Mid-Continent Railway Museum Blog

By: Don Meyer, Manager

At the railway museum we always seem to be fascinated with numbers. Not dollars and cents so much, except for me, but things like the number of passengers we carry.

I have reported to you in the past that this is the one number we have faithfully tracked throughout all the years of our train operations. It is how we tend to measure our success, which means that Mid-Continent is the perennial loser in the popularity contest when matched against other attractions in our area. But that is a story for another time.

Lately I have been thinking about the effect numbers have on what we do or more appropriately how we represent to the public what we do. For example the number 35 figures prominently in our promotions for this year’s Snow Train because this will be the 35th year for this event.

That is a striking realization when you consider that the whole point behind Snow Train’s inception, as legend would have it, was simply to generate some much needed revenue during the museum’s off-season. We evidently carried enough passengers that year (and made enough money) to consider the event a success. The instigators who came up with the idea of playing trains in the dead of winter probably also had some much needed fun doing it, so we have continued the saga right down to this coming weekend.

“35th Annual” makes for a convenient headline when faced with the responsibility of writing this year’s news release for timely distribution to the media. Throw in a few other numbers like departure times, dates and fares and you have the makings of a perfectly sensible and traditional piece of information.

But I think this number has something more to reveal when you modify it by the addition of a single word, consecutive. To me this increases the appeal of a few lifeless digits by implying something about the commitment our members have made to keep this event going. Even the flood in 2008 could not defeat their determination to run in ’09.

It is in appreciating the human element behind the number which prompted me to take a little risk in writing this year’s news release. Instead of hyping the public’s experience when riding the train, I opted to share some insights about the members’ experience and what they will gain when preparing for and hosting this major event.

Whether it gets published or how many people will read it are factors that are out of my hands. What I attempted to contribute to this year’s event was the recognition and honor our members deserve who have participated in anyway towards making it the 35th in an unbroken line of success; something of which we can all be proud of and enjoy.

Those of you who are on our e-mail distribution list do not need to read any further as you have already received our announcement based on our Snow Train news release. But for those of you who are curious to see how well I did in fulfilling my role as promoter for a premiere Mid-Continent tradition, please read on. And then join us in person or via the web cams for another excursion on board our oldest and only uninterrupted special event.

Snow Train: A Special Time For Passengers And Volunteers

(North Freedom, Wisconsin) – The Mid-Continent Railway Museum’s 35th annual Snow Train is ready to run, February 12-14 with 50-minute train rides through a rural part of Sauk County that will showcase all of winter’s charm as well as its challenges.

“The hardships of winter railroading demonstrate how brutal it can be on men and equipment” says Jeff Bloohm, the museum’s president and a volunteer crew member since 1982.

While passengers will ride in the comfort of steam-heated coaches built in the early 1900s, the train crews will work in whatever conditions Mother Nature offers over this three-day event.

Keeping the passengers warm and comfortable is the responsibility of the Steam Heat Crew, led by Ed Ripp, a volunteer from Mazomanie. “Heating the cars with steam requires many people,” he explains. “It will take at least 20 people working in four-hour shifts to prepare and operate the boiler around the clock.”

Insulated coveralls will be the standard uniform for Ed and his crew as they baby-sit the boiler and monitor steam-heat connections between coaches from early Friday morning until the trains stop running Sunday evening.

On the more glamorous side Ron Kokemuller and his crew will dress in stylish attire appropriate for their work in Dining Services. “Snow Train is one of the few times during the year when we provide food service,” he explains. “And railroad tradition requires us to dress as if we were the wait staff in one of the finest hotels to be found anywhere in the country.”

Mid-Continent’s dinner service both Friday and Saturday night has been sold out for several weeks. “The romance of dining on board a train makes this a popular ticket item during the Valentine weekend,” Ron confides.

Space is still available Saturday and Sunday afternoons for the museum’s first class service. The complimentary hors ‘doeuvres served during the ride are prepared by Elite Catering of Baraboo, the one paid crew position on board the train.

“Members who volunteer to serve on the train crews,” President Bloohm says, “look forward to this event as much as our guests do. Some will even schedule their vacation time so that they can be at the museum the entire week to help as needed.”

The museum’s volunteers will converge on tiny North Freedom from each state in the upper Midwest. But one member who does not have far to travel is Kelly Bauman, a Baraboo resident who serves as the museum’s Superintendent of Operations. It is his crew in their three-piece suits, who the passengers will see most often as they serve in the positions of conductor and trainmen.

“I enjoy the challenges and rewards of working with a great group of people,” Bauman says. “Despite the hard work, it’s fun to be able to demonstrate a way of life that few people see anymore, but helped shape our modern world.”

Part of that demonstration this year will be the operation of a second train that Bauman calls a mixed freight. “The type of lower traffic branch line that we represent combined both passenger coaches and freight cars to avoid the cost of running multiple trains.”

The advantage to Mid-Continent’s guests is that they can ride on board this second train in either a 1906 wooden coach built for the Great Northern Railway or a 1924 caboose which ran on the Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range Railroad. Both will be heated by coal-burning stoves, another type of educational experience that will fascinate a general public use to the comforts of central heat.

Train fares vary with several departures times scheduled each day. The adult coach ticket is $16; children ages 3-12 is $10. Children two years of age and under ride free. The caboose fare is $18 for an adult and $11 for children ages 3-12. And a first class ticket is $35 per person, with no discount for children. Reservations are encouraged as seating is limited for each class of ticket.

For more information about departure times or to make a reservation you can call the museum’s toll free number 800-930-1385 or visit their web site at www.midcontinent.org.

From Baraboo, take Highway 136 west four miles to Highway PF and turn left, then two miles to the village of North Freedom. The museum is located one half mile west of the four-way stop.

The Mid-Continent Railway Historical Society, Inc. is a private, not-for-profit corporation founded in 1959 to preserve the Golden Age of railroad history for the upper Midwest. Membership is open to anyone interested in supporting the mission.

By: Don Meyer, Manager

One of my annual writing assignments – admittedly self-imposed – is to draft a statement nominating Mid-Continent as Sauk County’s business of the year. There are actually three businesses that will win the award, but only one non-profit organization and it has yet to be us. To ease my workload this week I have conveniently adapted that narrative as my web log message. But it is also a convenient way for me to state to a much broader audience why I enjoy being the front man for our historical society. This will also give you the opportunity to post a comment stating why you think Mid-Continent should win the award. Have fun.

A. Recent Significant Business Accomplishments

Our greatest achievement last year was our return to full operating condition after having been closed for much of 2008. The extensive damage inflicted on our facility by the June flooding required repairs to all of our buildings, equipment and track before trains could safely run again. This work was sufficiently completed in time for Mid-Continent to stage its annual Snow Train weekend in February 2009, although there is still work to be done before we can lay claim to a complete recovery.

We opened our summer season on Mother’s Day weekend, which coincided with the 50th anniversary of our founding as a historical society. We were able to fulfill our daily operating schedule and host our fall special events, the Autumn Color and Pumpkin Special weekends. Our attendance figures from February through October exceeded those of 2007, our last full year of operation.

Mid-Continent’s fiscal year ends October 31 and our financial situation reflected the same positive results as our attendance figures. The audit report presented to our board of directors at its annual meeting in December confirmed our seventh consecutive year of net asset growth. The audit opinion rendered by the accounting firm of Wegner, LLC was our customary clean opinion. Our small administrative staff was also pleased with the commendation we received about the quick turnaround time that occurred from the close of our fiscal year through the presentation of the report to the board of directors, a span of a mere seven weeks.

