the context of these larger problems.

I am committed to completing this restoration according to the same high standard we established at the beginning. No compromises on the repairs made, no matter what the consequences to our project budget. That is easy to say and hard to fulfill when you are told that all of the work done to-date on the firebox will have to be replaced. The calculations we relied on in designing the work proved to be in error. A whole new box will have to be fabricated, a totally unexpected add-on to an already weighty campaign.

This is the kind of news that can be a death-knell for any manager or development director. Admitting to a mistake of this proportion is the kind of thing that can cripple one’s credibility with donors. And when their confidence in your ability is damaged, the loss in revenue can terminate both the project and the manager’s value to the organization.

The easy decision would be to start making cuts in other parts of the project to compensate for these higher costs. But that I will not do. There are to be no compromises in returning the Western Coal & Coke #1 to active service on our railway. Just don’t expect to see her running this fall as previously forecast by me.

On my last tour of the shop I received a thorough update on the work being done on the running gear by Chris Zahrt, an employee of Steam Operations Corporation. I nodded in agreement as he explained to me the machining taking place, even though I really am deficient in understanding the mechanics of this type of work. I can only appreciate the depth of his knowledge and skill as well as the fact that it is being applied professionally to our own project.

The comment Chris made that I have carried with me and shared with others is his expression of the pride he feels in what he sees being accomplished. At the heart of this sensation is the fact that the work is being done right. When complete, when we see the locomotive under steam and ready to represent Mid-Continent in its presentation of railroading’s Golden Age, then I believe we too will feel that same sense of pride for having participated in its restoration.

We can do this.

By: Don Meyer, Manager

Last week’s message attempted to pay tribute to one of our members whose recent passing prompted me to recall some wonderful moments from my early days at Mid-Continent. And if you saw the comments which were posted to that message, then you know that Al Duval is fondly remembered by other museum members, particularly those who served with him on the train crew.

I did receive other comments to that message, but they did not come as direct replies that I could post for others to read. Instead some folks prefer to contact me directly through my personal e-mail address. And I typically honor their desire for anonymity by keeping the exchange limited strictly to our own virtual conversation.

But one message was sent directly to me in response to last week’s message that surprised me by its insight. Not that the writer is incapable of some profound thinking, but that it applied the message in a way that was outside the box of my own purpose for writing it. So I thought it worthwhile to share with you.

Here is the comment I received:

“What you have said indirectly in your last blog entry is that the older folks at Mid-Continent (and perhaps some of us younger ones as well) are writing our own epitaphs each day in how we work with others and what kind of contributions we make to the organization. We’re more likely to be remembered for the relationships that we developed with others than by pieces of equipment we worked on. It might not be a bad thing to hammer on the theme How would you like to be remembered by other members when your time comes? ”

I have written before about the need for unity within the organization and the strategies for how this can be achieved. And while I think that this is a valid question to ask, it is admittedly not the management tool that I would have thought to apply on my own.

If asked, most members would likely respond that their value to our organization can be found in their skills and knowledge for restoring or operating the equipment in our collection, not in their personal behavior. But in this comment, and in the way Al chose to live his life, I think we see a direct challenge to that traditional way of thinking.

It is not what you do that matters. It is who you are while doing it that has the most profound and positive impact.

By: Don Meyer, Manager

We have reached a point in the year where membership issues occupy a significant part of the work day for the office staff. The majority of our dues paying members have a renewal date of January 1. Therefore March 31 is recognized as the 90-day deadline for those members to pay their dues. This is to be understood in the very literal sense of that phrase since every Mid-Continent volunteer believes that he or she has paid their dues in the form of sweat equity.

Come April 1 the by-laws require us to remove non-paying members from the roster of active members. This is never a pleasant task. Membership is a personal matter and something people perceive as an investment in our organization. Having it taken from you can feel like an insult. So we have elected to take on the additional task of calling anyone who has not paid by the established deadline. This allows each person the opportunity to tell us directly their choice about continuing with their Mid-Continent membership or not.

