Halloween at the Roundhouse 2012 is a Record Breaker!

Holy cow Batman! Did you see all those people at the Milwaukee Railroad Shops Historic District on Saturday? We had a spectacular turnout and would like to thank each and everyone of our visitors for coming out and enjoying a fun family "play day" with us.

Last years record crowd of 5,100 was crushed this year by over 1,100 new visitors. That's right, the 2012 official count for this wonderful 4 hour event came in at 6,266! We had so much fun entertaining our quests this year it was absolutely fantastic.

We would like to send out a very special and heart felt THANK YOU to all our excellent volunteers. We had 56 member/volunteers working this event. Some came from as far away as Dilworth, MN and Manhattan, KS to help out. You know, we (Sioux City) really must have something special when folks are willing and happy to drive 5-6 hours to VOLUNTEER for one of our events.

Also, we had an additional group of 10 amazing young men and women travel from Vinton, Iowa as part of the AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps to volunteer with us as part of National Make a Difference Day. We truly appreciate their community service and we really would have been hard pressed to pull off this record setting event without them. This special crew of young adults came together from California, Nevada, New York, Indiana, South Carolina, Georgia, Illinois and I apologize for not remembering the other states. They blended in with our volunteers, fought off the chilly weather and provided us with excellent customer interaction and much needed assistance. What a fantastic program this is and we appreciated your help very much.

And finally a big HUGE THANK YOU to our awesome corporate sponsors for this event. Knife Rive Inc, L & L Builders, Palmer Candies, Wal-Mart, Target, and Perkins Restaurant’s. These wonderful corporate sponsors made it possible to allow for the FREE admission, FREE motor car rides, FREE Trick-or-Treat Bags and all the candy, prizes and other special goodies that were handed out to all of the kids of all ages that came out to enjoy our event.

If you had fun at this event and would like to become part of our volunteer family we would love to have you. All you need to do is stop out to the roundhouse and fill out a short Volunteer Application and we will contact you. It's that easy. Bring your kids with you and teach them the importance of giving back to the community. For many of our volunteers this is not just a personal choice but a family experience. So please have your family join ours and together WE can help raise the quality of life in Sioux City and Siouxland and make this a tourist destination must see attraction that will benifit us all as a community.

Thank you all once again and don't forget to check out our other big events the rest of the year or just stop out for a more leisurely stroll through the museum complex and learn more about Siouxlands rich railroading past and future.

Halloween at the Roundhouse 2012 – Schedule of Events

Children are invited to come dressed in costume, particularly in railroad-themed or hobo-themed costumes, and receive Halloween treats while learning about the region’s railroad heritage.  However, because this is a former railroad yard, appropriate shoes and costume lengths for long periods of walking are encouraged; and no masks will be allowed.

When:  Saturday, October 27th

Museum Hours:  10 AM – 4 PM

Event Hours:  Noon – 4 PM

Admission:  FREE!

Noon-12:30    Box Car Hobos   (In the C&NW Boxcar)

                       Ghost Stories in the Boxcar (In the C&NW Boxcar)

                       Witches in the Woods Casting Spells (between Coal Tower foundation & Sand House)

12:30 – 1:00   Sir Topham Hatt and Mr. Conductor arrive on Millie the diesel engine

                       Turntable Demonstration

                       (Main Entrance and Roundhouse Turntable)

                               

1:00 –  1:30    Witches in the Woods/Pumpkin Caroling

(between Coal Tower foundation & Sand house)

1:30 - ????      Soda Ring Toss/ Fishing Games (South end of Machine/Blacksmith Shop)

                        Note: while prize supplies last

2:30 – 3:00     Screaming Contest  (Semi-trailer stage near Car Shops)

3:30 – 4:00     Sir Topham Hatt and Mr. Conductor depart on Millie the diesel engine

                       Turntable Demonstration

                       (Main Entrance and Roundhouse Turntable)

Noon – 4:00   Scavenger Hunt

                       Pumpkin Bowling (behind Bay 1 of the Roundhouse)    

                       Pumpkin and Pumpkin Sock Puppet Decorating Crafts (Car Shops)

                       Coloring Contest (Preservation Gallery, Bay 1 of Roundhouse)

                       Face Painting (Preservation Gallery, Bay 1 of Roundhouse)

                       Haunted Caboose (Bay 3 of Roundhouse)

                       Ring GN1355’s bell (Bay 4 of Roundhouse)

