Riding the rails in East Troy

Take a trip to the past

East Troy Railroad operates the last remnant of the interurban rail system

by Tracy Ouellette STAFF WRITER

Although a popular attraction in the area, many still don’t know that the East Troy Railroad Museum runs the last remaining segment of the former Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light interurban rail system, offering trolley and interurban railroad car rides each weekend.

The rail line between East Troy and Mukwonago was once part of more than 200 miles of track in Southeastern Wisconsin. Today, the 14-miles of track used by the railroad operates every weekend Memorial Day weekend through September.

For more information on the railroad’s history see the related story on page 10.

The East Troy Railroad Museum is a non

Children wave to welcome one of the East Troy Railroad Museum’s trains to the Elegant Farmer station in Mukwonago. This particular train is led by Chicago Elevated Car 4420.

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profit organization, which is run by more than 100 volunteers and features historical railway cars that have been lovingly restored.

“We are restoring North Shore Car 761 right now and there is a lot of energy and excitement about getting it operational,” museum President Ryan Jonas said. “It’s totally stripped now and ready to paint and it’s looks like we’ll have it done by the end of the year.”

Jonas said the former owner of the railroad, Paul Averdung, has been volunteering at the museum to be part of the project.

“He ran the railroad for more than 30 years and he came back just for this, he has a real passion for it. He told me ‘I love coming out here and working and not having to deal with the administration of the railroad.’ I guess that’s what I’m for,” Jonas said with a laugh.

See more information about Car 761 in the related story on page 7.

Changes this year

The railroad is celebrating its 113th year in 2020, but with the

Train operators at the East Troy Railroad are having trouble this year with drivers not paying attention at crossings. Operations Manager Jim Feyerherm says the engineers are having one to two near misses each weekend.

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coronavirus pandemic, operations have seen some change.

“Like everyone, we’ve had to do things differently to protect our volunteers and our guests,” railroad Operations Manager Jim Feyerherm said. “The No. 1 change is we’re requiring masks. Masks for the train crews and masks for everyone who comes in.”

In addition to the required masks, the railroad now requires reservations and contactless payment from its passengers.

“We’re trying to have all reserved seating and we’re encouraging people to go to our website or go on Facebook to get to our websites and make their reservations and payments. We also have a QR code at the depot people can use with their phone, but we’re not selling tickets inside the depot.”

This year, the trains are only departing and arriving at the East Troy Depot, 2002 Church St.

“We’re not taking on passengers at the Elegant Farmer or Indian Head Park in Mukwonago this year,” Feyerherm said. “The trains still stop at the Elegant Farmer for people to shop, but we don’t take on new passengers there.”

While passengers may leave the train to shop at the Elegant Farmer, they must take the same train back to the depot, which is another change. Eating is also not allowed on the trains, Jonas said.

As with many of the social distancing guidelines, Jonas said there has been some pushback, but for the most part, people have been good about considering the safety of the railroad volunteers and other passengers.

“But we do get some who just don’t care,” he said.

Crossing concerns

Another big concern at the railroad this year is problems being caused by distracted drivers not stopping at the railroad crossings.

“I have never seen it so bad as it is this year,” Feyerherm said. “All of our operators, myself included, have seen a tremendous amount of near misses with cars this year. I don’t know if people are just so preoccupied they’re not paying attention or if everyone is just in such a rush, but it’s happening every

Many members of the restoration team working on Cars 761 and 6 pose in front of Car 761 at the East Troy Railroad’s maintenance facility.

DUSTIN ROBINSON Spirit of Geneva Lakes Restoring history

Railroad Museum works on two historical interurban cars

Volunteers at the East Troy Railroad are working to bring two historic interurban railroad cars back into operating condition.

Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Car 761 ran on the North Shore Line between the Loop in Chicago and downtown Milwaukee from 1930 to 1963. Chicago South Shore and South Bend Car 6 ran on the South Shore Line between Chicago and South Bend, Indiana from 1926 to 1983.

