Santa's Whistle Stop Tour Ends a Record Year!

Thank you to all our wonderful guests, visitors, volunteers, members and donors as we are ready to close out a record setting year! Our inaugural Santa's Whistle Stop Tour was a wonderful event and provided us with some very valuable information to build on for next years event.

The first Saturday of the event proved to be very educational. As you all may remember Dec. 3rd brought us rain, sleet and snow. With some of the heaviest snowfall occurring just in time for Santa's arrival. Our train crews had their hands full operating during winter conditions for the first time, but Santa arrived (almost on time) to the cheers of many children eagerly awaiting his arrival. The next two Saturdays proved nicer with warming temperatures and plenty of sunshine. Estimated attendance figures are as follows. Dec 3rd = 100, Dec 10th = 1,100 and Dec 17th = 2,700! Santa got to talk to lots and lots of smiling children and hear their happy wishes for the holidays. The Polar Express Conductor also was on hand and when he wasn't reading stories he was helping out with the motor car rides loading and unloading passengers.

With this Christmas event drawing an estimated 3900 people (as calculated by visitor sign ins) that puts a very happy ending to a record setting year. Last year (our previous best)saw an annual attendance of 12,300. This year we completed construction on the Civil Engineering Building, began an intensive restoration of the Nebraska Central HO scale model railroad, restored the Machine Shop Building, won the Iowa State Preservation at it Best, Community Award for the Machine Shop Restoration and we have a current annual attendance of 31,800 with less than two weeks to go until the end of the year. That's a 38.7% increase in visitors over last year.

Keep your eye's and ears tuned to the local news for more exciting news about changes coming to the business side of the museum that will catapult the railroad museum into a bright new era. Sound the whistle! All lights are green! Full steam ahead!

Santa's Whistle Stop Tour at the Roundhouse

Santa will be making his 2011 Whistle Stop Tour at the Roundhouse on Saturdays, December 3rd, 10th, and 17th. Children and adults can drop-in, visit Santa and take part in arts and crafts between 1:00 and 3:30 pm during the 2011 Whistle Stop Tour.

Admission to the railroad museum will be free during Santa’s Whistle Stop Tour. If weather and temperature permits, motor car rides may be purchased for $1 per person during Santa’s Whistle Stop Tour. Visitors are encouraged to dress warmly for colder weather and to wear appropriate shoes for walking.

Santa will arrive at 1:15 p.m. and will be in his special decorated roundhouse stall from 1:30 to 3:30 to greet visitors. Santa will depart at 3:45 p.m. Visitors are welcomed to take photos of Santa and his young believers as they sit with him in the special room in Bay 1 of the Roundhouse Building. Students participating in the Kristin Polley Memorial Scholarship program will take pictures for $5 each for those who do not have a camera and wish to have a photo print before they leave the railroad museum complex. Children will have the opportunity to design and personalize their own photo frame.

The Conductor is accompanying Santa this year and he will read stories from Polar Express to the young-at-heart in the specially decorated train caboose. Following the storytelling, The Conductor will pose for pictures with the children. The Kristin Polley Memorial Scholarship program will provide visitors with refreshments.

There are many other arts and crafts activities including making ornaments. Games will include Reindeer toss, Santa’s grand prize ball game, fish ring toss game, snowman bean bag toss game and some others. Children are asked to bring a donation of a nonperishable food item or paper product such as paper towels, toilet paper, shampoo, toothpaste etc. All items donated will be distributed to Western Iowa Tech students in need with any extras going to the Food Bank.

While visiting the railroad museum, grownups and children will have the opportunity to enjoy Small Trains, an HO-scale model railroad exhibition featuring the Nebraska Central Railway. This exhibit was previously on display at the Durham Museum in Omaha, Nebraska, and features several operating scale model trains. While the exhibit is currently under restoration, visitors can check out the progress of work.

The Milwaukee Railroad Shops Historic District gift shop will be open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on these Saturdays. The railroad museum complex is located at 3400 Sioux River Road, along State Highway 12 – Loess Hills National Scenic Byway – in Sioux City.

To get a sneak peak at some of the decorations the volunteers have been making for this special visit check out a video "Deck the Stalls" by clicking on the link to our You Tube site which can be found just to the right side of this article.

SAVE THE DATES! SANTA IS COMING TO THE ROUNDHOUSE.