The new fiscal year begins November 1, making our Santa Express weekend the first event in our operating schedule. The trend for positive news continued as the 2009 event was the best attended ever. What we have become aware of in our interactions with our guests is that this event has the highest rate of repeat visits for anything we do. We attribute this to its occurrence during the Thanksgiving weekend, allowing us to be part of the annual holiday celebration for many area families. We also enjoy the popularity of an outstanding Santa, aka Baraboo resident Roger Larson.

We continue to keep our members, donors and the general public informed of our activities through our various publications. Fortunately this is an aspect of our operation that the flood was not able to hinder. Most of the work is done by Mid-Continent members who volunteer their services to generate a quarterly magazine, The Railway Gazette, a quarterly newsletter, The Steamer!, as well as our annual Whistle on the Wind calendar.

Beyond simply reporting what we do, we also share the rationale behind these activities through our weekly series of web log messages. The content is created by our general manager, who serves in the capacity of a chief administrative officer. The purpose is to make the management of Mid-Continent as transparent as possible to the largest audience possible as free as possible. The manager’s insights are available to anyone who can access the internet and are provided in a format that allows people to openly respond by posting their own comments to each week’s message. The interchange has proven to be very valuable to us as it fosters a sense of trust among those who care about how we operate; trust being the basis for our success at generating revenue through charitable gifts.

The impact of these gifts could be visibly measured in two important restoration projects that were completed this year. The first was the reopening of our Chicago & North Western depot built in 1894 to serve the community of Abelmans, now known as Rock Springs. The depot is where all of our guests begin their railroad journey, just as our predecessors did when the depot was in active service on the C&NW route. It sustained heavy damage during the flood, requiring extensive replacement of all the interior wood, including walls, floors and doors. The depot was opened in time for the start of our summer season at a cost in excess of $120,000. Eighty-percent of this amount was received in the form of a single bequest from an heir who wanted her father’s gift to produce something of lasting value for our museum.

Our other great restoration project arrived in December as an appropriate end to the calendar year. The Badger 2 is the sole-surviving fish-stocking car. It was built in 1912 by the Pullman Company for the then Wisconsin Fish Commission, known to us today as the Department of Natural Resources. The Badger 2 was the subject of the largest fund raising campaign in Mid-Continent’s history, set at $950,000.

The size of the goal reflected our decision to also make this the fastest restoration project in our history by contracting with an outside firm to do the work in one year at their own facility. The Badger 2 was transported by truck to Avalon Rail, Inc. in West Allis in November 2008 and returned to us this past December. The total cost to-date, with a few details remaining to be done by Mid-Continent members, is $1.1 million. Additional donations and the interest earned on the accumulated funds allowed us to exceed budget for this important project. Our goal now is to nominate the car for the National Register of Historic Places. If successful, it would become the second piece in our collection to receive this designation; the Chicago & North Western steam locomotive No. 1385 being the first.

The Badger 2 set another high-water mark for Mid-Continent. Its restoration was filmed by Kailuna Productions, an independent company based in Sausilito, CA. Our railroad car is scheduled to be one subject for their series entitled “Ultimate Restorations” which is intended to air later this year, bringing further notoriety to the restoration work of our historical society.

B. Contributions to Enhance the Community

Our adversity proved to be a boon to local contractors during a downturn in the economy. Flush with donations and loan proceeds from the Small Business Administration to assist with our flood repairs, we were able to provide work for various companies in the rebuild of our facility. What we discovered during this time is that we received great service as contractors were motivated to help us, as a local non-profit, to recover and at the same time to keep their own staff employed.

We made a conscious choice to expand our use of discounts to the general public as a means to make our program more affordable during a time of severe economic recession. We did this primarily through the broad distribution of coupons which offered a buy-one, get-one free promotion. We were often the recipient of compliments from folks who had to cut back or eliminate their vacation plans and were grateful that we were making our venue available to them.

For the North Freedom residents we have had a policy of giving the grade school children free train rides before the end of the school year. In 2009 we used the community’s newsletter to extend an invitation to all North Freedom residents to ride the train free and to bring any guests they might have visiting them during the summer months. Our hope was to build a closer bond with those who live in the immediate vicinity of our operation and give them the chance to take pride of ownership in what we believe to be one of the best operating railroad museums in the country.

This was the third year for our Gandy Dancer Festival, a free day-long bluegrass musical event held off-site as an outreach program for the museum. During the first two years we were able to offer free train rides as well, courtesy of the Wisconsin & Southern Railroad. But their own cutbacks forced us to make changes to our program so we expanded our children’s activities to include free hay wagon rides and a mini-train provided by a local Lions Club. The only cost to the public was for the food service provided by local civic and church groups as a fund raising opportunity for their various activities.

Our commitment to keep things free or as low-cost as possible was based on the simple fact that we know what it is like to be down and in need of a helping hand. We survived the flood with the generous support of others and the determination to perpetuate five decades of work by our volunteer-members who have made the experience at the museum a viable cultural attraction.

We provide volunteer opportunities at every level of our operation. Most of the work is done by members of our historical society, but this is not exclusive as anyone who shows an interest in our preservation efforts can participate, even to the extent of serving on our board of directors.

The most extensive roles volunteers play traditionally have been as members of the train crew, for which we provide training programs to cover each position on board the train, and in the restoration of our equipment. In the case of our wooden car collection, the members’ work has garnered several awards for both quality and historic accuracy, setting a standard that is well respected within the broader rail preservation community.

There are some situations that go beyond the norm and require special consideration in making a volunteer opportunity possible. One of these situations involved a member by the name of Fred Reardon, who found a meaningful place at the museum serving as our crossing guard. His role here was a challenge as he was limited in his abilities to perform such a task. But the other members involved in train operations took great care to watch out for Fred to make sure he was always safe in performing a duty he dearly loved.

With his passing in November we were asked by his caregivers to provide Fred with one last train ride. So as part of his funeral service, the casket bearing Fred’s body was brought down to the museum and loaded on board one of our coaches for a ride out to the yard limits and back. Crew members who had worked with Fred took time off from their jobs and attended that day in uniform as something of a railroad’s version of an honor guard.

An account of this event was the subject of one of our weekly web log messages, paying tribute to Fred’s memory, while recognizing the sacrifice our members made in making this final event meaningful for Fred’s family and friends. The story was picked up by other web sites and shared around the rail fan community. It consequently elicited a response that was posted on the web site for the Railway Preservation News. The closing line by a writer who remains unknown to us characterized Fred’s involvement with us as a sign that “Mid-Continent is a class act in so many ways; this is one of them.”

It is therefore an honor to submit this nomination to the Sauk County Development Corporation on behalf of the many members, donors and guests of the Mid-Continent Railway Historical Society, Inc.

By: Don Meyer, Manager

Change is inevitable. No matter how hard we resist the earth is still going to rotate on its axis, making the sun to seemingly rise along the eastern horizon; an illusion that has the devastating effect of leaving each of us one day older and nursing a sense of longing for how things were.

The good old days are deemed to be good because they contain that one essential ingredient, they are old. With the passage of time the problems we endured tend to be shredded from our memory until what has passed takes on that same illusory attraction we revere in the beauty of a sunrise.

But that kind of sustained reverence can become a self-indulgence no manager can linger with for long and still be effective in shaping the future of the organization in which he is employed. At some point pragmatism must take control and take care in order for the simple routine of business to be completed in its own timely fashion.

