071 Tracks Thru Time, A Community Remembers Geneva Lake Train Project

Tracks Through Time, A Community Remembers, Geneva Lake Train Project - Badger High School, 60 pages. Chicago and Northwestern Railway, Milwaukee Road, in the Geneva Area. This book was donated to the Community Library. This is a copy of the book that was donated to the Community Library in 2009 and is on the shelves at the Community Library. We are concerned both by the potential loss of the book for any of a variety of reasons and by the fact that it has a substantial amount of data that is not easily searched. By the process of the digital archive, we protect the book and allow for Optical Character Recognition (OCR). Thank you to A. Kenjar for her dedicated and consistent efforts to photocopy for the project.

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SNIPPETS of SALEM
71 - Tracks Through

Time, A Community
Remembers
Geneva Lake Train Project
- Badger High School
60 pages
Contents:
Chicago and Northwestern Railway, Milwaukee Road, in the Geneva
Area. This book was donated to the Community Library
Contents: This is a copy of the book that was donated to the
Community Library in 2009 and is on the shelves at the Community
Library. We are concerned both by the potential loss of the book for
any of a variety of reasons and by the fact that it has a substantial
amount of data that is not easily searched. By the process of the
digital archive, we protect the book and allow for Optical Character
Recognition (OCR). Thank you to A. Kenjar .fg
.. ~.·er dedicated and
consistent efforts to photocopy for the project. tfb~~~f

'r.:.

'"{'

The citiation used to denote information found it the book should
reference the book itself, not this booklet.
Researchers should also refer to the Digital archives at the SALEM
COMMUNITY LIBRARY for images that can be found in this booklet.
Compiled 0/2009 by L S Valentine Copyright©Valentine2009

TRACKS THROUGH TIME
A COMMUNITY REMEMBERS

GENEVA LAKE TRAIN PROJECT
BADGER HIGH SCHOOL, LAKE GENEVA, WISCONSIN

Robert Larson depicts many varieties of steam and diesel locomotives.

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$5.95

Tracks Through Time:
A Community Remembers

STEERING COMMITTEE
Charlotte Peterson, Co-Chair; Sally Harper, Co-Chair
Gretchen Allen, Charlie Bowman, Carol Carlin,
Dean Dare, Madeline Huston, Gail Pachucki,
Nancy Page, Harry Van Dyke

COMMUNICATION DESIGN STAFF
Debbie Bergsma, Zac Chentnik, Nichole Cooper,
Julie Dobberstein, Dennis Docherty, John Fraser,
Holly Hartje, Robert Larson, Angie McCloud,
Lisa Olson, Mike Parrish, Chris Pond,
Maggie Reid, Cathy Talarek, Erica Weise

Geneva lake Train Project
A publication of Communication Design Class
Badger High School, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin
Our Gift to the Geneva Lake Area Communities
May, 1989

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EDUCATION IS SHARING
Our Individual Contributions
Our Collective History
Our Mutual Future

Don Herst was able to capture the historic arrival and departure of the last trains in Lake Geneva. Shown here arc both
views of the last traln into Lake Geneva.

We dedicate this book to all who share
our vision of education in the public schools.

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INTRODUCTION
"When life hands you lemons, make lemonade."
The train no longer ran through the area. The Genoa City Depot, Lake Geneva Depot and
Williams Bay Depot no longer existed. The Springfield Depot had been sold to the lumber yard.
The train tracks had been removed from many parts of the towns.
How can we preserve an understanding of the value of the train in the development of this area
and in the lives of its residents? Ask those who experienced the train to tell their stories and
share their memorabilia. Record those messages, and publish a book. Hence.the Geneva Lake
Train Project of 1988-89. Hence Tracks Through Time: A Community Remembers.
This creative approach to save the era through the recorded recollections of the participants is not
unique. The oral history tradition predates recorded history. The Foxfire series shows the value
of the students recording and publishing the stories of their neighbors and grandparents. The
Union Station Renovation Project in St. Louis, Missouri, a collection of "I Remember"
statements from the community regarding their experiences at Union Station, provided
inspiration.
Badger Communication Design Instructors Madeline Huston and Carol Carlin inspired, by a visit
to the Union Station, proposed a project to administrators Dean Dare, Pat Shea, and Harry Van
Dyke in March, 1988. By April, a community Steering Committee was formed, and the Geneva
Lake Train Project was underway.
The Chicago and NorthWestern Railway was significant to the lives of Genoa City, Pell Lake,
Lake Geneva, Como, and Williams Bay residents. The Milwaukee Road was significant to
Springfield and Walworth residents. The stories represent experiences from each of those areas
and both railroad lines. Of particular significance is the fact that the C&NW railway serviced this
area prior to the Chicago fire. Following the fire, displaced Chicago residents moved here,
renting existing strucrures.
The permission by authors, interviewees, and photographers to reprint their materials was
generous. Many stories make reference to photoso The grounds well of community support was
wonderful. Tremendous community pride and generosity in sharing the past allowed the
students to explore the essence of historical experience and the recording of that experience. The
bridging of the generations, the expanding of education beyond the walls of the school building,
the networking from Florida to California to Wisconsin, each was an important aspect of this
project.
Significant moments along the way were many. The individual and collective contributions of
the steering committee members tremendously enhanced the quality of the project. The efforts
and the growth of the srudent staff were unprecedented,
Enjoy Tracks Through Time: A Community Remembers. It is our collective history

•

0

Cover Photo: Grandpa Richard Voss and Jennie Voss Piper. Compliments of Lorena Tillberg.
Cover Design: John Fraser

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ii
iii

Title page
Dedication
Don Herst

I

Don Herst
Introduction
Table of Contents
Bob Larson
Holly Hartje

4
5
7

George Krambles
George Krambles
Heather O'Brien
Charlie Bowman

iv
v

vii

8
9
10

11
12
13
14
16
17
19
20
21
22
23
24
25

26

Charlotte Peterson
Jim Scott
Mrs. Lou Nesslar
Walt Schinke

Dina Sapida
Bob Larson
Gail Vogt
Walt Schinke
Walt Schinke
Elmer Nelson
Joe Pedajas collection
Joe Pedajas collection
Lisa Olson
Charlie Bowman
collection
Alice Hackett
Mrs. Ned Grimm
Jim Butts collection
Oscar Voss
Erica Weise
Laura Kirnmerling
Laura Kirnmerling
Kevin Waldeck
Zac Chentnik
Geneva Lake Area
Museum of History
Louis Mergener, Jr.
Display-TEC/Meteor
collection

27

Charlotte Peterson
!Remember
Anne Blanck collection Photograph
Elmer Nelson
Weather Report

Photograph

28

Photograph

29

33
34

Dick Ruck
Bob Larson
Joe Pedajas
Elmer Nelson
Walter Hudson
Alice Hackett collection
Joe Darling
Ed Tobias collection
Jodi Loveland
Ethel Judson Babcock

35

Ethel Judson Babcock

Illustration
Trains in the Lake
Geneva Area
Photograph
Photograph
Illustration
Walworth County
Railroads
I Remember...
Photograph
Photograph
Recollections of
the Chicago,
Milwaukee, St
Paul and Pacific
Railroad in the
area of
Springfield,
Wisconsin
Introduction
Illustration
Illustration
Illustration
Photograph
Photograph
Weather
Photograph
Photograph
Illustration
Stock
Certificate
Our Earliest
Railroad
!Remember
Photograph
!Remember
Illustration
!Remember
Photograph
!Remember
Illustration
Photograph
Illustration

30
31
32

36
37

38
39
40

41
42
43
44
45
46
47

48
49

50
51
52

Anne Blanck collection
Bob Schroeder
Augustus K Maxwell Jr
Peg Smith Williams
Betty Johnson
Peg Smith Williams
Ethel Judson Babcock
Bill Smarslik
AnnHerwald
William Pagliaro
Diane Lasch Jones
Bob Larson
Mrs. Spiegelhoff
Phyllis Henry Johnson
Jay Martin
Dick Halsey
Leland Swenson
Jim Butts collection
Don Halvorsen
Kanon Kulpa
Mary E Hegberg
Lorena Price Till berg
Lorena Price Tillberg
Lloyd E. Nelson
Anne Blanck collection
Stanley F. Bence
George Krambles
collection
Alyce Nesslar
Betty Neuhaus
Paulina L. Johnson
George Krambles
collection
Gerri Dilloo
Charlotte Peterson
Wendy Fritz
Keneth Koutnik
Don Herst
Don Herst

!Remember
Illustration
Photograph
Weather Report
!Remember
Photograph
I Remember
Photograph
Illustration
The 5:15 Train
1912-1913
The Freight Train
1912-1913
Photograph
I Remember
I Remember
I Remember
!Remember
Photograph
The Circus Train
1910-1914
Photograph
I Remember
I Remember
The "Torn"
Illustration
!Remember
I Remember
Illustration
!Remember
I Remember
Photograph
!Remember
Illustration
I Remember
I Remember
Photograph
I Remember
Photograph
I Remember
Postcard
Photograph
I Remember
I Remember
Photograph
I Remember
!Remember
Photograph
!Remember
Photograph
Photograph

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---------••------~~------·--"~---A~

53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64

65
66
67
68
69
70

71

72

73
74
75
76
77

78
79

Robert Smyth
Alyce Nesslar
Erica Weise
LaMarr Lundberg
Donald "Baggy"
Douglass
Anne Blanck collection
Tom Johnson
Anne B Janek collection
Mrs. Ned Grimm
Lette Powers
Jim Butts collection
Bruce M. Foiles
C. Bowman collection
Ken Koutnik collection
Phyllis Friedrich

!Remember
Photograph
Illustration
!Remember

!Remember
Photograph
I Remember
Photograph
Photograph
I Remember
Photograph
Train Whistles
Map
Collage
Remembrances of
Train Rides
Mrs. Ned Grimm
Photograph
Katherine J. Peterson !Remember
Maria Aspinall
I Remember
Barb Bence McMahon !Remember
Jim Butts collection
Photograph
Alyce Nesslar
Photograph
Frank Moertl
Railway
Postmarks
Leola J. Ruiz
!Remember
Leola J. Ruiz
Photograph
Dallas Reynolds
I Remember
Dallas Reynolds
Photograph
Charlie Bowman
!Remember
Mrs. Ned Grimm
Photograph
Jim Butts collection
Photograph
Gail Vogt
Illustration
Ed Tobias
Photograph
Ed Tobias
!Remember
Mrs. Elliot
I Remember
Mrs. Lou Nesslar
I Remember
Mrs. Lou Nesslar
Photograph
Mr. RC. McCarthy
Letter to
Commuters
Jay Martin
Illustration
Wendy Blood
Illustration
Louis C. Berndt
!Remember
Joe Pedajas collection Photograph
William Ed Schwandt !Remember
Joe Pedajas collection Photograph
Elmer Nelson
Weather Report
Elaine Schiess
I Remember
Charlotte Peterson
I Remember
H. C. McCarthy
Photograph
StanAlm
1 Remember
Julie Heath
Illustration
Jessie Willson
!Remember
Joe Pedajas collection Photograph
Alyce Nesslar
Photograph

80
81
82
83
84
85
86

87
88

89
90
91
92

93
94
96
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
107

108
110
Ill

112

Ralph N. Williams
Alice Hackett
Collection
Ken Koutnik

!Remember

Photograph
Blueprints of
Williams Bay Yard
Wilbur "Wib" Johnson !Remember
Alice Hackett
Photograph
Alyce Nesslar
Photograph
Robert T. Cook
I Remember
Bob Cook Collection
Photograph
Bob Cook Collection .Photograph
Alyce Nesslar
Photograph
Bob Cook Collection The Railroad Man
Alyce Nesslar
Photograph
Mrs. Ned Grim
Photograph
Laura Kimmerling
Photograph
Alyce Nesslar
Photograph
Alyce Nesslar
Photograph
Alyce Nesslar
Photograph
Phil Fogle
!Remember
Charlotte Peterson
!Remember
Jim Butts
Photograph
George Krambles
Photograph
Charlie Bowman
Rail Mail
Larry Larkin
Photograph
Larry Larkin
Photograph
George Krambles
Photograph
Bernadine Sapida
Illustration
Ed Tobias
Map
Alyce Hyde
Milwaukee Road
Heidi Schiltheim
Illustration
Charles Button
!Remember
Mrs. Ned Grim
Photograph
Joe Pedajas
!Remember
Joe Pedajas
Postcard
Joe Pedajas
Photograph
By August Lockman
Photograph
Joe Pedajas
Photograph
Deanna Morici
The Railroad Runs
No More
Joe Pedajas
Photograph
Appendices
Staff and Steering
Committee
photographs
Communication
Design Staff
Steering
Committee
Jay Martin
Illustration
Jennifer Hermance
Illustration
Heather O'Brien
Illustration
Chris Sertzel
Illustration
Acknowledgements
Colophon

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TRAINS IN THE
LAKE GENEVA AREA
Holly Hartje
Railroads have played a very important role in the
development of America. From the invention of
the locomotive in the early 1800's until the
present day, trains have provided us with
transportation, careers, and pleasure.
A quotation taken by the E.J. McClanahan
collection: "The American Standard locomotive,
wooden cars and wooden bridge in the sylvan
setting are prophetic, for the waters of the
flowing stream are trackless and wood is
perishable before the ravages of time. In the
golden sunlight of happy yesteryears these
symbols of Western railroading pause for a
moment on Washington's Monte Cristo Railway
bridge over Stillaguamish River, while the lens is
uncapped and the image frozen for prosperity.
Look well yet not sadly, for the era will live
forever in the hearts of those who cherish the
Iron Horse" (Abdilll91). This idea summarizes
the feelings of Lake Genevans when the train
service from Chicago was terminated. It was a
sad day on August II, 1975, when the last
passenger train rolled in. The depot was quiet
for the first time in over 100 years. The people
in the town looked forward to seeing the train
and others relied on the train for transportation to
and from their jobs in Chicago.

In 1847, the Milwaukee and Waukesha Railroad
was chartered. It became the parent road of the
present Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul, and
Pacific Railroad. This road was completed from
Milwaukee to Milton in late 1851 creating a
junction with the Southern Wisconsin Railroad.
This allowed access from Milwaukee to
Janesville. The Milwaukee and Waukesha in
1854 completed the road from Milwaukee to
Madison.
Racine also wanted to trade with the big cities of
Milwaukee and Chicago. In 1852, a charter was
given for the Racine, Janesville and Mississippi
Railway. The course to be taken was through
Janesville and Beloit. When it was first surveyed
in the Lakes Area, it would come straight from
Lyons to Delavan, leaving Elkhorn out. This
enraged the people of Elkhorn. The city raised
money to try and get the tracks to come through
the town and finally succeeded. In 1856 the

Class F-1. Photographed at Lake Geneva. A.W. Johnson
Collection. Compliments of George Krambles.

tracks were extended to cross the Chicago and
NorthWestern road at Clinton.
In 1869, the great Chicago, Milwaukee, and St.
Paul built it's straight line from Chicago to
Milwaukee. In the same year seventeen miles of
track were layed from Eagle to Elkhorn, with
three intermediate stations, connecting the
Milwaukee and Prairie Du Chien Division with
the Racine and Southwestern Division. As a
small part of a much larger railway system this
branch was convenient for local travelers and
shippers.
In 1853, the Wisconsin Central Railway
Company was formed. It was planned to begin
at Genoa City and ran diagonally through the
country from Geneva toward Elkhorn, and
onward to Whitewater, Jefferson, Columbus,
and Portage. The final terminus was to be at
Lake Superior. From Genoa to Chicago its trains
would use the Galena and Chicago Union
Tracks. The first president of the company was
Legrand Rockwell. Local stockholders included
Charles M. Baker of Lake Geneva, George
Bulkley and Otis Preston of Elkhorn, Eleazar
Wakeley of Whitewater, and John A. Pierce of
Millard (Beckwith 187).

During this time period, a small line was started
in Kenosha. This line was an independent
enterprise by businessmen of Kenosha,
Wisconsin. The company failed, and almost
dragged Kenosha along with. The railroad was
acquired by the original Chicago and
NorthWestern Railroad, and was integrated after
18640 This line made it possible to go from
eastern Wisconsin to western Wisconsin and
Minnesota without going through Chicago.

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1

he formation of the north-south line through
enosha was started in 1851 when two
)mpanies formed. One from Illinois, and one in
fisconsin. The Chicago and Milwaukee railroad
as built north from Chicago, and the Green
ay, Milwaukee, and Chicago Railroad travelling
mth from Milwaukee to form one continuous
ilroad. This line went through Racine and
enosha. Kenosha realized that it had to build a
ne soon, or Racine would soon become the
mrinant of the two neighboring towns.
he Kenosha & Beloit Railroad Company was
corporated on March 4, 1853. Hale, the
.ilroad president, was elected to the Wisconsin
:ate Legislature in November of 1853. He
:lped promote the K&B line.
~e

route was to have three principle lines. The
iddle route was to start at Kenosha, stop at ten
fferent depots, connect up with the Rock River
alley Union Railroad at Sharon, and continue
1 to Beloit. The Northern Route was to start at
tlem and go through Lake Geneva, Lake
Jmo, Delavan and connect with the Rock River
alley Union at Sharon. The southern Route
as to start at Pleasant Prairie and meet up with
e other two lines at Zenda (Behrens 2).
October of 1856, the first locomotive arrived.
1e track laying began later that year, with the
:lp of the trains.
rrly into the next year, the K&B realized it was
cing a large problem. The problem was that
~re were larger railroads close to the KB. They
.d to decide if they wanted to connect with one
the larger lines, or compete with them.
/ FPhruary 14, 1857, the Kenosha & Beloit
tilroad changed it's n;;!ne to the Kenosha and
JCkford Railroad. Later in f.,1oTch, the Kenosha
d Rockford Company combined lnto a new
~ntity. Kenosha, Rockford, and Rock Island
til road Company.
The Rockford and
ississippi Railroad was included in the new line
June 19th.
1e following year started the first passenger
rvice. On Tnlv 4 1 R~R five trains ran between
:noa, Wood~orth, a~d .Kenosha. Each train
rried 1,000 passengers that day in thirteen cars.
round trip fare cost 25 cents a person (Behrens
).

1ce only freight such as grain, hay, and mail
ts being transported by the train before, a new

schedule had to be determined. On December
7th, the schedule became all trains would leave
Wheatland at 8:00A.M., and leave Kenosha at
5:00P.M. There were no runs made on Sunday.
No further tracklaying had been done since 1857.
Now, three years later, it was resumed. Genoa
was reached that year, and excursions were run.
The regular train service began on October 1,
1860. The schedule went as follows: 3:00P.M.
it left Kenosha, and at 6:00 P.M. it arrived at
Genoa, or 7:30A.M. it left Genoa and at 10:30
A.M. it arrived in Kenosha. By late November,
the rails went through Genoa. (See picture)
Problems arose during the Civil War. There was
no money to pay the first installment due July 1,
1861 on the interest due to the people that had
bought the bonds the year before, to support the
railroad.
On July 20th, the KR&RI
stockholder's had a meeting where it was decided
to sign the railroad over to the bond holders.
This was their only choice since they were going
to lose the railroad because of the lack of money
(History of Walworth County 187).
The actual rails needed much repair during the
war. In 1863 steel rails were imported from
England on the Pennsylvania Railroad because
they were three times as heavy and the wearing
quality and safety was far superior to iron. By
the end of the century, all the rails were replaced
by steel.

Being this close to a beautiful lake caused Lake
Geneva to become the next railroad depot. The
tracks laid to Geneva became part of the
C&NW's Galena Division and crossed the KD at
Genoa. The area around Lake Geneva was rural
up to 1870 when the railroad brought rich
Chicagoans into the area.
With the coming of the railroad, the population of
Lake Geneva started to increase. In the year
1870, Lake Geneva was considered a village
with a scarce population of 998. In 1888 Lake
Geneva became a city with 2,297 people. As the
railroad became more popular the population also
became greater. People moved out of the
business of Chicago, and onto the soothing,
tranquil lake. From the year 1920 to 1970, over
2,000 people moved into Lake Geneva to make it
the tourist town that it is today, continuing to
cater to the people from Chicago.

lllllllllllltllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll

George Murdock became the first engineer on the
Lake Geneva line. He was a hero because of his
determination and love for the train. Throughout
the strikes and disputes, Murdock never missed a
run. He was never laid off, suspended or
discharged. His nerves were of steel but he
wasn't violent. His vision was considered an A+
which caused him to never have an accident.
Murdock was born in Fulton County, Illinois,
and then his family moved to Iowa. At the age of
fourteen he returned to Illinois and sawed wood
for the Illinois Ceniral Railroad. In 1864, he
entered the Galens and Chicago Union Railroad
as a brakeman.
"He passed three scores and four miles and
scared the track for forty years" ("Geo Murdock,
Engineer"). Many emergencies arose, but no
passenger was ever hurt. He attributed his
record to luck.
The first train rolled into Geneva on Thursday,
May 29, 1856. It was said to be the happiest day
Geneva ever saw. In the morning, carriages and
wagons were crowding the streets waiting for
1:00 P.M. to come so they could see the train.
At 2:15 P.M., the whistle of the "Iron Horse"
was heard. It came in decorated with flags and
was welcomed by a thirteen gun salute.
This poem was printed in The Geneva Express,
the followmg Sarurday.
The cars have come!
The cars have come! Geneva shout!
The more scarce knows what she's
about!
Shout long and loud--the whistle
screams;
We realize our wildest dreams!
'Tis true--'tis true! The engine's
here-This is Geneva's happiest year
(Geneva Express).
Now Geneva was bound to Chicago by "iron
bands".

The Chicago Harvard and Geneva Lake Railroad
was formed in 1896 and completed to Fontana in
1899. It interchanged with the Chicago &
NorthWestern at Harvard. This line offered
excursions to the lake. For example, church

members would take the KD line to Harvard and
then ride the electric line to the lake, or people
would take personal trips to get out of the
craziness of the city.

The local people used to love to watch the people
from Chicago exit the trains, because they were
so rich and wore beautiful clothes. As Ethel
Judson Babcock remembers, the 5:15 train
during 1912 and 1913: "One exciting thing in
my young life was going over to the Lake
Geneva depot, especially on Friday night, to
meet the 5:15P.M. train. There were so many
wealthy people. Most had businesses in
Chicago. I liked to watch ladies as they stepped
off the train. They were so beautifully dressed.
The Tallyho (wagon) had coachmen sitting up on
top in the drivers seat wearing red uniforms. The
trumpeter wore the same kind of uniform, but he
held a four foot gold horn which he would play
as they drove through town.
"Many carriages, dray wagons, four-wheeled
surreys with fringe on the top and buggies were
all lined up and backed into place. Also a
ponycart made out of wicker basket material with
side seats being pulled by two ponies were lined
up to see the train" (Babcock 7 -8). Then she
went on to tell about the actual train.
"The great big steam engine that pulled the
Northwestern train had wheels bigger than most
men. There was a cow-catcher on the very front
seat at a angle. There was a bell on the top
towards the front and in front of the smoke stack.
There was an engineer who drove the train, a
fireman who shovelled coal into the fire pit and a
coal car just behind the steam engine. The
NorthWestern train was a beautiful yellow and
the seats were of red velvet. There were about
three conductors to each trip" (Babcock 4-5).

The early days of the train in Lake Geneva were
beautiful. However, when the highways were
expanded, the number of train passengers started
to decline. In the middle 1920's, U.S. 50,
between Kenosha and Lake Geneva was built. It
enabled people to drive themselves instead of
taking the train. Not only was the expansion of
roads hurtine: the train industry in this area but
all throughout the United States short dist~nce
lines were being jeapordized by the highways.

=ttt lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll j

3

Geneva. He asked the mayor's committee to
consider the possibility of starting bus service if
passenger trains weren't reinstated.
The trains which normally ran at about 50 mph
most of the trip were now running at only 15
mph from Richmond north. This slow speed
gave a bicyclist an idea to gain local attention by
racing tbe train and beating it.
Class A-2. C&NWRY, 1883. Photo by A.W. Johnson.
Courtesy of George Krambles.

In the 1950's steam power was replaced by
diesel trains. The diesels kept tbe same schedule
as tbe former steam engines. The advantages to
the diesel trains was that they created Jess
pollution and required much less labor to run.
Problems with the decline in passenger service
caused the Chicago and Northwestern to apply
for permission on December 23, 1963 to
abandon the line between Genoa and Hebron,
Illinois_ In Genoa, a piece of the old KD line
was left to be a team track up until 1982, when
abandonment of tbe line from Ringwood to Lake
Geneva was declared_ After the track was
removed, tbe depot was burned.
Not long afterwards, the Chicago and
NorthWestern decided to end passenger service
to Lake Geneva. They gave three reasons for
their termination: 1] The trains experienced
consistently low ridership, 2] other means of
mass transportation were available between the
two communities, and 3] the railroad had
relatively high losses with the service (Beloit
Daily News 2). On August 8, 1975, the
passengers got off the train to see a sign which
said "No passenger trains after tonight 8-11-75
AGT."

Tt\: ~i~:;· :~:;~!:~! !!'ie!! !~ fight the termination.
William Sills, Chicago stockbroker, and
chairman of the Lake Geneva Transit
Commission said that, "Even though the
Interstate Commerce Commission [ICC] has
granted tbe railroad permission to end passenger
service as of Monday, the train can come back.
All we need is a check and some real support by
Governor Lucey" (The Janesville Gazette 8).
Sills predicted that within a month, the
NorthWestern would apply to the ICC for
authority to discontinue its freight service to Lake

4

The dramatic story of the last ride was told by
Bill Sene. "They heard it before they saw it ... a
whistle blast from the 8:10 commuter run out of
Chicago. Perhaps tbe last ever.
People clustered in small groups along the
platform. One woman said it was "The end of
the era."
A huge diesel rolled in, it's piercing headlight
and resonant bawl warning of danger on the
tracks. It stopped.
Two ladies walked up to touch the tall side of a
coach car. Two families worth of kids climbed
on board a step and their parents snapped
pictures.
A woman stepped down from the slow ride out
of Chicago and asked a photographer whether
she should smile or cry.
Meanwhile, conductor Alfred Zdroik was
cleaning out his locker in the depot. "Who
knows what will be here tomorrow?" he
chuckled" (Beloit Daily News).
Later in November of that year, different
proposals were made to remodel the Lake
Geneva Depot as a historical building. The
property could possibly be purchased by tbe city,
which would have a section set aside for railway
business and have the rest for a museum or
another community purpose. Setting aside a
depot as a historical building would be an
excellent way to commemorate the nation's
bicentennial in 1976.

Heather O'Brien has composed a drawing showing the distinctive characteristics of the former Lake Geneva passenger depot.

grant provided by the U.S. Economy Revel
Administration, and a local lending institution.
The renovation could cost over $250,000 and
the land purchase could cost between $125,000
and $250,000. In order to get their money back,
the city would have to rent out tbe space for $15
to $20 a square foot, while the price in town was
only $3 to $9. This was unrealistic because of
tbe location of tbe depot.
Redevelopment of tbe depot easily won support
from the Lake Geneva Plan Commission. The
depot had been on the National Register of
Historic Places since 1978.