Most do. They enjoy the perks received through the publication of the Gazette, Steamer and calendar. Or they want to continue their active participation as volunteers in one or more of our programs. Or they simply value the association of being part of a reputable railroad museum. Whatever their reason, we do our best to retain the relationship that exists between Mid-Continent and its more than 600 members.

With those who choose not to renew we are still very careful about how we represent the termination of their membership. They are not dropped. They are simply moved into Inactive status. Their contact information, their membership number, all that we know about their history with us is kept on file in case they should have a change of heart and wish to resume their participation at a later date.

Who knows? If we handle their departure respectfully, maybe they will reverse their decision. Even so, we hate the physical act of taking a members’ file folder to the inactive files stored in the attic. It feels like a defeat.

There are some departures we can do nothing about, however. No matter how courteous we behave or how close the relationship has been, a member’s passing is final. No phone call from the office can grant a reprieve. And Mid-Continent is at an age where the receipt of an obituary notice is a fairly common occurrence.

Such a notice came to the office several days ago concerning the death of F. A. “Al” Duval, Life Member No. 195. The fact that we received it from several sources is indicative of how well liked he was by many within our organization. The obituary revealed details about the man which I never knew. Our relationship was limited to our time together on the train, he as conductor and me as trainman, during my early years with the museum.

Al set a standard that was good for a newcomer to witness. He looked the part, always in full uniform, and of an age similar to that of the equipment we were operating. He was so authentic in his appearance, he looked as if he could have arrived as a living artifact for the coaches in which we were riding.

Al was personable and handled his role with the public in a professional though gracious manner. As I recall it, many of our passengers were surprised to learn that he was not a retired conductor, he handled his role so well.

He had another characteristic that set him apart from all of the other conductors that I worked with. On the last trip of the day he insisted on being the trainman, particularly taking over the responsibility for doing the runaround. Nearly 80 at that time, he just wanted to prove, perhaps mostly to himself, that he could still perform the tasks of throwing switches, coupling up the engine to the coaches and connecting air hoses. His smile when the job was complete showed just how much he relished the achievement. He was a delight to work with.

During those times that we worked together I never heard Al say one unkind thing about another person. And that in itself is quite an achievement at Mid-Continent. Our collective behavior tends to give everyone ample opportunity to comment negatively about anyone else with some assurance of being accurate in the assessment. Neither did I ever hear one uncomplimentary statement made about the man. He remained above the personal conflicts we call politics and therefore remained beyond the reach of the mudslinging that is rife in a volunteer organization such as ours.

If you have a copy of the 1997 edition of the Whistle on the Wind booklet, look in the lower right-hand corner of page 3. You will see a photo of Al Duval in a classic conductor’s pose, giving the highball signal to the engine crew. It is an appropriate way to remember a man whose character added value to the Mid-Continent experience.

By: Don Meyer, Manager

Yesterday, March 30, was the anniversary of an event in American history known as Seward’s Folly. That was only one of the labels attached to the signing of a treaty negotiated by then Secretary of State William H. Seward for the purchase of the Alaskan Territory from the Russians. The purchase price was $7,200,000 or 1.9 cents per acre, which was back when a dollar meant something.

Newspaper editor Horace Greeley was one of the folks who publicly took Seward to task. Greeley looked at the many problems confronting the nation in 1867, just two years after the conclusion of the Civil War, and asked, “Could it be that we would now, with open eyes, seek to add to our difficulties…?”

Today, March 31, marks another momentous occasion, only this one being a little more limited in scope. Today is the deadline for matching the $475,000 challenge grant for the restoration of the Badger 2 fish-stocking car. And counting every penny we can lay our hands on, we are still $75,000 short of the goal.

What was I thinking when I signed that treaty, I mean contract, that committed us to one of the largest fund raising campaigns in our history? At that time we were already in the midst of the $480,000 campaign to restore the Western Coal & Coke #1. Summer attendance was on the decline. We were continually running into repair problems with the track and other aspects of our property due to years of deferred maintenance. And we have the pressing need to construct buildings to get more of our collection under cover.