We are back to business as usual this week with the publication of the winter edition of our newsletter. The “as usual” aspect of issue No. 115 can be seen in the familiar layout featuring the image of a steam locomotive in the upper left hand corner and the header announcing the arrival of The Steamer! (I never realized until now that there is an exclamation point in that name).

The content, however, contains the evidence that once again change has come to Mid-Continent. The first indication is in small, italicized print that most readers will likely overlook since we tend to ignore the boilerplate information in preference for the news and the prospect that our own name might be mentioned somewhere in the text. But that small print is a good indicator of the change that has come to our communications team as it impacts the content of this newsletter and potentially our magazine and web site.

The person given credit as editor is a new volunteer, Chad Szymanski. This young man walked into my office one day intent on selling me airtime on the radio station he works for in Mauston. He left with a new appreciation for what we do as a rail preservation society and a promise to volunteer in any way he could that would benefit those efforts.

Our need has been to recruit help with our publications following the retirement of our long-time volunteer editor, Paul Swanson, who was himself a replacement following the retirement of another long-time volunteer editor, Jim Neubauer. “Nuggets By Neubs” was a staple of the newsletter when I arrived at Mid-Continent, but who preceded Jim I don’t know. What I can attest to is that with each transition in the editor’s position the use of the newsletter has changed to reflect the sense of purpose each man has brought to his role as a proponent of the museum.

Chad’s professional experience made him a natural fit for a communications function. His inexperience with Mid-Continent has given us the opportunity to use his emerging awareness of who we are and what we do to give a fresh perspective in reporting on the volunteer activities that drive our organization. The content of this and future newsletters will therefore balance two themes: the acknowledgement of work done as a means to express our appreciation for the value our volunteers add to our many programs and as a recruitment tool to encourage others to participate and extend our growth as a cultural asset in the communities we serve.

So when you read about the success of this year’s Santa Express, we hope you will be influenced by our announcements about the need for volunteers to assist with Snow Train or the opportunity to register for the next Brakemen’s Training Class. On the other hand the article by Stan Searing makes an excellent case for the educational opportunities at the museum. And I know that with the recent mailing of the membership renewal forms, Nancy Miller included an option for volunteering to do administrative tasks in our office. Opportunities abound for anyone who wants to be involved and with them come the chances of seeing your name in print in a future issue of The Steamer! (exclamation point noted).

Saturday night I had the pleasure of attending a musical performance by Laurie Lewis. She and her band, the Right Hands, had performed at our second Gandy Dancer Festival in 2008. But this time she was performing as part of a duo with her long-time partner and mandolin virtuoso, Tom Rozum. Near the end of the evening they did a song written by Kate Long which asked:

Who will watch the home place?
Who will tend my heart’s dear space?
Who will fill my empty place, when I am gone from here?

These are not the words we associate with the life we tend to foster and emulate of the hard-bitten railroad man. So maybe you had to be there to hear the many voices of those in the audience who sang along with Laurie and Tom in order to identify with this rather plaintive desire to know what is going to happen to the things we love when we are no longer here to shelter them. But I do think they reflect what is true about the generations of people who have labored to make Mid-Continent a leader as an operating railroad museum. It is a home to many of us. It is dear in its influence on our sense of purpose. And we fear that it will be left empty once we are gone.

Chad is still a member of a team and in that relationship there is a balance between the old and the new, fostering innovation in the context of stability. This will be the way forward for us given that change is inevitable and we long to find a way to shape the transition without appearing to reject the past. More appropriately we must pay tribute to those who laid the foundation on which others like Chad can build in order to exploit each new circumstance confronting our organization.

And by the way, we are on the air in Mauston – daily.

By: Don Meyer, Manager

This time last year I was writing about the preparations taking place for Snow Train 2009 as we attempted to get ready for our first full-fledged return to operations since the flood. Daily temperatures were in the double-digits below zero, adding to the difficulties of doing the work on both the coaches and our one functioning diesel within the confines of our limited shop space.

What a difference a year makes. Temperatures this week are forecast to be not just above zero but above freezing. There is even a chance of rain later on this week. And where a year ago our volunteers spent the entire month of January making repairs in anticipation of hosting our oldest special event, talk this year is much more casual. We will likely not see any serious volunteer activity until the week before the trains are scheduled to run.

The relative quiet is a sign of the progress we have made in getting back to normal, which is good. Our members, who volunteer to do the bulk of the work for these special events, need a break as a type of reward for what they have accomplished over these past several months. It has been a long haul for them, and all of it up hill.

It leaves me, however, with very few stories to tell. The source for most of these web log messages has come from the wealth of interactions that take place almost daily around the museum. I say almost since now with the relative ease of what it will take to be ready for Snow Train those interactions tend to be strictly between me and the papers that ceaselessly appear upon my desk regardless of the season. And I doubt anyone wants to read about the subsequent tasks of filling out forms and then filing them away for future reference, if any.

That is why I am left with this confession. It is the result of the sole conversation I had with a Mid-Continent member who was in the office last week to talk with Nancy, our one full-time staff member. As she was busy taking a reservation, my guest was stuck passing the time with me as he waited to conduct the business he was really there for.

The conversation inevitably turned to the steam program. I was actually feeling pretty confident about the report I was able to offer with regards to the imminent return of the boiler for the Saginaw Timber Company No. 2. And that is when the violation occurred for which I must now offer this confession.

Apparently in all of the work that has taken place to remediate the flood damage we have inadvertently made the declaration that we will never operate a coal burning locomotive at North Freedom ever again. The evidence can be found in the absence of a conveyor we previously used for loading coal into a locomotive’s tender.

The conveyor found its way to the scrap yard, an intentional act though unheralded as all things Mid-Continent have an elite status of being irreplaceable no matter how derelict. So we tend to keep some of our actions in the art of disposal as discreet as possible in order to avoid such prosaic conclusions as my guest had drawn. But those of us who were burdened with battling this beast in order to make it conform to our desire of moving coal from ground level up to a satisfactory height where it could tumble into the hold of a tender viewed the departure as a blessing. Each breakdown struck us as a willful act of defiance and the flood did nothing to improve the machine’s disposition.

The guilt for this act of attrition was laid at the feet of our president, which I found amusing since it afforded me the rare opportunity to avoid taking the blame. My response was an anemic smile and a change of topics. At the same time I was harboring a silent wish that Nancy would terminate her phone call and allow my friend to finish his business with us as well.

But now my conscience has gotten the better of me and I must take this opportunity to set the record straight. After all, I do need something to write about this week.

I did it! I and I alone authorized the dismantling and disposal of the beloved conveyor, plus the under-car unit and electric motors tied to its miserable existence. It netted us pittance in return as far as money is concerned, so my decision was clearly not meant to be a pecuniary act. Rather it was an attempt to strike a blow for freedom, to borrow a phrase once popularized by President Harry Truman when referring to his propensity to drink whiskey despite his staunch Baptist upbringing.

When the day comes that we are ready to operate a coal-burning steam locomotive you will find that the place once occupied by our now revered conveyor will have a new resident, something more reliable and in compliance with current standards for storage and containment.

This is in keeping with the strategy we have pursued since the flood forced us to assess the condition of our entire facility. Each step in the repair or replacement process has consistently reinforced the belief that we are not here to make do but to make better, even if it means the loss of a seemingly treasured symbol of the museum’s good old days.

May it and the story of its demise rest in peace, at last.

By: Don Meyer, Manager

This past week I had the joy of being away from the office. But thanks to today’s technology one can never be away from one’s work. Mid-Continent followed me everywhere on my brief vacation via access to the internet and my cell phone.