Jolly old St. Nichoals, better know as Santa Claus to many, has announced he will be making three stops at the Milwaukee Railroad Historic Shops and Museum this December. The dates scheduled for his visit's are all Saturdays on December 3rd, 10th and 17th. He will arrive at noon and depart at 4 pm each day.

We are so excited that he has added us to his busy schedule. The volunteers will be busy in the coming weeks preparing the Bay 1 display room located next to the gift shop into Santa's home away from home.

So, save the dates and make your plans to come see and talk to Santa before Christmas Eve arrives.

Stay tuned to this blog site for more details about this great event coming in the very near future.

May you all have the happiest of holiday seasons.

Over 5,100 People Have Halloween Fun at the 3rd Annual Halloween at the Roundhouse Event

That's right! 5,139 people attended the 3rd annual Halloween at the Roundhouse event this past Saturday, October 29th, 2011. And there were plenty of new attractions this year to please everyone that attended. Trick or Treat bags were handed out to the youngsters as they entered the the gate. Ten candy stations were located throughout the complex for the kids to get their treats. The 1913 Northern Pacific wood caboose was transformed into a haunted caboose complete with animatronic ghouls, black light cob webs, strobe lights, fog, spiders, rats and an old pirates coffin. At times through out the event the line for this attraction snaked all the way out the back door of the roundhouse and was viewed by many people numerous times. Other new attractions to this years Halloween event were the Petting Zoo and Pony rides which both saw non-stop lines all day long also.

A first time special fund raising event "Tea at the Track Side" offered guests some private time with Special Guests Sir Topham Hatt and his wife Mrs. Jane "Lady" Hatt over tea (fruit punch) cupcakes and pretzels. According to eye witnesses at the event, all was going fine until a group of unruly witches crashed the party and poisoned every ones tea. As Sir Topham Hatt and Mr. Conductor were trying to reason with the witches Dorthy and Toto burst in with super soaker squirt guns and began melting the witches until they flew away. Glenda, the Good Witch of the North, had put special powers into Dorothy's ruby slippers that allowed her to reverse the poisonous spell on the tea and allowed the event to continue.

Three hay rack rides moved people throughout the complex. One shuttled people in the parking lot to and from their cars and the main gate while the other two moved people throughout the complex.

A great time was held by all. Not only the guests but the volunteers as well. I would like to take this time to publicly thank the more than 60 volunteers that gave up their time, came together and worked this event to make it the huge success that it was. Without them, none of this would ever be possible.

Another, milestone was also completed at this event. This event pushed us over the 20,000 visitor mark for this year. That's a 58.8% increase over the total visitor count for last year and we still have two more months to go! A hardy well done and a very warm thank you, once again, goes out to everyone in our fantastic 100% volunteer organization. You are all amazing and a complete pleasure to work with. Thank You!

Now that this event is over, what can we possibly do next? Well, I will give you a hint. It will probably cover the first three weekends in December and Ho, HO, HO will be a popular theme.

Stayed tuned to this site for further updates!

HALLOWEEN AT THE ROUNDOUSE, Saturday, October 29th, Noon to 4 PM

Ironhorse Day's: More than 1,100 people say Happy Birthday to Old Ironhorse

On Saturday and Sunday October 15 & 16 the Milwaukee Railroad Shops Historic District & Museum in Sioux City, Iowa and over 1,100 quests celebrated the 102nd birthday of Sioux City’s landmark steam locomotive, Great Northern Railways # 1355 or better known to locals as Old Ironhorse.

The two day event featured seminars about the history of GN1355 and steam power. The Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad had a representative showing videos and discussing railway safety and how trains and automobiles can co-exist safely through its Operation Lifesaver program.

A special drawing was held for a free GN1355 t-shirt and that was won by Mr. Jim Residorff of David City, NE. Congratulations!

Guests were also treated to roundhouse turntable rides and motor car rides/tours. A good time was had by all in attendance. Thank you all for your support.

Ironhorse Days Oct 15 & 16

Save the Date: Ag/Rail Festival Aug 20 & 21

Make your plans now to attend our 9th Annual Ag/Rail festival coming up on Saturday and Sunday August 20th and 21st. This is our only two day event of the year and we are pulling out all the stops for your family enjoyment. A family and community celebration of the close working ties between agricultural and the railroads this event will help bridge the gap between the generations.