If Horace Greeley were alive today he would no doubt look at our situation and think of it as déjà vu all over again. While Secretary Seward might find some relief at being able to apply to our situation the sobriquet of Don’s Folly. The former Secretary could even boast that Alaska at least has a working steam locomotive at Tanana Valley and two on the White Pass & Yukon. What does Mid-Continent's manager have to show for all of his troubles?

The first thing I did this morning after pouring myself a cup of black coffee was to send an e-mail to our donor, reporting on our fund raising status as of today’s deadline. Then I very humbly requested an extension of time to close the gap between our dreams and our financial goal. I can be very humble when the need arises.

Seward’s reputation was ultimately redeemed, though posthumously, with the discovery of Alaska’s rich oil reserves. So I am trying to console myself with the thought that a mere 1% of Seward’s Folly is all that is needed to redeem Don’s Folly while I am still alive to appreciate the result.

By: Don Meyer, Manager

Years of experience have compelled me to develop a hard and fast rule as the manager of a not-for-profit corporation: never discuss politics, religion or football. Anyone who is dependent on keeping in the good graces of trustees, donors and volunteers in order to maintain his livelihood can not afford to offend the diverse members of these three groups with some clever comment on what ails society or the Super Bowl.

Events do sometimes intrude on my good intentions and on a rare occasion cause me to violate what I consider to be an inviolable rule of management. Brett Favre’s retirement is a case in point. Since his announcement you literally can not have a conversation with anyone in the state of Wisconsin, which is now synonymous with the state of anxiety, without being asked about or being subjected to a peptic opinion on the future of the Packers without their Hall of Fame quarterback.

To me the answer is simple. They’ll lose. But I don’t say that out loud. Instead I confine myself to some type of ubiquitous no-answer answer like “We’ll see” or “Time alone will tell”. And I try to do this with a look of deep remorse as if we are discussing the recent passing of a mutual friend. It helps to let out a deep sign in these moments as well.

And even though this is an election year, I refrain from telling anyone about my close encounter with Hilary Clinton a few years ago. Or should I say with her Secret Service protectors as the then First Lady looked on from a safe distance? A deeply humiliating incident which has nothing to do with why I did not vote for her in the Wisconsin primary. Trust me.

This past week two things happened which have once again prompted me to transgress a rule that I believe should have been carved in stone along with the original ten handed down at Mt. Sinai. The first was a phone call from Scott Lindsay, president of Steam Operations Corporation, and a person whose comments usually fill me with apprehension about the invoice I am about to receive for the rebuild of the Western Coal & Coke #1.

The second was a notice that arrived in the mail from the IRS with an announcement printed on the cover in red, in all capital letters no less, stating “AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM THE IRS ON THE ECONOMIC STIMULUS ACT OF 2008. DO NOT THROW AWAY!” I didn’t. Trust me.

If Congress had asked me my opinion before enacting this legislation, I would have preferred to be blindfolded, lined up against the wall and offered my last cigarette (even though I don’t smoke) instead of giving them an answer. There are pros and cons on each side of this issue and I do my best to avoid letting anyone know which of these two groups I belong to. But the reason for Scott’s phone call was an idea well worth sharing now that the deed is done, even if it means transgressing the equivalent of a divine rule.

When the government check arrives, use it to make a contribution to your favorite charity.

Of course I am prejudiced as to which organization that should be. Regardless of my bias, however, by taking this step you will be achieving what Congress apparently intended from its stimulus package. Every non-profit organization I know of could use the funds to pay the light bill, salaries, rent, postage, fuel, and all the other costs challenging them to merely keep the doors open. Or they could use it for one of their large, capital projects such as restoring a steam locomotive or a fish-stocking car for instance. Either way, the money will go right back into circulation as opposed to sitting on the shelf of the Treasury Department.

What you will receive in return is 1) the knowledge that you complied with government intentions, which is something you may not be inclined to do when you file your income tax return this year; 2) the good feeling that you substantially supported a cause that you care for without dipping into your savings or your paycheck; and 3) the realization that you can claim your gift as a tax deduction. That looks like a win-win-win proposition to me.