The messages that filtered back and forth between me and my pursuers attest to the never ending realities of business at the museum. It may also have been the consequence of some envy on their part as I was in a beautiful place, free of snow and freezing temperatures, and they wanted to be.

The exchanges were necessary and demanded attention despite the distance between North Freedom and my not so reclusive hideaway on the west coast. Our priorities are now set, however, and this is what you can expect to see or read about in the weeks leading up to our opening in May.

Snow Train is just a month away. Preparations for this event are typically greater than those at any other time in our operating cycle as we add snow removal to the list of tasks to perform. One piece of good news is that dinner service for both Friday and Saturday nights is already sold out without our having distributed one piece of advertising beyond our special event brochure. What will please me even further is to be able to report to you later that our first class service has sold out as well.

The good news for you steam fans is that the work on the boiler for the Saginaw Timber Company No. 2 is nearly complete. In a meeting held this past Saturday, plans were tentatively made to move the boiler from Milwaukee to North Freedom some time after our Snow Train weekend. This should provide everyone with an entertaining show via the web cam (provided it is working that day) as the boiler will be placed on the running gear and spotted in the Engine House to allow further work to take place in the relative comfort of being indoors.

We applied for and received a $360,000 “grant” from the Revolving Loan Fund, a program administered by the county. The money is for flood repairs, principally to reconstruct our depot platform and resurfacing the right-of-way. As with any government program there are a couple of strings attached.

First it is a reimbursement program, so we will have to spend money before we receive money, which is always a nifty trick any manager would prefer to avoid if at all possible. Second the grant is technically a loan; a forgivable loan. This means that 20% of the loan will be forgiven each year that we continue to operate in Sauk County. Since we do not intend to move our tracks anywhere else, in five years the loan will be transformed into a grant, which is what I prefer to call it anyway.

In the context of making flood repairs, last fall we sent the trucks for the Milwaukee Road No. 988 RSC-2 diesel to a shop for repairs to the motors and whatever defects may be uncovered during that process. We anticipate their return to take place in May. In the meantime we are about halfway to our fund raising goal for matching the $30,000 challenge grant to pay for this project. You will no doubt hear me say more about this campaign as we draw closer to the deadline. Hopefully it will be to report on a successful conclusion.

The expansion into Mazomanie remains a hot topic, for me at least. The task before me right now is to draft a business plan for the further development of our temporary exhibit housed there in the Parman Building. The plan will be presented to the Board of Directors for consideration at their March meeting.

You have seen in prior web log messages the significance I place on this expansion as a compatible operation with what we already have in place at North Freedom. It is a project I equate with Mid-Continent’s survival, so every effort will be made to make this as compelling a project as I can in order to obtain the Board’s approval. More about this later.

All these things come with huge price tags associated with them. And these are just the short term priorities confronting us as we prepare for a new season. I have already gone on record that the financial need for our organization is to raise $3,500,000 annually. That roughly translates into $10,000 per day, every day, including vacations. I best get busy.

This is not what I had in mind when I wrote last week’s message about life at Mid-Continent. But the passing of a member who had a profound impact on my work here puts me in that same reflective mood as the passing of a year and it gives me another opportunity to illustrate the point that people – their ideas as well as their actions – infuse the organization with a vitality that propels us towards the fulfillment of our ambitions.

Eliot Keller was just such a person. His death last week was made all the sadder by the fact that someone as active and vocal as he was had been in a slow decline for more than a year from the effects of what we conveniently call Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Eliot was diagnosed in August 2008. True to his nature he let his co-workers know about his condition by showing them a photo of the famous baseball player and stating that he and Gehrig now had something in common. The humor in his announcement is obvious to those who knew him as Eliot did not resemble in any way the Iron Man of baseball. It was simply the illness that created the bond between them.

I met Eliot during my first tenure as Mid-Continent’s manager. He was not actively involved then as his own work, managing two radio stations in Iowa, kept him busy. But it was his occupation that impacted my work when I returned to the museum in 2003.

Eliot was finishing up his term on our Board of Directors and he was still a member of the strategic planning committee, so our paths crossed more often. During one of those casual meetings I asked his opinion about the press release I was preparing for one of our special events. That is when the lecture came that has since defined Eliot Keller for me.

I learned that day that it is not a press release. It is a news release. A press release is strictly for the print media, and more specifically for newspapers. A news release covers all mediums, including Eliot’s beloved broadcast media of radio. My personal chastisement impacted all of Mid-Continent as from that day forward those of us on the Communications Team issued only news releases, regardless of who wrote them.

Another tidbit of information imparted to me during the lecture was the use of quotes. You can never have enough of them. It seems news people of every medium like quotes, especially those that come from the general public who benefit from the services we are providing. Endorsements, it seems, are inspirational even when you have to make them up and we have not been above this sort of artful flummery in drafting as compelling a news piece as possible.

This is a skill in which I am not alone. Although it is not my place to confess others’ sins, I will admit that it has been fairly common for the people writing the news releases to make Mid-Continent’s President or its Superintendent of Operations sound quite eloquent when talking about museum events. And I will attest to this innocent act of deception as being acceptable since it is all for a good cause. Besides, Eliot would see the humor in it.

We have proven to be quite successful at following his advice as we have often received compliments from the media about the quality of our news releases. And this has proven to be especially true of the newspaper people, who have published our copy with few if any editorial changes, thanks to Eliot.

Anything said or written about him must be light-hearted. Otherwise he would be upset. It was strictly in his nature to see the humor in every situation. Even when he went public about his condition it had to been tinged with his dark sense of humor. And if I could tell a good joke at his expense right now I would, for his would be the heartiest laugh heard if he were present to partake in the fun.

Others knew Eliot much better than I did and are more worthy of providing the type of insights into his character that form a more appropriate tribute to his life and accomplishments. It is enough for me to say that he shaped our understanding of how we share the news about Mid-Continent, which has had an impact that will last long after his active role with us has ceased.

For those of you who knew Eliot Keller in any of his various incarnations as businessman or rail fan, I would invite you to share your memories with the rest of us by posting a comment to this web log message. And have a little fun in the telling for you know that he would like that.

By: Don Meyer, Manager

The last Monday in December is a significant milestone for me. On this day in 2005 I posted my first web log message. Prior to that time my opinion of bloggers had been that they were hopelessly narcissistic, using the web to share intimate details of their lives with an invisible audience; invisibility being an important aspect of the process since it allowed for the delusion that the audience was also appreciative of receiving the information.

My opinion started to change once I became aware that the business world was beginning to make use of the bloggers’ once exclusive domain in order to reach that audience (understood to mean prospective customer) with insights into corporate policy. Suddenly a web log took on the appeal of being a useful management tool. For up until then anything I wrote was subject to an editor’s filter before being printed in our members’ magazine, newsletter or web site. Here at last was a chance to establish my own voice and, admittedly, indulge my own sense of narcissism but for a greater cause.

I appealed to the one co-webmaster, who I thought would be sympathetic to my idea of opening up to public view “management’s perspective on Mid-Continent’s operations.” And I guessed right. Now, four years later, I must once again express my continuing debt of gratitude to Pat Weeden for providing the technological know-how in creating this virtual forum.

The first message established three principles for governing the content of all that would follow: transparency, vision and accountability. And true to my accountant’s mindset what followed was pretty dry stuff as I wrote about our financial policies, marketing strategy, and other management essentials in an attempt to establish trust in our methods and ambitions for the organization.