All sorts of extras and goodies are added to please everyone of any age. We will have live music, kids activities, motor car rides ($1.00 each), other railroad displays and of course agricultural displays of all kinds. See antique tractors not only on display, but competing in a tractor pull both days, and see, smell and hear them as they participate in the tractor parade each day around the complex. See the old belt driven threshers hard at work in fields behind the rail yard. See some of the old steam driven machines that used to be commonplace in the family farm homes to make things go and help make life a little bit easier.

Check out the amazing progress our volunteers have made restoring the 75 x 15 foot HO scale Nebraska Central Railroad. Currently running up to 4 trains at a time with more to come. Located in our brand new Civil Engineering Exhibit Hall this is one stop you won't want to miss. Also, new this year an operating Lionel train set located in the Milwaukee Road orange Ronald Rungee Memorial Caboose located between the Car Shops building and the Civil Engineering Exhibit Hall.

Speaking of the Car Shops building, stop on in for hot food and cold drinks supplied by the WITCC Trio Group. A non-profit group that donates it's proceeds to scholarship funds and other worthy charities.

There's much, much more happening than can be listed here so make your plans now and bring your family and friends.

Admission: $5 for adults, $3 for kids 12-18 years old, Free for kids 0-11 with the paid admission of an accompanying adult.

Attention All Currently Serving Military Personnel and your Families: We are a proud member of the Blue Star Museums group and thank you all from the bottoms our hearts for your selfless dedication to our wonderful country. By presenting your Geneva Convention Common Access Card (CAC), A DD Form 1173 ID Card, or a DD Form 1173-1 ID Card, which includes active duty military Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, National Guard, and Reserve and their immediate family members your admission is FREE.

Special Event Planned for July 2nd

(Sioux City, IA) On Saturday, July 2nd, the Milwaukee Railroad Shops Historic
District will host its first annual “Trains, Tripods & Snapshots” –
bring your own camera and tripod photo day. The daylong event will feature the
outdoor public display of Sioux City’s landmark steam locomotive Great
Northern No. 1355 and other train displays for photo opportunities by
visitors.

Families and amateur photographers are welcomed to bring their own cameras and
tripods to pose and photograph family members near the train displays. This
unique opportunity will allow parents and grandparents to dress children in
railroad attire and pose them next to Sioux City’s landmark steam locomotive
in an outdoor setting; utilizing the sun and the backdrop of the Loess Hills
to help frame the photos.

The 101 year old steam locomotive will be on outdoor public display on
Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The locomotive will be pulled out of the
roundhouse building by a diesel locomotive at 9:45 a.m. and pushed back into
the roundhouse at 3:10 p.m. The push-pull operation provides great
opportunities for capturing video images of the train movement.

In addition to the steam locomotive, the historic buildings and vintage
rolling stock provide hundreds of photo opportunities to allow amateur and
family photographers to capture images of older children and other family
members using the structures for textures and backgrounds.

Due to the flooding of the Big Sioux River, the high water table, and the
rails at the Milwaukee Railroad Shops Historic District complex, the public is
encouraged to wear shoes appropriate to weather and ground conditions. Various
areas around the historic district may be closed to the public due to low land
flooding.

Normal admission fees will be charged for the event. For more information
please visit the railroad museum’s website at
www.MilwaukeeRailroadShops.org.


ABOUT THE STEAM LOCOMOTIVE AND MILWAUKEE RAILROAD SHOPS

The steam locomotive is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and
is nationally significant for its scientific and technological attributes. The
steam locomotive was built in 1909 and enjoyed a long career pulling the named
trains of the Great Northern Railway, including the Oriental Limited and
Pacific Fast Mail.

The Milwaukee Railroad Shops Historic District is located adjacent to the Big
Sioux River and Loess Hills National Scenic Byway in Sioux City’s Riverside
area. Built in 1917, the Milwaukee Railroad Shops Historic District is one of
the largest remaining steam locomotive-servicing facilities in the Midwest.
The 31.5-acre site consists of a roundhouse with turntable, machine/blacksmith
shop building, car/carpenter shop building, sand drying house with wood sand
tower, engineer’s tool shed and a water closet building. This historic site
also contains eighteen other historical remnants, including foundations of the
water tower, boiler house and coaling tower.

Because of its national significance, the Milwaukee Railroad Shops Historic
District was designated an “official project” of the Save America’s
Treasures Program and has been determined eligible for listing in the National
Register of Historic Places.