Or you could selfishly use the money to take a vacation somewhere more hospitable than Wisconsin has been this winter. That’s what I was planning to do with my share of the Stimulus Package before Scott called and ruined my daydreams with thoughts of philanthropy, which was easy for him to say. After all, when he called it was only raining where he was at. I was looking out the window at several more inches of the type of precipitation you have to shovel before you can go anywhere. Trust me.

By: Don Meyer, Manager

On Friday I received a very nice note from one of my favorite donors. You might know him or know of him from previous web log messages. His name is Ben and he collects cans to convert into cash to make his occasional donations to our Steam Fund.

Friday we received his latest gift accompanied by the following message:

“I am writing to say hi. I will work hard to get cans to raise money for your museum this year. In addition, I’m also collecting pennies to make even more money.

“Chicago and North Western #1385 is one of my favorite pieces of equipment and I want to help it. However, I also have other favorites I want to help such as Western Coal and Coke #1, Polson Logging #2, Copper Range #29, Montana Western #31, and, basically, anything else you plan to restore. But for now, I’ll help the three steam engines you are working on.

“While I’m on the subject of steam engines, I would like to know how the progress on Western Coal & Coke #1 is going. I can hardly wait to see it in action. Keep up the good work.”

We seem to be on a roll for receiving well wishes from donors who view our project as good and noble. It seems only fair, then, that I should comply with Ben’s request and provide some type of response as to our progress on the rebuild of the WC&C #1.

The original plan Mike Wahl presented to the Board of Directors two years ago divided the project into 22 work areas. For my part I tend to beak it down into just three; running gear, boiler, and tender. These are the three general areas where work is currently taking place.

The rebuild of the running gear and all of its related components is being handled almost exclusively by Steam Operations Corporation, headed up by Scott Lindsey. One of Scott’s employees, Chris Zahrt, is working here in North Freedom machining the smaller parts like the shoes and wedges. The larger work is being done elsewhere, principally in St. Louis and Chattanooga, since our own shop is simply too small and ill-equipped to handle the magnitude of the work.

Last October’s Railway Gazette had a wonderful shot of a new tire being heated for application to one of the driving wheels. All of that work is done and the drivers are being kept in storage for us until they are needed for final assembly. The focus right now is on the driving boxes. Six new boxes have been made and the crown brasses are being machined for pressing into those boxes.

What impresses me the most about this work is the level of precision being applied to what to me appears to be nothing more than big hunks of metal. When you hear Chris talk about the tolerances in the machining being less than the thickness of a sheet of paper you’ve got to appreciate the quality of both the effort and the product.

The work on the boiler is a blend of contract work with employee/volunteer participation. The division of labor tends to be along the lines of the contractor doing the welding on the pressure vessel and our folks doing everything else. When I wrote last week about experiencing some setbacks, it’s in the area of boiler and fire box work that the troubles have been encountered. Right now I have put that aspect of our project on hold until we resolve how we are going to solve our problems. I will try to share more with you about that in next week’s message.

The tender tank was sent out to a shop for the insertion of a new liner. That is a work in progress and I do not have an estimate on a completion date. It has actually been of little concern to me as we are not ready to take it back. Our own shop forces are still working on the tender frame and trucks. The frame is ready for new planking to be put down on which the tank will rest. The trucks are being broken down and reassembled. In between those two steps, the wheel sets have been sent out for turning on a lathe at a shop in Milwaukee.

It appears that we are battling two factors that we did not take into account when putting our original plan together. The first is that the locomotive we see is not exactly like the locomotive shown on the blueprints. This appears to be a combination of short cuts taken during the original construction, compounded by further short cuts taken when making repairs. Our commitment is to get back to the steam locomotive as it was envisioned and represented in the specifications and drawings.

The second factor is that the years of grime and grease that have built up on various parts were hiding defects or faulty repairs, which have changed the scope of work from repair to replace. This additional work is slowing us down and adding to the cost. But I am confident that the anticipation Ben and many others feel for seeing the WC&C #1 run will be paid off handsomely by seeing a better engine in operation than what we have ever had at Mid-Continent Then we can honestly lay claim to a good or noble work.

