Tuesday, June 26, 2018, National Railroad Museum

Serendipitous - that's my word for today. Joani's plan for our stay at the Oneida Casino in Green Bay put us just a few miles from the National Railroad Museum. Even better, the museum was part of the ASTC network so our admission was covered. We started our visit in the theater where we watched a film chronicling the development of the large steam engines of the '40s and '50s with particular emphasis on the 600-ton monster known as "Big Boy."

In Fuller Hall, we viewed the photography of David Plowden and a model of General Motor's Aerotrain. 

In the main exhibit hall, Lenfestey Center, we were face to face with several beautifully restored locomotives including the Dwight D. Eisenhower, below.

Big Boy was truly impressive with its articulated chassis, 32 drive wheels, and 4 high-pressure steam pistons. The 4-8-8-4 configuration was able to pull 5 and a half miles of fully loaded boxcars on level track. The 14 wheel tender held 25,000 gallons of water and 32 tons of coal - enough to pull 3,600 tons from Ogden, UT to Echo, UT (55 mountainous miles).

Big Boy ran with a four-man crew. With 79 different controls in the cab, they had their work cut out for them. While spacious the cab was always hot - they ran with vents and windows open even in winter. It was just miserable traversing tunnels where the cab temperature could reach 180F and the air was choked with smoke This was definitely not a glamorous job - happy to say I was the other kind of engineer!

When you visit the museum you get a ticket to ride the train around the facility. It was an old diesel locomotive pulling an open-air platform car with a conductor providing commentary on the museum's history and collection.

We even learned something about the Hobo culture and the symbols they used to let fellow travelers know about opportunities or dangers ahead.

In the McCormick Train Pavilion, we found Aerotrain #2. Only three were built and they were never a commercial success. They could not compete with the freedom people found on the open roads in their personal automobiles. 

GM missed the mark with this one. They built it super light to increase speed, but the reduced weight meant a bumpy ride. The underpowered engine meant it never performed at expected speeds. Trying to get people to give up their cars has always been a boondoggle.

The volunteers at the museum have plenty of restoration work lined up to keep them busy.