ATTENTION ALL CURRENTLY SERVING US MILITARY PERSONNEL AND DEPENDENTS

The Milwaukee Railroad Shops Historic District is proud to be a participant and supporter of the Blue Star Museums program. This initiative is a partnership among Blue Star Families, the National Endowment for the Arts, and more than 1,400 museums across America. Blue Star Museums runs from Memorial Day, May 31, 2010 through to Labor Day, September 6, 2010. This free admission program is available to any bearer of a Geneva Convention Common Access Card (CAC), A DD Form 1173 ID Card, or a DD Form 1173-1 ID Card, which includes active duty military and up to 5 of their immediate family members, Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, National Guard, and Reserve.

We know how difficult and stressful the military lifestyle can be. Many of our volunteers have previously served and or retired from the US military and know that when it comes to pleasing the kids and reducing the stress any bit of outdoor activity can be a godsend to maintaining the family peace. The Blue Star Museum program offers us a chance to help with those stresses by giving your families a chance to hang out together, have fun, and take the worry out of trying to figure out how to afford a nice day out with the entire family.

The Milwaukee Railroad Shops in Sioux City, Iowa offers the perfect combination of entertainment for the family. Kids and trains, what more could you ask for. See an operating turntable in front of our 6 stall roundhouse, get up close and personal with steam and diesel locomotives, boxcars and cabooses, and see our 75’ x 15’ HO scale Nebraska Central Model Railroad in our brand new Civil Engineering Exhibit Hall. Oh, did I mention...this is no small museum we have 6 buildings spread across 30 acres of land! Let the kids run themselves tired so you can enjoy a nice peaceful drive home. For more details visit our web site at www.milwaukeerailroadshops.org.

To find out which other museums are participating, visit www.arts.gov/bluestarmuseums. The site includes a list of participating museums and a map to help with visit planning. Some special or limited-time museum exhibits may not be included in this free admission program. For questions on particular exhibits or museums, please contact the museum directly.

Thank you for your service to each of us and this great country of ours. It’s the selfless dedication and patriotic pride of not only the service member, but their families also that make this country great. We are all extremely proud to call you our friends. Thank you.

Sioux City History Preservation Week/National Train Day Event is a Success

The Sioux City History Preservation Week/National Train Day event, hosted on Saturday May 7, has started out the 2011 tourist season at the Milwaukee Railroad Shops Historic District on a very positive footing. This year’s event was by far the most successful spring event we have ever hosted. The weather was beautiful and the newly refurbished Machine/Blacksmith Shop and the operating HO scale Nebraska Central Railroad were instant favorites among new and repeat visitors to the railroad museum complex.

According to Siouxland Historical Railroad Association (SHRA) President, Larry Obermeyer Jr. the preliminary attendance figures for this one day event are currently somewhere between 750 and 1000 people. A review of visitor registrations found that 19.2 percent of all the visitors were from a 30 mile radius of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Based on the minimum attendance figure of 750 this percentage equates to about 144 visitors from the Sioux Falls market area. This is a 15 percentage point increase versus normal attendance.

In addition to the uptick from the Sioux Falls market we also drew approximately 5.5%from the Omaha, Nebraska market area or nearly 50 visitors. This is extremely good considering the competion of the well established Omaha market areas National Train Day events that were hosted by the Union Pacific Museum, the Durham Museum, and the Fremont, Nebraska, Elk Horn Valley Railroad. This market area was up about 2 percentage points over normal attendance. The remainders of the visitors were from the greater Sioux City area.

Many positive comments were heard from our repeat visitors about the progress that has been made over the past year. Comments referring to the additional buildings being brought on-line allowing us to display more artifacts and the many improvements in the grounds presentation and upkeep have helped to provide a very fun and positive experience to all our visitors.

SHRA Vice President, Matt Merk stated, “It’s very rewarding to hear these encouraging comments from our guests. It proves that the vision of this private non-profit organization and its 100% volunteer work force believe in its potential as a very important educational and entertainment destination. It also shows that the efforts of our 57 volunteers that logged in over 14,000 hours of sweat equity into this complex last year have not gone unnoticed and the people of Sioux City do appreciate what we are trying to accomplish.”