If the depot were to be remodeled, it would

The redevelopers of the land became the Geneva
Family Practice. They planned to build a clinic
on the site of the old depot. Besides Geneva
Family Practice, owners of the former railroad
land included Bruno's Liquor, and Dunn
Lumber.

benefit the small businessmen of Lake Geneva.
The main goal was to fix up tbe depot for use as
a mall. This would draw customers to
businesses in the town. However, in order to do
this, the city would have to apply for loans.

In August of 1986, a pile of bricks was all that
remained of Lake Geneva's 95 year old depot.
Built in 1891, the depot was in serious need of
repair.

The financial plan was that the purchase of the
property and the renovation be done through a

Construction for the new clinic began in tbe fall
of 1986. The cost of the construction was set at

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$375,000. The total cost of establishing the new
clinic was approximately $750,000.

When the old depot was torn down, parts of
peoples hearts died. There hasn't been much
said about the depot, or the memories until now.
The Communications Designs Class, along with
the community, is forming a book to recapture
the memories of the old Chicago NorthWestern.
Geo Murdock summarizes the area's feelings
towards the railroad. "Even over 100 years
people's love for the sound of the train doesn';
fade away. Many men have been heralded
abr?ad as famous in many ways, in the
achievement of great enterprises, the gaining of
honors, the accumulation of wealth· but few
indeed can look back upon a more 'complete
success in life, a life which embraces fealty to
friends, unswerving adherence to duty, and an
unblemished character, and when he relinquishes
the lever to younger hands, may his declining
years glide on over a smootb rail and a well
ballasted track (Geo Murdock).

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5

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Jdill, George B. Rails West, Superior
Publishing Company, 1960.
, Land Mark Still In Use," Lake Geneva
Regional News.
tbcock, Ethel Judson. "I Remember the 5:15
Train 1912-1913."

"Geneva Council To Study Possible Commuter
Funds", Janesville Gazette, August 12,
1975, p. 8.
"Geneva Rail Ruling Explained", Beloit Daily
News, August 8, 1975.
"Grand Celebration", The Geneva Express, June
14, 1856.

:ckwith, Albert clayton. History of Walworth
County. Wisconsin. Bfonbowen and
Company, Indianapolis, Indiana, 1912,

"Geo Murdock, Engineer", Lake Geneva
Regional News, September 1, 1909.

:hren, Paul L. The KD Line. Paul L.
Behrens, 1986.

"Officials to Discus Depot Remodeling", Lake
Geneva Regional News, August 9, 1979.

:loit Daily News, Bill Seno.

"One Word Solution to Trains: Money", The
Janesville Gazette, August 14, 1975.

rrlisle, Norman V. The Modem Wonder Book
of Trains and Railroading. The John C.
Winston Co., 1946.

"Planners Favor Railroad Land Redevelopment",
Lake Geneva Regional News.

'he Cars Have Come," The Geneva Express,
May 31, 1836.

"Volunteers to Seek Depot Preservation",Lake
Geneva Regional News, November 28,
1974.

\.-JALI-JORTJ.l COUNTY
RAILROADS
-

.&TCA.M . . . . fLECTP-JC
(i) S'TATJON.!J

lepot Rehabilitation Program Cost Could Reach
$500,000", Lake Geneva Regional News.
April 20, 1979.

Charlie Bowman has rendered a map illustrating the numerous passenger and freight railroads which serviced the Lakes

Area.

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7

I REMEMBER
Charlotte Peterson
Tne train from Chicago was here and operative at
the time of the Chicago fire in 1871. Many of the
people escaped the smoldering city and came to
Lake Geneva renting homes along Main Street
The train station grounds were always planted
with formal flower beds, especially with red
cannas. There was always a great deal of
competition between Oconomowoc and Lake
Geneva as to who had the most millionaires and
what kind of rigs were driven to the stations.
Poker was a game played on the train. The roof
of the Episcopal Church was funded through
some "pots" won by Sam Wheeler and his
friends.
On Saint Patrick's Day, the engine flew small
green flags in front On the inside the coaches
were decorated with green crepe paper, and green
beer was served in the Club Car.
One could set their clocks by the arrival and
departures of the trains. The president of the
C&NW lived on the Jake, which added to the
efficiency.

Collection of Jim Scott.

Fred Bchb's C&NWRY crew plant a victory garden in Williams Bay. During World War II produce was scarce.
Photo courtesy of Mrs. Lou Nesslar. Circa 1941.

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9

RECOLLECTIONS OF THE
CHICAGO, MILWAUKEE, ST.
PAUL AND PACIFIC RAILROAD
IN THE AREA OF
SPRINGFIELD, WISCONSIN
Walter Schinke

The passengers were always of interest--some
we knew, most we didn't--but we always
wondered where they were going or where they
had come from, what kind of work they did, and
what was their reason for traveling.

Introduction
The earliest dated memory that I have that is
connected with the Chicago, Milwaukee, St.
Paul, and Pacific Railroad was a day in my
fourth year when I accompanied my mother and
dad and my older brothers and sisters to the
Springfield railroad station. It was in the late
Spring of 1917 and the occasion was a
community "Good-bye and God bless you" send
off to a group of young men who were leaving to
enter the military service of our country--to serve
in France in World War I. This stands out in my
memory for Gene Rittman, one of the young
men, had worked in my dad's creamery, and had
made me feel special--and I had picked a bouquet
of pansies from our pansy bed to give him, along
with a teary kiss, to show my love. I am glad to
say that there was a more joyful occasion a
couple of years later when another community
turnout at the station welcomed back the now
discharged· service men--including my special
friend.
The Depot was only a block from my home and
in our small town it was a daily point of interest.
There was always some activity going on there.
At that time, the railroad was the main and most
convenient route of travel for people, animals,
and all types of freight. Cars and trucks were
relatively few, roads, either gravel or dirt, were
generally rutted and rough, and horse and buggy
or wagon travel was slow. Consequently, rail
service was much in demand.
Before a passenger train arrived, there was the
baggage cart--standing waiting, loaded with a
pile of mailbags, perhaps a dressed-out calf or
!~".'C, ~vi"iic pao.;kages and perhaps a trunk or crate
that we could wonder about. When the train
arrived the cart would be wheeled up to the
baggage car and unloaded on the train , then be
reloaded with mailbags and other items marked
for Springfield. These articles, too, were subject
to our interested appraisal.
While the train was stopped at the station, the
engineer would dismount from his cab and with

10

Dina Sapida illustrates a baggage handler at work.

his long-snouted oil can, importantly proceed to
oil various parts of the engine. The fireman
would check to see that all was right with the fire
in the boiler. He would also check the
steam-pressure
gauge, and if it would be a little high he would
open a valve and let out a blast of steam to reduce
the pressure -- a procedure that always delighted
the spectators.
When a passenger train came to a stop at the
Depot platform, the conductor, in his dark suit,
with a gold watch chain across his vest, and his
official looking cap with the word "Conductor"
emblazoned in gold above its bill, would swing
down from the steps at the end of one of the
passenger cars. He would place his step-stool on
the platform below the passenger car steps. He
then stood to one side as the passengers stepped
down -- giving a helping hand when necessary.
When all the passengers had dismounted, the
loading of out-going travelers took place.
When all were loaded, the conductor would look
at his gold watch (kept in his vest pocket and
attached to the vest by the gold chain), check to
see that all activity had ceased at the baggage car,
give the "Go ahead" signal to the engineer
leaning out the engine's cab window, call out
"All Aboard," toss his step-stool up to the floor
of the vestibule, and climb the steps. The
engineer would advance the throttle, the engine
would puff, steam would be exhausted around
the drive shaft and from the cylinder, the fireman
would give pulls on the bell rope and the whistle
cord, the bell would clang and with a couple
blasts of the whistle, away the train would go.

There was one type of traveler that we could
always pick out. They were the salesmen who
came to town on the train. We could tell them by
their large sample cases, and they were always a
point of interest. They would get a room at the
hotel located diagonally across from the Depot,
rent a horse and buggy from the livery stable,
and visit the country stores in the neighborhood
of Springfield--such as Spring Prairie, Como,
Bowers, Honey Creek, etc. They would take
orders for the products they had for sale, and
when they had exhausted the sales possibilities of
the area, they would check out of the hotel, ride
the train to the next stopover place, and repeat the
procedure.
A seven passenger Touring car (it had two pull
down seats that when not in use folded against
the back of the front seat), which we called "the
Stage," made the trip between Springfield and
Lake Geneva--meeting all passenger trains. It
carried passengers from Lake Geneva to
Springfield to take the trains as well as taking
travelers arriving at the Springfield railroad
station to Lake Geneva, if they so desired. Even
then, Lake Geneva was a favorite vacationing
area for the city folks.
The Stage had racks on one running board and
on the rear to carry passenger luggage and mail
sacks and packages going to or coming from
Lake Geneva. The stage also stopped at the
Springfield Post Office and brought the
Springfield mail pouches and sacks to and from
the Depot.
There were U.S. postal employees assigned to
various routes on the railroad. They would ride
in the baggage car and sort the mail by
destination as the train proceeded on its way.
The Stage carried side curtains of waterproofed
canvas with Isinglass windows. These could be
snapped into place in case of inclement weather.
They didn't keep out all the wind, rain, or snow,
but they helped a lot. As you may imagine,
winter travel was often very difficult and
somewhat uncertain, for snow removal from the
road very often depended on the driver's ability
to make a path through the drifts, using a scoop
shovel that he carried with him on the stage.

Depot at Springfield by Bob Larson.

The Depot
The Depot was quite a new building. (The
former one had burned, sometime before 1900, I
believe.) It was well built with two large waiting
rooms (one for women; one for men) with a
smaller room between them which served as the
office for the Depot Agent. The waiting rooms
had several large windows and each had a door
opening outside. The two waiting rooms were
connected by an aisle to the back. Located in the
aisle, was the ticket window, opening into the
office. Each waiting room had its own potbellied stove, and there were benches along the
walls. (The only toilet was a small, two-roomed
outdoor privy located some distance from the end
of the building.)
A door from the men's waiting room opened into
the freight room which made up about one-third
of the building. Large sliding doors on each side
of the freight room gave access both to the
railroad, and to the roadway behind the Depot.
There was a cement platform that extended from
the Depot to within about one foot of the railroad
tracks and continued 30 to 40 feet past each end
of the building.
This made easier the
manipulation of the large iron rimmed, wheeled
baggage carts--which were made high enough to
be baggage-door level to facilitate the loading and
unloading of mail and freight.
The front of the Depot was about 15-20 feet from
the main tracks, and the side track was about 10
feet from the back of the building. The front side
of the office projected about 1 1/2 feet towards
the track and was completely windowed, both
sides and front. This made it possible for the
Station Agent, when seated at his desk, to have a
clear view up and down the tracks, as well as to

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11

the front of the Depot.

The Flying Switch

The Depot Agent's office was off-limits to us
~hildren, but we could look in--a Dutch door led
from the men's waiting room and most often the
upper half was open and sometimes both halves
were. The office was a fascinating place. There
was the telegraph clicking away almost
~onstantly, and every once in a while the Station
Agent would open his key and tap out a message
to someone. In a front corner of the office, there
were rods coming down from the semaphore
which extended above the roof of the Depot.
Levers with handles were attached to the rods, so
the signal arms, one with a green light, one with
:t red, could be so arranged that different signals
:"All clear," "Slow," and "Stop") could be given
:o the engineer of an approaching train.

It was always fun to watch the milk train leave
the milk car with the empty cans at the platform at
the dairy. The siding sloped gradually
downward from the main track to the dairy. And
because the train was going in the same direction
as the side track, they would make a "flying
switch." The train would stop a little distance up
the track from the switch and disconnect just
behind the milk car to be switched. Then with
one brakeman positioned at the switch, and
another on the front end of the milk car where he
would be ready to disconnect the milk car from
the engine at the proper time, the engineer would
get up a little speed, and the brakeman would
disconnect the milk car. The engineer would
then increase speed and pull away from the
disconnected car. As soon as the engine had
passed the switch, the brakeman at the switch
would pull the handle to open the switch and the
free rolling milk car would turn onto the siding.
The brakeman riding on the front of the milk car
would operate the hand brake on the milk car and
slow it down, finally bringing it to a stop at the
desired position at the Dairy's loading platform.
It took "know-how" and cooperation between the
engineer, the brakeman, and the operat?r of the
switch. The maneuver saved them lime and
made a good show for any on-looker.

Below the ticket window was the Agent's supply
Jf tickets to various towns. I remember too, the
Depot Agent's pipe. He would constantly refill it
.vith tobacco from a wooden box on his desk.
fhe tobacco was homegrown in his garden,
:ured and hand rubbed to suitable smoking size.
fhe smoke was harsh and strong. In recalling
:his, even now, my nose tightens and I can smell
.t again.
I'he Station Agent was an important part of our
:ommunity for he was our connection to the rest
Jf the world. It was through him that we got our
'irst news of election results, war news, natural
iisasters, or other United States or World news
md, of course, baseball game scores (so he was
~specially important at World Series time). He
.vould get the information over the telegraph line
md relay it to the townspeople. To obtain this
;urrent information, many would stop at the
Depot as a regular part of their daily schedule.
With ti.:- decline, first of the passenger trains,
md then o[ :~p freight trains, the importance of
:he Depot Agent ai,;:inished. In the late 1940s,
:he Depot was closed, o..:ct in the early '50s, it
.vas sold to the Lumber Cm,;I'any and moved
!cross the highway, to the nor!h _~ •he siding
rack where it stands today.

Accidents
Although there were railroad crossing warning
signs both on the highway and. next to the
railroad crossing, there were acc1dents at the
crossing and some fatalities.
There was a plank sidewalk across the railroad
property on the east side of the street and Mrs.
Finnell, who was nearly deaf, was walkmg on
the sidewalk on her way home from the grocery
store when she stepped in front of an
approaching train, was hit and killed.

Springfield crossing. The car was thrown up
onto the lawn of the hotel on the south side of the
track. The passengers, of course, were bruised
and scraped and had a few cuts, but miraculously
all escaped serious injuries.
Another time a farmer, Theodore Bartelson,
driving a Model T pickup truck was bringing the
day's milk to the Milk Plant located on the south
side of the tracks. Just as he was crossing the
tracks he saw the train coming from the west.
He swung the truck to the left and fortunately
straddled one rail with his front wheels. The rear
of the truck was picked up and carried on the
cow-catcher of the engine. The engineer had the
brakes of the train locked, but before the train
came to a halt, the truck had been pushed about
two blocks down the track. The driver was still
seated behind the steering wheel with his hands
tightly clenched holding the front wheels straight.
Although splashed with milk, white as a sheet,
and unable to speak for awhile, he was unhurt.
When the truck was disengaged from the cowcatcher and moved off the railroad tracks, Mr.
Bartelson, after recovering from his fright,
completed the delivery of the milk to the Dairy.

Because the scene of the derailment was close to
town and easily accessible, many people came to
see the accident area. Naturally, through traffic
on the railroad was impossible, but in short
order, work trains came from both directions
with crews, supplies, ties, rails, and heavy
cranes mounted on flat cars and work started at
once to reestablish rail service. The constant
flurry of activity resulted in attracting an
everchanging crowd of spectators.

From time-to-time, the signals would operate
continuously, causing all the traffic through town
to slow down. Eventually the railroad would be
notified and someone would come to find and
eliminate the trouble.

Work was started from both ends of the disaster
area. First the right-of-way was cleared, then the
ties and rails replaced and obstructions moved
out of the way, and finally the track was
reestablished.

July, 1930. Photo courtesy of Walt Schinke.

Then an engine pushed in a mounted crane from
each direction and work began to return the
derailed cars to the track. With cables from each
crane attached to the appropriate parts of the car,
and the right application of crane power, the
position of the car would be constantly adjusted
until finally it could be lifted and swung over the
reestablished track on which had been placed two
banks of four wheels. Everything was properly
positioned so the crane could lower the boxcar
directly onto the wheels. Finally the reassembled
boxcar was removed and placed on a siding anii
work would start on the next car. When the cars

In another accident a school mate of mine in our
one room school, 'was riding in a car. with his
mother, when they were struck by a tram and he
was thrown out and killed.

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There were a couple of derailments in close
proximity to Springfield, and it was fortunate
indeed that none of these derailments resulted in
~y serious injuries or fatalities. One took place
m the early hours of July 18, 1930. The cars
started to go off the track about three blocks east
of the Depot, where the switches for the side
tracks were located. You could see by the marks
on the ties that one car had one set of wheels off
the rails for quite a distance, but kept following
along until it came to the switch area where the
wheels hit the obstruction of the switches. Here
the car left the track, pulling the others with it.
By the time the train was stopped, 12 cars went
diving off the track and of the 12, 10 were
sprawled on their side with grain spilling out,
raJls npped loose--some even bent into semicircles. Since the banks of four wheels [ one set
on each end of the box cars ] were not actually
fastened to the cars, when the cars went off the
track they went sprawling in different directions,
while the banks of wheels seemed to pile up
together.

After each accident there was renewed agitation
for warning signals at the crossing, and finally
they were installed--alternately blinking red
signal lights on each side of the crossing to warn
of approaching trains. They were connected to
the electric power line, but there was also a bank
of regularly· serviced storage batteries to act as a
safety back-up for operation of the signal lights
in case of a power failure.

There were also some close calls and some
miraculous escapes. Three young people w~re
on their way to the original Lake Geneva H1gh
School when their car was struck by a tram at the

12

De rai I me nts

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13

were all once more on wheels and returned to the
track, the cranes picked up the damaged wh~els,
rails, ties, and other items, and loaded them mto
coal cars so the area was clear of debris. The
operation demonstrated the efficiency and
expertise of the crane operators, crew bosses,
and their workers.
On the day after the derailment, the right-of-way
had been cleared enough that the track was
reestablished and train traffic had been resumed-with the cranes going on the sidings when the
Depot Agent notified them a train was about to
pass through. It was indeed remarkable that
order could be restored so quickly.
Another derailment occurred in the early 1950's
about a half mile farther east on the tracks. There
were approximately the same number of derailed
cars, but the time of clean up and reestabltshmg
service was a little longer because of longer
distances to travel to the side track switches. In
this case the scene was farther from an access
road, but a farmer gave permission for spectators
to walk across his hayfield. So here too, there
was always quite a crowd of spectators to watch
the cranes and work crews restore operations.

July, 1930. Photo courtesy of Walt Schinke.

About a mile west of tow,; the railroad roadbed
makes about a twenty-foot bame1 across the end
of a small valley through which flowed a small
creek. When the railroad was built, a tunnel was
built with stone at the base of the barner to allow
for the passage of the small creek's water.
Sometime in the 1920's we had a torrenl!al
downpour--more than four inches of ram fellt? a
very short time. The small creek became a ragmg

14

river carrying dead trees and branches trom the
valley, soon blocking up the tunnel. The.water
level swiftly rose until the water was makmg tts
way over the top of th~ railroad. As is the way
with rushing water, as 11 began pounng over the
roadbed, the gravel and stones between the ttes
began to wash away. As more and more water
flowed over, more and more of the roadbed
washed away. The story is that the Depot Agent,
Mr. Mosher, and a friend walked up the rmlroad
track to determine the extent of the damage. Mr.
Mosher, in the lead as they passed the highway
crossing at the edge of the valley, proceeded
walking between the rails, steppmg from tte to
tie. Suddenly a tie dropped away from the ratls
and he was waist deep in water. Fortunately he
threw his arms over the rail beside him, and with
the aid of his companion, made his way back to
safety. He returned to the Depot and telegraJ?hed
in his warning which stopped all rmlroad acnvny
on the line. The next morning, as the water
drained out of the valley, everyone was amazed
to see the rails and ties suspended in the air over
the now washed out roadbed. The gravel and
stone of the roadbed were heaped three feet deep
on the field to the south. (It is said that the
owner of the field made a few dollars by selling
some of the material to people who hauled it
away for fill.)
The railroad decided to remove the stone tunnel
and drive piling to construct a timber brid!Je with
more water carrying capacity. They dectded to
dynamite the stone tunnel, again providing a
show for spectators. When the charge was set
off there was a loud bang, stones flew up m the
air' and the tunnel was~ gone. A carload of
qu~rry stone was brought and used to fill in a
forty foot hole that had been washed out by the
force of the water plungmg over the railroad.
Then the steam driven pile driver mounted on a
railroad car was brought in and a dozen or more
piles were driven to serve as the foundation for
the timber bridge. Again, because the work area
was near a town road, the workers had a goodly
crowd of spectators. Suitable fill (gravel and
stones) was brought in to bring the roadbed up to
the appropriate height. Ties were laid, ratls
aligned, and once again this area was ready for
train traveL
About a mile and a half farther west was a fiftyfoot barrier across the end of a valley. Here too
was a small stream on the valley floor with its
exit through a stone tunnel through the base of
the barrier. This area also received the cloud
burst which caused even more damage here --

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•

washing away a lot of the fifty foot grade. In
this case, the railroad thought because of the
depth of the fill they would increase the water
carrying capacity of the system by replacmg the
tunnel with two 7-foot steel culverts. They
brought in train loads of fill until in this case too,
the desired grade was achteved, the roadbed
made ready, and the ties and rails put in place so
once again the trains could puff therr way up the
50-foot grade.
In the late '50's, there was another rain- storm in
the area when more than four inches of water fell
in less than an hour. No damage was done in the
50-foot area, but in the case where the tunnel was
replaced by a piling based timber bridge-although the roadbed was undamaged, enough
debris lodged against the piles that the wetght and
the force of the water caused some of the piles to
be loosened. So once again the pile-driver was
brought into action and more piles were driven to
strengthen the bridge.

Maintenance
At first there were section crews located near
each town, each having the responsibility for the
maintenance of a certain portion of the track. The
Springfield crew had a small shed for their tools,
hand car, and trailer car, located about three
blocks west of the Depot on the north side of the
tracks, just before the railroad bridge crossing
Springfield Creek. At first, their means of
transportation was a hand car which they
operated by pumping handles up and down thus
turning the wheels and propelling the car along
the track. They also had a trailer car that they
could hook behind to carry supplies--tools, ties,
railroad spikes, etc. They would make periodic
checks of their portion of track--tightening bolts
on rail plates (which held the ends of adjacent
rails together), ensuring that the ties were solidly
embedded in the roadbed (and replacing them
when necessary), resecuring or replacing railroad
spikes, cutting brush, trimming weeds, checking
that the water barrels set in the ground near each
railroad bridge (and at the 50-foot grade) were
kept filled, and checking that the road crossing
planks were secure. If a fire started beside the
tracks (perhaps from a hot-box, when the oily
waste that lubricated the ends of the axle would
become over-heated to the point where it started
to burn), they would be responsible to extinguish
it -- in some cases getting help from other
members of the community. The maintenance

crew had to be certain that they knew the train
schedules, so they could have their hand car and
trailer off the rails when a train was due to pass.
Later a gasoline engine replaced the manpower
needed to propel the section cars. As years
progressed, the local section crews were
eliminated -- replaced by more economical
procedures.
In the summer, a work train would be pushed on
the siding, with a cook car, dining car, and bunk
cars. With a boss and a crew of workers they
would spruce up the railroad.
First, they would manually check the track to see
if it was level. If not, men (on each side of the
tie) using shovels, would work stones and gravel
under the tie until levelness was obtained.
Because of the up and down bouncing of the men
as they manipulated the shovels, they were given
the name "gandy dancers". If necessary, ties
were replaced, bolts on rail plates made fast, and
railroad spikes tightened or replaced.
In later years, a machine would be run along the
rails and it would check the levelness of the
track. If not level, a little squirt of paint would
leave a mark on the ties. Later, another machine
would come along and wherever there was a
splash of paint, two rows of steel teeth would be
lowered (one row on each side of the tie), and
they would work up and down until the rail was
level. This machine replaced the gandy dancers.
During the summer, a train equipped with tanks
of herbicide and an arrangement of spray nozzles
would cover the roadbed with a mist that killed
all vegetation. This didn't improve the roadbed's
looks and killed many wild flowers, but it was a
cheaper way to keep the roadbed clear.
During winter's snowy weather the snow train
would go through when necessary. The snow
train consisted of a huge V-snow plow, mounted
on front of a gondola loaded with scrap iron or
old train wheels, followed by an engine, a couple
of cars, and a caboose. In most cases, it didn't
have any trouble plowing through the drifts.
However, I remember one time when the snow
was heavy, the drifts were high, and the cuts
through the 50-foot area were filled to
overflowing, that a rotary snow plow used for
mountain snow clearing had to be used to clear
the track to make travel possible again. Of
course, many of the townspeople went to view
the rotary plow in action.

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15

s the years rolled on, the railroad found it
trder and harder to cope with higher union
ages, with high maintenance costs, and with
creasingly keener competition from both
tssenger cars and trucks running on the ever
1proving public roads. Consequently, there
ere fewer and fewer trains, and regular
aintenance ceased to be performed.

were equipped with sander-tubes, but these were
especially important to the freight trains. The
sander-tubes led from a sand supply and emptied
on the surface of the rails just in front of the drive
wheels of the engine. The engineer could pull a
lever and "sand the tracks" to aid in getting better
traction which might help either to climb a grade,
or to bring the train to a faster stop.

the spring of 1979, the Milwaukee Railroad
.ed for bankruptcy leaving many miles of
ilroad tracks unused. As time progressed, the
ush and trees encroached more and more upon
e now neglected railroad right or way. The
ate of Wisconsin now owns the railroad
operty, and hopes to revive some service. In
~fall of 1988, efforts were being made to again
ake use of the tracks in the Springfield area.
ans were being formulated for a supper train
n and perhaps a resumption of some freight
rvice in the area. Recently, a mechanical brush
tter moved along the tracks clearing the right of
1y once again. So we will have to be
•timistic, hope for the best, and wait to see
1at the future will bring.

There was a long 50-foot grade about two miles
to the west of town which made passage difficult
for some of the longer trains. Some of the night
trains were especially long, and while lying
awake in bed, one could actually hear the
slowing of their progress up this grade. One
would often wonder if perhaps the engineer was
using his sander to help get up the incline.
Occasionally freight trains would fail to make it
up the grade and would have to back up past
Springfield (where there was quite a stretch of
levelland), build up a head of steam, and make
another run for it. As a last resort, some box
cars would be set off on the Springfield side
track, lightening the load, thus enabling the
freight train to get a faster start and make it up the
grade.

"'iNTER 1979
;lmer Nelson

In addition to the short siding at Springfield,
there was also a switch leading onto a mile long
siding extending to the east towards Lyons. This
enabled trains to get off the main track so that
another could pass.

:nmatologist
nowfall in each month (inches)
~ovember

>ecember
anuary
:ebruary
tlarch 5.8
>pril 6.5
Jtal

4.2
1.6
8.1
10.1

There were two types of freight trains--throughfreight and way-freight. The through-freights
made limited stops, setting off freight cars for
several stations at one siding, and the way-freight
would handle the time consuming job of later
distributing them to their respective destinations.
At about noon, the way-freight made its way to

36.3

:vera! freight trains would go through town
.ch day. There were two regular through
eights--one eastbound in the morning and a
estbound in the afternoon. There also were a
ouple of nighttime freights.