The museum’s continued growth during the years these weekly messages have appeared has proven, in my mind at least, that the concept is a successful one. Readers have had access to plenty of inside information as we have revealed the inner workings of our operation in an attempt to remain faithful to those three guiding principles. But the content has changed in one aspect which I can only describe as the manner in which the information is shared.

What I have found that resonates most with people are the stories about people, not the logic of implementing a new process nor the numbers that measure an idea’s success or failure. And the more immersed I have become in the mechanics of our operation, the more capable I have become in telling the stories that reveal the life of our organization.

These stories are populated by museum guests, members and donors who shape our existence. For it is people, after all, who make every aspect of our operation come to life in the fulfillment of our mission as a rail preservation society.

The topics you will read about as we embark on the fifth year of these weekly messages will remain the same as in prior years. This is simply a reflection of the fact that the challenges before us have not changed. There is still work to do in our flood recovery efforts, the return of steam power, the restoration of our collection, and the need to appeal to a public that has lost contact with railroads as an important piece of our history as well as being a driving force in our current economic system.

If I do my job right, then you will receive more than just the facts and figures of our operation and hopefully find yourselves engaged by the intimate details of life at the Mid-Continent Railway Museum.

If I have done my job well, then you will find in the telling that there is a place for you in what I believe to be a truly vibrant operation, well worth investigating from the inside out. For if the blogger can change in his approach to drafting these messages, then so can the audience by shedding its cloak in invisibility.

Here you have the chance to infuse a new vitality into the life of our museum by playing a role as a member, guest or donor. And the wonder of it all is that you can do it on line. Thank you, Pat Weeden, for making it all possible.

Happy New Year, everyone.

By: Don Meyer, Manager

I have used this web log as a tool these past four years to make the management of this organization transparent to anyone who cares to take the time to read these messages. It has made us accountable as an organization, and me more specifically as its manager, for the decisions made and the actions taken that shape the quality of our image and define our value to the public to whom we have dedicated ourselves in the preservation of our railway heritage.

It is easy in a membership to society to lose sight of the fact that we are here to benefit the general public on whom we rely for support through ticket and gift shop purchases, donations and the endorsement of our many programs to their family and friends. The natural tendency is to place the member first and devolve into a by the member, for the member mindset which is at odds with the greater promise of our mission statement.

Something as simple as making a trip to North Freedom to reposition the web cam in time for everyone interested to witness the unloading of the Badger 2 is an example of the right type of devotion to our mission. It was a sacrifice made by a member that reached beyond the boundaries of our membership roster in its service delivery to an audience which we know from our web statistics is international in scope.

The arrival of the fish car was a compelling sight that overshadowed the individual effort which made the real-time viewing from remote locations possible. But it did not go totally unnoticed or unappreciated. Many of you sent me messages expressing the vicarious thrill of being part of the experience thanks to the placement of the web cam.

Something you were not privy to, but exemplifies the same concept of service, took place Saturday afternoon at the annual Board of Directors’ meeting. One by one the directors shared, as the first order of business, what they had done since the prior meeting to improve Mid-Continent’s financial position and its stature in the eyes of the general public as an operating rail museum.

Listening to the various reports it brought to mind that fourteen years ago at one of my first Board meetings, the museum’s president tried to introduce this very same concept of director accountability. He was soundly rebuffed for his efforts. On Saturday I could not help but feel a sense of pride for the transformation that has taken place as I heard reports of presentations made, brochures distributed, donations sought and donations given. It gave me the impression that a quiet revolution had taken place in the way we intend to conduct business; a change that I think reveals the courage of those who want Mid-Continent to be viewed as something other than a good old boys club.

On Saturday the directors also received the independent auditor’s report stating that our financial house is indeed in order. This should continue to give everyone involved with the museum the assurance that their investment in us is being handled with the greatest sense of integrity. But just as important as the auditor’s stamp of approval was the confidence most of our directors exhibited in one another by laying bare their own behavior in attempting to fulfill their role as caretakers of Mid-Continent’s image.

A strong majority of the directors voted to renew my contract for 2010. I am deeply grateful for their confidence in me as the museum’s general manager. But more than that, I am proud to occupy merely one of the leadership positions in an organization that is taking its mission seriously. We are a service provider proving to be worthy of our patrons’ support, whether they be members of our historical society or just casual visitors to the grounds or to the web.

This is the way forward to seeing more of our collection restored, our steamers put in operating condition, our infrastructure made sound, and the development of new programs to attract the attention of another generation of rail fans. As we depart 2009 we are bringing to a close the 50th anniversary of our founding. We are also saying yes to the challenges facing us between now and a centennial celebration most of us will not live to see, but will profoundly affect by the quality of our performance now.

Here’s to another 50 years.

By: Don Meyer, Manager

This week the Badger 2 fish-stocking car makes it way back from West Allis to North Freedom amidst the scenery that is tailor-made for any yuletide event. Unfortunately this is not the type of occasion one wants to commemorate with the visual effects of a romp through a winter’s wonderland. Sleigh bells may be ringing but I am more concerned about the possibly of the lights and sirens of emergency vehicles coming to our aid.

The beauty of this Christmas card landscape has already required several hours of prep work at the museum in order to be ready for the B2’s arrival. The first steps involved a host of switch moves to make room for the car in the Coach Shed, our one indoor display area. When asked what car was going to come out of a building already filled to capacity, my cryptic remark was simply anything that does not cost a million dollars.

Mid-Continent members Kelly Bauman and Ed Ripp worked hard to shuffle the deck according to a switch list prepared by our Restorations Manager, Bill Buhrmaster. Car lengths were matched against the available track space in order to arrive at the best solution for keeping the most fragile pieces of our collection protected under a roof.

Snow removal was the next major task. If you were watching the web cam Saturday afternoon then you may have witnessed the coordinated actions of a skid steer, operated by Jim Busse, and a plow truck, operated by Dave Lee, as they cleared the work area where the larger equipment will set up next to the tracks when the car is unloaded.

The more laborious hand work starts today as the entrance to the Coach Shed’s south door need to be cleared and switches cleaned. This is the type of work that falls on the capable shoulders of our one-man section crew, Dave Lee. And his task is made all the more enjoyable by the fresh snow fall coming down as I write this message.

Today at Avalon the B2 will be bundled-up in a protective blanket like the million-dollar baby it has become. And on Tuesday morning it will be lifted off of the pedestals where it currently resides and gently placed onto a low-profile trailer for its first venture outside in slightly more than a year. I understand that the same trucker who safely transported the car to West Allis last year will be the one to bring her back in a slow-paced dash through this classic image of winter in Wisconsin; a foot of snow on the ground accompanied by freezing air temperatures.

Wednesday is the big day. If all goes well, the B2 will be lifted once again and placed back on its own trucks for a brief ride into the Coach Shed. There it will be on display on the center track, the first car you see as you enter the building. Only then will I be able to relax a little and enjoy the spirit of the season. I am partial to merlot.

By: Don Meyer, General Manager

Monday afternoon following the Santa Express weekend a radio spot aired promoting the Mid-Continent Railway Museum. It has appeared daily on two local stations, which is a little peculiar as there are no trains running to entice people to visit our facility.

The ad is not a mistake, however. It is part of a new campaign to say to the general public, as well as to ourselves, that Mid-Continent is more than just a train ride. Granted the ride is our most popular feature. It is what we are known for, having carried passengers at our North Freedom location since 1963 and for one year prior to that at Hillsboro, WI. Still there is more to our operation than seasonal rides.

