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.