The first annual Touch-a-Truck-or-Train community event will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., this Saturday, October 4, in the rail yard of the Milwaukee R...ailroad Shops Historic District in Sioux City.
General admission to the event is $10 per family. Bring the entire family out and enjoy sitting in these trucks, trains and vehicles; learning about what they do, how they work, and how they benefit our community.
Name a child who wouldn’t love to climb aboard a fire truck, big rig, or train engine! Touch-a-Truck or Train provides a unique opportunity for children to explore vehicles of all types – public service, emergency, utility, construction, military, railroad transportation, delivery, and just plain cool – all in one place.
The Milwaukee Railroad Shops Historic District, home of the community’s landmark Ironhorse steam locomotive, will be celebrating Touch-a-Truck-or-Train with railroad demonstrations, helicopter landing and takeoff, and the exhibition of transportation-related vehicles. This mini transportation expo will allow kids and adults to sit inside, touch, and learn all about vehicles and train equipment they usually don’t have the opportunity to be up close with. Vehicle drivers and operators will be on hand to educate the public about their vehicles and its importance to the world of work.
Event vehicles will vary from a semi-tractor rig to diesel railroad locomotive. There will be a large tow truck displayed by Meier Towing, a semi-tractor rig exhibited by I State Freightliner, a police car demonstrated by the Sioux City Police Department, and a Fire Truck shown by Sioux City Fire Rescue. Other Siouxland businesses and agencies will have a variety of vehicles on hand for kids and adults to explore, including the Mercy Air Care Helicopter, a Siouxland Paramedics Ambulance, and military vehicles from the Army Reserve. Travel Plus Limousine will exhibit their Trolley Bus and a limousine, and GCC Ready Mix will display a cement mixer.
Railroad equipment displays will include the outdoor exhibition of Sioux City’s Landmark Steam Locomotive, a restored wood Northern Pacific Caboose, a railroad center cab diesel locomotive, and the 400 truck used by railroads in the repair of rail cars.
During the event, there will be two railroad demonstrations involving the switching and movement of equipment. At 10 a.m., the Railroad Museum will pull the steam locomotive and wood caboose out of the roundhouse and position the historic equipment for outdoor exhibition. At 3:15 p.m., the equipment will be returned to the roundhouse. During both movements, there will be a turntable demonstration.
Touch-a-Truck-or-Train is a community event that allows families to take photos near railroad equipment and other transportation vehicles in a safe environment. Families and amateur photographers are welcomed to Bring Your Own Digital Device to pose and photograph family members near the train, truck or vehicle 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 and other railroad equipment in an outdoor setting; using the sun and the backdrop of the historic buildings, rail yard, train displays, and the Loess Hills Bluffs to help frame your photos.
The Milwaukee Railroad Shops Historic District is located adjacent to the Big Sioux River and Loess Hills National Scenic Byway in Sioux City’s north Riverside area along Iowa State Highway 12. Built in 1917-1918, 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.
Touch-a-Truck-or-Train Event Schedule
10:00 a.m. Railroad Switching and Shunting Demonstration – pulling out of steam locomotive and wood caboose from roundhouse building
1:00 p.m. Landing of Mercy Air Care Helicopter – exhibited until 2:30 p.m.
2:30 p.m. Take off of Mercy Air Care Helicopter
1:00 p.m. Arrival of Fire Truck and Military Vehicles – exhibit until 3:00 p.m.
3:15 p.m. Railroad Switching and Shunting Demonstration – returning of steam locomotive and wood caboose inside the roundhouse building
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