3

Youngsters and oldsters, too, were interested in
watching the freights go by--counting the cars
and noting the various cargos-coal, lumber,
gasoline, machinery of various kinds, railroad
equipment, grain cars, and stock cars loaded with
cattle, pigs, or sheep. Especially interesting were
railcars from railroads located in different parts of
the United States.
It was always great fun to wave to the trainmen:
either the engineer or fireman, sitting on the seat
by a side window of the engine, or the
brakeman, seated at the window in the cupola of
the caboose. Generally there was a wave in
response which always gave your spirits a lift.
Often times, especially in the '20's and '30's
there were men riding in open-door boxcars or
seated amidst the equipment on flat cars. They,
too, would often respond to our waves and we
would try to imagine what the story of their
travels might be and what it would be like to
travel all over the country and see the sights.
We did get a closer look at some of these
travelers for often one would come hungry to the
back door and ask my mother if there might be an
odd job that they might do in exchange for
something to eat. Sometimes there was, but odd
job or not, there was always a hot bowl of soup
or a cup of coffee and some leftover meat or a
couple of eggs to fry to make a sandwich or two
for them to eat, seated out of the wind on the
kitchen steps. They were always appreciative,
with a "Thank you, Ma'am" as they brought the
bowl or cup to the door before they left.
Once or twice a year a circus train would go
through. The Station Agent would let us know
in advance so we could make our plans to ensure
we would see it. Then we would watch wideeyed as the train rolled past with flat cars loaded
with caged animals, circus wagons, and circus
equipment; box cars with elephants and horses;
and passenger cars for performers and other
circus personnel. This was the next best thing to
going to the circus itself.

Ieight Trains

'bile all trains needed to work harder to traverse
1 uphill slope, freight trains experienced added
fficulty due to their heavier loads. All trains

Springfield, and individu~lly spotted ~he
Springfield cars, each at thetr own l!nloadmg
points. We would watch the way-freights spot
coal and lumber cars at the lumber yard and cars
loaded with feed or fertilizer at the Feed Mill.
This process enabled the through-freights to save
time on their longer routes.

Photo by Mark Llanuza Courtesy of Joe Pcdajas.

The Feed Mill had an elevator and storage bins
and during the years before 1900, grain,
principally wheat and barley, was bought from
the farmers in the vicinity and elevated up for
storage in the bins. Later the grain could be
loaded by gravity through long wooden chutes
which led from the bins to grain cars on the
siding close to the elevator. The wheat was
shipped to a milling company, and the barley was
shipped to breweries.
In the early 1900's, when automobiles were
becoming more common, there was an increasing
demand for gasoline. The Pendergast Oil
Company had a large iron tank buried in the
ground to the north of the side track. From time
to time they would get in a tank of gasoline by
rail and pipe the gasoline to their storage tank
from which they then filled the small tank truck
used for retail deliveries.
In the 1920's, when Highway 36 first was
paved, Portland Cement (then in cloth bags) was
used in the road's construction and was shipped
to Springfield in freight cars unloaded and stored
by the Wilbur Lumber Company. Trucks would
transport the bags as needed to the on-the-site
concrete mixers which were on caterpillar tracks,
and moved forward as the road was laid. '
~

It was interesting to watch how the Station ;\gent
passed on telegraphed orders from Headqual;ters
to the personnel on a through- freight. Firs:t he
would make two copies of the order on paper,
and with string, tie each folded note to a light
piece of· bamboo about four feet long with the top
end b:ent into a hoop about eighteen inches in
diameter. He would set the semaphore signal
above the depot for the train to slow down.

The snow train in motion. Photographed by Mark
Llanuza. Courtesy of Joe Pedajas.

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17

When the train was approaching he would go out
on the station platform and take a position about a
foot and a half from the track, holding up one
loop as the engine went past. The fireman
standing on the lower step of the cab of the
engine would hook the loop with his arm,
remove the note, and toss the loop back on the
platform. When the end of the train went past,
the same procedure was carried out with a
brakeman standing on the steps of the caboose.
In this way, without delaying the train, all on
board were made aware of the message.

Stockyards
About a half a block east from the Depot and to
the north of the side track, there was a stockyard
used for the holding and loading of livestock on
railroad stock cars for shipment to other
destinations--most generally city slaughtering and
meat processing plants.
The stockyard consisted of a couple of pens
about 20' x 20' and one pen slightly smaller. The
construction was of wooden posts and plank
rails. Gates connected the rear pen with each of
the others and with the outside. Along one side
of each pen were wooden managers for feeding
hay if the animals were kept any appreciable
time. Each pen also had a wooden v-shaped
trough where water and/or meal could be placed.
To the west of the pens was a hand pump as a
source of water for the stock. To the west also
were fenced-in scales, where the animals could
be weighed, if desired. The pens were connected
to a runway which led to a fenced-in, cleated
ramp at the top of which was a small platform
with fenced sides. This platform was the same
height as a stockcar floor and projected to within
a foot or so of the track. With a short plank
bridge between the platform and the stockcar,
loading or unloading of the animals--cows, pigs,
or sheep--could be safely accomplished.

wheel of the car. Then you would pull down on
the handle and a piece of steel would be pressed
up against the under surface of the wheel, and the
wheel would move slightly. With one of the car
movers operating behind each back wheel, the
car could be moved slowly into the desired
position. Of course, this necessitated the
expenditure of a great deal of physical energy.
As you may imagine, the driving of the animals
through town, their presence in the stockyard and
the loading procedure, all were of great interest to
the youngsters and often the older people as well.
In some cases, we actively participated in the
operation which added to our interest and
satisfaction.
While recalling the stockcars, there is another
thought that comes to mind. When they shipped
stock, they first put in bedding--straw or
shavings. Sometimes they just added fresh
material to the manure dirtied bedding, and so the
bedding would become richer and richer in
manure.
In the spring, the Depot Agent would have the
railroad set several used stockcars on the siding,
and the townspeople and others of the locality
would come with their horse and wagon or pick·
up truck and get the manure for their vegetable
gardens. They got the manure and the railroad
got their stockcars cleaned.

The herds of animals were driven from the farm
tn thP " ........ ,...tr,,'l,..rf to hP: loacitC "'n a stockcar or
~~r~ th-;;t~h~d-be~~ s~t in pla~e on ti.;: 'iding
opposite the loading platform. If the car wasn't
located properly, or if you were to load more
than one carload, one could borrow hand car
movers from the Depot Agent. The car mover
was a machine with a thick handle and a steel
device on the end which acted as a little jack.
You would shove the device, with the handle up,
along the rail until it was in contact with the iron

18

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.
"
<

Lisa Olson brings the Springfield grain elevator back to life.
•

Passenger Trains

••
•

- ,_,

••

In the early 1900's, passenger travel flourished.
There were passenger trains, both eastbound and
westbound at various times during the day, so it
was possible to go to the neighboring towns of
Elkhorn, Delavan, and Burlington for shopping,
dental work, etco, and return home the same day.
As highways improved and automobiles became
more numerous, passenger trains were used less
and less and so, one by one, the passenger trains
were discontinued.
However, in the late 1930's a through passenger
train, the Kansas City Flyer, began making daily
runs. It went east through Springfield about 8:00
a.m. and west about 6:00 p.m. It had diner and
sleeper cars, and we sometimes watched it speed
through in the evening and saw the people at the
tables eating their evening meaL

In the morning, the Flyer picked up and left off
mail for Springfield, and as it didn't stop here,
the procedure of picking up and leaving mail was
interesting. The delivery was simple--as the train
flew past, the baggage door would open and the
Springfield mail sack was kicked out. This
worked fine except on one occasion. Once the
mail bag didn't land far enough out, and the
suction of the moving train pulled the bag under
the wheels, cutting open the bag and scattering
the mail. The Postmaster, with the aid of some
helpers, had quite a time collecting all the letters.
For the pick-up of the mail, there was a standard
erected close to the tracks with two arms
extending toward the tracks, so that a mail bag
stretched between them would be at baggage
door height. Each end of the outgoing mail bag
would be tied with string to one of the arms and
as the train rushed past, an iron arm would be
extended from the baggage car, and would snatch
the bag from the supports. It worked great.

itlttllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll

19

OUR EARLIEST RAILROAD
Alice Hackett
In March of 1853, a charter was granted for the
WISCONSIN CENTRAL RAILROAD. It was
to run from the State line at GENOA
JUNCTION, connecting with the FOX VALLEY
branch of the CHICAGO-GALENA
RAILROAD. Its northwesterly course would
take it through Geneva, Elkhorn, Whitewater,
Portage; and eventually to Lake Superior. A
special town meeting held August 21, 1855,
resulted in bonds being issued to $2,500.00.
That was payable in two decades with 8%
interest to be exchanged for stock of the road.
In June of 1856, the railroad was completed to
Lake Geneva with great jubilation upon arrival of
the first train from Chicago. Trains thereafter ran
daily between Elgin and Geneva. From Elgin
they went to Chicago on the Galena road.
Sometime prior to 1873, a great national financial
crash affected commerce and railroads.
However, ours continued until rails went into
disrepair. Scanty business did not warrant
extensive improvements. A "double-actionengine" and flat car were pulled by spans of
mules for two years. That operation ceased
when the engine fell down an embankment and
broke it's back.
That railroad construction of the 1850's had
brought many Irish families to the area. They
settled on farms west of Geneva, becoming an
influential force in building our community.
Some descendants continue rural and town
residence unto now.

,_

In 1871, railroad legislation brought a charter
authorizing construction of a road from Genoa
Junction (which was then called Bloomfield,) to
Columbus; thence to some point on the Fox or
Wisconsin river, or between Sauk City and
Berlin. The enterprise was named "STATE
LINE AND UNION RAILROAD COMPANY."
But C.M. Baker, president of the group of prime
movers, procured and closed the contract with
the CHICAGO NORTHWESTERN RAILWAY
on June 6, 1871. The first train arrived on July
26, 1871.

- 20

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21

REMEMBER
lllrs. Ned Grimm
nterviewed by
llicole Cooper and Chris Pond
viy husband began working for the railroad in
l923.
fhis railroad wasn't the NorthWestern in the
Jeginning. It was built by Lake Geneva Stateline
~ailroad Co. It didn't come to Williams Bay
mtil 1888 ... well, it was at Lake Geneva and then
ater on the tracks came to the Bay.
\!ed, my husband, worked the railroad, what
Nas it, 41 or 43 years. The railroad quit here
)ecember 8, 1965. They still had a freight train
soing to Lake Geneva, but not to the Bay.
:t's too bad we didn't have the railroad because
ots of kids never have ridden on the train now.
V!y husband used to give the kids a lot of rides.
fhey'd come up with their daddies and they - oh,
t was so big, and they wouldn't want to get up
Jn it. But he'd give them a ride on the engines,
;o most of the kids in the Bay had a ride.
fhere used to be, I think it was for three years in
:he fall, that they shipped carp out of here. They
;eined the carp from Delavan Lake and there
Nere special coaches for that. There were tanks
.n the coaches on each side and a kind of
gangway in between. Those tanks had to be
filled with water at a certain temperature and
:hey, the carp, went to New York, and all the
Nay they had to put ice in them to keep it the
Nater at a certain temperature. Also, a man had to
Je in those coaches to keep stirring those fish so
.hey wouldn't die because they were packed in
:here so tightly. Those fish went to a Jew1sh
;oncern in New York, and they wanted their fish
1live when they got there. That was really

One time there used be Mexicans that would
work on the rails and one of the Mexicans got in
one of the engines and he didn't know how to
run it and he went right through the round house.
He (my husband) had to get the wrecker from
Chicago to come out. That was a job to get that
engine back on the tracks again.
We used to have a mail train and it came in at
11:00 and went out sometime during the
afternoon. But then in later years they took that
service out.

We had a lot of camps around here. They would
take the boat over and also, like for instance, the
College Camp, they would order potatoes and
flour, big quantities. These things would come
in on the freight train and they'd load them on the
boat and take them over to the camps.

I REMEMBER
Oscar Voss
Interviewed by Charlie Bowman
I remember a lot of things about the railroad
while I was growing up in Genoa Junction (now
Genoa City) during the early 1900s. In those
days two branches of the NorthWestern, the
Chicago/Williams Bay hne and the
Kenosha/Rockford line, crossed there, and they
had a roundhouse and a turntable. My uncle,
Richard Voss, was one of the engine hostlers.
His job was to service them after their run, dump
the ashes, fill the water tanks, load the coal
bunkers, lubricate the valve and running gears,
check the lights, turn them for their next hauls.
Uncle Richard often let me ride in the cab with
him when he was working, and I loved every
minute of it.
In addition to the Chicago/Williams Bay trains,
which provided most of the traffic through
Genoa, there were some daily freights and a
couple of passenger runs each way on the
Kenosha/Rockford line. One of the passenger
runs, called the "Racine Scoot", ran between
Racine and Belvedere. The other, called the
"KD" ran between Kenosha and Genoa and
always parked on a siding by the Borden milk
plant between trips. My little dog, Tippy, loved
to meet these arriving passenger runs and to greet
the people alighting from the trains at the station.

Locomotive #1019. Courtesy Jim Butts Collection.

~xpensive.

Erica Weise reconstructs the Genoa City Watchtower.

About 1910, when I was twelve years old, my
mother took me shopping with her to Richmond,
where there were larger and better stores than we
had in Genoa. She thought by then I was big
enough to carry some of the groceries. The adult
fare to Richmond was 3 cents; kids twelve and
under rode free. It was my first trip on the train,
but not my last. After that I made a lot of trips to
Richmond, carried lots of groceries for my
mother, and stayed "twelve years old" clear up
until I was fourteen or fifteen!
It was a great life in those days.

22

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i 11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 23

I REMEMBER
Mr. Waldeck

I REMEMBER
laura Kimmerling

Interviewed by Dennis Docherty

Interviewed by
Angie McCloud and Holly Hartje
Transcribed by Erica Weise
The right of way for the railroad was purchased
by the Wisconsin Central R. R. Co. on April 15,
1854 from William Alexander for $50.00. It
consisted of a strip of land 100 feet wide. My
abstract states that if it is ever abandoned or its
route changed or if the railroad shall not be
constructed within ten years, it would revert to
the original owner. Apparently, it was not
started within the 10 years so it was sold again
by William Alexander for one dollar to State Line
and Union R. R. Co. on December 4, 1872.
Since the Chicago & NorthWestern R. R.
abandoned it several years ago, it is now owned
by Dorothy Bark who lives next door. It runs
through more of her land than it does mine.
All the neighborhood children used to enjoy the
train, the engineers used to wave and blow the
whistle as they went by. We used to put pennies
and pins on the rails and the train would flatten
them.
I remember a few times the train was not able to
get here because of the heavy snow. I think 3
days was the longest time, the worst part of it
was, that it was long before the days of radio and
T.V. and we were without the Chicago paper.
My father had a machine shop across the back of
our land, and often he would be called on in the
night to repair something on the engine.
There were 2 round trips made from Chicago,
Mondays through Fridays. They left early in the
evening and the other at 7:00 in the evening.
There was one trip on Saturdays, returning at
about 3 o'clock in the afternoon.
For a few years they used to have Sunday
excursions for $1.00 a round trip. Families used
to come in droves carrying big baskets of food to
picnic in our parks.
Here is an interesting picture. One day I saw a
lone engine running on the track at a terrific
speed. I couldn't believe what I saw because
there was no engineer in the cab. A few seconds
later I heard a terrific crash, so I jumped in the
;ar and drove up to the depot. This engine had

24

Photo courtesy of Laura Kimmerling.

crashed into another one that was standing there.
Someone in Illinois had a gripe against the
NorthWestern, and had started the engine and
jumped off. It did a lot of damage. It was
raining so this isn't a very clear picture.
It is unfortunate that we do not have rail
transportation here, as not everyone drives a car
or likes to fly. The railroad claims this nm cost a
lot of money, but it was really their fault. They
can make more money hauling freight than they
can hauling people. They tried to discourage
people from riding the train. First they let the
roadbed deteriorate and then they lowered the
speed, so it took too long to get to Chicago. A
few years back a bicycle raced the train from Fox
Lake to Lake Geneva and beat it. My husband
went to Paris and the first thing he saw after
getting off the plane was the headlines telling
about it. He was so surprised he telephoned me
about it. He brought a copy of the paper home
with him.

I remember when the train depot in downtown
Lake Geneva was torn down. It was considered
a historical building, but when it was torn down,
City Hall claimed that they didn't know it until
after it was tom down. It's a real shame. It was
a lot like when the Frank Lloyd Wright building
was torn down and replaced by a relatively ugly
building in comparison. If the Wright building
were still standing today, it would be a national
monument.
The train depot was starting to be torn down
really early, like five in the morning, and was
completely razed by about seven-thirty. The
weird thing about it was that the permit to have it
razed was given either on a Wednesday or
Thursday, meaning the building was either torn
down on the following Friday or Saturday. The
thing that is strange was that the tearing down of
the depot was kept relatively quiet. Very few
people even knew about the depot being taken
down until it had already been done. I wonder
why the public was basically not informed of the
operation?

Zac Chcntnik bring back the long lost life of the
now gone depot in Lake Geneva.

My husband was an engineer on the Chicago &
NorthWestern for 32 years, driving back and
forth to Chicago every day. He didn't have this
run very often because he didn't like the idea of
being in the city all day with nothing to do. He
was a financial secretary of the Brotherhood of
Locomotive Engineers for several years. I got to
know a lot of the men, and they often spent
Sundays with us. The engineers are often
pictured with striped caps and overalls, but that
was not true for all of them. My husband's
friends would get off the engine in their tee shirts
and shorts, with golf clubs on their shoulder, to
play golf at Hillmore.

lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll

Courtesy of Geneva Lake Area Museum of History. Circa 1909.

lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll 25

From the Collection of Anne R Blanck.

Louis Mergcncr, Jr., Artist. Courtesy ofDisplay-TEC/Meteor, a Division of Combex, Inc.

THE CHICAGO AND NORTHWESTERN RAILROAD STATION
LAKE GENEVA, WISCONSIN 1891 • 1986
The Chicago and NorthWestern Railroad has a
proud history in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.
The first train arrived in 187L.By 1891, with
financial help from the citizens of Lake Geneva,
an imposing depot structure had been built and
was being used daily by commuters to and from
Chicago and intermediate points.
In fact, over the years hundreds of thousands of
passengers passed through the depot as they
boarded the Lake Geneva Express to make the
two hour trip from Lake Geneva to Chicago.
Yes, be"·~:;!ut Geneva Lake was quite an
att:action ... The resort of choice for Chicago's
rich and near-rich from before the turn of the
century and into the twenties. Palatial, nearbaronial estates encircled the pristine, springfed
clear waters of Geneva Lake.

26

The passing of years and the increasing
dependence of commuter and resident alike on
the automobile were kind neither to the C&NW
RR nor to the Lake Geneva station. Rail service
to Lake Geneva was halted in the late seventies.
Even though listed in the National Register of
Historic Places in 1978, local fund raising efforts
to pem1it reconstruction and renovations of the
aging building failed and the wrecking ball finally
fell in August of 1986.
In this nostalgic limited edition print, artist Louis
Mergener, Jr., has shown the depot on a summer
evening as the 5:18 from Chicago, having
discharged its passengers, heads for the turntable
at Williams Bay to be reversed and readied for
the moming commuter run to Chicago.

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I REMEMBER
Charlotte Peterson
The Lake Geneva Woman's Club, through
Cha:lotte Peterson, had the depot placed on the
Nat:onal Repste~ of Historic Places as part of
thetr mvolvement m makmg Lake Geneva a better
fam1Iy place. Gunnar Bergeson also helped with
placmg the Depot on the Register of Historic
Places.
The right of way between Lake Geneva and
Como became, for a short period, the Walworth
County Warbler Walkway. Then that too was
sold to adjacent property owners"

AUGUST 21, 1986
Elmer Nelson
Climatologist
Temperature High 7 6 Low 63
Partly Cloudy
Winds Northwest 15 mph
No precipitation

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27

I REMEMBER
Dick Ruch
Interviewed by Lisa Olson

The Lake Geneva line of the Lmcago and
NorthWestern Railway was under-maintained for
many years prior to its end. It had not been a
very good income producing line for a long time,
being mostly a passenger line. Another factor in
its abandonment was the ever- low number of
people using the railroad for transportation. The
main reason people quit riding the trains was that
roads became better, automobiles became
plentiful and reliable, and the trains became
slower. Everyone seems to have hated to see the
rail passenger service come to an end, but very
few people used the service.
Early in the 1970's the railroad came close to
upgrading the Lake Geneva line, as it was
commonly known. Hundreds of new railroad
ties were distributed along the line for the
purpose of installing them, thus improving the
condition of the track for higher speeds. Before
they could be installed under the rails, the
management of the railroad decided they could
better be used on the main line. The railroad
track employees had to go out and pick up every
tie. At this time, the trains were still running
about 40 miles per hour.

Snowtrain. Trains would pull into Geneva deput and back up into Chicago, cutting through ice and snow in
winter. Photo by Mark Llanuza. Courtesy of Joe Pedajas.

In the following few years, track conditions
further deteriorated until train speeds were finally
lowered to 10 mph, creating the infamous
bicycle/train race. It wasn't long before the line
was completely abandoned, and finally, the track
removed.
The railroad right of way from the stateline to
Lake Geneva was sold to anyone who wanted it
and is gone forever. The right of way from the
stateline south to Crystal Lake, Illinois, was
retained by the Illinois Regional Transportation
Authority, and could someday become a railroad
again.

28

Bob Larson depicts competition between bikers and the
train.

•

MARCH 18, 1971
Elmer Nelson

WINTER 1978
Elmer Nelson

Climatologist

Climatologist

Temperature High 34 Low 29
Cloudy
Wind Northeast 35 mph
Snow total 6.51
snow 8 inches more on March 19

Highest recorded smowfall in Lake Geneva
Snowfall in each month (inches)

Snowstorms played a role in the activity of the
trains. The heavy snowfalls of March 18 and 19,
1971 had an impact on the clean-up of the train
crash in Lake Geneva. Ken Koutnik details the
crash story in his remembrances. The record
snows of the winter of 1978 increased the
maintenance problems that led to the decline of
the trains, as told by many contributors.

November
December
January
February
March 7.1
April 3.9
total

4.1
23.5
31.4
9.4

79.4

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29

REMEMBER
Valter E. Hudson
1terviewed by Charlotte Peterson

.et's start with the train approaching Lake
leneva from the outskirts of the city, beginning
t Curtis St. First it went under a bridge, the
ridge was dangerous. It was one-way and was
atisfactory for horse and buggy days, but not
)r automobiles. One had to go up and over the
ridge where there was a hump. It was difficult
' see over the hump.
be next crossing was the Main Street trestle and
1e traffic went under the trestle.
be third crossing from the east was Sage Street.
, sign read "Look Out For The Train."
!ext came the Center Street crossing. There was
25 ft. tower at this location and was attended by
:ob Wynn. It was his responsibility to watch
)r approaching trains and to warn the drivers by
olding up a "Stop Sign".
:road St. was the next crossing and it had a
mall building on the southeast side of the tracks.
be earliest occupent there that I remember was a
ofr. Qualotta. He also had to warn drivers of onoming trains. He was succeeded by a Mr.
chlimmer.
'he depot was located west of the tracks, the
rick walk extended from the Broad St. sidewalk
ast the depot. It was extended 120 feet past the
epot itself.
, canopy was erected between the Broad Street
rossing and the depot to protect the passengers
:om the elements.
be depot consisted of three buildings. Between
1ese buildings there were openings large enough
)r the draymen to haul the freight and baggage -!so for people to walk through. The Baggage
1uilding stored baggage for delivery. The
raymen at that tlrne were Sv~vu Sm!th, Roy
v~~!:til•an and John Simes..
The Freight
Iandling Building was the fre1ght office. The
.ghter and small packages were stored to be
elivered by American Express. Mr. Hammell
10rked for them for many years. The Main
>epot Building consisted of two waiting rooms
- one for men and the other for ladies. There
vas an office for the Depot Manager where he
old tickets and operated the telegraph. The

30

Depot waiting rooms had benches around the
edge of the inner wall with a large coal burning
stove in the center. School children on their way
to school would stop in and get warm and
continue on to school. All three buildings were
covered by one roof.

for a 2 wheel cart to be sent out by the Chicago
Daily News ( no longer being published ). I
delivered 36 papers each day from 5 different
publishers and was paid $1.40 a month.
In the winter and darkness I had to carefully
arrange the different newspapers in the cart so
that I could tell where they were for correct
delivery.

Further to the west near Madison and Marshall
Streets was a small building where small freight
was stored for pickup by the owners. Lloyd
Best worked there for a short time. Later theis
building was used by John Keuchel for a beer
depot and eventually the building was razed.

In the winter of 1917, during World War I, the
train was blocked by heavy snow and could not
get through to Lake Geneva for 2 days. I
delivered my newspapers the next morning on
the day it arrived. As a result, I was late for
school and my teacher, Miss Georgia Robb said I
was patriotic -- I felt I was just doing my job.

My brother, Charles Hudson, owned the News
Agency in Lake Geneva and I went to the depot
to pick up the newspapers many times when I
was very young. When I first started to deliver
papers for him in 1914 there was a station agent
at the depot. I do not recall the name-- however,
later on and for many years Joe Mahoney was the
agent. Later James Halpin succeeded Mr.
Mahoney and was the agent for many years.

On Christmas Eve my newspaper customers
always remembered me with goodies--oranges,
apples, candy, sandwiches and biscuits with
butter and honey. Christmas Eve 1917 I received
a nickel. After I was through delivering and on
the way home in the dark I took the nickel out of
my pocket and dropped it in about a foot of
snow. It was warm from being in my pocket and
fell so deep -- I looked, but never did find my
nickel.

Mr. W. H. Roberts was the conductor of the
train for many years. He would depart on the
early morning train to Chicago and return on the
5:18 in the evening. The estate owners living
around the lake would go into Chicago in the
morning to their places of business and return
home to Lake Geneva on the evening train.

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I remember the taxi cabs. Drivers were "Taxi"
Moss, Earl Voss, Gene Ackley, and a Mr.
Mason (William). The parked at the depot, at the
further end toward Dodge Street to pick up
passengers (tourists) on the 5:18 train. It was a
large fleet of cabs for such a small town, but
there were many, many to\)rlsts.
I remember the drying tower. A drying tower
was erected near the depot and it was fun on
winter nights when the train came in with its
beacon light. The light of the train shone on the
tower and as it approached the beam would
descend down the tower! The drying tower was
used to dry fire hoses.
As I finish this remembering I close on a very
sad note. The trains, the track and the depot are
now all gone -- but I shall always remember.

When I was older I delivered papers to the Lake
Shore estates. The newspaper bundles were
always the first item off the train. I would take
the papers and run to the chauffers waiting for
their passengers and would deliver the paper
there at the depot to save myself delivering to the
estates later.

In addition to the passengers, the newspapers,
mail, freight and baggage would be o.n the
evening train. Cliff Bender was the railroad
Postal Clerk and my brother, Charles, delivered
the mail to the Post Office on his way to his
News Agency. Hobart Griswold handled the
baggage. The railroad had heavy pullcarts that
were the height of the floor of the train so the
freight could be easily slid and pushed from the
cart to the train. Howard Giese was the freight
handler for the railroad.
In 1914 when I was 6 years old I finally got to
ride that train. My father took my sister and me
to Chicago to visit an older sister. I enjoyed the
trip, but I will always remember the steam .and
smoke which permeated the passenger car. Smce
that time I rode the train to Chicago and back on
numerous occasions.
When my brother gave me my own news_Paper
route in 1914, it was in the Crawford ~ectton of
Lake Geneva, which is a part of the Th1rd Ward.
I was so young I was unable to carry all the
newspapers, so my brother, Charles, arranged

arriving. So, in two days we had two different
circuses is town.