“Restoring both of these cars is a priority for us, each for a different reason,” East Troy Railroad Museum President Ryan Jonas said. “We depend on our South Shore fleet to run our popular special event trains, like the Bunny Trains and Christmas Trains. South Shore Car 6 will give us a backup in case one of the other South Shore cars needs repairs. We want Car 761 back in service so we can showcase another interurban car with Wisconsin history. Our historic railroad runs on the only remaining electric interurban track in the state.”

The East Troy Railroad Museum acquired Car 761 from a Michigan museum in 2001 and started initial work to restore the car soon afterward. Volunteers replaced the roof, had new doors made, and purchased fabric to reupholster the seats.

Efforts ground to a halt when volunteers discovered structural deterioration on the north end of the car. When a qualified welder joined the volunteer team in East Troy, the museum’s board of directors agreed that it was time to restart the restoration work.

Car 6 came to the museum in 2010 via the National Park Service at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore (now Indiana Dunes National Park). When the South Shore Line’s original 1920s-era cars were replaced by new equipment in 1982 and 1983, a Congressman serving northern Indiana worked to pass a bill to transfer the retired cars to the Park Service.

See RESTORING, Page 9

day we’re running, sometimes more than once.”

Most of the crossings are in the East Troy area and the crossing on Highway 20 has lights, but people are still not stopping, Feyerherm said.

“The lights come on and people run right through them. It’s really scary. We’re taking 30 tons down the road and while a crash would kind of damage our cars, it’s going to destroy whomever it hits. We’re going slow, so I don’t think it would cause serious injury, but it will cause serous damage to a vehicle.”

Feyerherm said people need to be aware of their surroundings when driving in the East Troy/Mukwonago area near the train tracks. Some of the crossings have stop signs and others have yield signs, but Feyerherm said they are all controlled in some way and he can’t figure out what people are thinking by ignoring the warnings.

“Always expect a train when you see any railroad crossings,” he said. “I’m serious. Always, always expect a train. I’ve reported six near misses that I was able to get a license plate number for this year alone, and that’s not all of them. We blow the horn and it’s loud. Turn your music down, put down your phone and pay attention. Please!”

Volunteers at the East Troy Railroad Museum spent many hours restoring Car 33, which was put back into service in 2017.

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Dinner trains on hold

One of the East Troy Railroad’s most popular attractions is its dinner trains and this year, with COVID-19, the railroad is rethinking how to hold those.

“We were doing them with people eating at the depot and then taking a train ride, but it wasn’t attracting a lot of people, so we’re in the process of revamping how we’re going to do them,” Jonas said.

The hope is to hold some farm-to-table type dinners, with locally sourced ingredients, and have the train ride after.

“We’ll probably have them more toward the fall,” Feyerherm said. “Maybe in the car barn or put a tent up if people are interested. We’re working on it.”

For now, the railroad is operating on Friday, Saturday and Sunday with trains departing the East Troy Depot at 10 a.m., noon and 2 p.m. on Friday and Sunday and 10 a.m., 11 a.m., noon, 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. on Saturday.

“We either use open cars or cars with the windows open, depending on the weather,” Feyerherm said. “Come and ride the train and support the railroad, we’re open and it’s a fun way to spend the day.”

For more information or to make a reservation, visit easttroyrr.org.

•Restoring

(Continued from page 7)

The goal was to establish a museum at Indiana Dunes. Four of the stops on the South Shore Line are at stations in or near the dunes. When the planned museum failed to gain funding, the retired cars were transferred to several other museums. The East Troy Railroad received five of the cars, including Car 33, which was restored to service in 2016.

Car 6 needs to have its wheels and trucks refurbished, needs two traction motors rebuilt, needs its seats reupholstered, needs new flooring, some rewiring, and much cosmetic work to restore its appearance. The pantographs above the car must be removed and replaced by trolley poles, so the car can run on the East Troy Railway. A new canvas roof will also be installed.

In addition to the structural work, Car 761 needs body work, needs to be repainted inside and out, needs new flooring, needs the seats reupholstered, needs the electrical system cleaned, repaired and tested, needs the brake lines reinstalled to both control stands, needs new doors and new glass installed on the south end of the car, and needs the stairways reinstalled on both ends.

