Wisconsin National Driving Tour

Early Ford V-8 Club National Driving Tour WISCONSIN TRANSPORTATION TOUR

Wisconsin has more than beer, cheese and cows. There are many links to transportation within its borders, and this National Driving Tour will stop at many of them. There will be other places of interest also to keep all participants happy. This will be a ‘spoke tour,’ with multiple days traveling, but always returning to the same overnight location. We will be traveling the back roads, the two lanes of rural America. Just what our Early Ford V8s were designed for. We will start on Tuesday August 23, with arrival and check in. Before the day is over, we will have the get acquainted party, with a review of the tour’s activities. On Wednesday August 24, we will head into Milwaukee. The tour starts with a company that is as old as the Ford Motor Company — Harley Davidson motorcycles. Both were founded in 1903. The new museum complex opened in 2008, and has an outstanding display of motorcycle history outlining its place in transportation. From there we will grab lunch at the Motor Restaurant, or at another Milwaukee waterfront location. After lunch you will have the option of either a tour of the Pabst Mansion, or a visit to the Mitchell Park Conservatory. We will end our day in Milwaukee at Miller Brewery. Dinner will be on your own. This day will be about a 50 mile drive. Thursday we head to Green Bay, to visit the National Railroad Museum and the Automobile Gallery. This will be the first of two long days, at about 250 miles. We will first visit the National Railroad Museum. This museum started in 1956, during the beginning of the end of the steam era. It was officially recognized by Congress, in 1958, as the National Railroad Museum. It is one of the largest rail museums in the United States. They offer train rides, as a means to view the museum, along with several train sheds that house the Dwight D. Eisenhower Locomotive and Command Cars from World War II,

AUGUST 23 -AUGUST 28, 2022 a Union Pacific Big Boy, a Pennsylvania Railroad electric locomotive and the General Motors By Bruce Nelson Aerotrain. Something for every train fan. We will next tour the Automobile Gallery, where we will experience ‘the automobile is the art.’ exhibit. This is a private collection begun by the late William ‘Red’ Lewis in a former Cadillac dealership, in Green Bay. There will even be a drive by the world famous Lambeau Field. Upon returning to the hotel, dinner is on your own. Friday we will be touring to East Troy, to visit the East Troy Electric Railroad Museum. The depot museum is what is left from the original electric line from Milwaukee. Rides are available and you can experience riding on historic streetcars for six miles. Once we leave East Troy, we will head north to Hartford and the Wisconsin Automotive Museum, the largest auto museum in the state. Hartford is the home to the Kissel Automobile, the second longest auto manufacturer in the state of Wisconsin, from 1906 to 1931. The Nash Motor Company was the longest Wisconsin manufacturer. The Badger State Regional Group #35 has a nice display in the museum. The tour mileage for this day is 120 miles. Our farewell get together will be that evening. Saturday, we will head off on our second longest driving day, heading to North Freedom and the MidContinent Railroad. Mid-Continent is an outdoor living history museum and operating railroad that is recreating, preserving and interpreting the small town short line way of life, from the “Golden Age of Railroading.” Plan for a seven mile ride behind an operating steam engine (equipment available). There are over 40 train cars and locomotives on display within the museum. Once we have experienced Mid-Continent, we will head back by traveling through Baraboo, home of the Circus World Museum. It is a most interesting place, as it was the winter home of the Ringling Brothers ‘World’s Greatest Shows’ Circus. Why they wintered in Wisconsin is something to find out. Mileage for Saturday’s tour will be 260.

Sunday we will say our goodbyes. We hope that you will have learned about Wisconsin’s transportation history and enjoyed your touring time in Wisconsin.