Also I remember in 1917 Company F from Lake
Geneva was departing for Austin, Texas for
further training before being sent to Europe
(France) during World War I. Early in the
morning I ran to the depot to see my brother,
George, and Company F leave for the war.

••
•

Nonh of canopied depot platform, stood the old fire
station with the tall hose-drying tower. It had been moved
from the 600 block, Main Street, year 1913. Photo
courtesy Alice Hackett collection.

When the train would come in at 5:18 each
evening, after being unloaded, it would go to
Williams Bay for cleaning and maintenance to be
ready for the next morning run to Chicago. A
Mr. Voss and Mr. Byron rode the train to
Williams Bay to keep steam up and do the
maintenance.
In the summer of 1922 I remember the train
brought two circuses to Lake Geneva one day
after the other. Haggenback and Wallace Circus
came and departed when Sells Floto Circus was

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31

I REMEMBER
Joe Darling
Interviewed by Lisa Olson

City, which was once Genoa Junction, and take
people to places like Pell Lake, Twin Lakes,
Powers Lake, and Nippersink.

The train used to go from Rockford to Kenosha,
east to west. The train used to have to back up
really far by the old pickle factory in Genoa City,
to make it up a hill. People commuted.

The mail used to come by train. It was better
than now, because it usually came on time, and
the trains didn't break down like things do nowa-days. The train was called the K. D. Coal and
lumber also came on the train.

In the 1900's wealthy people from Lake Geneva
were picked up at the train station in horse and
buggy. Taxies used to meet the train in Genoa

The train was a fast ride up until the last few
years. It had gotten really slow because they
didn't repair damages. It soon deteriorated.

Looking east past Williams Street Crossing near Genoa Junction, WI. Compliments Ed Tobias.

Jodi Loveland depicts the delicacy of fashion which was in vogue at the t~m of the century· Her
artwork is an adaptation frorm a photograph in the collection of Lorena Tlllberg.

32

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I REMEMBER
The 5:15 Train 1912-1913
Ethel Judson Babcock
One of the exciting things in my young life was
going over to the Lake Geneva Depot, especially
on Friday night, to meet the 5:15 p.m. train. It
was interesting because there were so many
wealthy people who lived up the shore of Lake
Geneva. Most of these wealthy people had
businesses in Chicago. Friday night was special
as many guests were on the 5:15 train. I liked to
watch the ladies as they stepped off of the train.
They were all dressed so beautifully.
I lived on Marshall Street, and I always crossed
the street and ran through the Douglas Feed Mill
yard, down the railroad bank and across the
tracks. I c~:mld see the train appearing from
Genoa Junction and hear the whistle blowing and
letting off steam as it crossed Broad Street
nearing the platform east of the depot.
There are so many interesting things to
remember. The people used to assemble south of
the depot, some waiting impatiently, to meet their
family or guests on the 5:15 train. For instance,
the Tallyho owned by J. J. Mitchell, who lived at
the bottom of (we called) Mitchell Hill at the
Sand Beach. The Tallyho had coachmen sitting
up on top in the driver's seat wearing red
uniforms trimmed with black velvet collars and
cuffs. The trumpeter wore the same kind of
uniform, but he held a four-foot gold horn which
he would play as they drove through town on the
way to meet the 5:15 train. The Tallyho was
pulled by four black horses.
There were buggies, one with a four-in-hand
hitch and one with a six-in-hand hitch. The sixin-hand hitch was pulled by a team of sorrel
horses. People said they were the best matched
team for miles around. Many carriages, dray
wagons, four-wheeled surreys with fringe on the
top and buggies were all lined up and backed into
place. The horses were tied to a large, round,
iron weight fastened with a rope. Lined up and
waiting for its guests was a brougham owned by
Mr. Hand, a broker in Chicago. A beautiful
stick-seated buggy, black and yellow with
rubber-tired wheels, owned by Mr. Leahn, was
waiting for guests. There was also a pony cart
made out of wicker basket material with side
seats being pulled by two ponies.

standing on the small platform waiting to descend
down the steps to the depot platform. When it
was safe, the conductor put the step in place so
that people could exit to the brick platform at the
bottom. As I stood by the ticket office watching
all of the people getting off of the train, I could
hear the telegraph ticking away. The ticket man
was also the telegraph operator. He would send
messages to the other stations along the way as
well as receive messages. The ladies had on
beautiful long dresses and large hats. Some had
ostrich plumes on them. Some had flowers
around the brims. Some carried umbrellas and,
of course, all wore white gloves. I slowly
followed the passengers toward the waiting
vehicles to see who got into which ones. The
crowd was thinning out and some of the horses
were getting impatient. A station wagon with a
square section with glass to protect the people in
rainy weather was there, but today the wagon
was open. The Vis-Avis (Vis-Avee) with the
seats facing each other and fringe on the top was
also being filled and the horses seemed anxious
to start.
The wicker pony cart was filled with two adults,
two children and a driver. The ladies with the
ostrich plumes on their hats were already in the
tallyho and pulling away from the depot. It
wasn't long until all were loaded on their way to
ride up the lake to beautiful homes. A couple of
gigs with two men on each tore away as if they
were having a race to see who could get to Broad
Street first. (A gig is a breaking cart). Six
people got into an opera bus. It was a beautiful
glassed-in coach. Another stick -seated buggy,
all black with rubber tires, was being loaded with
six people including the owner and driver. Stickseated buggies were the fashion. A third one
drove away with the last of the guests.
I turned to go back and see what the men were
doing with all of the baggage and express. The
train had some passengers left to go to the end of
the line, which was Williams Bay. The engine
gave a few chugs and puffs and slowly pulled
away to the west. The gate man at Madison
Street clanged his bell and let the gates down
with a bang. The engine blew off steam again
and with a blow of the whistle was on its wav to
the last stop. When the train arrived in Williams
Bay and passengers were all unloaded, the
engine was run into the roundhouse and turned
completely around for the return trip to Chicago
in the morning.

As the train pulled to a stop, people were already

34

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There were many times I rode the 7:30a.m. train
to Genoa Junction to visit my Grandmother,
Mrs. Ellen Amelia (Tupper) Darrow. It was
another happy time I remember.

.....
..•
•
•..
.-.
I

I
'

'··

•

I want to tell you what I remember about the
great big steam engine that pulled the
NorthWestern train. The wheels were as big as
most men. There was a cow-catcher on the very
front set at an angle. The name came from the
chance that if they had an accident of running into
a cow, it would carry it a distance until the
engineer could stop the train. There was a bell
on the top towards the front and in front of the
smoke stack. There was an engineer who drove
the train, a fireman who shoveled coal into the
firepit and a coal car just behind the steam
engine. Most generally, there were eight to ten
cars. People all the way from Williams Bay
took the train at 7:30 AM. to go to work in
Chicago. The NorthWestern train was a
beautiful yellow and the seats were of red velvet.
There were conductors on the train to punch your
ticket if you had a weekly pass and, if not, to
collect your ticket for the day. There were about
three conductors for each trip. They wore
unifom1s and looked neat. The bell I mentioned
was pulled by a rope and the engineer used it to
let people know to stay away from the edge of
the platform and to let them know they were
nearing the depot.
All in all, it was an exciting time for us
youngsters as there was not too much we could
do for excitement in those days. We had to make
our own fun as there were not as many things for
the young people to be interested in as there are
today.

I REMEMBER
THE FREIGHT TRAIN 1912-1913
Ethel Judson Babcock

each car that was to be switched to another track,
would turn a wheel up on top of the car to stop it
at the very spot they wanted it to be unloaded.
Fruit and groceries were brought in and unloaded
for the stores. Some furniture was also brought
in for furniture stores for towns around Lake
Geneva. Not all towns had a train bringing goods
to them. Dray wagons were used to carry the
goods to other towns.
I remember how some cars were loaded with
watermelons and, as they were being unloaded,
now and then a few watermelons would
accidentally be dropped. If that happened, the
kids who found out about it would take home the
biggest pieces that they could find.
There was a freight depot west of the main depot
and the tracks ran east and west along the side of
it. There was a lot of switching, and it was fun to
watch the brakeman wave a signal to the engineer
to either go ahead or back up.
Many bags and some loose grain were in cars
waiting to be switched to the Douglas Feed Mill
to be unloaded by their men. It probably took a
half of an hour to do all the switching and
uncoupling and recoupling of cars before they
could get ready to leave town. I sat on a low
bank near the tower where the gateman sat to let
the gates up and down on Madison Street
crossing. One brakeman always waved to me as
they were leaving Lake Geneva. The engineer
would slowly move here and there on side tracks
to pick up what they had to recouple. Then we
would hear the blow of the whistle, see the train
let off steam and they would slowly fade into the
distance, on to the next stop.

The freight train was a daily event in our town. It
brought loads of coal in cars that had no top on
them. Sometimes the coal was loaded extra high
and, as it was unloaded for the Dunn Lumber
Co. and the Douglas Feed Mill, it would be
spilled onto the ground. If that happened, the
kids of Lake Geneva would bring their wagons
and pick up whatever they could manage to haul
away.
As the train switched cars, the brakeman would
wave his hand in the air to let the engineer know
he had turned the switch to move another car
over to another side track. As the car was let
loose, another man, who was standing on top of

Freight trains were crucial to the commerce in the lakes
areas. An early postal photo card from the collection of

Anne Rich Blanck depicts unloading a train on an average
IIlldeday.

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35

I REMEMBER
Bob Schroeder
When we first moved to the Lake Geneva area, in
1945, my father remained employed in the city of
Chicago. This required him to commute daily on
the train. He seemed to enjoy this very much and
constantly talked about his friends, their card
games, and their lively discussions.
I can remember one winter, either 1946 or 1947,
(the year of the big snow) we were hit by a very
severe storm. By mid-afternoon we wondered if
the train could even get through. We were
assured that the evening train would run, but the
roads were so drifted it was impossible for us to
even think of getting to Lake Geneva to pick up
my father. We called him in Chicago and told
him to ride the train to the Como station and we
would meet him there.
My mother, brother, and I packed Dad's boots,
heavy clothing, and a thermos of coffee on a
sled. We dressed as warmly as possible,
including wrapping our legs with layers of
newspaper, and walked the mile and a half to the
station to meet Dad. The train finally arrived; we
all had bot coffee, and when Dad changed into
warm clothing, we started on the hike home.
This was really a hard task. We arrived home
safely and thoroughly exhausted. We made the
decision that if this were to happen again, Dad
would stay in Chicago.
The train did not run the next day. Schools were
closed and I can remember walking up snow
drifts, onto the roof to shovel snow from the
roof. It was a real storm and we had some of the
highest drifts for sledding and skiing that I can
ever remember.

THE OLD MEETING THE NEW (BEITER)
My father, Hiram C. Smith, came to Conference
Point, Williams Bay, from Chicago to work in
1916. He was then a teenager and one of his
jobs was to meet the train, at the Bay depot, with
horse and wagon to pick up the campers and their
baggage--the old meeting the new and better way
of transportation.
Sand S BOX LUNCH-25 CENTS-1936

I REMEMBER
Augustus K. Maxwell Jr
I remember. ...
Putting pennies on the tracks at Lake Geneva in
the late 1920's and 30's so the engines would
flatten them when my father arrived from
Chicago.
I remember. . .
The steam whistle, as the train pulled into the
stop at Como.

When I was young, we always had at least two
dogs in our home. We lived on the south shore
of Lake Como so the train ran right past the front
of our property. At this particular time, we
owned a Canadian Husky that loved the outdoors
and constantly attempted to capture one of the
trains that went by the house. It was not unusual
for "Lucky" to be gone for hours at a time, so
when we sat down to supper this night, it wasn't
even noticed that "Lucky" wasn't there. While
eating supper, the phone rang, and the person
calling was the engineer of the evening train. He
apologized for calling that late, but he thought
that he had hit our dog with the train and he felt

36

I REMEMBER
Peg Smith Williams

so badly that he had to call to let us know. My
brother and I got flashlights and went right out to
check the tracks. In a short time, we found
"Lucky" on the side of the tracks. He had been
hit by the train and he was dead. It was a very
sad time for the entire family, but I gained a great
deal of respect for a man that I never met because
he cared about us and our dog. The waving at
the train engineer every day took on a new
meaning. Even to this day, I wave at the
engineer when a train goes by and I remember a
man who took the time to show he cared.

II 1111111111111 Ill Ill 11111111 II II II 1111 II 1111111111

..•
•

The weekend passengers getting off the Chicago
NorthWestern train to visit Lake Geneva were
my mother's customers for her 25 cent S and S
Box Lunches. The "store" was a card table set
up on the edge of the sidewalk where Fredrick's
Hairstyling is now at 516 Broad St.
S and S stood for Smith and Sparks. Sparks
was a young man living in our home at the time
learning the stockbroker business from my
father. Special colorful 8" square boxes were
filled with a big sandwich of various meats,
homemade cake and a pickle. Her business
stopped because of her car accident, but a deal
had just been made with the railroad to include a
box lunch with the ticket price.
Enclosed is a picture and story of a scary
memory I have of the train crossing where the
Sentry is now. I was stopped by the tracks and
the car behind me bumped me onto the tracks. In
my panic I tried to stan the car, but it was already
running. The train was bearing down on me
with the whistle blasting. I rolled out of the car
just in time. The car rolled between a road sign
and tree with just inches to spare. It was such an
unusual happening the AP picked it up as a short
news story and it was in all the papers. I
received copies from many different states. If I
had had our two tiny daughters with me at the
time I don't believe I would have had time to get
us all out.

Courtesy of Peg Smith Williams.

I REMEMBER
Betty Johnson
When I came from Pennsylvania to Williams
Bay, the train took off for Chicago early
mornings and returned to the round house about
7 p.m. People from Chicago took the train
instead of driving. Always in the summer a lot
of Illinois people came to the Bay. It's been a
long time and it's pretty fuzzy in my memory but
I'm pretty sure there was a dining car. My eldest
son Stan loved to watch the train pull into the
station and always said to me, "Momma, here
comes the Bagoose." Les Case had some
position in the Bay, station manager probably.
Trains were "King" fifty years ago. It's a
nostalgic era that's about gone except for
Amtrack and the luxurious trains in Europe. I
thought it was a great mistake for Geneva not to
have preserved the train station there. I'm
visiting my son Stan in Houston. My other son
John who graduated from Lake Geneva High
School mailed your pamphlet to me.

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37

I REMEMBER. ...
THE CIRCUS TRAIN

Ethel Judson Babcock

1910-1914

For days I ran over to the Seipps Brewery Depot
that stood at the end of the freight depot platfonn.
It had circus posters of animals and red-headed
lady riding a white horse. l wondered why she
never fell off as she wore no shoes. I waited for
weeks for the circus train to come to towrL The
day before it was to arrive, I went to bed tired
and anxious.
I awakened to a mmbling in the distance. It grew
louder and louder until I could recognize the
squeak of the brakes and the clamor of the flat
cars of the circus train. I sat up in bed and rubbed
my eyes and remembered it as the "day of all
days". I hopped out of bed and ran to the
window. There it was in a clanking puffing
existence-- the Ringling Brothers Circus arriving
on the train.
Across the hall! could hear Orville, my brother,
shuffling about and knew that he, too, had heard
those strange but welcome noises that were never
heard of any place else, only in connection with a
circus train.
We were both dressed at the same time and met
in the hall. We dashed down the stairs together
and were greeted at the stairway door by Mother,
who tried, but to no avail, to subdue our
excitement. She nied to give us some instmctions
about being careful, but by the time she finished
we were across the road cutting through the
Douglas Feed Mill yard. We ran down the
railroad bank and across the tracks m front of the
freight depot and there it was in its array and
splendor.

Bright circus posters were used lo announce coming
attractions.

horses pulling them, as well as elephants, too.
Some kids were told to go back off of the tracks
as more cars were being switched--over back of
the freight depot. The brakemen were busy
signaling to the engineer to either move back or
forward a bit more. Camels were bemg unloaded
and just behind them came the ponies.
I was wondering where those beautiful horses
were that the red-headed lady was riding on in
the poster that I saw on Seipps Brewery Depot.
Soon they came out and they were such a
beautiful white. I wondered where the lady was
who rode them.

People were gathering from all over town. Some
looked pretty sleepy as it was only five o'clock in
the morning. The cars were being switched over
to the side track. Orville said they were the living
quarters for the workmen and the performers.

The flat cars were soon unloaded, but still
animals poured from the cars. Some wagons
were closed up tight so you couldn't see what
was in them. A friend joined me and we decided
to get ahead of the crowd as they were moving
over toward the circus tents that would be put up
soon. We walked the length of the freight depot
platform and jumped down behind Seipps
Brewery Depot. We came out whe.re the
elephants were being watered at the cny fue
hydrant. The elephants seemed to be not on:y
drinking, but taking a shower as well. They d
throw the water over themselves and someumes a
few people would get a bit of a shower too. A bit
later, we watched the elephants pull up the tent
poles, helping with all the strength they had.

Orville left me alone because he wanted to get a
job watering the elephants so he could get a free
ticket to the circus. The big steam engine was
busy moving cars. Now and then, it let out some
steam that startled us all. I crossed over one of
the train tracks so I could see the lion wagons
being unloaded. Some men h_ad ropes tied to the
wagons in the back, holdmg them so they
wouldn't run down the ramp too fast. They had

We moved around and saw the breakfast tent
being put up. The train engine was now done and
waiting on the side track. The men who ran the
train were sitting on the back platform of the
caboose and looking as if they were relieved to
know their work was over until the next day
when they reloaded the circus and took it to the
next town. We waved at the men and they waved
back. We were on our way home now to eat our

38

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The arrival of a circus U<lin in town would heighten the anticipation of enjoyable afternoons for area residents.
Photo courtesy of Bill Smarslik.

breakfast as it was about 8 o'clock in the
morning now and we were hungry.
As we passed through the gate, a red-headed lady
passed by. We knew it was the lady who would
be ridincr the white horse; standing on top of him
without'shoes. We were excited and said we
would meet for the parade and then go to the
aftemoon performance.
This is the way I remember the Ringling Brothers
Circus Train.

i

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i I i 111111111111111111111111111 39

I REMEMBER
Ann Herwald

I REMEMBER
Mrs. Barbara Spiegelhoff

I REMEMBER THE "TORN"
Diane Lasch Jones

Interviewed by Julie Dobberstein

Interviewed by Charlie Bowman
My first visit to Lake Geneva was on the train
from Chicago in the late 1940's. Elmer and I
were. to be met at the Lake Geneva station by my
cousm, Steve Gnmmer, who was going to show
us some land which was for sale at Lake Como.
But when the train arrived, Steve wasn't there:
he'd gone fishing instead! We didn't wait long,
though, before a nice little boy approached us to
ask if we were the Herwalds. It was Bob
Clapper, formerly Police Chief and now our
Municipal Court Judge. Steve had arranged for
Bob to meet us and take us to his home where
his parents, Jess and Mayme, had prepared a
scrumptious dinner for us. It's not surprising
that the Clappers became lifelong friends. Oh,
yes, we bought the land too.
Another fond memory of the railroad is the time I
took our four children to Chicago to see the
Christmas sights. After a fun ride in, an exciting
day in the big city stores, and another fun ride
back, it all added up to a really great time for the
five of us--except that, when we got home, I
discovered that my wallet was missing. Well ..
. but the next day the railroad sent it over to me;
someone had found it and turned it in. Not a cent
was missing!

I REMEMBER
William Pagliaro
Interviewed by Lisa Olson
When I was a little boy, about ten or eleven, the
train service was just about over with. I lived in
Williams Bay at the time. My dad thought this
would be a good chance to take a ride on it before
it was discontinued. We got on the train at
Williams Bay and went to Chicago. It was a
commuter train. J thought it would be more like
in the movies, but the train stopped and let people
on and off. Therefore, it could only get up to a
speed of about twenty miles per hour. This was
disappointing to me. Another disappointment
was not being able to see out the front of the
train.

Before television and VCRs, storytellers (radio)
and trains provided stimulation for Lake
Geneva's children of the 1940's and 50's.

I think the very first memory I have of the train is
riding the train from Lake Geneva to Williams
Bay with my family as a 5 or 6 year old. That
was fun because it was the first time I had been
on a train. As a fifth grader at Como school, we
took a field trip to the Museum of Science and
Industry in Chicago, using the train as our
method of transportation. The entire fifth grade
went down to the train station, got on the train,
rode down to Chicago, and visited the museum
and spent the day, before coming back home on
the train. It was a long day because we left early
in the morning and came back around dinnertime.

The Chicago and NorthWestern's hissing steam
locomotive and whistling horn made quite an
impression on my childhood. The train, or
"Torn" as I called it, was special. As a oneyear-old I simplified the words train and horn
into "Tom." Each evening at 6:45 p.m., my
bedtime, the "Torn" whistle put me to sleep and I
awoke each morning at 6:30a.m. to the "Tom"
whistle.
It was unusual for local residents to ride the train
-- only commuters and visitors did that-however, as a young child I traveled on the train
with my mother, Margaret R. Lasch, to visit my
grandparents, David and Mary Riordan in
Dwight, Illinois.

Then, as a college student, I rode the train back
and forth to Wheaton where I went to school.
Not always, but on some weekends, I would
come home that way, by going down to Chicago
to get on the train, and then come home or viceversa. It was a long trip because the tracks were
in poor condition and the train went slowly. At
that point, the train station was barely
functioning. It was in disrepair, not open all the
time, but the train was still operating. After that
point in my life, I never really rode the train
again. It was there and a part of the community
that we liked and enjoyed, but I never really used
it.

So ... as a seasoned traveler, I rode the "Torn"
alone at the age of 7, to visit my aunts: Alice,
Betty, Florence, and Lucille Lasch in Chicago.
Outfitted in my Sunday finery, under the tutelage
of the train conductor, I journeyed to the
NorthWestern Train station in the Loop. That
was 1949 and the ride was a memorable event-one which I repeated biannually 'til adulthood.
The adventure of watching the quiet, rural
landscape turn into a bustling cityscape was
wonderful. I'll never forget the clicking wheels,
hissing brakes, whistling horn at each crossroad
or the sight of swirling, white steam out of the
soot-covered train window-- even the seats were
special, large and cushy!
All of these memories are fondly recalled by the
woman who was once that young girl on the
"Torn."

Bob Larson

I REMEMBER
Phyllis Henry Johnson
I remember when the Lake Geneva Schools sent
teams to Chicago to the Music Memory Contests
that were held at Orchestra Hall in Chicago. This
was in the 1920's.
Mrs. Harry [Helen] MacDonald was the Music
Teacher. Mr. C. H. Morgan, who had a home
on the Lake Shore, would charter a coach on the
morning train, and we would fill it to capacity.
We had a grade school team and a high school
team, and the competition was great here in Lake
Geneva and in the Chicago area, where we
would compete with teams from schools much
larger than ours.
I was a member of the grade school team many
years, and in 1927 we, as a team, won I st place,
as all five members of the team had perfect
scores.
The ride to and from Chicago was a great thrill.
We attended the Museum, had lunch at Marshall
Field's, heard and saw the great Chicago
Symphony, and learned an awful lot of music
appreciation.
A lot of water has gone over the dam since then.
Mrs. MacDonald is gone, the school system is
different, the train is gone, as are many of our
friends from then, but the memories linger on.

••

Watertower drawing by Jay Marlin.

40

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41

..
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! REMEMBER
Dick Halsey
Interviewed by Charlie Bowman
My favorite memory about the railroad in Lake
Geneva has to do with a man by the name of C
H. Morgan, who lived on the lakeshore during
the 1930's. The entrance to his place was located
at the southwest corner of Campbell Street and
Lake Shore Drive, where some condos are now
going up. Morgan had a strange habit, for which
he was notorious: he regularly waited for the
early morning Chicago bound commuter train to
blow it's warning whistle as it approached the
city from Williams Bay, then made a wild mad
dash for the station, hoping to get there before
the train departed. Usually he made it, and
usually by the skin of his teeth. On infrequent
occasions when he didn't make it, he would
make another mad drive to intercept the train
down the line at Pell Lake or Genoa City, or
even beyond. It was said that more than once he
had to go as far as McHenry. Some guy, C H.
Morgan.
Another thing I remember about the railroad
involves one of the rare times it didn't run. That
was during the winter of 1936 and there had been
a terrific snowfall. One of the trains got caught in
horrendous drifts at Terra Cotta, just north of
Crystal Lake, blocking the line for a couple of
weeks. In Lake Geneva, with no freight coming
into town, the school's coal supply ran low, and
the students were excused for about ten days. It
didn't do much for our education, but it sure did
increase our hockey skills. It was tough to go
back to school again when they got the tracks
cleared.
Dora says to mention also that, when I was quite
young, I took to riding my bike down to the
station to meet the incoming afternoon trains and
passing out my father's cigars to the arriving
passengers, without his permission of course!
The happiness came to a screeching halt when
my father discovered what I was up to. Oh, well,
you can't win 'em all.

'

.. ·

'

<>

'

. .

I REMEMBER
Don Halvorsen
I remember when I was four or five years of age,
coming up from Chicago with my parents, that
we had to get off the train with all our luggage
and change trains outside of Crystal Lake,
Illinois, when going to Williams Bay. At the time
the main track of the NorthWestern Railway
continued straight out West and was not
connected to the branch tracks going up to Lake
Geneva in those early days.
I remember after World War 2 leaving the
Chicago Loop in the hot days of July, sitting in
the station waiting for the old Steam Engine to
pull out. We almost died from the heat, even with
all the windows open in the old coaches. By the
time we got to Genoa City, the fine cinders
belching from the old stack were everywhere--on
the seats--on your white shirt--down your neck-and in your hair. Then to top that off we had to

Sit at the water tank in Genoa City in those hot
cars waiting for the "old Gal" to drink all the
wmer she could use. You asked yourself "When
w1ll we ever get to the end of the line in Williams
Bay?" The last stop before getting there was at
Lake Como (at Hermansen's Hotel). It was a
very pop_ular resort then. you knew you were
approachmg the end of the !me when the engineer
would blast away on that familiar steam whistle
that could be heard long before the train pulled
mto the station.

When the train finally went around the long bend
and you saw that crystal clear water of Lake
G~neva you re~lly felt a thrill. That made the long
tnp fron; Chicago on the old steam engine
worthwlnle. You were almost tempted to jump
mto the cool water--clothes and all. If not just to
c?ol off, but also to wash off the scratchy old
cmders that had gone down your back.
"Give me the Good Old Days"------1 Wonder!

"l.·
..

Many commuters and vacationers have checked "sign
boards" in anticipation of a trip to the lakes area.
Photo courtesy of Jim Butts.

'

I REMEMBER
leland Swenson
Interviewed by Lisa Olson
I was a train agent for Genoa City from 19601965. I handled freight trains and sold tickets for
the Williams Bay to Chicago line.
In the spring many people came out here from
Chicago to celebrate their High School prom.
They'd rent the train and dance all the way to
Genoa City. The train only went about l 0 to 15
miles per hour. Then they'd take the bus to
Nippersink and spend the day. They'd go back
in the evening. There would be four or five
trains, a couple every weekend. It used to be
quite the thing.

..
•..
Kanon Kulpa has depicted the strength of a steam locomotive commg to a halt near a statiOn watchtower.

