Andy Spinelli – President 

Andy Spinelli has a passion for trains, both full-sized and model versions. He also collects and restores antique farm tractors, engines, and printing presses. Andy has been a volunteer at Mid-Continent for over 12 years. 

Andy is a graduate of Northern Illinois University with a degree in Education. More than 20 years ago he started working at the family-owned paper manufacturing business. Today, Andy is the general manager and president of the business, which continues to grow under his leadership. 

Andy has served as past director at Salt Creek Society of Model Engineers, a director, vice-president, and president of McHenry County Antique Farm Equipment Association of Illinois, and is the founder of Spinelli Equipment Museum, which he built at home. 

Andy and his wife Jami have been married for over 20 years. They have two teenage children, David, and Mary. The entire family can often be found volunteering together during Mid-Continent’s special events. 

Jeff Huttenburg – Vice-President 

Jeff is a retiree who has been a member of Mid-Continent since 2012. He has served on the board of directors, was a member of the Coach Shed #2 Building Committee, and the New Storage Building Committee. Jeff has also spearheaded and worked on various projects at the museum. 

He is looking forward to helping Mid-Continent become a debt-free and self-sustaining museum that can continue to show visitors the golden years of railroading by providing train rides (diesel and steam) and historically accurate exhibits. 

Robert Anderson – Treasurer 

Robert grew up on a dairy farm near Elroy and graduated from Augsburg College in Minneapolis, MN with a BA in Business Education and from UW-Madison with a MS degree. 

Robert taught business classes at the high school level for four years and then went into the stock investment business where he retired after 50 years. He has also started and run several small businesses. 

He has been married to his wife Carolyn for over 60 years and they have a total of 4 children and 12 grandchildren. In his spare time, Robert collects and restores old tractors and old toys. 

He spent 50 years helping others manage their money and retirement plans and has been on the board of directors of several nonprofits as well as his church. He was on the Advisory Board of Capitol Bank in Madison and has been a member of the Rotary Club since 1982 and has served as President. 

Robert has had a life-long interest in railroads, that he says started when Elroy was a major division point on Chicago & North Western. He has visited several tourist railroads around the US and has been involved with Mid-Continent as a board member since 2005. 

Colin O’Brien – Secretary

Colin O’Brien is a third-generation life member of Mid-Continent who has been volunteering with the organization for nearly 20 years. Colin is a graduate of the University of Iowa with a degree in Spanish and a master’s in teaching. He has been teaching high school Spanish for a decade and enjoys combining his passion for education with his love of railroading while volunteering at Mid-Continent. Aside from his role as Secretary and on the board, Colin is also the museum’s safety training officer, teaching the next generation of volunteer trainmen and conductors at Mid-Continent.  

Colin lives in North Liberty, Iowa with his two sons and an extremely supportive wife, Molly. Colin spends his summers restoring his family’s Baltimore and Ohio caboose. 

Pete Schierloh

Pete Schierloh’s life-long interest in trains was evident even as toddler, when his parents noticed he was infatuated with the trains working in Penn Central’s Livernois Yard while driving to grandma’s house.

Pete took that infatuation and turned it into a career working on railroad bridges for nearly thirty years as a Senior Design Engineer with SW Bridge Engineers, LLC based in DeForest, Wisconsin. As a Senior Design Engineer, he has been involved in the inspection, design, and rating of over two thousand railroad bridges throughout the United States. Included in that tally are the two bridges at MCRM, of which Pete is the Engineer of Record for their design. Though his work schedule makes it difficult to help as much as he would like to, Pete has been involved with Mid-Continent since he first visited the museum in the late 1990’s. He currently acts as the railroad’s Railway Bridge Engineer (RBE) and volunteers along with his sons in various departments at the museum.

Gary Bjorge 

Gary and his wife, Becky, joined Mid-Continent in 2013. They have been married for over 50 years, and the couple have 3 children and 2 grandsons. Recently, the pair have moved into their new retirement house near Pardeeville WI. 

Gary spent most of his working career repairing semi-trailers, the last 40 years at North Central Utility, formerly Badger Utility. He was also a volunteer Fire Fighter and E.M.T for 17 years in Deforest, WI. 

In his spare time, he likes to do woodworking. In the summer you can find him in his garden, or simply relaxing around the yard. 