By: Don Meyer, Manager

This coming Saturday Mid-Continent’s Board of Directors will convene for their quarterly meeting. It will mark the second anniversary of their approval of the plan to complete the restoration of the Western Coal & Coke #1. And I will be giving the directors a progress report on our accomplishments as of this anniversary date.

Those of you who have been following this project through reports posted on the web, printed in our magazine and newsletter, or written about in prior web log messages will no doubt recall that the March 2006 report approved by the Board members was precisely a plan to finish a project that had already been in progress for a couple of years. My use of the word progress should be understood in its most generous terms since the work had reached an impasse at that time due to the lack of funds needed to take the next major steps in repairing the boiler.

In 2005 we were challenged by one of our donors to produce a comprehensive plan and budget for what remained to put the locomotive back in working order. Mike Wahl, our project leader, and a couple of his key volunteers took five months to assemble a document that complied with this request. The highly detailed plan he presented to the Board in 2006 subsequently received a good deal of publicity due to its thorough treatment of what it takes to restore a steam locomotive. Few restoration groups had ever tried to document their work in this manner.

A summary of Mike’s plan was published in our own Railway Gazette and reprinted in newsletters and magazines of various organizations as the best example of planning for a project of this magnitude. It also became the basis for our own fund raising campaign as we asked people to sponsor one or more of the 379 separate tasks identified in the report. And many of you have responded generously to that appeal.

When I meet with the Board on Saturday one of the numbers I will share with them is $371,893.99. This is the amount we have raised in gifts and pledges since they approved Mike’s restoration plan and budget two years ago. I think this number is phenomenal since my memories of Mid-Continent include the knowledge that when I started working here twelve years ago annual contributions averaged approximately $20,000.

Another number I will share with them is $107,934.01. That is what we have left to raise in order to reach our campaign goal of $479,828. And I think that number is manageable for us to achieve before the end of the year.

Last week I shared a quote with you that raised the dirty work of grinding and welding on heartless metal to the status of a noble cause. At least in the mind of a very gracious donor and long time member who anxiously awaits the return of the Western Coal & Coke #1 to the glory days he remembers at Mid-Continent.

Since posting that message I have met with Mike Wahl to discuss the reality of our new found nobility. And my pragmatic self came away from our meeting thinking that my report to the Board on Saturday must contain the opinion that while $107,934.01 will reach the campaign goal, it will not mean the end of the campaign. There have been too many setbacks to allow us to stay within Mike’s original targeted budget for this project. Therefore more money needs to be raised.

That admission will come as a great disappointment to some, especially since the implication is that we may not meet our October deadline for completing the restoration. More money means more work to be done and more time needed in which to do it.

I hate to think that it will come as a shock to our directors since one of their agenda items on Saturday is the extension of my contract. But I truly believe that my ongoing obligation to finish this project will come at a much higher price than first projected. How much higher I cannot accurately say at this time. All I can promise is that there is no quit in the commitment to see this project through to a successful conclusion. And that may be as close to nobility as I can personally get.

By: Don Meyer, Manager

I have spent the two weeks since Snow Train trying to get caught up on all of the work I had set aside in preference for taking care of the details to ensure for a successful event. By the time I left the office this past Saturday, I was only one month behind in issuing receipts to our donors, two months behind on reconciling our bank accounts (but please don’t tell my Board of Directors about that), and hopelessly behind in answering the correspondence that has accumulated on my desk since early January.

The phone is my enemy in terms of the incoming calls, mostly phone solicitations, that bring with them the demand that I make a decision about something. And every decision is likely to have a dollar sign attached to it that will be recorded in our accounting system as a payable rather than a receivable.

So it is easy for me to feel sorry for myself these days as I drive to the office through a landscape that is covered under a snow monster that refuses to die, in temperatures that challenge the car to even start in the mornings let alone warm up enough during the drive to allow the heater to work sufficiently to warm me up a little.