42

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43

I REMEMBER
Mary E. Hegberg
Interviewed by Cheryl Coulman
Mary E. Hegberg is someone who grew up, and
went through much of her life with the Lake
Geneva train in existence. She has strong
feelings toward trains, and wanted to add to the
Train Project with some of her memories of how
it affected her life.
When Mary was a child, she and her family lived
in Chicago, and traveled on the train to Lake
Geneva, to visit in Williams Bay. She always
enjoyed riding the train when she was young.
In 1965, Mary was living in Elkhorn and she got
a job in Chicago for a contracting company
drawing blueprints for the John Hancock
Building. She began riding the train to and from
Chicago every Monday through Friday. This
brought back memories from when she was a
young girl because she had always loved the train
so much. In 1967 her project was over and she
only rode the train once in a while. When they
tore the train station down she was very upset.
In 1937, Mary was on her honeymoon and she
and her husband Ken, took a train to Dubuque.
They really enjoyed it, and afterward got their
picture taken on it. Just recently, Mary and her
son saw a replica train that looked a lot like the
one she had ridden on her honeymoon. She
bought it and set it upon her piano. It means a lot
to her.
Mary felt terrible when the Lake Geneva train
was torn apart, because it had been a part of her
memories of the past.

Oscar Voss. taken in 1939. Photo courtesy of Lorena
Tillberg.

I REMEMBER
lorena Price Tillberg
Things I remember of my Grandfather, Richard
Voss: He worked on the NorthWestern Railway
from Lake Geneva to Chicago, Ill. as a
conductor, janitor, and flagman: My aunt, Jenme
Voss Piper and mother, Mmme Voss Price, as
young girls would go to help clean at Urnes, too.
Also, Anna Voss, Richard Voss and family
would get free rides to Chicago, and they would
go shopping there. Also, my uncle Otto Voss,
who lived in Williams Bay and Ch1cago, was an
engineer on some train. And h~s son Ralph got
to be an engineer, too. He lives m Flonda now.

44

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I REMEMBER
lloyd E. Nelson
I remember: My first ride on the Geneva Lake
train as clearly as if it had been this past summer.
Actually, it happened a half-century ago, some
time in mid- thirties, and J was in grade school.
The occasion was a small family reunion to be
held at College Camp (George Williams).
Relatives had arrived in Chicago that mornmg by
train from Des Moines and Cincinnati, being
joined by us, who lived there. The train pulled
out so gently, that it had moved about 100 feet
before we realized it was moving. We moved
quickly through northwest Chicago and suburbs
until we came to Crystal Lake. Then the tram was
switched off onto a single track line headed north
towards McHenry. North of McHenry, the ride
became especially beautiful and exciting. We
moved more slowly and through heavily wooded
areas. The trees made an arch over the track, and
leaves and branches brushed against the side of
the coach. It gave us the feeling of going through
a jungle. We stopped briefly at quaint little places
like Ringwood, Richmond, Genoa City, and Pell
Lake. Then there was Lake Geneva, Lake Como,
and finally Williams Bay. When we got off, there
was an excursion boat waiting at the dock to

carry passengers around to other places on the
Lake. It took only a few minutes to go by boat
around Conference Point and on to the College
Camp.
I had been born into a railroading family, so I
was able to travel to many interesting places by
rail. However, no train trip I was given before
or since measured up to my first ride on that
Geneva Lake train. There were about three other
occasions over the years when I had the
opportunity to ride on that line.
Mv last ride was some time in the sixties, a few
years before the line was shut down. I was
commuting between Lake Geneva and a job in
Arlington Heights. One particular day, the family
needed my automobile, so they dropped me off at
the Lake Geneva depot at 6 a.m. Walking into
that ancient depot was like visiting a past era!
There were the worn floors, the dingy walls, the
dark brown benches, and the rusty potbelly stove
with its leaky fluepipe.
The ticket office was
an antique cage in one corner. Even the agent
appeared to belong to bygone times. The lighting
consisted of a bare bulb hanging at the end of a
cord from the ceiling. There was a conical metal
shade over it. The agent was dressed in keeping
with the setting wearing sleeve-garters and a
celluloid sunshade'

•
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45

Mr. John D. Mahoney, stationmaster at Lake Geneva depot Photo from the collection of Anne Rich Blanck.

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I REMEMBER
Stanley F. Bence
- When John J. Mitchell's shiny horse
drawn carriage, with liveried coachmen, would
pass our house to or from the depot.
· Dalmatians (coach dogs) would be running
along will: the coach.
- How it was always a thrill to be on the depot
platform when the train departed or returned from
Chicago. Hoping for a wave or word from the
engineer or conductor. The sounds and smells of
the huge steam engines were always exciting.
- How we used to put an occasional penny on
the track for the train to flatten it.
- When I was about nine years old my Granddad
took me to Chicago to buy my first two-wheeler;
then returning back to Lake Geneva that evening
with that beautiful red bike on that same train in
the baggage car.
Wouldn't it have been great if the depot could
have been preserved and utilized in some viable
manner?

Williams Bay, 1946. Steam power depended on
manpower. Photo courtesy of Alyce Nesslar.

I REMEMBER

Betty Neuhaus

My husband, LaVerne, worked for the Chicago
NorthWestern Railway in 1948 and part of 1949.
He worked in the round house in Williams Bay.
His job was to turn the engine on the round !able,
reverse seat backs, pick up litter, if any, fill the
water tanks and anything else that needed to be
done .
We were friends with Casper, the engineer, and
the fireman. Their homes were in the Chicago
area, but their home in Williams Bay was a shack
(their description) by the train. It was large
enough for two bunks and a table and some
chairs, and not very fancy. We had dinner a few
times with them there. They were good cooks.

From the postcard collection of George Krambles.

One time they let our two oldest daughters,
Beverly and Sally, ride in the engine to Williams
Bay. They were supposed to stay out of sight
when they arrived at the station, but they were
excited and stood up and waved wearing the
large gloves of the crew.

111111111111111 Ill 1111111111 11111111111111111111111

47

I REMEMBER
Gerri Dilloo
Interviewed by Lisa Olson

..
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•..
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..

When it was snowing, and trucks couldn't get
through to deliver the mail, the trains did. Steam
trains used to pick up milk from farms. Freight
trains picked up lumber from Chicago and
delivered it at lumber yards along the way, such
places as Genoa City, Pel! Lake, Lake Geneva,
Williams Bay, and Ringwood IL.
The inside of the trains were nice. The seats were
all velvet, and pretty comfortable.
The trains used to go through in the morning to
Chicago. In the afternoon about 1:00 it went to
Lake Geneva. You could go shopping and then
go back horne about 5:00. Two trains carne out at
night, commuter trains. The trains were mostly
used for going and corning to work. First they
were coal trains then they were dieseL

I

A.W. Johnson photograph, Courtesy of George Kramblcs .

I REMEMBER
Paulina L Johnson
I remember when I was a little girl and lived out
in the country just up from Big Foot Beach,
across from what is now Button's Bay Inn, with
my family. This was in the days of horse and
buggies or carriages with the fringe on top.
There weren't many cars there, and the Moore
family, they lived a shon ways up the hill from
us, would be taken to the morning train by a
carriage drawn by four beautiful horses and this
carriage had a calliope on top and it would play
music, especially when they had met the train in
the evening, and would bring them to their home.
Two men would be sitting high in front driving
the horses. My sisters and I would sit on our
front porch listening and watching as they passed
by, we would wave and they would wave to us.
There were three trains that would leave Lake
Geneva every day. Two early in the morning,
one was called The Millionaire Special and the
afternoon about 2 P.M. was called The Milk
Train. We had a milk depot at that time. The
fanners would bring their milk and cream there

48

and then it would be taken by the train to the
dairies in Chicago for delivery
I remember there was one train that came to Lake
Geneva on Sunday, it was called an "Excursion"
Train. People could come out and go back for
one dollar. It would pull into the station about
10:30 AM and return to Chicago at 6 PM.
People would bring shopping bags loaded with
picnic lunches and their swimming suits. They
would spend the whole day in the parks near the
Jake, swim and take boat rides. We would watch
them get off the train and walk to the lake.
I could go on but I'm sure this will be enough.
These are some pleasant memories about the train
coming to and leaving Lake Geneva.
I remember the man, Mr. Furney. He lived on
the same street as I do and we used to watch him
come home every night. He was a conductor on
the early morning train. Mr. Pease who lived
right next door to him was another conductor on
the train. Mr. Pease used to carry a lantern when
the train starred and when it came to a stop.

II II II 111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

When my kids were real small, they would run
out to meet the train, and the engineer used to
throw them bags of candy.
One time my mother was corning home from
Chicago to spend the weekend, and my father
was rushing her around and she got put on the
wrong train. The conductor got her off that train
and put her on another train going the wrong
direction. It was going to Milwaukee. We had to
come and pick her up.
Bums would sneak on the train and ride in empty
box cars, they would watch for detectives so they
wouldn't get kicked off or thrown in jaiL

I REMEMBER
Charlotte Peterson
Bums and tramps always camped out in the old
city dump where Trostels is today. In the
evemng you could see their campfires burring.
We thought it romantic to be so free and
independent.

Wendy Fritz snapped this photo of a conductor on the C&NW preparing a car for the arrival of the morning's first

commutors.

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49

I REMEMBER
Kenneth Koutnik
Interviewed by Charlie Bowman

Before relating what I remember about the
railroad in the Geneva Lake area. I think I should
tell you that I am a locomotive engineer working
for the Chicago & NorthWestern Railway in
switching service at Janesville and that I live in
Williams Bay.
I spent two years on the Milwaukee Road before
transferring to the NorthWestern in 1950, and
I've been with them ever since, thirty eight years,
except for a month on the Soo Line in 1952. Like
all engineers, I started out as a fireman and it
took five years -- and Heaven only knows how
many shovels full of coal -- before I was
promoted. Those were the days when railroads
were converting from steam power to diesel, so I
had to learn how to perform both jobs on both
types of locomotives, but by 1956 steam was
little more than a memory.

Galena Division commuter that was parked on
the station track ....... but where did the switcher
come from? I was shocked! Speechless! I had
never seen anything quite like it before.
There was no one else on the platform, so I went
inside the station. There I found a small group of
NorthWestern officials trying to put things
together. They didn't know very much more then
I did: that the two locomotives had apparently
been demolished, that the switcher had been
identified as coming from Crystal Lake, that the
collision had taken place shortly before 4:00
A.M., that the Wisconsin Division commuter -my train, which had been parked on the station
siding -- was undamaged, that the line was totally
blocked by the wrecked switcher, and that
arrangements had to be made quickly to
accommodate the passengers who would be
arriving soon.
Besides, everything was
complicated by a heavy snow.

I never was lucky enough to have the run
between Chicago and Williams Bay as a regular
thing. Sometimes, though, it would be assigned
to me when I was working the Wisconsin
Division "extra board." I really enjoyed those
times because I had a lot of friends in the Bay. I
had lived here during the early 1940's with my
aunt and uncle, who was a coach cleaner for the
NorthWestern, and before that, as a kid, visiting
them during many a hot summer vacation.
Anyway, I was working the Chicago and Lake
Geneva run -- the Williams Bay extension having
been torn up by then -- on March, I 971 when the
most memorable event of my railroading life took
place: A runway switch engine from Crystal Lake
rammed a commuter train parked at the Lake
Geneva station! It made the front pages of the
newspapers all over the country and, in a way, I
was part of it.

To their credit, the railroad officials acted fast.
Buses were provided to convey the riders to
Crystal Lake, where they were put aboard special
trains that had been brought up for them. I and
other members of the two crews that were
grounded by the wreck were driven to Crystal
Lake by car and dead headed into Chicago so that
we could bring back replacement trains for the
afternoon commuter runs. In the meantime, the
NorthWestern's wreck train, with its steam
powered "big hook," came in later in the day.
The locomotives couldn't be pulled apart, so they
were cut in two with acetylene torches and
pushed into a nearby siding. The afternoon
commuters were brought up as far as McHenry,
then transferred to buses for the remainder of the
run to Lake Geneva. In the morning, the flow
was reversed, but by afternoon of the second day
the trains came all the way in. The wreck train
had done another fine job. It was the last time I
ever saw the steam wrecker in action.

I had worked as a fireman on the early afternoon
commuter train from Chicago to Lake Geneva on
Wednesday, the 17th, and was scheduled to
return to Chicago with it the next morning, that
is, the 18th. About 6:30A.M. I drove into the
station- since by then I was living in the Bay-sauntered over to the platform, and ...... and
suddenly there before me stood this massive
wreck: two huge diesel locomotives smashed
together and telescoped into one another with
incredible force. My God, what a mess! I knew
that one of them had to be the engine of the

How did this all come about? No one really
knows for sure. The most logical explanation is
that the switcher, actually a way freight engine,
was stolen from the Crystal Lake yard by a
disgruntled NorthWestern employee who was
assisted by an accomplice. Certainly, it had to be
someone with a thorough knowledge of diesel
locomotive operation. It also had to be someone
familiar with the intricacies of the switches that
had to be thrown in order to get the engine from
its parking place across the main line and onto the
track to Lake Geneva. The accomplice is

50

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presumed to have paralleled the switcher's route
to a meeting point outside of the city -- perhaps
the Bloomfield Road crossing -- where the thief
put the switcher in gear, hopped off, and fled in
the accomplice's car. Investigations by the FBI
and the railroad's own police produced a number
of suspects, but no one was ever brought to trial.

Ill

•-

The only witness to the crash, Mrs. Robert
Harkey, estimated that the runaway must have
been traveling at a speed of between fOrty and
fifty miles an hour. The force of the collision
rendered both locomotives beyond repair, and the
NorthWestern reported the total cost of the affair
to be in the neighborhood of $175,000. The
only personal injury was a slight concussion
suffered by a car cleaner who was napping in one
of the damaged commuter coaches. Another
NorthWestern employee, an engine watchman,
and Ray Voss, a Lake Geneva street department
employee, were more fortunate. The watchman
ha~ moved from th~ Galena Division engine -Which was demolished -- to the Wisconsin
Division engine which escaped unscathed-- only
a moment or so before impact. Voss, who was

operating a plow on Broad Street, neither saw
~or he~ the unlighted engine approaching, but,
mcred1bly, made a U- turn only a split second
before it roared through the crossing behind him.
Some guys are born lucky.
My earliest memories of the railroad are all
pleasurable. I still get a chuckle out of Ned Grim
raising ducks in the tum-table pond. Ned and
Roy Johnson, father of Badger High's Tom
Johnson, were the engine watchmen, or hostlers,
at the Williams Bay terminal. Ned was quite an
angler too, and, when any of the NorthWestern
ofp.cials came in their private business cars, he'd
bnng them a nice catch of fresh fish. Not all of
the fish, though, came out of the lake; there were
some dandy trout in the creek that ran under the
Hollister Lumber Co. spur back of the
roundhouse.
Speaking of the roundhouse, we kids used to
love to peer into it; the smoked-up heavy beams
and the old lanterns hanging on the walls looked
so mysterious. And not far from the roundhouse

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51

were two small bunkhouses, one for Galena
Division crews, the other for Wisconsin
Division; or maybe one was for the enginemen,
the other for trainmen--I'm not just sure now.
The Williams Bay yard, though, took on an
entirely different appearance in the summer.
Every inch of track would be jam-packed with
coaches from the Saturday and Sunday
excursions. Sometimes a train or two would
have to be sent back to Lake Geneva for parking.
To meet the extra demand for fuel, gondolas of
coal -- and section hands to shovel it -- would be
brought in for the weekend. The regular coaling
station in the yard couldn't handle the volume by
itself.
Another ihiug we Bay kids liked to do was to go
to Lake Geneva for the Saturday afternoon
movies. We'd swipe some vegetables from my
uncle's large garden and trade them for a "free"
ride on the train. Sometimes we'd take one of the
excursion boats back home or even walk the
lakeshore, or we might try for another free ride
on the train -- without any vegetables to trade, of
course. When we were in Lake Geneva, we'd
sometimes walk the track to the masonry arch

bridge high above the White River. It intrigued
us to look down at the water flowing far below;
that is, it did until an unexpected train nearly
caught us out on it one day. We got off by the
skin of our teeth. Sometimes, when we got too
close to the tracks, the engineer would "blow off
the boiler" to frighten us away. The procedure,
which was actually intended to clean out boiler
sediment, produced a great cloud of white steam.
It was harmless, but looked and sounded
ominous, and succeeded in keeping us at a safe
distance from the moving cars.

I REMEMBER
Robert Smyth

Some of the way freight crews used the steam for
a different purpose: to cook sweet corn in one of
the steam domes, those odd--looking "bumps"
atop the boilers of old locomotives, and snack on
it when tenderly done. Other crews were known
to cook steaks on a clean shovel thrust into the
firebox. It was especially good with a side of
fresh steamed corn. During hot weather, too, ice
was not infrequently kept in a tender's water tank
to refresh the crew's soft drinks-- though it was
not unknown for a brew or two to find its way
into the makeshift fridge. Ah, things were so
much more relaxed in the old days.

runs.

I remember the trains at Williams Bay circa
1927-37, probably because my brother, Nelson,
was totallv fascinated with steam powered boats
and train;. He spent many hours at the station
and roundhouse talking to the engineers,
brakemen, and firemen (coal shovelers). Even
when he was only ten years old or so, he had
earned their respect so that they would not only
let him sit in the locomotive's cab, but actually
run the enormous machine on the short switching
If this does not seem impressive today, think of it
through my seven-year-old eyes.
My big brother helping me up the iron- runged
ladder onto the grated iron floor of the cab,
shaking from the boiler's noise, heat and the
steam escaping from pipes and valves
everywhere. And then MAGIC TIME, when the
engineer let Nelson open the throttle to allow just
the right amount of live steam into the cylinders
to start the multi-ton locomotive gently without
spinning the wheels. I never thought of it then,
but the trainmen at Williams Bay must have been
the friendliest, most patient grownups a little boy
could wish for.
In later years Nelson continued his friendship
with train people over weekend drinks at Mel
Spences Five 0' Clock Club in the Bay and was
ultimately rewarded by being allowed to run the
engine on the McHenry - Bay leg of the last
steam train to run. I think he would have rather
had that memory than one of a space mission.

•

••...
•
Jll!l!!llll

On March 18, 1971, a crane was brought in to separate the engines, Courtesy of Don Herst.

52

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More general memories of the Williams Bay train
include the wait for Dad or weekend guests to
arrive on "The Millionaire's Express". Mr.
Harris, the banker, 80 years plus, was driven
home in an exquisite horse and carriage. There
were one or two private yachts left and their
owners had only to cross the road to board them
and enjoy a leisurely evening boatride home.
Talk about rich.
The summer's most exciting trip was to the Bay
station in late June when the stationmaster would
notify us that our fireworks had arrived. My
family, the Cliffords, Schwinns, and Crawfords
would rotate hosting the glorious Fourth at our
homes. My uncle Fred McNally's firm, Rand
McNally, did business in China and Uncle Fred

was able to order the most exotic and dangerous
fireworks imaginable. And here they were, after
a journey halfway around the world, at the end of
the line, in Williams Bay, Wisconsin
Perhaps the most vivid train connected memory
occurred after the diesels replaced the steam
engines. My cousin Charles was at the bar in the
old Como Inn explaining how his car had gotten
hung up on the train tracks. While considering
this problem over a drink, Charles heard
something in the distance that reminded him of a
diesel horn. Charles said, "I know the last train
comes in around seven PM, but that sounded like
a train." Everybody went back to the problem of
getting the car off the tracks when the diesel
sounded it's horn again. And much closer. "It's
that one-car freight that comes up every month or
so" someone shouted and they all poured out to
see the headlight flashing around the bend, less
than a quarter of a mile away. While Charles
was contemplating this development, a twelveyear-old on-looker announced he had his Boy
Scout flashlight with him and set off down the
tracks waving the light like the boy in the
Eveready battery ads.
The train kept coming at a steady twenty- milesan-hour. The Boy Scout waved his flashlight
ever more frantically and then jumped out of the
way as the train bore down inexorably on
Charles' new Chevrolet. Even at twenty-milesan-hour the collision was an impressive one.
The locomotive never slowed at all as it split the
Chevy in two, dragging the pieces and grinding
them into progressively smaller pieces as the train
droned down the track and out ofsight around
the bend toward the Williams Bay station.

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53

I REMEMBER
Don (Baggy} Douglass
Interviewed by
Holly Hartje and Angie McCloud
Transcribed by Erica Weise
I've always been a train nut all my life. I was
born and raised right here so I haven't gotten far
in life. As kids we used to go over to the depot
all the time and the big thing was watching the
train come in. Of course years and years ago my
Dad (Douglass at the lumber yard) was right
there and I used to hear him talk all the time about
the trains coming in and everything. He spent a
lot of time over there. I do have some pictures of
the old depot and the Williams Bay depot, Lake
Como depot and things like that I can show you.
I remember that it was a big thing with us. We
used to go over and watch all the freight come in.
When you're a little kid the big engine sounds
pretty good.

Erica Weise shows the once busy depot in Wiiliams Bay in her pen and ink drawing. The depot was torn down and the site is
now occupied by a beautiful municipal park and boat launch.

Later that evening at Spences bar, the engineer
told Charles that it was the crew's custom to
change their clothes at the back of the locomotive
so as not to waste time getting to Spences for a
post work drink. He said he was sorry this made
him miss seeing the Boy Scout and gettmg m an
Eveready ad.

I REMEMBER
LaMarr lundberg
Interviewed by Bob Larson
It was the late 40's and early 50's. Williams Bay
had a ski hill and it's now called Grandview Hill.
It was the only ski hill in the whole area of
southeastern Wisconsin. They also had a ski
jump where they held an annual ski jumping
contest. The ski hill was run by the Boy Scouts
and they also had toboggan runs. During the
wintertime people used to come up by the
hundreds for their weekend trip, and stay at
Summerset Lodge and Rose Lane Lodge just
north of Gage Marine in Williams Bay. They
would get off the train on Friday night and return
Sunday night to Chicago. It was probably one of
the cheapest ways that people had to get into the
Lakes Area.

-•
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..
Ill

54

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When I was a kid we used to watch (my dad with
the feed store and everything) them bring rye
straw, like real tall rice straw, and the guys at J.
H. Moores used to weave mats to put on the
sides of the horse stalls so the horses wouldn't
run up and down and get hurt. Of course,
everything then came in by rail.
I've got lanterns and padlocks, conductors hats
and stuff like that off of the old railroad. I have a
Chicago and NorthWestern lock, one of the
switch locks, and uh, y'know stuff like that.
And I'm sure when I get done, or one of these
days, I'll give it to the museum or something like
that. Right now I'm not quite ready to--I'm still
a kid at heart y'know. I run model trains all over
the place. I'll run this one steamer train if you
want me to. That's big kid's toys. I've always
been a toy collectoL I have a big collection of
automobiles and road equipment, so I've got
rooms full of this stuff. I'm a kid that never
grew up. In fact I have a Mickey Mouse phone
my wife bought me when I was 50 years old.
(He showed the students some pictures hanging
up there). Got the Millionaire Special coming in
about 5:18 o'clock and they're all lined up. You
can kind of see how Broad Street bends around
there. It's just an old dirt street y'know, and
here in front of the depot. That house that's back
over there, that's still kind of the last house that's
on the end street. And then you can see a
chimney right on the border line; that's where Su

Puffs of smoke ladden with cinders emerge from a
locomotive as it picks up steam pulling oul of Geneva
depot. Courtesy of Anne Rich Blanck,

Wing is. And of course, that was the Rich's
home. It was a great big house that looked
straight down Broad Street. That's a railroad
lantern off the train. Weighs about 100 lb. Big
heavy lantern. It's all kerosene. It's got a wick
in it and everything and you can fire it up.
Here's an old conductor's hat off the Chicago
NorthWestern with the bluish thing and oilers
and kerosene cans, and those are old railroad
locks with the brass keys. There's a picture of
the Lake Geneva station when the canopy was
up. All you kids remember is the old brick
building, that was painted white in the 60's.
Before then it was a dark red brick. Well that
thing had a big canopy that went all the way
down, kind of where the phone booth is right on
the corner. The canopy was used to keep the
waiting passengers dry from rain and snow. The
other is the Lake Como station. That was an old
train car and that sat-· you know where --right in
front of Mar's Resort . Well that's Hermanson's
and Mar's Resort and that was the depot they
used out in Como. The one down here, that's
the Williams Bay station and the other one's
Elkhorn but that's Milwaukee Road and then here
with the water tower and the engine house. See,
that's the end of the line at Williams Bay and then
the trains all went up and I have a picture of
where the turntable was. It was all hand
operated. There's Casey Jones, the only known
picture of Casey--that's the guy they wrote the
song about.
Are you just doing C&NW? Well, these are all
C&NW steam engines. An old fellow gave them
to me. Those are all--some of them I suppose go
to Lake Geneva, but they're all C&NW steam
engines.
That's the engine house in Williams Bay. And

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55

this is the turntable, the train went through here
then through Como then Williams Bay, then
they'd take it in and do whatever they had to do
or anything; then they'd pull it back on here by
hand. They'd turn it around so that it'd face back
and they'd send it back to Chicago. That's
what's called the turntable. About three men
turned it around. See, the turntable, you could
almost blow on it and it would go around.
Doc White, the old dentist, used to ride the train
from Lake Geneva. He'd get on here as a kid
and he'd ride up to Williams Bay with the
engineer. We lived in Lake Geneva, so I'd ride
back in the car with him. So I'd ride up to
Williams Bay with him and they'd turn the
engine around and then I'd just ride home with
him.
We're all retired, but Doc used to ride the train.
Oh yeah, at night I'd sit in the engineers cab too.

I REMEMBER
Tom Johnson
Interviewed by Chris Pond

I come from a railroad family. My father was a
rail, that's what they call railroad men, from the
late 1930's until the termination of the line
between Lake Geneva and Crystal Lake.
We worked for the railroad in high school and
college on an interim basis. When anybody on
that division had a vacation, I was called in. I
remember fn?m my childhood days hanging
around the railroad; I hung around the railroad
because my dad worked there from the time I
was old eoough to be out on my own around the
lake in the summer at the age of 10 or 12.
Most of the time I was responsible for cleaning
the coaches. There were two trains that came
into Williams Bay, an early train and a late train.
These were basically commuter trains that came

from Chicago. One would arrive at 5:00 p.m.,
the other at 6:00p.m. I would have to do several
things. I turned all the seats. In those days the
seats were like bench seats but the backs were
moveable; you could grab a back and give it a
push and it would flop over to the other side.
People always wanted to face !he way they ':"ere
going. Then there were dmhes, whlle lmen
doilies. I would have to turn them and rebutton
them on the back of the seats. Then I'd have to
sweep the coaches and that was my basic job
with the coaches.
When the train came in I was responsible for
unhooking the steam lines. See, all the brakes on
all the coaches worked on steam. When the
steam was in the line the brakes are not on.
When the steam line would break or was
disconnected, then all the brakes were put on. I
would have to break the brake line, Then, I
would get in the engine, pull it forward, get off
the engine, throw a switch, back up, put it on the
turn table, hook up the steam line, turn the engine
around so it is facing the other way, pull it out,
throw a switch, and hook it back up to the train.
New Trier townspeople rented a train, a special
train, not a commuter, and took and put all the
kids on the train and took them to Williams Bay.
They had a band in a club car. They would get
off the train, get on the excursion boats, be
boated back, put back on the train and go back to
New Trier.
The railroad had probably one of the greatest
things going for it but at the same token, one of
the worst things going for it, the union. The
railroad was the strongest union organization I've
ever seen. It didn't seem to matter if you had any
aptitude for a job, you never had to pass a test,
the only thing you had to have was seniority,

spend the day with family, see a Cubs game, and
take the evening train out. All they would work
was about three or four hours a day.
I remember the gandy dancers. Gandy dancers
were crews that had to come every two years and
they would have to lift t.'Je track and the ties up in
the air about six or seven inches because the
vibrations would work the ties down into the
grade. In fact, if you didn't lift them up every
two or three years, the track would actually bury
itself. They would come, maybe 15 to 20 guys
to a crew, and they would spend two or three
weeks working the track between Lake Geneva
and Williams Bay. I can remember them singing
songs and setting rail. The one guy was the boss
and he'd sing a chant and they would all pry with
these big pry bars all at the same time.
It wasn't uncommon in slippery weather to

derail. You were in big trouble. They would
have to call in gandy dancer crews and section
crews. You had to lift the train one half inch at a
time with jacks and get it back on the tracks. I
don't remember any tipping over, but I remember
derailing a number of times. If they had to spend
a weekend in the Bay, there were no restaurants
open on Sunday. So I could remember the train
crew would get in the engine, they would
unhook the engine, and they would drive the
engine on the track from Williams Bay up to
Lake Geneva and leave it there. (These were
steam locomotive. We didn't get diesel till the
1960's.) They'd leave it sitting in Geneva. Then
they'd go off to a restaurant, get back on the
locomotive, and then they would have to back it
all the way back to Williams Bay. Once in a
while they'd let me go along. The only reason
they would let me go along was because on the
way back they put me up on the coal car and I
would have to watch for anything on the track
because they couldn't see.