Gary became a board member in 2022. At Mid-Continent, he helps with dining services, and aids in keeping the museum grounds clean and safe for the public. Gary also helps in other areas whenever possible. 

Richard Colby

Richard Colby has been with Mid-Continent since 2011, joining in his senior year of high school. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin – Platteville with a Bachelors in History, and from Southern New Hampshire University with a Masters in Public History. For nine summers, Richard was on the summer train crew at Mid-Continent, and has been volunteering in many areas of the museum since becoming a member. He is an assistant manager at a large bookstore, and has been working there for a few years now. A lifelong rail enthusiast, Richard has a model railway at home, as well as a boxcar and caboose at Mid-Continent.

Chris Salmonson 

Chris’s employment began as a steam locomotive fireman at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, MI back in 2001. He was promoted to full-time steam locomotive engineer in 2004, a position that he held until the end of 2013. In January 2014 Chris was hired out on the BNSF Railway in Seattle, WA as a Laborer, Hostler/ Helper. He is currently on his second elected 2-year term as Safety Assistant and Trainer for BNSF Seattle Mechanical. 

Chris first visited Mid-Continent Railway Museum for Snow Train 2004. He became a member in 2006 and he’s currently a life member.  His experience of operating steam and diesel locomotives along with safety training really helps whenever he is in North Freedom or having a virtual meeting with fellow Mid-Continent members and managers.  After a long day of fruitful volunteering on the museum grounds, it’s always a highlight to have social hour amongst the Cabooses and Outfit Cars- he believes that it’s what makes Mid-Continent a gem and worth the travel. Chris would be delighted to continue as a director to keep what Mid-Continent has been working so hard on in front of, as well as behind the scenes for visitors, and members to enjoy.

Adam Clussman

Adam Clussman is 26 years old and lives in Nekoosa, WI with his wife and twin daughters. His education took him in the direction of computer programming, and he graduated from Mid-State Technical College with an Associates degree in Software Engineering. During his time in school, he picked up an internship at Skyward and has been working there for the past 7 years as a software engineer. This was never his top choice career path, however, as he came from a railroad family. His grandfather would frequently take his dad out on railfanning trips to many places across the U.S. This deep-rooted passion didn’t remotely slow down when Adam was born, where he was told his first railfanning trip was when he was 6 months old and his mom had to cover his ears from the train horn.

Adam spent a lot of his childhood chasing trains with his dad across the area. He followed the GBW ALCOs to the Minnesota Commercial Railway, where he spent a couple hundred hours in the cab of locomotive as a kid learning many tricks of the trade. He had never considered trying to find a way to practice these skills in real life until a great friend of his suggested looking into volunteering at a museum. He booked a trip to Mid-Continent in the fall of 2021, and he immediately fell in love. Staying focused on the operations-side of things, Adam has worked as a Trainman, a part of the switching crew, and will be taking the Conductor class in 2024. He’s learned so much in the hundreds of hours he’s volunteered here so far and loves telling visitors all about the museum and machinery. Adam hopes that his outward enthusiasm encourages others to consider working with the museum as well. He aspires to make our museum successful in its mission statement for many decades to come.

Dave Bierman

Growing up in Sauk City for Dave, meant regular visits to Mid-Continent starting from the age of 2. After years of visiting, he became an active member in 1981. Dave has had the pleasure of participating in the unique amalgamation of human creativity, melded with the physical elements, resulting in the heritage that is Mid-Continent Railway Historical Society. 

Bierman has dedicated his 42 plus years as a member to primarily the engineering, operating, and mechanical departments. But he has also had very close association and involvement with every facet of Mid-Continent.

His 42 years and going professional railroad career with the Wisconsin & Southern Railroad and predecessors continues has included working in the operating department as a conductor and engineer, mechanical department as a locomotive machinist, and engineering department. His career has included a heavy emphasis on structural and civil railroad engineering, project development and management, hydrology, geology, heavy equipment operation and maintenance, railroad maintenance, railroad safety rules and railroad operational efficiency.

Railroading is a shared skill, one of camaraderie and passion, of sharing and passing of knowledge and experiences, forward, generation to generation. Members of Mid-Continent foster this tradition well, both inside our organization and to our patrons. He believes it is the museum’s most valuable asset.