I try to avoid the thought that the only people who are going to speak to me each day are the ones who are compelled to do so because they have a problem that needs to be resolved. And then there are those sales people on the phone again who have the answer to all my problems – for a fee.

The staff knows to leave me alone, or at least to minimize their contact with me during times like these. It’s something they know from experience. Or maybe their knowledge comes from peeking into my personnel file at the results of my personality test which says, “Mr. Meyer received an elevated score on the Excitable scale, suggesting that others may perceive him as moody, irritable, and hard to please.”

Why I ever agreed to take that test is beyond me. It must have come during the type of weak moment I do my best to conceal from the rest of the world.

As I said earlier I am now only one month behind in issuing my receipt-letters to our donors. This should come as good news since I was three months behind when I started. In fact I was virtually caught up when I got the last receipt in the mail for our January gifts. But the very next day February turned into March leaving me with all of our February donations to address yet and therefore one month behind again.

No wonder I have an elevated score on the Excitable scale. Who wouldn’t under these circumstances?

And then I open a letter from a life member, who has been involved with Mid-Continent so long that his member number is 36. There are very few surviving members with numbers any lower than that. So this is someone who has been around long enough to have seen it all, the days when we could simultaneously fire up five working steam locomotives and the days when we had to scramble to pay the light bill. And I am sure he has seen some days when we did both.

I know a little bit about his personal circumstances. The amount of his gift strikes me as being a substantial sacrifice on his part. His brief handwritten note is barely legible as he lets me know his gift is for the restoration of the Western Coal & Coke #1. But his words still manage to pierce through my self pity as he closes with the comment “Keep up the noble work.”

It is snowing again as I write this. It makes me think I should express my gratitude to this gentleman personally, to pay him a visit at his home to thank him for his kind words as well as his generous gift to the steam program. Admittedly he does live in a warmer climate than North Freedom. And it’s just about time for the bluebonnets to blossom, a sight I have not seen since I moved to Wisconsin nearly twenty years ago.

No doubt it would do me good to do a little donor nurturing. It is what they pay me for, after all. And it would give the office staff a reprieve from working with Mr. Excitable, a reward they certainly have earned after all of their hard work preparing for Snow Train.

By: Don Meyer, Manager

If you are a subscriber to TRAINS Magazine then you already know that there will be a special issue published this year featuring the top 150 operating steam locomotives in the country. It is a great disappointment for a story about steam operations at Mid-Continent not to be included in this prestigious company. We are, after all, dedicated to keeping alive the legacy of railroad’s Golden Age, which was predominantly steam powered.

We will be in the magazine, however. This was simply too important an opportunity to allow to pass by without staking a claim to being a credible venue for witnessing the variety of steam locomotive power. We have thirteen in our collection and three on their way to being restored to operating condition.

My subterfuge for placing Mid-Continent among the elite will come at a significant cost to our organization in the form of a full-page, four color ad. Paul Swanson has created a beautiful layout showing the Western Coal & Coke #1 in her former glory at the museum along with photos illustrating various aspects of the work being done as part of her resurrection.

The headline for the ad, as with this message, is Arriving Soon. And in the confines of the space allowed for a highly illustrated one page ad, we have added our own editorial as follows:

“Visitors to the Mid-Continent Railway Museum can wander down to the Engine House and witness a marvelous transformation taking place. A 1913 ten-wheeler, the Western Coal & Coke #1, is being reconstructed to take its place once again at the lead of the museum’s passenger consist.

“This project has required the combined talents of museum members, employees and contractors to guarantee more than just a repair. This is a restoration befitting Mid-Continent’s reputation for historic accuracy in returning vintage railroad equipment to operating condition.

“While everyone in steam operations works to comply with industry standards, at the Mid-Continent Railway Museum we strive to do more. Working from the original specifications and drawings we are undoing the quick fixes made by various owners over the years in order to achieve an authentic presentation for the benefit of museum guests.

“You can follow our progress by visiting our website at www.midcontinent.org. Or come to North Freedom and take your own look inside the Engine House for that rare glimpse at history being made.”

And look for us in that special edition of TRAINS, for this is the type of company we wish to keep in being an example of what can be achieved by people dedicated to the preservation of our railroad heritage.