When you signed on the railroad they dated and
stamped the time on your original certificate.
That gave you seniority.

Maid, valet service, and private stenographers were among some of the
postcard depicts the elegance of a club car circa 1915. Courtesy of Anne Rich Blanck.

56

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The line between Chicago and Williams Bay was
called the "Gravy Train". I'll tell you why, it
was under 100 miles. Under 100 miles got paid
double. The senior engineers of the C&NW
would take that train. As soon as they were the
senior member of the fire team, the conductor
team, or the engineer team, they would bump
anyone they could to get this run. They could
come out from Chicago in the evening, they
could spend all night in the Bay, (they had little
shacks) they could take the morning train in and

Courtesy of Mrs. Ned Grimm.

lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll 57

I REMEMBER
lette Powers
I remember how impressed I was in my
childhood to stand on the platform listening for
the whistle of the train as it was approaching the
station and watching the commuters alight from
the train; especially the men who were met by
their chauffeurs in full livery.

Club Car. Photo courtesy of Jim Butts Collection.

In later years, probably the late 1950's, I took
my children on the train from Lake Geneva to
Williams Bay, just so they could say that they
had ridden on a train. It was probably one of
their most memorable trips.

The club car was a bar, just one big huge bar,
and they served liquor, and the commuters would
step in there and have something to drink.

Train Whistle
Bruce M. Foiles

I remember in the morning they had some senior
conductor, a conductor they called Springer,
Springer Thomas. Springer Thomas ran a card
game. He'd sit down and he'd do all the dealing.
They had some highrollers, some big gamblers
on those trains. In the morning, Springer would
take 10 percent of the pot Sometimes those pots
would be $100.00, and he'd be taking $10.00 a
hand. He'd make up to $300.00 on a good day.
That was illegal. If the railroad would've ever
caught him, they would've fired him.

one long blast

down brakes,
approaching town
crossing
used at every crossing
backing
to back up
report to the engine for
further instructions

I worked for maybe a week at a time. I worked
from 1958 until they moved the track from
Williams Bay to Lake Geneva. I made a lot of
money for those days. A kid, that was the first
man job I had, all the rest were kid jobs,
minimum pay. They paid big bucks. I can
remember coming down and working all
Christmas vacation and making enough money to
finish a year in college.

•
1111

IS TIH LIRECT

P.~UH

rROM CHIU!i() lC TH! MnST

1\.(•:-;orts in \\.i . . . coiJ.'-'iu <lnd IHiunesota,.

'I

~

From the Charlie Bowman Collection I Summer Fantasy Book

Ill

58

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••

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59

REMEMBERANCES OF TRAIN
RIDES
Phyllis Friedrich
During the summer of 1918, my mother and
father had taken my new born sister and me to
visit our grandparents in Woodstock, ll... Like
many young couples in those days they did not
have a car, and visits such as this were made by
train. This was possible because of the network
of railroads that connected even small cities.
This trip would require at least one transfer
because we had to go south on the spur line from
Lake Geneva and then west on the mainline to
Woodstock.

"""'
....""

$.50
.50
.50
.35
. 50
.50
.50

I was not quite two years old that hot Sunday
afternoon as we changed cars in Crystal Lake for
the trip back to Lake Geneva. My father carried
me into the car, put me on the seat, and turned
back to help my mother who was carrying my
sister. I went immediately to the open window,
leaned out, and dropped the doll I was carrying.
As I grabbed for the doll, I leaned too far, and
fell out the window onto the platform below, a
fall of six or eight feet. Fortunately, I was not
injured but there was a great hubbub about not
letting me go to sleep because I might have a
concussion. It must have been a great ride back
to Lake Geneva with a tired, crying child.

50
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WHERE

CONVENIENT
TEMPERATURE

Our return trip was less eventful but more
unpleasant. This was before air-conditioning, so
all the doors and windows were open. Because
we were in the first car behind the steam engine
and coal car, we were the recipients of a constant
stream of smoke and ash. We watched the helper
shovel the coal into the engine box and half
expected to see Indians attacking the train. I
didn't think that ride would ever end and when it
finally did, my new silk suit was covered with
soot .
Since these early small disasters, I have ridden
on many fine trains (and some not so fine) here
and in other countries: China, Kenya, Russia,
and England. Happily, there are many more all
over the world that I look forward to being able
to ride in the future.

I do not really remember this episode, but I do
remember many field trips to Chicago during my
school days. Our music teacher, Helen Seymour
MacDonald, took groups to operas, plays, and
Music Appreciation Contests. All these trips
went smoothly.

I-DAY SUNDAY AND HOLIDAY
SPECIALS FROM CHICAGO

A

our lives until the conductor came to our rescue
saying, "There is really no other place for your
case and she isn't really hurt." He talked to her
about going to the doctor at the next stop but she
decided it wasn't that important. She signed a
release for the railroad and us, but we didn't
enjoy that ride at all.

You

I

However, in 1943 my new husband and I took
the train from Walworth to Chicago for our
honeymoon. This was during World War II;
gasoline was rationed, and all the good rolling
stock was in use transporting the military people
around the country. The old car we rode on
didn't have a rack for luggage overhead and we
had to put our suitcase in the aisle.
At Fox Lake a heavy-set woman got on. She
was carrying a large pocketbook and an even
larger bunch of flowers as she hurried down the
aisle to get one of the few seats available. Of
course, she tripped over our suitcase and fell on
one knee; but she jumped up quickly to capture a
seat and then sat rubbing her knee and glaring at
us. We had visions of a lawsuit that would ruin

From the collection of Ken Koutnik. His pieces show Lake Geneva has long been a vacation area.

60

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61

I REMEMBER
Barb Bence McMahon
REMEMBER
Catherine J. Peterson

I REMEMBER
Maria Aspinall

remember being told that at the time of my birth
" 1916, my grandparents resided in Williams
lay. They were Amos and Leah Gove. I was
he daughter of Peter and Mary Gove Peterson
.nd our home was at 513 Cook Street in Lake
}eneva. Grandpa Gove's special treat was to
>Oard the train from Williams Bay to Lake
}eneva, especially to visit his new
;randdaughter--ME!l

We moved from a farm in Linn Township in
1917. At that time a train came from Hebron, IL
to Genoa City. My mother and I would get on
the train in Lake Geneva. My mother's sister
would meet us in Genoa City, go to Chicago,
stop and have dinner in Marshall Field's Walnut
Room. I'd take an evening train after going to
College in Mielo, working in Ohio and Pittsburg.
Then I would go to Chicago on the train, get in
my sleeper and be at work the next morning.

also remember giving my young cousin the
brill of her life -- this was in the 1950's. She
md never ridden on a train. She was 15 years
))d at the time. I drove her to the station here in
~ake Geneva where she boarded the train and
'rode all the way to Williams Bay". What a
:brill!! There, I met her by car as she arrived at
:he station from her first train ride.

After I was married I lived in Bloomfield
Township. My husband passed away in 1944.
We bought the Taggart house on Sage Street.
My children were 4, 5, and 8 years of age. They
waited for the trains and soon knew all of the
engineers. We lived in that house 22 years.
Later on our best memories were Chicago H.S.
Proms, going to Williams Bay for breakfast and
spending the day going past our house about
3:00a.m. blowing whistles shouting "the train",
blowing whistles all of the way. Bob and I lived
there until 1964 when we moved and built a
house on N. Center St.

....
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62

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I fondly remember the train in Lake Geneva.
When I was a young girl (1950's) we lived at
330 Center Street. That house was built by my
great-great-grandfather Thomas. Each day we
would see the train leaving for Chicago,
watching as it crossed Center Street. and catching
a last glimpse as it cleared the tracks at the end of
Wisconsin Street. We would hear the train
returning in the afternoon and run to the corner of
Center and Wisconsin Streets to see it pass by on
its way back to our depot and on to Williams
Bay.
Several times Dad drove Mom, my sisters and
me to Williams Bay to ride the train to Lake
Geneva. I can recall how exciting it was to be
dropped off at the depot in Williams Bay, be
greeted by the conductor as we climbed on
board, and to ride home on the train. Dad would
meet us at the Lake Geneva depot. Although it
wasn't a long ride, we thoroughly enjoyed every
minute of it!

walk to the depot to see it arrive. That particular
day we were walking with our neighbors Lynda
and Michael Trester, when we heard the whistle.
The tracks were in very bad shape by then and
the train "crawled" into the station. We hurried
to get there to watch it as it switched around to
get the freight car on the sidetrack to Dunn's.
When the switching was finished the engineer
asked us if we would like to come in and see the
caboose! It was one of those times I wished that
I had the camera along. Susie and Michael got a
kick out of climbing up the metal steps and
checking out the caboose. It was unadorned,
with wooden floors, a couple of wooden
captain's chairs and a pot-bellied stove. The
engineer answered the children's questions and
we climbed off the train. I'd like to think that
Susie enjoyed that visit as much as I did when I
was her age. I was happy to get one last chance
to get off the train in Lake Geneva!

Later on my family moved to Park Row. By
then the train service to Williams Bay had ceased.
I remember listening for the train whistle in the
morning and late afternoon, and listening to the
clanging and rumbling as cars were being
switched around to leave cars with supplies for
Trostel's and Dunn Lumber. The train would sit
on the tracks by the depot overnight. The quiet
rumble of the idling diesel engines could be heard
throughout the night, and the accompanying
smell could be picked up if the wind was from
the East.
My Great-Aunt Mabel Reed worked for the
Chicago and NorthWestern and lived in
Waukegan. On weekends she would come out to
Lake Geneva to visit her sister Anne Aspinall.
Aunt Mabel would walk up Park Row to
Franklin Ave. where Anne lived ( a house built
by her father, who was my Great-Grandfather
Bence.) There was always a certain glamour
about her ... that she worked for the railroad in the
Big City, dressed "snappy", and rode the train
home and back each weekend.

From the Jim Butts Collection.

My last recollection of visiting the train was one
of the last times the train came to deliver supplies
to Dunn's. Our daughter Susie and I would walk
often and if we heard the train coming, we would
Courtesy of Alyce Nessiar

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63

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RMS

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4-C-8

4-C-7

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RAts
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4-C-6 2 var.

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Railway postmarks used in Lake Geneva area. Courtesy of Frank Moertl.

64

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Ill

--

I REMEMBER
Leola J Ruiz

end of the line came and to me it was like riding
across the world and I did it all by myself!

I remember in the late nineteen thirties and forties
as a young girl growing up in Chicago, the steam
engine was still in it's heyday. It was considered
just an ordinary form of transportation along with
the car, bus, street-car and subway. We used to
always take the Rock Island Line from Morgan
Park (suburb of Chicago) into the Chicago Loop.
Before getting off at the La Salle Street Station,
the train would pass through the train yards. It
was fascinating to see all those freight trains of
different colors pulling many different kinds of
cars. On the side of the cars told where the cars
originated from with the different insignias.
Also, cars would be taken off from one engine
and hooked up to another engine. Everyone was
so busy in the yards with engines or just cars
going forward or backward, hooking or
unhooking. You wondered how they kept it all
straight. When riding through the city on the
train, you usually only saw everyone's backyard.
Even as a very young girl, I was interested in
plants and flowers and loved to see what kind of
a garden everyone would have. The most fun
was in the wintertime after Christmas has passed,
the Christmas trees were thrown out into the
backyard. When I was a kid that tree became
part of the snow fort from where you had your
snow-ball fights from so you always looked for
these forts while riding on the train and
sometimes got lucky to see some big fights.

Trains were so common that many songs were
written about them and during presidential
elections, many running for president would take
their campaigns aboard the trains making stops at
towns along the way, and from the end of the
observation car would give their speeches to why
you should elect them. Trains played a very
important role during World War II. Besides
transporting tanks, jeeps, weapons, etc., they
were the biggest mover of military troops. I
remember as my family and I would wait in the
train station for our train, you could see all the
men in uniforms waiting for their trains. It
seemed like they were always between trains and
either sat there dozing in the chairs or sleeping on
the benches, sitting bored and watching crowds
of people or many played cards. I enjoyed
watching them and looking at all the different
types of uniforms and trying to figure out what
all the patches and medals they wore meant.
Every-so-often a woman would meet one of the
men -- girlfriends to some, wives to others.
They would be so happy laughing and talking in
the few short hours allotted to them before the
soldiers had to board their train. This scene was
repeated over and over at all the big stations in
Chicago such as Union, La Salle, Dearborn,
Chicago and NorthWestern and Polk Street
Station to name a few.

By the time I was eight years old, I was quite a
seasoned train rider and had the biggest
experience of my life by taking my first long trip
by myself. We used to spend all our summers in
Lake Geneva at my grandparent's summer
cottage on the lake in Knoll wood. When I was
eight, my mother and I took the Rock Island Line
Train into La Salle St. Station and then took a
street car to the Chicago NorthWestern Station
where she put me on the train to ride to the end of
the line-- Williams Bay, Wisconsin where my
grandparents would pick me up. Oh, I was so
excited looking out the windows as the scenery
flew by and sometimes the smoke that used to
pour from these trains would hit against the
window and everything would go white for a
moment. It was fun to see kids waving from
along the tracks at the train and I would wave
back because I too was one of those kids who
waved at every train that went by and the
engineer besides waving to you would
sometimes blow his horn to say Hi. Soon the

When I was eleven, we moved to Lake Geneva,
Wisconsin and although I didn't ride trains as
much, it was fun to go down to the station and
wait for the trains to arrive bringing people from
Chicago to Lake Geneva to enjoy the town and
the lake for several days or even one day and
then take the train back to the Chicago and
NorthWestern Station.

The C&NW station in Chicago was a familiar sight to

many commuters. Photo counesy of Leola Ruiz.

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65

After I graduated from high school, I returned to
Chicago to further my education. My mother
took an apartment in Norwood Park and I would
take the train to Norwood Park for the weekends
to ~e with my family. The station was right
behmd the .apartment building where they lived
and every time a train passed, the building shook
and there would be soot everywhere. One
weekend, I received a phone call from a boy I
went with in high school who was already out of
school and had joined the Air Force. He was on
leave at his home in Woodstock, Ill, had only a
few hours but wanted to see me. We were to
both catch a train and meet at the Chicago and
NorthWestern train station. We had a wonderful
few hours together-- laughing, talking, eating in
one of those so called train "restaurants" that
were in all the large stations. It was like I
became that girl that I use to see as a kid in the
station being with her boyfriend for a few
precious hours before he went on to his next
camp on the train.
The steam engine is long gone and is now
replaced by the diesel engine which they say is
more efficient but totally lacks the charm of the
old steam engines. We have since moved to
California but I still try to ride the train although
there are not that many in this area of the country.
A few days before this past Thanksgiving, my
husband and I took a train from Los Angeles
Union Station to spend the day in San Diego. On
the return trip home every seat was taken with
people coming home or going away for the
holiday. It was already getting dark and the
lights were on inside the train. As we rode, the
train was gently swaying and many people,
including my husband, were dozing. I looked
out the window watching the lighted buildings
and the cars stopped waiting for the train to pass
and I felt like in my youth riding on the Rock
Island Line, the Milwaukee Road, the Sante Fe
or maybe the Chicago and NorthWestern once
again going to Lake Geneva.

66

I REMEMBER
Dallas Reynolds
Interviewed by
Chris Pond and Toscha Clausen

"Okay you moved to Walworth Feb. 4, 1954,
and you talked about being main station agent for
the Mil waukee Road."
A station agent's duties consisted of a variety of
things: local, interline tickets, Western Union,
railway express, baggagecar, load freight, in and
out freight, U.S. mail. We even used to hang the
mailbag. Maybe you've seen pictures of it in the
old westerns, where a guy would come along,
stick his arm out, and pick up the mailbag. They
used to have that, and that sort of thing pretty
much went with the railroad.
My life consisted of a station agent's duties. Call
him a town ambassador. The railroad expected
you to go and call on your customers if they had
trouble and just promote business both
passengers as well as freight. Of course we had
to handle damage claims. If a car'd come in
damaged we'd have to make out all the reports
for that. And if we saw an item we'd have to call
it to their attention. We had diagrams of different
material, how it should be loaded, boarded, and
braced and just that sort of thing. Train cars had
to be inspected to see that they didn't leak any
grain when they put it in, and that the grain doors
were put in proper! y.
Long before the hopper cars, they used to use the
old box cars. The content of the cars consisted
of everything: fertilizer, grains of all
descriptions, coal, cement, lumber, lots of
lumber, from the west coast, generally Canada,
and just about everything that makes our life.
When the federal government took away the mail
contracts on trains, that was one of the saddest
things in American history. They used to handle
all the mail. That was a tremendous boost to the
railroads. When the goverment took that away it
started to slide. That was billions of dollars a
year. The government bought their own trucks,
used their own trucks on the highways that you
and I are spending time and money to maintain.
It was so much cheaper to run it from Chicago to
Minneapolis instead of a train load. Look at how
many trucks it could handle, and this is really
what happened. That took place somewhere
around 1965-67.

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Ill

When the old Leonard Lumber Company was
here a man brought me over a copy of a freight
train bilL He got a carload of lumber in 1886.
They used to go up north with those hard rubberwheeled covered wagons with the horses and
brought the lumber back to Walworth. Freight
charges were $74 on that car in 1886. Now that
line was up way before the mainline. I was born
and raised on that line that went from Beaver
Dam and up to Portage.
C&NW is a lefthanded railroad. The C&NW is
what it is. And they run their passenger cars on
the left side. All signals were opposite from
what ours would be, east is west, west is east,
just reversed because their signals are on the
opposite side. See, signals are on the right of
way on railroads. Tracks go through Sharon
over there and you'll see they are on the opposite
side from where these would be.
The Milwaukee Road was very heavily
subsidized with the state of Illinois and the
federal government, and they refurbished and
rebuilt all the way from Fox Lake to Chicago. All
brand new rail ties, everything complete. They
are connected to regional transit authority.ln this
modern day and age and expense of running the
railroad, if it wasn't subsidized you couldn't
afford to buy a ticket. The law says they have to
collect 62% from the fairbox and then the rest is
all subsidized. They do have a great commuter
service. It's one of the best in the nation, out of
Chicago.
I had one night operator and a clerk when I first
started as a station agent. It was about a year
when they took off the clerk and then it was the
night operator and myself who handled
everything. We had a dray service. It was a pick
up and delivery. It picked up the freight and
delivered it around town. He was a private carrier
and they paid him a percentage of what he
delivered.

car on it. He went from here to Chicago. I
know he's working very hard to hope one day
we have a passenger train from here to Fox Lake,
and to Chicago. I know he'd like thls.
I sold tickets to anywhere in the U.S. and
Canada. Most people that were going to take a
trip would come in the office and we'd talk with
them and figure out their connections. At one
time you could go from here into Chicago on the
mainline, or have somebody take you to
Milwaukee. Then you could go all the way up to
Seattle, hit the Southern Pacific, go down to San
Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego. At that
time an awful lot of the rides that go elsewhere
went by way of Madison, because they could get
on the train at Walworth and go there. They had a
passenger train that went to Madison over to
Watertown, into Portage and Wisconsin Dells,
and then up to the Twin Cities.

Dallas Reynolds, Milwaukee Road Station Agent.

At one time I could use the typewritter and talk to
somebody at the window and copy at the same
time, but this was a very, very busy station at
one time. I can remember when the Lions Club
would have their bratwurst festivals in town in
August. We had a special train come from
Chicago for the festivals. I still think it could
have continued if proper management could've
gotten a hold of it. We have a man that's very
interested in C&NW and he has been promoting
it for years and even at one time he had a private

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67

•
I

I REMEMBER .•.
Charlie Bowman
I don't remember anything of particular interest
about the Chicago and NorthWestern Railway's
presence in the Geneva Lake area at least, as far
as my own connection with it -- except for one
event that I'll not forget as long as I live: a ride
to Williams Bay in its local freight train's way car
(caboose, to you non-railroaders) and a ride back
to Lake Geneva on the fireman's box (his seat,
when he was not shoveling coal) in the steam
locomotive. It was a railroad buffs dreamcome-true and forever captivated my affection for
the iron horse, its diesel successor and twin rails
fading into the horizon.
It all came about this way: My family and l had
moved to Lake Geneva at Christmastime 1946
during the erection of the quonset build,ing o~
Madison Street at Park Row that now houses The
Paint Spot. As work progressed into the spring,
we found ourselves increasingly visited by crew
members of the triweekly freight train that was
frequently obliged to take the siding behind the
shop in deference to one or both of the late
afternoon commuter trains coming up from
Chicago. By the time The Paint Spot opened for
business in late July, 1947, we had all become
well acquainted, and it wasn't long before some
of us were pretty good friends.
A great bunch of guys, the crews, good-natured
kidders and given to all kinds of practical jokes,
I wtsh I could remember all of their names but 1
can't. I do recall two of the brakemen, Ed and
Jerry, both of whom lived down at Wonder
Lake. Then there was Walter, one of the
engineers, whose last name, I believe, was
Olson. The one I knew best, though, was Ed
Pease, who was the regular conductor for several
years until he was bumped by another conductor

with more seniority. Ed and his wife, Lorena
were then living in West Chicago, but they had
earlier owned a mce home across from The Paint
Spot now occupied by the Frank Dammeirs.
Ordinarily, the freight ran on alternate days: up
to
Williams
Bay
on
Mondays,
Wednesdays and Fridays, and back to West
Chicago on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
Whenever a holiday intervened, however , and
to avoid paying the crew for the layover ,. both
runs were consolidated into a single day, Such a
day occurred on July 3, 1952 ... and that was
the day Ed Pease said to me, "How would you
like to ride over to Williams Bay and back in the
way car?" How would l like to what? You
could bet your last cent I would! And l hopped
aboard with Ed and a brakeman before anyone's
mind could change.
Once inside, I looked around, The car was
spartan, but very neat and clean. There were
storage cabinets everywhere, a washroom, a
couple of bunks, a small galley and a table set
between two stationary passenger coach seats,
The table was the center of Ed's activities and
was temporarily littered with his records and
reports -- logs of comings and goings, freight
cars set out and picked up and myriads of others
incomprehensible to the neophyte. Of special
interest were the two large windows that
provided a new and quite different view of the
countryside I thought I knew so well.
In no time at all -- or so it seemed -- we flew by
the Lake Como station, negotiated rhe big curve
under the Highway 50 overpass and eased into
Williams Bay, where the early commute! had
already been tied down for the weekend. We
chuffed to a stop near the station, and that's
when I found out why Ed had brought me along.
First, the way car was cut off and the three empty

IIIII

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M

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freight cars set aside. With nothing behind, the
engine and tender were run onto the "Armstrong"
turntable. I soon discovered that its name
derived from the fact that the engine was turned
by the application of the crew's strong arms -plus mine -- heaving mightily against a push bar.
Then, moving ahead to a small crane, the tender
was coaled up from large buckets that were
hoisted aboard with a hand winch powered by
the muscles of the crew -- and me again. It was
hard work but lots of fun, Finally, the valve gear
was doused with oil, the tender supplied with
water and the train reassembled for the return
trip. That's when Walter sauntered over.
"Would you like to ride the box back to Lake
Geneva?" he said, Would I like to ride in a real
honest-to-goodness steam locomotive? Do ducks
like water? Wow!
I wish I could adequately describe what I saw
inside the cab. Walter took his place on the right
side, I on the left, Between us was the backhead
of the boiler. It bore a bewildering array of
gauges, valves, levers and rods. Below was a
cavernous door that opened and shut in response
to a foot pedal operated by the fireman as he sent
scoop after scoop of coal from the tender into the
firebox. Ahead of me, through a narrow
wmdow, were the side of the boiler and a jungle
of trees. The right-of-way was so overgrown in
spots that branches slapped against the cab as we
passed, Things didn't look the same from the
engine as they did from the way car. The tracks
were neither straight nor level. They curved
about at will and rose and fell with the terrain. It
was like a low-key roller coaster, not at all what I
was accustomed to seeing on the major routes of
Class 1 railroads. Approaching the Lake Como
Hotel crossing, Walter had me pull the whistle
cord, "Whoooo, whoooo, whoooo!" Then
another crossing and another pull of the cord. It
was a blast -- something I'd always wanted to
do!

Finally, we were back in Lake Geneva. It was
far too soon. Walter dropped me off at the
Madison Street crossing, and Ed waved from the
way car's rear platform as the train headed horne.
It was a great ending to one of the most
memorable times of my life,
G. Vogt.

Courtesy of Mrs. Ned Grimm.

68

From the Jim Butts Collection.

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69

I REMEMBER
Mrs. Lou Nesslar
Interviewed by Charlotte Peterson

Locomotive #649. Photo courtesy of Ed Tobias.

I REMEMBER
Ed Tobias
I was told that there were a number of milk
strikes before 1935. In searching though old
Lake Geneva newspapers I found the following
information. Farmers from the Lake Geneva area
were trying to increase the price they got for
"~w" ~. Bo~den Company refused to comply
wtth this pnce mcrease. It was because of this
that 200 farmers began to picket the Lake Geneva
and Genoa City milk plants. On Monday
morning January 21, 1929, the striking farmers
took the milk cans from the railroad express box
car and dumped 16,000 lbs. of milk on the street.
The milk that was dumped had been brought in
by producers not honoring the picket line.