The radio ad, the first in a planned sequence to air during these “off-season” winter months, directs people to visit us any day of the week by logging on to our web site. There a person can tour the grounds, despite the weather conditions or the time of day, study the history of our equipment, rummage through a portion of the archives, and shop the on-line store. And, to borrow a line formerly used by our good friends at 60 Minutes, all this and more. (If you recall, Andy Rooney objected to being labeled as the “and more” of the program, so the producers changed the introduction).

Our advertising strategy is changing too in order to make people aware that our programs have a rich variety that can be enjoyed at anytime from anywhere, as long as you have a computer with an internet connection. How else do you explain the fact that a teenage kid from New Jersey, who has never visited North Freedom, has become so enamored of our steam program that he calls the manager almost weekly to offer his advice on how to get a locomotive running sooner than is currently being accomplished?

We receive on average about 14,000 visitors a month on-line. That number represents unique visitors not hits, which is the inflated number people usually like to share when promoting the popularity of their web site. The vast majority of our guests are U.S. residents but it always surprises me that we have an audience that spans about 120 other countries. The internet makes our reach staggering and with this awareness I hope it will inspire us to expand our on-line programming in order to make the museum a more viable option for learning about our railway heritage. And there is indeed more.

Two things are happening this month which demonstrate the point the radio ad is trying to make about Mid-Continent being a year around operation. First the fall edition of our members’ magazine, The Railway Gazette, is hot off the press and will be distributed in this week’s mail. The content supports the claim that we are more than just a ride as various other topics are featured in this issue. And the use of color throughout brings a feeling of vibrancy to these programs that black and white imagery cannot convey.

Second the restored Badger 2 fish-stocking car will make its dramatic return to the museum next week. On hand will be the film crew that has been recording the progress made in the car’s restoration since about the midway point. Their intent is to put their program on the air in 2010, which will elevate the general public’s awareness of Mid-Continent as a vital entity in the rail preservation movement.

You can enjoy the car’s grand arrival by clicking on the web cam link on our web site. Missing will be our familiar passenger service; just a show of trucks, cranes and a 45-ton diesel making switch moves, all being a dynamic part of our operation that gets little notice beyond the members directly involved with the operation. And there is always more.

The closing line of the radio spot does go beyond the primary point of portraying Mid-Continent as a daily destination. It invites people to become a member. And within that invitation there is probably hidden a museum manager’s act of hubris reflected in the claim that you can ensure a more meaningful future by helping us to protect the past.

Mid-Continent is more than just a train ride and I invite you all to join us anytime from anywhere.

By: Don Meyer, Manager

Thursday afternoon I awoke from my after dinner nap just long enough to hear former coach and current football commentator, Lou Holtz, dispense a piece of unquestioned wisdom to a group of young athletes: When all is said and done, more is said than done.

I gave my quiet assent to this profound thought and continued with my greater quest to enjoy some bonus sleep time while I had the chance. Friday morning would come too soon with all of its requirements to complete the many preparations needed for hosting the weekend’s Santa Express event.

All of us who have been in a supervisory position can recall countless examples that would easily illustrate the point Coach Lou was trying to make with his impressionable audience. It seems to be a natural element in our human nature that we promise ourselves and others more than we are willing to deliver.

But now on Monday morning, having just completed a successful event that welcomed more than 2,300 museum guests to share a train ride with Santa, I feel compelled to issue a qualifying statement. Not to argue with someone who has earned his reputation as a leader and effective motivational speaker. Rather to state unequivocally that what I witnessed firsthand these past two days merits praise for all of our staff and members who did as they said, and in some cases even excelled in the doing department.

When you work in a position like mine long enough you develop an attitude that anticipates delays, excuses and outright disappointments in fulfilling even routine commitments. So when you find yourself watching volunteer crews operating trains filled to capacity, departing and arriving according to schedule you have to be impressed. But that good impression transforms itself into something even greater when you see the joy on the faces of those you have enticed to spend a good deal of their time and money to visit your facility.

Therefore when you do work in a position like mine you must take the time to say thank you to those directly responsible for any success. In this case the combined efforts of our members and staff gave Mid-Continent’s own well deserved reputation a favorable boost in the hearts and minds of all who participated in setting a new attendance record for this holiday tradition.

So after further review (to stay within our football context), when all is said and done, some people would rather be seen doing than heard.

And now back to that nap.

By: Don Meyer, Manager

If you are on Mid-Continent’s e-mail distribution list then you have already received our news release about Santa’s arrival at the museum this coming weekend. I have often shared with folks that my most trying time each year is standing on the platform before the first train of the day, anxiously waiting for the jolly old man in the fleecy red suit to make his appearance.

In that regard I may be worse than a child in my hopeful anticipation of seeing St Nick. But it has nothing to do with wanting to share my fondest Christmas wish with him and everything to do with dreading having to tell all the equally expectant people standing there with me that Santa Claus is a no-show.

In opposition to the celebratory rhyme about visions of sugar plums, dancing in my head is the image of a woman scorned. Or should I say women? For I believe that it is also a commonly held cliché that the nether world knows no fury like a mom who has to deliver disappointing news to her children. And in this case disappointing would be a definite understatement.

So my Christmas holiday begins with a blessed sigh of relief as Santa comes down from my office, which I graciously turn over to him as a dressing room, and begins the day’s ritual of peace on earth and good will towards an overly stressed museum manager.

This year’s event is actually a revival of sorts since our November operations were cancelled last year. Santa himself has been a victim of global warming twice over. The higher earthly temperatures are not only melting the polar ice cap he calls home, but the resulting heavy rains that fell on Wisconsin effectively annulled Santa’s annual pass for free train rides in 2008.

The good news is that we have recovered, thanks to the hard work of Mid-Continent’s version of happy elves, affectionately known to us as volunteers. They continue to work hard with their last minute preparations to provide all of us with the assurance that when we are standing out on the platform this coming Saturday morning, not only will we see Santa making his appearance but a functioning engine will also come into view, backing down onto the consist of clean and heated coaches.

That is the type of news that will warm the heart of any Scrooge who happens to be connected with our railway museum. For it means that there will be money enough to count and pay bills and keep the organization solvent for a little while longer.

So be of good cheer and remember the words of Tiny Tim – the Dickens character, not the singer – God bless us everyone, with an extra portion for overly stressed museum managers.

By: Don Meyer, Manager

Fred Reardon was a true railfan. That he loved trains was unquestionable. His passion brought him to Mid-Continent a few years ago. And his deep fascination for the beauty of their movement, even a simple runaround of the engine at the North Freedom depot, was the cause of his being captivated to the point of his endangerment.

Fred was a simple, kind-hearted man. He was not the kind who could participate in the typical museum activities, even though he was willing to do anything for you. He lacked the mechanical skills necessary for working in the shops. And he lacked the physical coordination and stamina to be a member of the train crew.

He found his first opportunity to be a volunteer when we put out the call for members to serve as greeters and docents. Fred’s caregiver contacted the office to ask for further details and promised to have Fred at the museum the following weekend. He arrived in his bibs with his engineer’s cap on and proceeded to become something of a fixture at our facility.

Fred was an imposing figure. He stood slightly more than six feet tall and weighed better than three hundred pounds. Still his gentle manner made him approachable as he handed out brochures and pointed out directions to people who inquired about where to buy their tickets, board the train, or find the restrooms. But this all changed one October afternoon when Fred witnessed something more appealing than greeting.