One of the Snow Train traditions is the popularity of our dinner service. Both Friday and Saturday nights typically sell-out early and this year was no exception. The success of this program is likely due to the proximity of the event to Valentine’s Day. But there is also likely some allure in the prospect of dining on board a train at night, when you can imagine yourself traveling to some more fascinating destination than La Rue, WI.

This year we worked hard to augment the popularity of our dinner service by building up our other high-margin ticket, first class. We did this by making first class service the focus of our advertising both in broadcast and in print. We played up the role of Elite Catering, who handles the food preparation for our dinner service, in doing the same for first class. This was our “something new” to promote in paid ads and news releases with an invitation to treat one’s self to A little luxury at an affordable price.

The gamble, if there was one, was in ignoring the availability of the less expensive coach tickets in favor of first class. The strategy was to get people to inquire first about our first class service and then settle for coach if the first class ticket proved to be too expensive for them. And I think the strategy worked. First class sold out on all three trips on Saturday and reservations for Sunday were just a few seats shy of capacity without diminishing the number of people riding coach.

There is a monetary goal for me as manager in trying to generate this type of result. My performance, after all, is primarily evaluated on the basis of doing better than simply keeping the museum solvent. But I feel I have a moral obligation as well in making every event a success for all concerned.

Snow Train is an event which requires a lot of preparation before the first passenger sets foot on the property, followed by a lot of hard work while our guests are present and the trains are running, culminating in a lot of hard work to clean up after the last person has left. I owe a debt of gratitude to the many members and staff who commit countless hours of intense effort to the countless number of tasks needed to stage this thing. Delivering a quality product for them to take pride in is just as important as delivering a quality product to our guests who need to know they received value for their money.

Through two days we did just that. Overall attendance on Friday and Saturday exceeded last year’s two-day performance by 19%. We were on track to get back up to a respectable attendance level while amplifying gross receipts through the sell-out of our higher priced tickets. But this winter’s pattern of nasty weather changed the final outcome.

It is another Snow Train tradition that the train must run and run we did. When the storm hit on Sunday we kept to our schedule as advertised. Instead of the 600 passengers anticipated for the day, we had only 80. But those folks who did show up were rewarded with a rather impressive scene of a working train in near blizzard conditions. And whether or not they understood what they were part of, they were also witnessing what a train can do in deplorable conditions that a plane can not – operate as planned.

The final headcount for Snow Train 2008 will place this weekend in the bottom ranks of the thirty-three we have done to-date. On the other hand it will generate a lot of good stories from our members who were here and endured the wrath of Mother Nature; stories that will no doubt receive some embellishment with each retelling. Adding to the Snow Train legend is one of the consoling rewards of fulfilling a job well done even when the results are less than expected. I am pleased with all that we together achieved this year.

By: Don Meyer, Manager

The Snow Train legacy has made the seven days immediately prior to the event legendary. Stories abound about the difficulties faced in preparing for the museum’s most challenging days of train operations. This is true particularly among the old guard who were actively involved when we operated two steam locomotives for this event. They are the ones who perpetuate the memories of Mid-Continent’s mythical Hell Week.

In those days the steam locomotives were fired up and put to work early in the week in order to accomplish some much needed tasks: thawing out the water tower, plowing the line and heating the coaches. Of course once fired they needed to be hostled twenty-four hours a day, which required the dedicated services of a large volunteer labor pool.

Sitting in the cab of the Chicago & North Western #1385 during a long, cold February night became a rite of passage for every qualified volunteer (and some who were not so qualified). The subsequent complaining about the uncomfortable conditions and lack of sleep only served to mask what was truly a labor of love; one you could even boast about later during the warmer, summer months.

It was common in those days to have groups of volunteers come in from other rail museums to help out, particularly those that did not have an active steam program. Snow Train presented the type of challenge in which others wanted to participate. You might say that Mid-Continent thrived on “impressed” labor. The depot basement, whether legally or not, became a dorm room housing many of our out-of-state labor force, who ironically resembled the historic photos in our archives of previous immigrants come to seek a living on the railroad.