Alyce Nesslar lived in Elmhurst as a child. She
would come up on the C&NWRR to Williams
Bay with her father, Fred Bebb. On occasion
she would ride on the seat box with her father.
They would get an ice cream cone for 3 cents at
the drug store in the Bay (on the NW corner of
Geneva and Walworth St.) and then go back to
Illinois. This happened during a layover at the
Bay when the engine was switched around at the
turntable and water taken on the train. They were
then able to return to Chicago on time.
Engineer Bebb would save all comics and have
them bundled together and then throw them to
country children that he knew did not have
money enough to buy the papers. Also he had
his wife bake cookies for the kids who greeted
the train on its run between Chicago and
Williams Bay.
Mr. Fred Bebb's home was Elmhurst, Illinois.
His home was near the train tracks. He was
engineer on the Streamliner, "The City of
Denver." On the day of his funeral, his big
engine, "The City of Denver," paused on the
tracks near his home in tribute and respect for
Mr. Bebb.

Although there were a number of strikes, Borden
Company never gave in.

I REMEMBER
Mrs. Elliott

TO OUR SUBURBAN PATRONS:

This is the day we hope you will remember as "D-Day" for North Western's
suburban service.
The reason: as of this morning our
entire suburban service has become
dieselized and all suburban steam engines have been permanently taken out
of service. Overnight the North Western
has become the proud operator of the
nation's largest fully dieselized suburban
service.
For those of you who are shippers of
freight or who ride our through passenger
trains. we are also happy to report complete dieselization. effective today, of all
road freight and passenger service. What
little steam power remains is relegated
to a few yard operations and switch runs
on the northern divisions, and even these
few steam engines are scheduled to be
replaced in a matter of weeks.
Complete dieselization has been a major undertaking. especially since it was
achieved within tour weeks solely with
the diesel locomotives on hand and without the purchase of any additional power.
The accomplishment followed systemwide insistence on greater utilization of
diesel power through more efficient assignments and better shop practices. The
response by personnel at an levels
throughout the rmlroad was exceptional.

Before WW IT all ladies wore hats and gloves to
the city. The train was so sooty that your gloves
were polka dotted by the time you got to the city.
However your grandmother or mother always
checked that you carried an extra pair of gloves in
your purse which you immediately put on when
you disembarked in Chicago.

Granddaughter Sandy Bauer and Engineer Bebb.
From the Alyce Nesslar Collection.

70

Jay Martin

Wendy Blood
with some diesels coming to Chicago
from the far ends of the system. In fact,
one diesel in suburban service came from
Lander, Wyoming, more than 1.270 miles
away.
As of March 31. vour suburban service
of more than LISO trains a week still
utilized 41 steam engines. Yesterday
afternoon the last suburban steam engine
to turn its own wheels departed from the
Chicago passenger terminal for the yards
and permanent retirement.
With full dieselization realized, further
streamlining of the railroad is now taking
place with the retirement of extensive
steam engine facilities. The substantial
savings resulting from complete dieselization in the meantime will be put back into
the property to reduce deferred maintenance throughout the system and to
hasten improvements in freight and pa&
senger service.
While we are happy to announce full
dieselization; we are also fully aware of
the railroad's many other problems,
suburban and otherwise. Each of these
is scheduled to receive the same serious
consideration to the end that the railroad
may offer increasing benefits to the many
interests concerned.

Sincerely,

~~

Friday. May II, 1956 notice of permanent change from sream to diesel engines, marking the end of the era. From the collection
of Mr. H.C. McCarthy.

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71

REMEMBER

ouis C Berndt
1937 when I was a young lad attending Lake
~neva ~igh School, 2nd year, a job became
•en t~ng care of the pot belly coal burning
Jves m the depot at Lake Geneva. I obtained
e job which paid $10.00 per month, checking
e stoves each morning and evening 7 days per
~ek. I had to shake the ashes down and carry
em out and then "bank" the stoves for the night
1th coal so they would be ready in the A.M. to
ake the ashes and get the stoves going real hot
warm the depot for the morning passenger
1ins for Chicago. I was lucky because
•metimes we allowed a transient or "bum" to
~ep in the depot. His name was "Shorty" and
r allowing him to stay, he took care of the frres
td slept on the floor. At certain times he would
ake to the rails" and leave for a few days but
ould come back again for another stay. Shorty
as a smart man and he would read newspapers
ost .?!' the day .except w~en he was cooking
tew m an old tm can put m the opening of the
~ve door. Shorty would always step out of the
:pot when a train was due so he would not
sturb any of the passengers. At times other men
·the road would stop in for a couple of days. It
as really against regulations to allow hobos to
ay at the depot but to their credit I will say they
,used no one any trouble.
uring the time I fixed the fires I gradually
amed how to telegraph. The telegraph was the
tly communication the depot had with the other
ations and the dispatcher in Chicago. The depot
d have a city phone.
•seph Mahoney was the agent during my time at
e depot 1937, 1938, and 1939.
!so about January 1938 the railroad authorized a
rrt. time clerk's job and I received the job
:lpmg the agent with selling tickets, handling
tggage, telegraph work and many more chores
ere were to perform at the depot during that
:riod of time. Those were the days before
>mputers. Oh, yes, and the depot floors had to
: scruubbed and windows washed.
uring those days trains were operated by what
31s called "Manual Block". Each telegraph
nee had a semaphore signal for handling train
.ovement. When an agent-telgrapher went home
night he would "Clear the Board." That meant
• pull the levers in the depot so the semaphore

signal outside the depot would be slanting down
in a clear position. When the agent came on duty
in the morning the levers in the depot would be
released so the signals would be at "Stop". One
arm of the semaphore would be for the engineer
on a train going towards Williams Bay and the
other for the engineer on the train coming from
Williams Bay. A few minutes before a train
would be due to leave Williams Bay the Agenttelegrapher at Williams Bay would call Lake
Geneva telegraph call of 'WI" and say on the
telegraph, 1 for# (whatever train number it was)
if a train had arrived from Williams Bay while the
Agent-telgrapher at Lake Geneva was on duty
Lake Geneva would give Williams Bay the time
of departure at Lake Geneva and then say I-2 at
what ever time it was, meaning the track was
clear from Williams Bay to Lake Geneva.
Williams Bay would issue a "Clearance" card to
the train as Williams Bay was a "Terminal". If
the dispatcher had any train orders he would also
give them to the train in Williams Bay. In like
manner the Agent-telgrapher at Lake Geneva
prior to arrival of the train from Williams Bay
would call Genoa City "GA" and ask for a clear
block and after "GA" cleared the track signal at
Lake Geneva could be cleared. This was done for
train movements in both directions.
At this time of course all the trains were steam
powered, no diesels and no radios on the engine
for the engineer to call the dispatcher for any
information needed. All communications had to
be handled by telegragh via the agent in the
depot.
A couple of the passenger trains to Chicago
carried a parlor car. The parlor car seat charge,
Lake Geneva to Chicago, was 50 cents and also a
first class ticket was required which was a higher
charge than the regular coach fare. There was no
air conditioning on the trains, except for open
windows which also let in coal smoke from the
steam engine.
At times-special holidays, the railroad had a
special fare of $1.00 round trip Chicago to Lake
Geneva and I can recall hundreds of people
getting off the tr~in at Lake Geneva on holidays
such as Memonal Day and July 4th, walking
down Broad Street towards the lake. I can recall
on. some
th~ holidays 4 special passenger
trams com~n!l m and then proceeding mostly
empty to Wilhams Bay to park on the siding there
until they made return trip later in the day. I also
recall Mrs. Maude Furney who walked along the

o!

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sta~ion platform as the trains were loading for
Chtcago. She would hand out religious tracts to
the people who had their hands out of the
windows and accepted the tracts. Only God
knows how many souls she may have helped to
save.

I also re.call the m?ming local passenger train
from Chtcago. Dunng the week train #627, due
~t Lake Geneva at 9:40 A.M. and before pulling
mto the depot, would set out an empty milk car at
the Borden plant east of the depot where the
YMCA is now, and the passenger #686 coming
back from Williams Bay leaving Lake Geneva at
1:25 P.M. would pick up the loaded milk car for
Chicago. AI Ormsby was the conductor on the
train and Grover Spotz the brakeman.

In April 1939 I hired out on the Galena Division
as an Agent-telegrapher. I worked at Lake
Geneva, Elgin, Ill., DeKalb, Ill. and other
stations including 10 years at Huntley, Ill. My
last 20 years were at Geneva, Ill. where I was
apJ?Oint~d as Agent. Now I live in Geneva, Ill. I
retired m1978. My thanks to my first job at the
Lake Geneva, Wis. Depot "fixing the fires."

I also remember the local section crew, Leonard
Barrera was the foreman and section men were
<?scar Anderson Sr and Louie Cervantes. At one
time I had the opportunity to help pump the hand
pumped track car from Lake Genenva to near
Pell Lake. Not an easy job I might say.
Photo by Mark Llanuza. Courtesy of Joe Pedajas.

I a~so remember the Railway Express Office
whtch was located at the north end of the depot.
Leonard !'lammel was the express agent. When
the mommg passenger train would arrive, there
would be lots of express to unload. The
passenger also carried U.S. mail into town. I
als? ,reme.mber Charlie Hudson waiting for the
trams amval; he was the local newspaper man
and would take the newspapers from the train. I
alS? re~ember Bill "Taxi" Maas, he was the local
taxt drive~ who would be waiting for trains. One
o~ my dulles would be to telegraph Genoa City or
Rtchmo~d or McHenry and find out if the train
was on ttme.
During this period of time Lake Geneva was also
serv~d by a "way freight" every other day. One
day tt would start out of West Chicago Ill. and
do l~al switching, then go north and dd work as
reqmred at Dundee, Ill.; Carpentersville Ill ·
A!gonquin, Ill.; Terra Cotta, Ill.; Me Henry,
Rt~~wood, Ill.; Rich~ond, Ill.; Genoa City,
Wts., Lake Geneva, Wts.; and then into Williams
Bay and would make the return run the next day.

m:;

"Kelly Orr" was a brakeman on the way freight
and I knew him, as my folk's home on Walworth
Street was near his. The way freight switched a
good amo~nt of cars in those days, coal, lumber,
feed, gasoline, cement etc.

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73

I REMEMBER
Elaine Schiess

I REMEMBER
William Ed Schwandt

When I was a little girl the NorthWestern train
ran on the tracks alo,';'g the South Shore Drive on
the south shore of Lake Como. Our house is on
the lake shore and we were only here in the
summer. It was a high spot of the day when the
evening train went bv and \\ e ran out to wave
and ocCasionally the c:onductor would throw us a
newspaper.

Mail was delivered to the area on the Chicago and
NorthWestern. A train going through the Pell
Lake area about 10:00 A.M. would bring the
morning mail, returning to Chicago about 2:00
P.M. (during the early 30's to the SO's).
There were two commuter trains leaving for
Chicago in the very early hours of the morning,
and two returning in the evening. One of the
evening trains would take the mail from Pell Lake
to Lake Geneva and Williams Bay. On Sunday
morning there were two trains coming from
Chicago for the Sunday Holiday visitors and
returning to Chicago in the evening.
A boyhood dream to ride the Chicago and
North Western train from Pel! Lake to Lake
Geneva finally came true for William Edward
Schwandt on August 11, 197 5, the date of the
train's "last ruiL"

comforts like air conditioning. One felt quite
gritty after a ride, but it was an exciting
experience.

1

lAUGUST 11,1975

IELMER NELSON
Climatologist

Temperature High 86 Low 66
Partly Cloudy
Wind West 27 mph

The later trains were diesel and much more clean
and comfortable for the commuters, but not as
much of a thrill as the old steam engines of my
youth that gave us a toot of greeting when we
went out to wave hello.

There were two trains in the morning going into
Chicago and two trains coming back in the
evening. We could tell the time of day by the
train whistles at the road crossings, and listened
for the whistle when walking the~ tracks to town
in case a freight train or work train came aloni!.
Just in back of our cottage was a place made ;)f
railroad ties where the workmen parked their little
work wagon (the kind that had a big two sided
handle that a man at each end pushed up and
down to make it go).
In the fall the steam engine would shoot out fire
to kill the weeds along the tracks.
Our dog would always chase the train no matter
how we tried to stop him, and when I was first
married, our black and white terrier was killed by
the train only because we called him and he came
running across the track.
The train station was a railroad car with benches
along the two long sides and was just in front of
what is now Mars Resort at the crossing of South
Como Road and South Shore Drive. There were
no street names then and the roads were narrow
gravel lanes. When we went to Lake Geneva
(we didn't go to Williams Bay, the end of the
line, because the train only went that way at
night) we walked the mile to the station and paid
our fare on the train and came back on the
evening train. I can't remember what the fare
was but it wasn't more than 50 cents. Going into
Chicago was only a couple of dollars. It was
always an event just to walk to the station and sit
there, and a trip into town was fabulous.

Photo compliments H. C. McCarthy collection.

I REMEMBER
Charlotte Peterson
The train station at Como was an old box car.
When you boarded the train in Chicago you were
placed on specific cars according to your
destination. The train would then pull up to the
stations so people would not have long walks to
the depot. One woman from Como got on in
Chicago on the wrong car. When the train
stopped in Como she was let off in "no man's
land" and she tumbled in to a ditch. She was
wearing a fur coat. It was night. People paniced
and ran helter skelter thinking she was a bear!

We now have a garden where the train tracks
were and so remember the train when we dig and
fmd cmders. Good luck with your project. The
train was part of my life and I remember it
fondly. However, I do remember how the dirt
and dust blew in the windows of the train. No
Photo by Mark Llanuza. Compliments J oc Pcdaja.<.:;.

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74

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75

REMEMBER
3tan Aim
[ remember, as a boy growing up in Richmond,
Illinois, the fascinating sounds of the morning
train aniving from Lake Geneva. In our town
that train was our alarm clock. When we heard
the chug-chug of the powerful engine and the
warning whistle, we knew it was time for
school.
Most of the track in Richmond lay far below
street level, with hump-backed wooden bridges
spanning the few intersections. In our small
town gates were considered unnecessary.
In the '40's I joined the commuters on the Lake
Geneva train. There were few opponunities in
our area for employment. We headed for
Chicago. It was a pleasure to greet the same
group each morning, and to occasionally meet
new people. Train employees soon learned to
recognize regular passengers and welcomed them
with a pleasant "Good Morning."

..
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l

Everyone seemed to be in a hurry to catch the
train. Once aboard however, they relaxed.
Many read newspapers, scanned stock market
columns, sports pages, etc. Others were more
interested in the daily crossword puzzle. Some
just rode along enjoying the view. In those prewar days suburban developers had not yet
encroached upon the landscape. There were
small lakes, green meadows and forest land in
summertime. Cattle grazed in broad fields.
Barns were still painted bright red. It was a
relaxing ride. The steady clickey-clack of the
train wheels soon had some heads nodding
(including mine).
In wintenime glistening snow covered hills and
valleys lent an ethereal beauty to the scene. We
took time out to reflect as we watched the sunset;
eventually lights were twinkling in the distance.
Often, at the end of such a day, we found a Good
Samaritan. He had been a busy man. The
windshield's of cars were wiped clean and snow
had already been plowed in the train's parking
lot. All such gratuitous service was by counesy
of Anderson's Filling Station. His kindness was
appreciated. Most of the drivers reciprocated by
buying their gasoline at Andersons in Richmond.
When we moved to Lake Geneva in 1974 we
could still hear the symphonic poetry of the train
wheels and whistles. We hope one day to see a
restoration.

76

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j1~}{i;~;,
Julie Heath depicts the train yards where trains would take on water, coal, and undergo maintenance.

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REMEMBER
!essie Willson
tiding the Chicago & NorthWestern railway
rain between Lake Geneva and Chicago was a
tappy experience back in the 1960's_ The
:oaches were comfortable, and the scenery was
>retty and interesting, They were well- heated in

had an unobstructed view in all directions. Other
than the motorman's compartment, the lead car
wasn't any different than any of the other
coaches_ It was not necessary to turn the train
around for the return trip because the seats were
reversible. The backs of the seats had a metal
handle so you could flip it backward and forward
depending on which direction you wanted to
face. Jn fact, many of the regular commuters
would flip the back over so that four people
could sit together, two facing forward and two
riding backwards, Sometimes, they would play
bridge to pass the time, and this would always
draw a lot of kibitzers_ By the time the train
reached Lake Geneva with only a few passengers
aboard, the conductor would have already
reversed the backs of all the seats so they were all
facing in the right direction for the return trip to
Chicago the next morning (all except the seat you
were sitting in).

outside of the Chicago and NorthWestern station.
From Clybourn to the NorthWestern station the
train just crawled along as many other trains :vere
converging into the station at the same time_
There must have been at least 10 or 12 tracks
leading into the station, and they were all filled
with trains from the different areas. The nde
from Lake Geneva to Chicago took about an hour
and a half to two hours,

he winter and air conditioned in the summer.

fhe only coach that was not too pleasant to ride
n was the "smoking car,'' Apparently, the
1entilation was not what it should have been
)ecause if you were unfortunate enough to have

o ride in that car, your eyes would be red and
)Urning by the time you reached your
lestination_

Retuming from Chicago to Lake Geneva was the
same as the trip in except in reverse. The traws
would all be lined up on their respective tracks in

the station waiting to take their passengers back
home after a busy
at the office or whatever
the thousands of

Due to the increase of air travel and the increased
speed of automobile travel with their four and six
lane expressways, the railroad management must
have foreseen the demise of the railroad_ As a
result, they allowed the roadbeds to deteriorate to
such an extent that the trains could not travel at a
speed of greater that five miles an hour on the
tracks between Richmond and Lake Geneva_
They were almost as bad as the tracks between
Crystal Lake and Richmond, The NorthWestern
Joe Pcdajas and the steward of the Club Car wou1d ensure
a smooth, enjoyable ride for commuters on the C&NW"
Photo courtesy of Joe Pedajas.

The trains were powered by diesel engines at that
time, and you could hear the diesel motor
running for blocks around many hours before It
was tin1e to take off from its startmg pomt m

Lake Geneva. At one time, the starting point ~as

Williams Bay, but that was prior to the 1960's_
The few passengers who boarded the tram ~n

Lake Geneva at 6:30 A_M_ would congregate m
the little Lake Geneva station where you could
purchase your train tickets _ , one-way or round
trip,
With only a few passengers aboard, the_ train
would start out very slowly on Its tnp to
Chicago, The first stop was Pel! Lake, then
Genoa City, Richmond, Crystal Lake, and then
Hanington. A few passengers would board at
each of the first four stops, and then It would
finally fill up at Barrington. The ride from
Barrington to Chicago was a fast non-stop nde,
making only one stop at Clybourn Avenue JUSt

78

Railway was finally forced to abandon their
service from Crystal Lake on_
Many of the businesses along the right-of-way
and many other businesses with "spurs"
connecting to the main line were very upset at
this abandonment because the railroad not only
had passenger service but also hauled freight to
and from their plants. They petitioned for a
continuance of service, but evidently the railroad
companies could show just cause for
abandonment as the service was discontinued,
The Milwaukee Road Railroad service between
Walworth and Chicago was similar to
NorthWestern except perhaps a little faster, The
coaches on the Milwaukee Road were very old.
The seats were upholstered in sort of a plush
material and of course were not reversible, The
train was pulled by an old steam engine,
requiring more of a crew. Some of these trains
went beyond Walworth to Madison_ There was
an old time conductor who had been with the
Milwaukee Road for many, many years, and
when he would go through the coach announcing
the next stop as Walworth he would always add,
"The Garden Spot of America"
The trains are sorely missed in the Lake Geneva
area, but no business can survive when expenses

greatly exceed income, and that tells the story of
the demise of the railroad,

Photo by Mark Llanuza. Courtesy of Joe Pedajas,

Each train had a "conductor" and a "motorman_"
The conductor would stand outside the train and
greet all the passengers that he got to know so
well, and by the time he called "Board," the train
was completely filled_ It would start the return
trip, moving very slowly out of the station yard
and creep along to the Clybourn station where it
would pick up a few more passengers_ Then 1l
would speed like mad until it arrived non-stop at
Barrington_ From Barrington to Crystal Lake it
traveled at a fairly decent speed but from Crystal
Lake to Lake Geneva it was very very slow, By
the time it reached Lake Geneva there were only a
few passengers left on the four or five coach
train.
The "motorman," who piloted the train, sat up
high in a small compartment in the front of the
lead car, He had to climb up some steps to get to
the driver's seat and all the controls, The
compartment was small but being up so high, he

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"

Courtesy of Alyce Ness1ar.

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79

I REMEMBER
Ralph N. Williams
LOBS1ER HAUL
Before and right after WWII my father and I
hauled lobster and other fresh fish to the Lake
Geneva Country Club. We would take the truck
to pick up the delivery at the depoL The live
lobsters were packed in ice in wooden boxes.

ICE FOR CHICAGO
My grandfather, Clarence Williams, and his
horse helped fill the Chicago ice train. A skid
was built from the lake straight up Cook St to
the train depot. While the ice-cutters were busy
cutting big squares of ice, the horses were
hooked up to the blocks of ice with a "jack" and
they pulled it up the skid to the depot There it
was loaded into the train cars for its trip to
Chicago, I wonder who all the people were who
used our Lake Geneva ice AND if they
appreciated all the hard work involved.

•..
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•
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I

f"

(
1/

If

;

~

'

A major industry for many decades here was icc-Cutting. Not only local citiZens received this bounty for their ice boxes.
Wooden rails once ran up Cook Street to the depot where cars were loaded with frozen cargo for eager Chicagoans. Old timers
say that in 1917, the lake did not freeze until March. All merchants closed lheir establishments to swell the ice--cutting crew
for that late chance to have summer ice! Courtesy of Alice Hackett Collection.

80

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Blucpri~ts of the Williams Bay yard show the many functions and storage facilities. Courtesy of Ken Koutnt'k
CollectiOn.

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81

REMEMBER
/Vilbur "Wib" Johnson
nterviewed by Charlie Bowman

remember growing up in Williams Bay during
he 1920's when the railroad played a very
mportant part in our daily lives. My father had a
Jrayage business that was very dependent upon
:he railroad for goods to haul; my grandmother,
Betsy Harris, ran a boarding house for trainmen
just west of the freight yard between Elkhorn
Road and Walworth Avenue; and my brother,
Roy, became an engine hostler at the
roundhouse.
Early on in the drayage business Dad used horses
for his motive power, later it was Model T
trucks. When I was old enough to do so I drove
for him, delivering package freight to estates and
enterprises. We hauled a lot of meat too. Every
Friday meat would arrive by railway express and
had to be delivered promptly to the resorts, hotel,
and camps. Hermansen's on Lake Como was
one of our best customers for that. On one
occasion the railroad brought in several carloads
of Model T passenger cars
without wheels
attached. We had to make the final assembly and
then drive them on to their destination.
Most of the incoming freight was in carloads:
lumber, cement, bricks, coal, and, increasingly,
gasoline and oiL But there wasn't much variety
to what was shipped out: ice, ice and more ice.
Crystal-clear Geneva Lake ice was much in
demand, and for a time, there were two ice
houses in the Bay, as well as one or more in
Lake Geneva, to satisfy the need.

The roundhouse in the Williams Bay yard. Courtesy of
Alice Hackett

82

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The largest ice operation in Williams Bay was
run by the Consumers Company. A lot of the
labor force was made up of West Madison Street
bums that Consumers brought up from Chicago.
They were a ragged bunch. lee would be cut
when it became twelve inches thick or more. It
would be floated through channels and up the
creek under the little bridge by the Union 76
service station to the ice house, where belt
conveyors would raise it to the storage rooms to
be held under hay insulation until needed in
warmer weather. My father would haul some of
this to places like College Camp and Conference
Point Camp that had their own ice houses, but
needed a supplementary supply. The bulk of it,
however, was shipped to Chicago. At the height
of the season an entire trainload of ice-filled
boxcars would go out every day.
About the only other item I can remember being
sh1pped out by the carload was fish -- live fish,
carp for the eastern markets. For some years
they were seined out of Delavan Lake, brought to
Williams Bay in boxes, and loaded into special
fish-tank express cars that were coupled onto
Chicago-bound passenger trains, then transferred
to Limiteds that sped them on to New York. It
was quite an operation!
Passenger trains to the Bay carried a lot of
people. They were not all Geneva Lake people
enher. Qune a number of regular riders had
homes at Delavan Lake. At one time I drove a
taxi between the Bay and Delavan transporting
The
passengers who didn't have cars.
Millionaire's Special was another run that I
remember welL We kids would change out of
our swimming suits when we heard the whistle
from the big curve outside of town and meet the
incoming passengers with the hope of earning
some tips carrying their bags to the private yachts
waiting at pierside across the road from the
station. A.W. Harris, the banker, whose estate
was on his farm, was always met by his fancy
horse-drawn carriage; but, if Mrs. Harris was
along, she'd be driven home in a chauffeured
car. Weekends saw the greatest spate of
passengers -- train after train of one-day
excursionists. Every inch of siding space would
be taken up. Sometimes a train or two would
have to return to Lake Geneva to find parking.
One last memory: The passenger train carrying
mml usually arrtved late in the forenoon. It was
always met by a post office clerk who carried a
gun to protect the registered stuff. I've often
wondered if that was really necessary.

Ill Ill 111111111111111111111111111111

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In 1931 automobiles awaited the arrival f ·
· ·
o commuters at Williams Bay station. Courtesy of Alyce Nesslar.

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83

I REMEMBER
Robert T. Cook
I remember well the part that trains played in the
Geneva Lake region, as the son of a C&NW
trainman, as a passenger and as a lad earning
"spending money" SMASHING BAGGAGE
carrying the suitcases of tourists at the Williams
Bay Station to the taxi or across the road to the
dock where the Lake steamers waited to carry
passengers to their homes, camps or hotels on
the lake.
Many of the summer special trains would carry
15 to 20 cars, more than half being the plush
"PARLOR CARS". Two flags on the front of
the first locomotive indicated that a 2nd train
would arrive shortly. When that happened our
pockets did jingle. We were water rats around
the swimming pier across from the station and
when we'd hear a train whistle by State Road
#50, we'd all climb out of the water, jump into a
pair of jeans, and race for the station platform-·
THOSE WERE THEDA YS. The above practice
was in vogue during the 1920's. I believe that it
was forbidden by the railroad sometime in the
30's.

My father, Harry Cook, was with C&NW for 51
years from January 1902 until January 1953. He
was 76 years old when he retired. He spent most
of those years on the run between Williams Bay
and Chicago--either on the Lake Geneva Express
or the so called "Milk Train" that took the Galena
Division route from Crystal Lake through
Dundee, Elgin, West Chicago, Lombard and Oak
Park to Chicago. He loved railroading.
I've been unable to locate any pictures of my
father in uniform or any train scenes. However,
I have enclosed (1) Accommodation the C&NW
Superintendent dated 1904 for his part in moving
his train from the vicinity of a huge fire at the
Lake Geneva station. (2) A TIME BOOK &
SENIORITY LIST dated 1921 that contains the
names that worked in the Geneva Lake Area. I
have placed a DOT by the names that ring a belL
This list doesn't include CONDUCTORS or
Engine Crews. There are no doubt many others.
I have two railroad lanterns of my fathers that are
among the first electric lanterns replacing the old
kerosene ones.

Williams Bay being the end of the line made it
necessary to realign the cars and tum the engine
around on a huge turntable (operated by man
power). This process never ceased to fascinate
me.
I shall always remember the first time I was
permitted to ride in the locomotive cab and
allowed to handle the throttle and pull the whistle
cord while riding between Crystal Lake and Lake
Geneva.
Bathers on Williams Bay pier across from the depot.
Courtesy of Bob Cook.

From the collection of Bob Cook.