                       Lady Hatt’s Bake Shop & Popcorn 

                       (Tent near C&NW Boxcar and Main entrance sidewalk)

                       Food Vendors  (Bay 2 of Roundhouse & near Milwaukee Road Passenger Cars)

           Operating Model Railroads – Civil Engineering Building (HO scale) & 

                                                           Milwaukee (orange) caboose near Car Shops (O Scale)

                       Hay-rack Rides  (Behind Bay 4 of the Roundhouse)

                       Petting Zoo (south of Machine/Blacksmith Shop)

                       Pony Carousel  (south of Machine/Blacksmith Shop)

                       Motor Car Rides  (Behind the C&NW caboose near the Main Entrance Sidewalk)

    FREE!! – Thanks to a wonderful sponsorship by Knife River Inc.  

Trick or Treat (candy distribution) Areas

                                                GN1355 Cab                                        Gift Shop

                                                HO Scale Model Railroad              Haunted Caboose

                                                Milwaukee Caboose                      Hobo Boxcar

                                                Preservation Gallery (Coloring Contest area)

                                                Guest Services                                  Admissions Gate

We wish to give a special thank you to all of this year’s corporate sponsors that have stepped up to help make this a GREAT FAMILY EVENT that EVERYBODY can enjoy.

Knife River Inc. - L & L Builders – Palmer Candies – Wal-Mart – Target – Perkins Restaurant’s

Railroad Museum Volunteers

Are you ready to have some great FAMILY fun? We can’t wait to see you!

It’s almost here! Halloween at the Roundhouse – Saturday Oct 27th – Noon to 4 PM

Our favorite event of the year is almost here! Pass the word and let everybody know. Halloween at the Roundhouse on Saturday October 27^th from Noon to 4 PM. Last year this fun-filled event drew over 5,100 people! You don’t want to get left out of this one make sure you mark your calendars and schedule it in your cellphone day planners. 

One important change to note is that in the past events we have partnered with area pumpkin growers and some of our volunteers have grown lots of pumpkins for us to give away to all the kids. This year however, due to the harsh summer growing season the local pumpkin crops did not survive well and we will not be able to supply pumpkins to the kids as we have in the past. We have created some new fun kids games to try to fill that void so there will still be fun to be had by all.

Also, we have a new parking overflow plan to allow for more parking for the tremendous turnout we have been getting for this event. Last year some folks couldn’t participate due to a lack of parking, this year we hope to eliminate that problem so everybody can enjoy the fun.

Here is list of what you can expect this year:

Admission: FREE! - Motor Car Rides: FREE! - Scream Contest - Rotten Pair Throwing Contest -     Pumpkin Sock Puppet Decorating - Fishing Game - Ring Toss Game - Prizes to be Won -       Coloring Contest - Pumpkin Bowling - Face Painting - Hayrack Rides - Petting Zoo -
Food Vendors - Pony Rides - Scavenger Hunt - Haunted Caboose - Trick or Treating for the Kids

Operating O & HO scale Model Railroads - Hobo Ghost Stories in the Box Car -

Witches Encampment - Turntable Demonstrations  -  and more …………

Our full cast of rail yard characters will be on hand to interact and play with the visitors to include hobos’, witches, engineers, ghouls and goblins. Also, a few VIP’s are scheduled to attend the event. These very important people are the Conductor from the North Poles most famous train the Polar Express and from the Island of Sodor, Thomas the Tank Engines bosses, Mr. Conductor and Sir Topham Hatt.  

We are also very honored this year to have Sir Topham Hatt’s wife, Mrs. Jane “Lady” Hatt, attend this year’s event. She and the other Ladies of Sodor have heard of our plight and struggle to raise funds to install proper bathrooms at the railroad museum. She and her friends have decided that the ladies of the roundhouse and their guests need proper restrooms and to that end will be hosting a bake sale. LADY HATT’S BAKED GOODS will be selling all sorts of yummy goodies with 100% of all the sales and donations going toward the matching funds needed to access grant money already awarded to complete the restroom project.

Come early and stay for the whole event you’ll be glad you did and your kids will be too. This is the best family event of the year in the tri-state area. Come on down. We’re making tracks to the future. We can’t wait to meet you.

Another Attendance Record is Broken!

Wow! We have broken another attendance record and we still have 12 more weeks to go until the end of the year. Here’s a quick glance at our Visitor count comparisons.