These days, however, the comparative ease of operating a diesel fleet has removed a lot of the misery out of Hell Week. The only real challenge is keeping the water in the cooling systems from freezing. This is done by keeping the engines in the Engine House at night, conveniently shut down to save on fuel, which has the added advantage of allowing the crews to shut down as well. No one is deprived of sleep. Even the water tower is shut down, now just an empty icon of the glory days of steam.

Still there is one part of the Hell Week tradition that tenaciously lives on and always will as long as we insist on running trains in winter. Track maintenance is still the most arduous winter task regardless of the type of motive power used. Picking out the flange ways at the crossings, cleaning the switches, plowing the line and inspecting the rail and joint-bars for damage, all must be done in order to perform the more glamorous duties of train operations safely. And this year’s weather has made this thankless task that much more difficult.

There is no machinery to compensate for the drudgery of the assignment, just tools and muscle. There is no locomotive cab or other shelter to sit in. Everything is done outdoors in whatever conditions the climate gives you. You are just as likely to find yourself bucking the wind as you are your tools. You work hard so you sweat, which adds its own form of torment as it stings the back of your neck in the freezing weather. At Mid-Continent our section gang (all two of them) has its own definition for the phrase “when Hell freezes over.”

This is not the message I had intended to post for this week’s web log. But I found myself on Saturday, sitting in my office and looking out the window as Dave Bierman and Dave Lee did the work I am simply describing in this message. It is feeble recognition for their hard work but recognition well deserved nonetheless.

If asked, no doubt both Daves would prefer that I pick up a shovel and “recognize” their efforts by lending a helping hand with removing the snow that has accumulated at the crossings since they performed the same tasks for the Boy Scout’s Santa Train in early December. But another part of Hell Week is the distance management keeps from the physical labor. It gives today’s volunteer something to complain about.

Next week I will share our Snow Train results with you and describe what we did in an attempt to improve the attendance at our oldest and in some ways most venerable event.

By: Don Meyer, Manager

It is the first week in February, which means we are only a few days away from our next major event. Snow Train is the oldest of our special event weekends. Started in 1976, the purpose was to generate much needed revenue during the off-season. Its success became the impetus for creating our other special events beginning with Autumn Color and then adding the Santa Express and Pumpkin Special weekends.

Records show that Snow Train’s popularity peaked at slightly more than 3,800 passengers in 1990. At that time and up until 2000 we ran two trains in order to accommodate the number of people in attendance.

Another accommodation to the number of people visiting (and overwhelming) our modest venue was to make it a three-day event. This allowed us to provide coach service on Friday, which took some pressure off of Saturday’s sold-out trains. Friday night also provided the opportunity to host a second dinner train as Saturday night dinner was a guaranteed sell-out, as it is to this day.

For those of you who might have been with us in those good old days, you may recall that Snow Train was also the occasion of two photo opts; a plow train Friday morning and a night photo session that evening. Both were eventually discontinued. The plow train because we haven’t had a plow (or much snow) to showcase the past several years. The night photo session due to the lack of a steamer to make those night time winter scenes something worth braving the cold for in order to capture that special image.

This year the volunteers in the Operating Department are anxious to return to some of our prior glory. You will find a second train operating Saturday and Sunday, running about ten minutes behind the advertised departures. The consist will be a mix of freight equipment, our DM&IR caboose C-74, and our 1906 Great Northern first class coach #3261.

Tickets can be purchased specifically to ride in the GN coach. Just call the museum office and let us know your preference for the mixed train rather than the advertised one. The fares are the same: $13 for an adult and $8 for a child (ages 3-12). Heat will be provided by the two coal-burning stoves. Dress warm.

Snow Train attendance has dropped well below the other special event weekends. For the past two years we have averaged about 1,500 passengers over the three-day period. So next week I will write about other changes that are being implemented to revitalize this, our oldest special event. And in two weeks I’ll report on this year’s attendance to let you know the results of our efforts.

In the meantime, please do not pray for snow. We have more than enough.