How to help

The museum depends largely upon donations to fund restorations of its historic equipment.

A GoFundMe page has been set up for people who would like to support the restoration efforts. A link to the page is posted on the East Troy Railroad Museum’s website at easttroyrr.org/ projects, or at charity.gofundme.com/ss-car-6-and-ns-car-761- restoration.

Checks can also be sent payable to the East Troy Railroad Museum, P.O. Box 943, East Troy, WI 53120. Write “Cars 6 and 761” on the memo line to indicate your support for these cars.

All donors will receive a tax-deductible receipt. The East Troy Railroad is a qualified 501(c)(3) non-profit cultural institution.

Volunteer Korey Kumbier works to remove the old roof and pantograph from Car 6. Volunteers work to clean the interior of Car 761 to prepare it for further repairs and painting.

How the railroad came to be in East Troy

The East Troy Railroad Museum owns, maintains and operates historic electric trolley and interurban railroad cars on track completed by The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Co. in 1907. The rail line between Mukwonago and East Troy is the last remnant of The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light interurban rail system, which once operated more than 200 miles of track in Southeastern Wisconsin.

Since the East Troy line was the only form of public transportation in the area in 1907, it was designated as a U.S. Mail route. And since there were no competing railroads serving East Troy, TMER&L decided to offer freight service on the line. This was profitable for the railroad and led to the growth of several businesses in the area, including a Standard Oil Distribution Center, East Troy Lumber, a United Milk Products Plant, and Equity Co-op’s feed and fuel plant.

With the development of better roads and highways, interurban lines gradually lost passengers as more and more people drove their own cars. By the late 1930s, the lines to Watertown, East Troy and Burlington were all experiencing financial difficulties. In October of 1938, TMER&L Co. was broken up into two separate companies.

The Wisconsin Electric Power Company operated the power plants and handled electrical distribution; the Milwaukee Electric Railway and Transport Company (TMER&T) operated its transportation properties. In 1939, TMER&T petitioned the Public Service Commission to abandon the lines to Watertown, Burlington and East Troy.

The other lines were approved for abandonment, but the Village of East Troy and a group of concerned citizens opposed the abandonment of their line because the freight service was so important to area businesses.

After several hearings and almost a year of negotiations, TMER&T agreed to sell the line from Mukwonago to East Troy to the Village of East Troy for $10,000. The agreement included an interchange with the Soo Line Railroad, which would allow freight traffic to continue. The Village of East Troy passed a referendum approving the purchase by a vote of 321 to 11.

TMER&T crews continued to operate and maintain the electric railroad from Mukwonago to East Troy five days a week. Throughout the 1940s the railroad carried between 800 and 1,000 cars of freight each year. But because of increasing maintenance expenses and its desire to get out of the railroad business, TMER&T declined to renew its operating agreement in 1949, forcing the Village of East Troy to take over operation of the railroad in 1950. At this time the railroad officially became known as the Municipality of East Troy Wisconsin Railroad.

In the early 1970s, The Wisconsin Electric Railway Historical Society began operating weekend trolley rides on the line using its own restored trolley equipment. In 1984, the Village of East Troy cancelled the Historical Society’s operating lease and began looking for an organization to lease and operate the entire railroad. The village approached the Wisconsin Trolley Museum, which had a strong core of volunteers restoring trolleys at the old Milwaukee Road depot in North Prairie. The village asked if they would move to East Troy and take over the line.

The Wisconsin Trolley Museum agreed, entering into a 25-year operating lease. In the spring of 1985 it moved its collection of seven trolleys to East Troy and took over operation of the railroad.

In 1993, the Friends of the East Troy Railroad began to negotiate with the Village of East Troy to purchase the property outright. The sale was completed on Jan. 13, 1995. So, since 1985 the East Troy Railroad Museum has operated the East Troy Electric Railroad and since 1995 the non-profit corporation has owned the railroad as well.

Source: The East Troy Electric Railroad, www.easttroyrr.org.

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