Sioux City History Week & National Train Day - Saturday, May 7th

Our first big event of the year is schedule for Saturday, May 7th running from 10am till 4 pm. This year we are combining two events into one fun filled day. This year, along with anchoring the week long Sioux City History Week celebrations we are also celebrating Amtrak’s 40th birthday with National Train Day festivities.

Over the fall and winter, progress has not stopped at the Milwaukee Railroad Shops Historic District located in the Riverside neighborhood of Sioux City, Iowa. As a matter of fact, improvements are coming in leaps and bounds. The dedicated group of volunteers has been busy and so have the construction crews. The newly saved Machine/Blacksmith shop will be open for public viewing. This is the future home of the St Louis Corliss steam engine that we saved from the bottom of KD Station before it was torn down. You can talk with the people involved with its rescue and find out the latest updates on the restoration and plans to bring it back to life. Also on display will be some old belt driven lathes, drill presses and other machines that would have actually been used in the machine shop.

Our newest building, the civil engineering exhibit hall will be open and our feature exhibit the Nebraska Central Railroad will actually have trains running on it for public display for the first time in over 15 years. This 75 foot x 15 foot HO scale layout has been getting worked very hard since it was reassembled from storage last fall. If you saw it last fall at AG/Rail you’ll be amazed at the progress that has been made. The buildings are lighted once again, track has been removed, replaced and re-wired. Buildings that we originally thought were destroyed beyond repair have been masterfully put back together and returned to their rightful spots on the layout. While there is still a considerable amount of work yet to be done, you'll be pleased and excited over the progress that has occured. Please give our dedicated model railroad volunteers a firm handshake and a resounding WELL DONE for the amount of work that has been accomplished in such a short period of time.

Other things you’ll note are the many new interpretive display boards that have been added to increase your enjoyment and learning while looking at the various exhibits. A new feature being added for this event is the Hayrack Ride Tours. Jump on the hayrack ride and learn about the complex as you travel around the complex from one location to another. Jump off at a building and go inside and learn more then get back on the hayrack and travel to the next stop. You are sure to learn something new, fun and fascinating while visiting the complex on this ride. If you still would like to learn more about Sioux City and its relationships with the railroads you defiantly won’t want to miss the one and only Dr. Rudy Daniels giving another one of his great talks in the Machine/Blacksmith Shop at 1:30 pm. Also, if you get hungry, you can feed your family and help others in need the same time. The Trio Group from WITTC will be on hand with hot eats. All the proceeds from the food sales go toward scholarship funds and other worthwhile charities that this wonderful group provides for.

Make your plans now! Invite your friends, neighbors, grandparents, grandkids, aunts and uncles this is the family outing you’ve been waiting for. Come celebrate Sioux City and the railroads. Come on out to the Milwaukee Railroad Historic Shops at 3400 Sioux River Road, “Where history, science and technology are coupled together”.
Admission: $5 for adults, $2.50 for kids. Motor car rides are $1.

Machine/Blacksmith Shop Restoration Nears Completion

Late in the fall of 2010 contractor Audino Construction started the refurbishment of the Machine/Blacksmith Shop. Another historical industrial building has been saved with help of grants from Federal and State agencies the Iowa State Transportation Enhancement Act and Vision Iowa providing the majority of the funding for this project. This structure during it's heyday was home to hundreds of skilled machinists, blacksmiths, welders, and pipfitters. Operating the largest and most sophisticated machinery in the tri-state area from the 1920's and into the 1950's . This building will find new life as an industrial display hall featuring industrial steam machines and other tools and machines used during this time frame. The staring exhibit will the 1911 St. Louis Corliss steam engine that we saved from the basement of the former Swift Pork Packing plant (KD Station) in the Sioux City Stockyards just days prior to it's demolition. The work accomplished by Audino Construction during the fall and winter has included; re-tuck pointing all the brick work, replacing the roof, removing the old rotted window frames and replaced them with all new windows, re-opened doors that that have been long covered and closed by concrete, and installed new freight doors at both ends of the building.

Future fund raising will be needed to accomplish repair of the floor, building the Corliss foundation and installation of electrical and HVAC. We are gradually winning the reclamation battle of this industrial complex and converting it into what will become a nationally recognized science and technology museum that all of Siouxland will be proud of.

The wheels of progress turn slowly but just like the great steam trains of the past we just keep chugging along. Come on out and check us out, you'll be glad you did. The Milwaukee Railroad Historic District; Where railroad history, science and technology are coupled together.