What he saw during the first Saturday of an Autumn Color weekend was another member serving as a crossing guard. He ambled down the depot platform in that slow, rolling gait of his, and watched Roy Sauer perform his duties. To say Fred was intrigued is an understatement. He was enthralled with this position of obvious authority; a man who had his own shanty with coal-burning stove, his own tools in the form of a stop sign, and the power to stop traffic while the train passed by.

Roy never had another chance to fulfill the duties we had long come to associate with him and him alone. The next morning Fred was the first man to the crossing shanty and took up his position as Mid-Continent’s new crossing guard. No one had the heart to confront him, not even Roy, who had been usurped from the one role he could play given his own age and physical limitations.

It must have been a long winter for Fred since the joy of his new-found status could only be exercised at our Santa Express and Snow Train weekends. But come opening day for the new summer season Fred was there. He arrived early each day, sometimes hours before the train crew was even ready for the engine to back down on the train for the day’s first departure. It was rare for him to miss a single day of service, despite the hot temperatures or summer storm. He was faithful to the task if not thoroughly competent.

This latter point was the cause of much grief for me. No one wanted to hurt his feelings, but no one wanted to see him get physically hurt either. Fred’s problem was that he was so captivated by the train’s movement that he often disregarded the highway traffic to the detriment of his own personal safety. Any near miss was reported to me with the added comment that I needed to do something about Fred. I did come up with an orange vest for him to wear, which was woefully too small. Fred himself provided his own replacement not long afterwards. I gave him some simple training on where to stand and how to position himself to maximize his view of all vehicles. And he would nod in agreement that he understood and would follow the rules, which he did, for a time.

But Fred was a true railfan and his love for trains kept his imagination in suspension to the continued detriment of his own safety and the pressure on me to put an end to his crossing guard service. The flood eventually came to my assistance by putting a stop to everyone’s normal activities.

The few trains we were able to run that year were done on a pull-down, push-back basis. This involved some changes in the train crews’ routine in that we were now stopping at every crossing on the shove back with the trainman getting off to flag the crossing. This was the one time I prevented Fred from participating as it would have been confusing to all involved to have both him and the trainman manning the Museum Road crossing with flag or stop sign in hand. The engineers, who were already being extremely cautious with Fred, could not be required to watch out for him while following the signals being given by a crew member.

This year, when sufficient repairs had been made to allow us to resume normal operating procedures, Fred was back. He took up his station at the crossing shanty, stop sign at the ready for the next train movement. But there were noticeable differences. Fred was no longer driving up in his big pickup truck hours before train time. Instead his caregiver was playing chauffeur, dropping him off in the morning and picking him up in the afternoon. Fred was also required to sit in the air-conditioned depot in between trains to avoid stressing him physically beyond what his body could endure.

Somewhere in the sequence of events that humbled Mid-Continent during the time of our recovery efforts, Fred was recovering too from congestive heart problems. On the surface he looked no different than when we last saw him. But these changes to his routine were the telltale signs that his health had suffered a serious blow. And unbeknownst to any one of us at the museum, they were merely the harbingers of a slow decline that resulted in his passing last week at the age of 72.

Fred’s idea of volunteer service included a train ride. So at some point in the day he would amble down to the depot and ask the ticket agent for a pass to ride the train. His preference was to ride in the cab. When that was not available he would climb up into the cupola of the caboose to enjoy a view he could never get enough of. It was following one of these trips that I got a radio message in the office from the engineer. Did I know that there were paramedics on the property?

It was about Fred. He had fallen while climbing down from the cupola. There was the possibility of fractured ribs as he complained of chest pains and had some difficulty breathing. Actually it was worse than anyone anticipated at that moment. Further tests eventually revealed that Fred had cancer. This diagnosis prompted the decision we had attempted to sidestep all this time. But Fred’s health forced us into the unenviable position of bluntly stating some rather heartbreaking news. Fred could no longer be allowed to serve as our crossing guard.

I assured his caregiver that Fred was still welcome to visit the museum to watch the trains and even take his usual free ride. But even that came with some restrictions. While on the property he would have to be in the company of a caregiver and his rides would be limited to coach service. We could not take the risk of another fall while climbing up or down the steep steps to the cab or the caboose.

The last time we saw Fred was appropriately enough at an Autumn Color weekend. He had come full circle in his involvement with Mid-Continent, having started his service as a crossing guard on just such a weekend. He was noticeably weaker. He had lost weight and walked with the assistance of a cane. But he still had that look in his eye of one who cannot get enough of the thing he holds dearest in life.

I have no doubt that if given the opportunity he would have taken up his position at the highway crossing and waited patiently for the next departure. But Roy was there ahead of him, able to recover his former role and continuing the cycle of events that is Mid-Continent in its truest form.

The call we dreaded to receive came not long after. Fred only had a few days to live. Funeral arrangements were already in process and the request made to us was a simple one. Could we provide a last train ride before the funeral procession headed to the cemetery in nearby Baraboo? Free of course, in keeping with our promise that Fred and his companions would always be able to enjoy the perk of a pass to ride the train.

The answer was just as simple and made without hesitation. So this past Saturday Mid-Continent engaged in another first as far as any of us can remember; a funeral train making its slow journey out to the yard limit sign and back, complete with a crew member protecting the crossing where Fred would have been stationed had he been given the opportunity.

The train ride closed a difficult chapter for the museum’s management. And I can tell myself that I will not put us into a similar situation no matter how earnest an unqualified person may be who wants to participate in the things the rest of us take for granted. But who knows what gentle soul is out there who we have yet to meet, whose needs will present us with unique challenges if we are to remain in the business of making dreams come true.

For even though being a dream merchant was never explicitly written into our mission statement, I would attest that we are indeed in the business of fulfilling such a heaven-sent role. And sometimes we are quite successful at it. Just ask Fred and those who cared for him.

By: Don Meyer, Manager

Saturday afternoon Mid-Continent held its year-end members’ meeting followed by the annual banquet that evening. We use these occasions to report on our performance for the past year, each department superintendent or project leader giving an account of the accomplishments that took place within his or her area of responsibility.

For our members, museum attendance is a prime number. I have shared in prior messages that this is the one number we have faithfully tracked over all the years of our existence. And for the season just ended total attendance reached 29,145 passengers. This compares favorably with our attendance two years ago when we carried 29,162 passengers. And it is even more favorable when you consider that the 2007 figure includes 3,100 people who rode either the Santa Express or the Santa Train that season, events we were not able to provide this past year. Factor those two events out of the equation and 2009 out performed our last full season of operation.

We talked about steam; how we are still waiting to receive the updated recommendations for the restoration of the Western Coal & Coke No. 1, the progress being made on the boiler for the Saginaw Timber Company No. 2, and the status of the WisDOT grant for the Chicago & North Western No. 1385’s new boiler. The good news in this sequence was that Skip Lichter (the owner of the No. 2) was able to report that the boiler for his engine will hopefully be returned from the shop of Milwaukee Boiler and placed on the locomotive’s chassis some time this winter.

The financial report, as given by our treasurer, also contained good news. Of primary importance was the fact that we are solvent. We were able to retire our line of credit and end the year with enough working capital on hand to cover our short-term liabilities. The counterpoint to this achievement was that we are now carrying a much larger debt load in the form of the SBA loan that was needed to fund most of our flood repairs. We will be paying on this debt for many years to come. Without it, though, we would not have had the successful return to operating condition that we enjoyed this year.