Scheduled Visitor Tours 2011 = 485 kids and adults (year-end total)

Scheduled Visitor Tours 2012 = 967 kids and adults currently to date (We have many more scheduled tours on the books before the end of the year)

 

Over all Visitor Count:

2008 = less than 3,000

2009 = 6,000 +/-

2010 = 12,740

2011 = 31,000 +

2012 = 32,000 + to date (based on last year’s attendance numbers for the final 3 months of the year we are calculating that another 16,000 visitors can be expected between now and the end of the year)

We wish to thank all of our visitors for coming out and experiencing the railroad museum and the Milwaukee Railroad Shops Historic District.  We truly enjoy having you stop by and visit and learn about our regions important history and the vital link we provide in the economic and industrial growth of our great nation. And more importantly to hear the stories of our ancestors that used to work for the railroads and being able to experience their workplace, shops and working conditions. We hope that a visit to our complex leaves you with a wonderful sense of pride in your own family’s history after getting a better feel for how our families worked hard, supported each other and provided for our futures.

Most importantly we would like to thank our exceptional and awesome volunteers. Their selfless dedication and desire to pass on our history’s lessons to our children and future generations is simply humbling and heartfelt. The time they spend with the visitors and the stories and lessons that are passed on. The countless hours of not only working at the complex itself, but the unseen hours and hours spent at home researching, designing, contemplating and building upon ideas for displays, interactive learning and the stories of the railroad workers and the lives that they touched.

Thank you to one and all! And please pass the word on about us and check out our web site’s upcoming events (www.milwaukeerailroadshops.org) for the exciting and fun family events that are still  planned for the rest year.

Ironhorse Days Saturday & Sunday October 13 & 14

Come help us celebrate Old Chief Ironhorse's 103rd birthday this weekend. The railroad museum complex will be open from 10 am to 4 pm both days. Come learn about the sole survivor of a class of 14 locomotives that was originally built in 1909. Great Northern Railway Steam Locomotive #1355 is a National Landmark and is registered on the National Register of Historic Places. This locomotive helped settle the American West and was instrumental in the growth of our great nation. Old Ironhorse was given to the people of Sioux City by the Great Northern Railway as gift and a reminder of it's strong relationships with the railroad.

After sitting on display outside near the Sioux City Auditorium from 1955 until 1984 the City of Sioux City granted ownership of this locomotive to our organization and it's restoration process was begun. Originally the restoration concept was to bring GN 1355 back to life and to steam again. Unfortunately though, financial and insurance constraints along with operational limitations due to its friction bearing design caused us to change the concept from operational to a cosmetic restoration. GN 1355 was completely stripped down, cleaned, fixed and loving restored to it's original 1920's and 30's passenger paint scheme. The volunteers spent countless hours researching and scanning old photos of the locomotive. It has been restored just as if it were to be an operational locomotive. Past engineers and firemen of this great locomotive have complemented us on it's restoration and it's completeness. Countless volunteers, tens of thousands of volunteer man-hours and hundreds of thousands of dollars from grants and donations and a lot of tender loving care have brought this beautiful locomotive back from near oblivion and into the public eyesight once again.

This years event will feature:
* A continuous running slide show of the restoration efforts of the steam locomotive provided by Odell Overgaard.
* Railroad history presentation given by Mr. Francis Serr of Yankton at 11am and 2pm both days in the Preservation Gallery.
* Old Ironhorse GN #1355 will be pulled out of the roundhouse and placed on the turntable from 10am to 3pm on Saturday (this will be the last outdoor display of this locomotive for the year) but it will stay inside the roundhouse on Sunday so folks can go into the cab.
* Steam engine tours.
* Turntable demonstrations will be performed every hour on both days.
* On Sunday we will use our 1943 GE 45 ton diesel locomotive for the turntable demonstrations.
* A courtesy table will be setup to serve coffee, cookies and popcorn.
* We will be continuing to raise funds for our Vision Iowa grant through the train hat donation promotions.
* Motorcar rides will again be available for $2 per ride.
* All of our exhibit buildings will be open
* We will have an Operation Lifesaver display on hand provided by Ryan Schooley of the BNSF Railway.
* The Lionel trains will be running in the orange Milwaukee caboose and the HO scale Nebraska Central Railroad will be in full operation in the Civil Engineering Display Building.


 Grab your friends and relatives and come on down, we can't wait to meet you!