And I must express my personal gratitude to our president, Jeff Bloohm, for not letting the members’ meeting close without drawing attention to one overlooked aspect of our financial performance. And that is the magnitude of the support we received from our members and friends in the form of unrestricted donations. We had anticipated a decline in giving as a result of the poor economy with which we have all had to cope. So our budget was set at slightly more than $44,000 for this revenue source. Instead we received slightly more than $100,000 in unrestricted gifts. This level of support is a tribute to all who have helped shape the museum’s image, making it the kind of institution people view favorably, even in hard times.

No members’ meeting is complete without a little blood letting. So I must also state that all of us who attended the meeting should be thankful to Judy Gasser and Bob Ristow, whose comments set a conciliatory tone that ruled throughout the balance of the day and allowed us to depart with all body parts intact.

The choice of the Old Feed Mill Restaurant as our banquet site that evening was intentional given its location in the Village of Mazomanie. This gave us the chance to showcase the Milwaukee Road exhibit we have set up in the former Parman Blacksmith Shop, aka The Mazomanie Cultural Heritage Center, which is across the tracks from the restaurant. And it made for an appropriate setting in which to provide those present with a glimpse at what is being discussed in terms of our potential expansion into the Mazomanie and Sauk Prairie communities.

Those of you who have been reading these web log messages over the past few weeks already know the majority of my talking points for Saturday night’s presentation. You know about our introduction into the Mazomanie community through the Gandy Dancer Festival, the common ground we have experienced with a shared interest in railway preservation, and the visual appeal of their locale as an appropriate fit with our own cultural and historical ascetic.

Saturday night we were able to illustrate some of these points with our slide show. The photos and maps helped to define how the scope of the project has grown as we have moved from the temporary exhibit at the Parman Building to a possible permanent museum housing some of our Milwaukee Road equipment, to the offer of the Wisconsin Southern Railroad of taking over the operation of the branch line headed towards Sauk City, and ultimately the possible connection of Mazomanie with Sauk should the bridge across the Wisconsin River be rebuilt.

The WSOR’s proposal is that Mid-Continent become the operator from the east leg of the wye in Mazomanie to the end of track just short of the river. If accepted we would then be responsible for the maintenance of that stretch of track. Its condition is good enough for our light passenger trains. And if the track were cleared of the cars being stored there now then we could provide a train ride for at least three miles, which is comparable to the length of the ride at North Freedom. Trees would have to be cleared in order for us to go any further, but we would have to stop short of the wood trestle bridges that guard the southern approach to the river bridge. Their condition is too unstable.

If the WSOR’s dreams come true, then the infrastructure investment that needs to be made in order for their heavy freights to cross the Wisconsin River coming out of Sauk City would involve more than just the rebuild of the bridge. We would then be dealing with a substantial facelift for the entire right-of-way, including the installation of 115 pound welded rail and the rebuild of the wood trestle bridges. Funding would have to come from the state’s Freight Railway Infrastructure Improvement Program, commonly referred to as a FRIIP loan. And the repayment of the loan would have to come from freight revenues.

But we will cross that bridge when we come to it. (Sorry. I couldn’t help myself on that one).

By: Don Meyer, Manager

You can no doubt guess by the content of these messages the last two weeks that I see a great benefit to Mid-Continent in establishing a new and compatible operation in the Village of Mazomanie, WI. And I hope that it is also clear that the mere suggestion of creating what would have been a static museum generated an unexpected response that elevated the concept to a whole new level, when the president of the Wisconsin Southern Railroad offered to turn over the Sauk City branch line to us so we in turn could offer a train ride as part of the new museum’s experience.

Every idea has consequences and this offer by Bill Gardner, the WSOR’s president, is no exception. The addition of train operations brings with it a sizeable increase in both start-up and maintenance costs. It also puts us in the midst of the debate between the railroad and people in the Sauk City and Prairie du Sac communities who want to see the right-of-way converted into a bike/snowmobile path.

You might think that having dealt with the twin disasters of the flood recovery and the economic recession we would gladly avoid taking on any other challenges right now. But the opportunity is before us now and a decision has to be made as to whether or not we are going to be a participant in these discussions or limit ourselves to what we know and are comfortable with at our current location.

I am already on record as believing that the long-term economic benefits will out weigh the costs for this project. And that is a belief I will ultimately have to demonstrate before I can ask the museum’s leadership to substantially invest in the expansion. But for this week’s message I want to turn our perspective completely around and address the issue from the standpoint of the local community by asking what benefit, principally of an economic nature, does Mid-Continent bring to them if we do make this move.

We have faithfully documented our attendance figures over all the years that we have been giving train rides. This season we carried 29,129 passengers, and that is in a year when we did not have our own Santa Express weekend or host the Boy Scout’s Santa Train. Together these two events have typically drawn another 3,000 visitors to the museum, placing our average annual attendance at 32,000 people.

The Wisconsin Department of Tourism just as faithfully tracks the spending habits of people traveling in Wisconsin. You can go to the web page for their Joint Effort Marketing program and see the data they provide to JEM grant applicants as a means to measure the economic impact of their attraction. In creating this data they distinguish between visitors to an urban location, such as a museum in Madison or Milwaukee, and visitors to a rural location, such as a railroad museum in North Freedom.

Within these two classifications they further subdivide spending between day-trippers, campers and those staying in a motel or at a resort. And for each of these categories they have determined a per person, per day value for the consumption of products and services by the average traveler. This includes travel expenses, food purchases, admission prices and shopping as some of the larger expenditures.

At the low end of the chart is the type of person we often see at our rural location, the day-tripper, who the DOT says spends $40 on average for each person in their party. Multiply that against the 32,000 visitors we have each year and you get a simple estimate for the annual economic benefit we bring to our portion of Sauk County, which is $1,280,000.

Now we can appreciate why our interest in Mazomanie has generated some apprehension among the local business community about our rumored departure. Our presence brings in much needed revenue for others in that we do not pocket even half of the money shown in this calculation. The majority of it goes into several other pockets to be circulated locally as they conduct business, pay wages and buy services and products from other vendors. The ripple effect is enormous.

But that $1.28 million is not the true picture. We know from our guest surveys that only one-third of them are day-trippers. The rest are spending at least one night locally, which means they are spending even more money each day for each person in their group. For those staying at a campground the average amount spent per person, per day is $75. For those staying in a motel or resort the average is $126. Even a conservative application of these higher spending amounts brings us closer to a $2 million annual benefit that our presence generates for the local economy.

We can make a few other adjustments to this calculation in an attempt to arrive at a more accurate estimate for the value of having Mid-Continent in your hometown. For instance the DOT’s spending list does not include items that are common to non-profits like Mid-Continent. Our guests make donations and they buy memberships. And the funds we have deposited in our local banks (please notice the plural usage this word) generate investment income. Or we can adjust our attendance figure since it is understated by the number of volunteers, who are here on a weekly basis and consume just as much in goods and services as our guests do.

I believe we will do even better for Mazomanie than we do for North Freedom in that the resources it will provide us will improve our own level of performance. And apparently the business leaders of that community feel the same since they have welcomed the chance to discuss Mid-Continent’s expansion plans, especially now that the deal has been sweetened by the WSOR’s offer of the branch line running towards Sauk City.

Mid-Continent is a business as much as we are a historical society and a membership organization. Therefore we add economic value to the community as much as we do educational, vocational and entertainment value to our members and guests. And we are just getting started. The Road to Mazomanie, and beyond, will expand our reputation as an economic force as well as a credible, operating railroad museum. Or so I believe.