84

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71\p

RAILROAD
MAN
Who i.s he?
Brakeman, switchman,
di1patchn, engineer, conductor or "chief"- all
an: alike in ccrtain rc'pectJ; they arc all careful,.watchful, strong men
and mos~ of tho.:m are thrifty. They are
:dl working for the· same purpose-the
of time and money, the smooth and
nprrativn of 011r nation's traffic.
YH>

dt]HJ,,: ,,,.II"

AI

home ;u1d at wrnk he hJs rcg11br habit~, a
clear mmd and a oal'ing5 acco11nt. This
bank _>ni'C> a r:ailroad city and many ol

'"'""' moo. \\', Cod <h<m o. ''"d)
(]_,-pcnd~blc \lith their saving1 :u they

"tth oth~-. work.

•..
•..
••
••
•
II
II

NTINENTALandCOMMERCIAL
TRUST AND SAVINGS BANK

LaSallc.Adams.Quincy and Wells Street.:;

Courtesy of Bob Cook.

Courtesy of Alyce Nesslar.

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85

..,..
!

George Kimmcrling. Courtesy of Lnura Kimme-rling,

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l

Engineer Bcbb,J. Molk,back up, and Garraugnty,
fireman. Courtesy of Alyce Ncsslar.

.
- ---.

---r - .

••
George Reid, Ely Brooks. and Engineer Bebb in train shed by the streamliner, "The City of Denver."

Louis Kaphcngst, Ned Grimm, and Harold Pierce. Photo

Courtesy of Alyce Nesslar.

courtesy of Mrs. Ned Grimm.

86

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87

RAIL MAIL
Charlie Bowman

REMEMBER
?hil Fogle

Until it was replaced by more economical and
flexible highway conveyance, the transportation
of mail was one of our railroad's most important
functions.

nterviewed by Charlie Bowman

[first came to Williams Bay in 1919. My folks
had rented a cottage for the summer, and we
came up from Chicago on the tram. We loved Jt
here at the Bay and came back for ::nany more
summers, until we got a car, by traw, before I
moved up for good in 1935.

l have never taken time to determine exactly
when railroad mail service was initiated into the
Geneva Lake area, although it may very well
have followed closely upon the arrival of our first
rail line, the Wisconsin Central R.R., which
reached Geneva (now Lake Geneva) from the
state line north of Richmond, Illinois, by way of
Genoa (later Genoa Junction, now Genoa City)
in June of 1857, thus providing a link with the
main line of the Galena and Chicago Union R.R.
(later the Chicago and NorthWestern Ry) at
Elgin, Illinios, over the Fox River Valley R.R.
(later the Elgin and State Line R.R.), a C&NW
subsidairy. It is a known fact that a Route Agent,
that is, a Post Office Department employee who
was assigned to travel on trains for the purpose
of distributing mail to, and receiving mail from,

I loved those train rides. In warm weather we
opened the windows wide and usually wound up
covered with cinders and soot. And I remember
how the cars lurched from side to side on the
uneven roadbed and jerked when we sped up or
slowed down and how the engme whtstled for all
the crossings. On one of our. tnps the engme
derailed in Genoa Junction, (as 1t was called) ~nd
it caused a couple of hours delay before a der:tck
could be brought in to get it back on track agam.
As a boy, I always liked to meet all the _trains
when they came in from Chtcago late m the
afternoon. We kids knew tt was comwg when
we heard the whistle at Como. After 1t amved tn
the Bay, you could earn a quarter or a half-dollar
tip carrying bags for the passengers who were
taking the steamboat, or were ltvmg up town.
When I came here to live, I opened a restaurant,
Phil's Grill, where the Keg Room JS now.
Business was fabulous in the summer when

stations along the way, was working between

Elgin, Illinois, and Richmond on the E&SL as
early as 1861, perhaps earlier.

George Krambles'.ph~to ?fWilliams Bay station ia e and
illustrates a transiuon m umc when horse ~nd carr g
autos came in to the depot to meet the tram.

weekend excursion trains broug;ht one-day

vacationers by the thousands. But 1t was pretty
slow in the winter. Hamburgers were 10 cents
each, and french fries were the same pnce.

I REMEMBER
Charlotte Peterson

The wealthy passengers were met by their private
carriages as well as by their private yachts. In
later years I worked on the public steam boats.
Read about this and other pertment stuff m my
book GRASSROOTS-- Lake Geneva (avatlable
at the public library).

Prior 10 WWJ John J Mitchell's son ~as
marrying Lolita Armour in a very fancy weddmg.
The young boys who worked at the Depot fought
for who would take out the weddmg presents to
Mitchells __ expecting BIG ups .. What happened
was Mrs. Mitchell would graciously come out
and give them a piece of taffy!

88

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Even, however, if Route Agent service had been
operating all the way to Geneva beforehand, it is
certain that it had been cut back to Richmond by
1861, for severe financial difficulties had so
reduced traffic on the Wisconsin Central north of
the Illinois border by the fall of 1860 that no
more than a very occasional mule-drawn flat car
could be seen negotiating its dangerously
deteriorating strap-iron rails. In my postal
history collection there is an envelope (fig. 1) that
was accepted into the mails by a Route Agent on
the line during this period. It bears an "ELGIN
& STATE LINE R.R./OCT.21" postmark.
According to postal regulations of the time, no
year date was imprinted, though other evidence
suggests that it was posted at an lllinois station
along the way in either 1863 or 1865.
This situation persisted until 1871, when a new
rail line, the State Line & Union R.R., was
organized to replace the totally defunct Wisconsin
Central between Genoa and Geneva.
Constructed of sturdy steel T-rails, it was sold
immediately upon completion to the C&NW, and
the first train steamed proudly into Geneva from
West Chicago on July 26. Route Agent mail
service from Elgin was re-established in the same

Figure 1.

year and continued without interruption until at
least 1883, perhaps 1884.
An interesting sidelight to railway mail service
about this time was the unofficial pickup of
outgoing mail from various lake shore
establishments and estates, specifically, those
with adequate piers, by Geneva Lake excursion
steamers for delivery to the Geneva post office,
where it was canceled before being placed aboard
outgoing trains or sorted for local delivery. This
was strictly a matter of courtesy; no fee was
involved. Neither should this amenity be
confused in any way with present-day mailboat
service, the marine equivalent of an R.F.D.
route, that commenced operating around 19I 0.
Only three envelopes bearing supplementary
excursion steamer imprints (classed as "Domestic
Waterway Name-Of-Boat Markings" by
philatelists) are known to exist for Geneva Lake.
The earliest of these was taken aboard the
Steamer Lucius Newberry, 0. E. Newberry,
Captain, on July 21, 1877 and posted at Geneva
two days after; the latest, by the Steamer
Commodore, G. W. Van Slyck, Captain, on
August 3, 1882 and posted the next day. The
third (fig. 2), illustrated in Badger Postal History
for February 1975, bears a supplementary
"LADY OF THE LAKE/Capt. E.
QUIGLEY/JUL 31, 1882"jmprint and a
"GENEVA WIS. /AUG. 1" postmark. All three
boats (figs. 3 and 4) are pictured in Larry
Larkin's Full Steam Ahead .
By 1883 Route Agents had given way to
R.P.O.s, that is, Railway Post Offices, on the
run between Elgin and Lake Geneva (renamed in
1882.) R.P.O.s, as the name suggests, were
completely-equipped rolling postal facilities. I
have an envelope (fig. 5) that was accepted into
the mails aboard an R.P.O. car along the line

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89

parked at the Wiliams Bay station about, I would
guess, the turn of the century, is illustrated in C.
T. Knudsen's C&NWRY Steam Power.

Figure 2.

during this period. It bears a "LAKE GEN. &
ELGIN R.P.O./SEP 20 1886" postmark, year
dates having recently become acceptable under
postal regulations. The R.P.O.s on our line were
not very sophisticated. Usually a number of
different functions, such as mail, express,
package freight, and baggage, were combined in
a single car. One such combination car (fig.6),
coupled directly behind the engine of a train

It was not long before the rails were extended
we~ty.-ard from Lake Geneva to Williams Bay,
arnvmg there on June I, 1888. R.P.O. mail from
Elgin was likely extended about the same time.
At an uncertain later date, probably well before
1910, a further alteration occurred when the
eastern terminus of the run was moved to
Chicago, giving us a direct connection with our
nation's second largest city, and the train
carrying the R.P.O. car was routed straight in
over the C&NW's Wisconsin Division from
Crystal Lake, Illinois, thus eliminating the longer
passage through the Galena Division. I have a
"war rate" 2-cent penny postcard (fig.?) that was
received aboard an R.P.O. car along the line
during this period. It bears a "CHI. &
WILLIAMS BAY R.P.O./ Oct 7_1918" postmark
that confirms both of these extensions.

At this point, the railroad had been transporting
mail into the Geneva Lake area for close to fifty
years, and another thirty or so would pass before
it finally yielded its precedence to over-the-road
conveyance. I have not sought out the exact date
of its demise, for that is of little consequence at
this far remove. The thing that is important to
remember is that for nigh unto eighty wonderful
years the railroad performed a significant and
worthwhile function that, by keeping our
community in close communication with the
?utside world through the medium of mail,
t!lfluenced, ;eg~lated ~nd enriched our daily
hves. And tt dtd so wtth such dependability-and, yes, fascination and excitement too--that
those of us who were touched by it will not soon
forget.

~C'f/. ~,{.:,X.":'
"1

e-"l~dot.
c.A-~.

Figure 5.

Figure 3. Courtesy of Larry Larkin.

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90

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91

,.,.

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Figure 6. Tilton engine in passenger service. A.W. Johnson Collection. Courtesy of George Kramblcs .

23t

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/

61187

Figure 7.

92

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Pen and ink by Bernadine S~pida.

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(TFI.CA.

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!Vbp by Ed Tobias,

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93

Milwaukee Road ....
Alyce Hyde
I had to go the city, Take the train? Why not

Today is the day, Off to Ch1cago on the
Milwaukee Road. l decided to wnte down my
feelings, so here goes.
The train leaves at 7:00a.m. My alarm forgot to
go off; I'm late. Quick take a shower, no ume f~r
my yogurt Can't be late for the tram, Jt won t
wait I made it, sitting down on the seat Not
very many people on the train. Here I _go, the
train leaving the staoon, fwal desunaoon
Chicago. Excitement is my feelmg as the tram
goes rushing down it's tracks. It seems to be
going in the wrong direction, only the conductors
know for sure.
First stop! We've been traveling only_ 6 minutes!
Zenda, we picked up several bus mess. men.
White collar workers all clean and pohshed.
Minds turning, glasses clean, smgle file pobtely
holding the door for each other, where are theu
smiles? How they must hate the long hours on
the train, or do they? I loved it.

Oops- it almost slipped by that ever so lovely
Wisconsin fam1land. !loved ndmg the tram and
gazing out the window, losing myself in my
thought Just think, the farmers were already
working since daybreak, and the comm,uters
were trying to get to work. And then there s the
train working for both. Toot-Toot, Warmng\Varning, we're coming.
Just a minute ago I was ground level;, now I'm
taller than the telephone poles. Boy 1t s mce not
to worry about traffic and parking the car. What
would we ever do wnhout trams 1
Milwaukee Road, you're so full of life, I trust
you completely.
Salon Mills 2nd stop 7:24a.m. More passenge_rs
get on. I guess no one likes to go to work, Still
no smiles. No wonder you have to teach your
children young, you have to get them m the
spirit
3rd stop Fox Lake 7.32 am
Women! ,l
wondered if women rode the tram People don t
quite make enough to live in pnvate. wealthy
areas. They are trying hard to be free from the

· s h'l h ·
We share a feeling of days gone by.
Milwaukee Station and it's once regal clock tower is depicted by Heide c l t elm.

94

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big city, so they ride the train. Riding the train
there is no need for car msurance, gas, parkmg
meters, especially car repairs, free from
responsibility.
4th stop 7:40 a.m. People are finally getting
human, a bit chipper. (Ingleside) I once lived
there, a lovely place. The train whistle blaring out
"time to leave, on to the next stop."
Now the whole world is alive, industrialist, what
a master plan, who is the genius. Milwaukee
Road you show me so much from your point of
view. I started out in a quiet town, and the
further we travel on the more people, living their
lives, buildings passing me by, walls, roof tops,
chimneys, smoke stacks puffing, lights, dirty
windows, junk yards, depot, cars moving and
parked in lots, each having it's purpose to serve
us alL
5th stop 7:50 a.m. Libertyville. Cologne ever so
strong; multi colored workers all sizes and
shapes "all aboard!"
6th stop Deerfield 8:40 a.m. I think this is the
largest so far, lots and lots of people are going in
different directions; you can feel the city growing
nearer and nearer. A pretty girl with baby blond
hair-- Jewish in type and elegant
7th stop Morton Grove 8:15 a.m. Now people
are getting off finding their places for the day.
Money, security, responsibility, neither happy or
sad words contemplated. Where are you green
fields, and natural smells. Hello, conductor,
tickets please. I sure do have mine, here it is. The
sun is now full in the sky. The rays are
penetrating through the windows of the train,
heating up the car. Now my mind is drawn to the
inside of the car and the showers and deodorant
we use every day. They're on their way to work,
human flesh so clean for an hour maybe longer,
summer days in the city so fast and so hot! The
blue collar workers still wear blue shirts just like
in the 30's, short sleeves, light and cooL

to the train. Union Station -- 5 blocks to the
station, did you say? That is city blocks which
are a lot larger than small town blocks. Over the
Chicago River bridge. Which way is north, sir?
Oh, Jackson Street (wherever that is) thanks.
I'll follow the crowd. Just trying to keep up with
the city crowd is something else. They walk so
fast, they don't need aerobics. They get their
heart rate up, believe me. All sorts of pretty girls
in pretty clothes, men in fine tailored suits. Tall
monstrous buildings, you could fall over
backwards looking up. Nobody stops for the
"don't walk" light When do you stop, city life?
Union Station, there you are. It really is a
shame to see the Chicago river so polluted; poor
pigeons. Inside the station I almost went on the
wrong train. Lots of nice people pointed it out to
me. I think I'll relax, make a telephone calL
On the train at last for home, the car is empty.
I'll read. After some time I looked up, the car is
full, people having a beer and a smoke. What a
difference from this morning. Now people are
smiling and relaxed. Wrinkled shirts, the smell
of sweat, clutching newspapers, silent women,
loud men laughing. Everyone going home, each
stop each person shuffling off the train, even the
conductor is going home.
It's night now outside. The train seems to be
hurrying to it's end. They use it all day and night
and not really realizing all that it offers. Thanks
Milwaukee Road, you are a dream .

8th stop 8:25a.m .
9th stop Chicago- Union Station 8:37 a.m. What
a place, deep benches truly a work of art, I could
stay there all day.
More later, now I'm off to the city.
Finally the day is over and I'm on my way back

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95

~---------~'"--------~~-~~~-~-~i~----lt1172if~~-~-11111

REMEMBER
harles Button

plan until the train was directly below, when a
savage puff of smoke billowed from the stack. It
covered him with soot from head to toe and blew
his cap off, which landed on the train headed for
Chicago.

emember the trains. What boy grew up who
sn't interested in trains? I would play in the
>Ods or field at the back of our house, but
1en the train pulled out, it was time to hurry
me and dress for schooL
1e railroad track cut across a corner of our
operty; at times the section crews cut off brush
td when the fresh growth came up in the spring
ith wild flowers and tall sweet clover we made
1ils through it playing cowboys and Indians.
11 Lake Geneva mail came to our city by train,
so the mail came from Springfield twice a day.
ostage for each letter was two cents.
>uring the week a train called the "Millionaire
pecial" brought many of the Lake Shore
~sidents to and from their important places of
usiness in Chicago. Many of these people
.wned stock in the railroad, wielding
onsiderable influence on train schedules. Their
ancy carriages could be seen at the depot, in the
norning, and in the afternoon with the coachmen
twaiting the evening arrival of their employers.
)n weekends there were special trains to bring
ourists into town. There was a solid line from
:he depot into town, many people going right to
the docks to be delivered by boat to their home,
or friends on the lake. On Sunday it was
reversed.
The fare to Chicago was $2.56 and by buying a
ten ride ticket the fare was only $1.78. The town
merchants bought them and occasionally would
let someone buy one of the rickets.
Most of the trains stopped at Crystal Lake and
they switched the Lake Geneva coach to another
train, which lengthened the trip. Eventually they
put in a big curve of track and the trains came
directly from Chicago.
The milk train went out early afternoon; it would
switch into Borden's (near the YMCA today) to
pick up one or two cars of milk, then pushed
them up the track past the switch, while the
engine backed down into the switch at Borden's.
The brakeman releas~d the brakes on the milk car
and then it rolled down the grade and met the
caboose by the bridge over Main Street The
milk was on its way to Chicago.

96

When I was probably ten years old, the Catholic
Hill was a favorite place for children (and adults
too) to go sledding in the winter. One night we
saw a horse and wagon drive across the Main
Street bridge and continue down the track We
told some men who came by, and we all started
after the man with the wagon, following the
ra!lroad tracks. We were about a mile up the
track when we saw the wagon. The man had
apparently followed the tracks so he could
retn7ve a b'!ttle he had dropped, though he really
dtdn t need tt The men unhitched the horse led
it down the embankment and then brought the
wagon down and by that rime we could see the
hghts of the evening train coming toward us.
That man had had a narrow escape from death
but probably didn't realize it.

Courtesy of :Mrs. Ned Grimm.

We had a separate freight depot with two or more
men handling freight there and at the siding,
where full cars of freight were parked. My
Uncle, Frank Button, for whom I worked,
ordered his coal directly from the mine, and it
was delivered to the siding. We shoveled the
coal from the freight car into the truck and he led
it up to Button's Green House where we
shoveled it into a bin, often in
zero weather.
Ice from the lake was an important industry for
our community. It gave work to the men who
found it difficult finding work during the winter.
There was a big ice house at the west end of our
bay which, when filled, was the source of the
city's ice during the summer. The building
belonged to Kelly and Russell; Mrs. Robert
Brady, is a daughter of the Kelly's. They cut ice
to ship to Chicago and there were slides to take
the ice from the lake to the railroad. The train
loads of ice were so heavy they needed an extra
engine to pull it up the grade out of Lake Geneva
past Host Slaughter House on Town Line Road.
My father, George Button, told of a Halloween
prank by some of the local pranksters who filled
some cans with axle grease from Breigle's
Harness Shop. The shop was at Main and
Center Street, where the grease was left outside.
The boys proceeded to grease the tracks all the
way up the grade. The first train in the morning
had to make several tries before it had enough
traction to make the grade. I knew many of these
men as I grew up, some of their sons still live in
Lake Geneva.
One of my relatives aspired to lie on the bridge at
Curtis Street, and by spitting down in the smoke
stack put out the engines fire. He carried out his

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!

My son, Allan was drawn to the trains too. As a
toddler, he had walked some distance along the
trac~ before we found him. We were lucky it
dtdn t take place the followmg day when a train
came through about the same time.
Th~ cessation of passenger service, then the
fretght servtce, and finally seeing the tracks torn
up, was a sad rime; an end of an era.

These. are some of my memories of the railroad;
someumes we are sad looking back on old rimes
however we all enjoy the comforts of the ne,;

times.

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97

REMEMBER
loe Pedajas
1terviewed by
ohn Fraser and Nichole Cooper

'd like to share some photos and train history.
ne 1385 was the last of the steam engines on the
lorthWestem Railway. In a 1953 steam engine
.ccident, everyone on board was killed. The
ngine was southbound, just the other side of
:linton, Iowa. The boiler with water inside must
1e filled when the pressure goes down. But the
vater must be put in slowly. Whoever the
ireman was, he opened the jet real quick and the
:old water ran down on top of the plates that
:reared enough steam pressure to blow
:verything up except the wheels. No more steam
:ngines ran after 1956.

The old depot has a time capsule buried, that
they're going to dig up 100 years from now. It
has pictures and everything. Someone sold the
brass monument over it, but the capsule is
sunken in the ground about 20 feet.
This photo shows the ceiling in the
NorthWestern depot in Chicago. You can see all
the little trains and bells and all different
implements for the trains. It was about $100,000
to wash. That's all ceramic tile. Before they tore
down the depot, they auctioned off all these
blocks. I don't know what they got for them,
but you would be surprised at how many people
wanted them.
This photo shows the inside of a private car. It's
like a five-room apartment. They had a servant
who served meals. Every year they would
auction off a dinner in the private car to raise
money for Chicago's needy. They raised up to
$2,200 for eight people.
The rails years ago were wood, with a band of
iron on top, but they still travelled faster than the
trains we have today. They would travel at
speeds of 100- 110 miles-per-hour.

•••
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•

On the Lake Geneva train, the engine would be
on the other end because in the morning when
you left Lake Geneva you were the first ones out.
The engine would break the snow for engines
that had only cab cars.
They used to ship ice blocks from Lake Geneva
to Chicago. They would put them in ice trays
and pack them with sawdust so they wouldn't
melt. Then they would rush them into Chicago.

:

C&NW Depot, 1945.

98

Courtesy of Joe Pedajas.

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Photo by Mark Uanuza. Compliments Joe Pedajas.

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99

THE RAILROAD RUNS NO MORE
Deanna Morici
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102

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APPENDICES

,..
Jill

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I I I I I I I I II I I II I Ill I I I I I II II I I I I I I I Ittttt I I I I I I I I II I

103

COMMUNICATION DESIGN STAFF: (starting from lower left) Bob Larson, Dennis D0<;hert~,
Zac Chentnik, Erica Weise, Chris Pond, Mike Parrish, Nichole Cooper, Ltsa Olson, Maggte Retd,
McCloud, Julie Dobberstein. Not
John Fraser and Holly

Angie McCloud

Julie Dobberstein

Thanks my helpful interviewers. So much
planning, so much organizing. Frustration takes
over -- only at first ... "Help, Ms. Carlin, Mrs.
Huston!" I'm okay now-- I have my systems -ready to hit the phones. 1st person: Mr. Sills,
not home. Three weeks later, still not home.
Trying to get a corresponding schedule with
student and interviewee -- not possible -- only in
some occasions.

The funny thing is that I never even knew about
the Chicago and NorthWestern railway or that a
train even came through Lake Geneva at one
time, because I only moved here about three
years ago and never heard anything about it.
This project has been a whole new experience for
me. I've learned a lot about the history of the
trains and Lake Geneva.

Holly and I enjoyed going on the interviews.
Hearing stories from the past and meeting the
people of the community; it was really enjoyable.
I thought that was the hard part--NO WAY!
"Wednesday, after school, how long?" So many
great stories, so many great pictures--where will
they all go? Working on this project two hours
during the day and some days after school -"very quality book we are producing."

My computer skills are definitely better. I liked
reading the people's stories and remembrances
and I was also given the opportunity to do an
interview and call people to set up interviews.
Working with other people on this project,
especially Angie because we've worked on a lot
of things together, has been fun. When we
started the layout it really felt like we were getting
things together and were going somewhere. The
responsibilities I've been given and shared makes
me all the more happy to be a part of this project.

Julie Dobberstien and Zac Chentnik my new 6th
hour partners. Through all the hard work --long
45 min. periods -- not only a crew for that train
book -- but also new friends.

Erica Weise

Maggie Reid
When I first heard that the class was doing this
project, I thought, "Oh great. Just a stupid
project which involves boring old stories." I was
really wrong.
I am really proud of the work we're doing and
the memories we're sharing. Someday I'll look
back on this and say, "Wow, we did this." and I
won't just mean my class; I mean the
community.

Zachary Chentnik

I never knew how important the trains really
were until this project. In the beginning it
seemed like there was so much to do and we'd
never get it all done and put together.
As soon as we all really started working together
and realized, "Yes, we have to write and make a
book," everything fell into place. I know at first
I kept saying, "I can't believe we have to do
this." It's pretty believable now. The stories are
interesting -- not boring like I thought they'd be.
The only thing that really began to bother me
about the project was transcribing tapes. It was
so hard to sit down for 45 minutes listening to
someone talk and write down every word that
was spoken.
I'm glad I was involved with this project. It gave
me a lot: appreciation for others, memories and
stories, a lot of patience, and a real feeling of
accomplishment.

Okay. You walk into class, and the next thing
you know, your teachers tell you that you're
wqrkjng on the train project. Your first thought?
"Y~, we get to work on the train project!" You
don't even know what's going on. You're like,
what are we doing?

Chris Pond

STEERING COMMITTEE: (front) Charlotte Peterson, Gr~tchen Allen, Nancy P~ge, Sally Harper;
(back) Madeline Huston, Gail Pachucki, Dean Dare, Charlie Bowman, Carol Carhn

~few weeks later, you get the hang of it. You
st~t to know what you're doing and the next
thmg you know you're actually having fun. This
can't be right! We are talking about trains, but in
all actuality, trains were very fun and unique.
Different stories, adventures; it's the real thing.

At first I thought that this project would be long
and boring. I had a change in heart, though,
after working with the people of the community.
Talking to the people I found it extremely
enjoyable to listen to what they had to say and I
found it to be a great learning experience.

104 111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

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John Fraser

Mike Parrish

Charlotte Peterson

Nancy Page

Working with people in the community who
experienced the days of the train has been a real
joy. To hear their stories and remembrances
makes me think of how important the trains must
have been.

While starting the train project, I thought ·:no
way!" But as the project progressed, everythmg
seemed to fall in place. Everyone put a lot of
time and effort into this train book and I think
this is going to be one great book.

After working on this project and learning more
about the trains, it makes me sad to know that
there are no more trains that come through Lake
Geneva.

I worked mostly on the computer and I really
enjoyed it. This book will be a great publication
and will be around for a long ume and so the
memory of the trains will always stay with us.

Working on the Steering Committee for the
Geneva Lake Train Project has been an
educational experience for me. I have learned so
much about the impact the trains had on this area.
I have also learned many bits of historical trivia
from the other members of the group. It has also
grven me a chance to work with high school
students and see their enthusiasm for and
dedication to the project.

I feel privileged and honored to be a part of this
wonderful project, that is keeping alive the
memories and experiences that are a vital part of
this area's history.

Nichole Cooper

One night the phone rang, and a nice lady asked
me "if I would come and see her father, who was
not well, but wanted to give me information on
the Chicago and NorthWestern Railway." I said
"Fine, tomorrow at 10:00." The next morning I
woke up with a sore throat and a cold and figured
her dad didn't need my germs too. So l called
and explained that I'd be over as soon as I was
better. I heard in the background, "She had
better hurry up. I don't think I'm going to last
much longer." Wow!

Robert larson

It wasn't until our whole Communication Design
class was perched on top of a train in sub-zero
weather, waiting to get our photo taken for~
Geneva Magazine that l began to wonder, "What
are we getting ourselves into?"

The project of the century. Hard work,
determination, frustration, and fun is what was
put into this. At first it sounded kind of
unbelievable. I thought, "Who would actually
want a book dealing with trains? Who would
really get excited about this?" But then, once it
really got going, it was actually kind of
interesting. I would read a story about
something and then try to actually place where it
took place.

The train project has caused much frustration,
confusion, and laughter. Somehow, though, it
all seems worthwhile when I read the memories
people have about the trains in Lake Geneva. To
know that we all helped these memories live on
makes every race to the deadline worthwhile.
But even better, I'll look back in twenty years
and have memories of my own about the trains;
that's something I didn't have before this project.

Learning about how important the trains in this
areas really were astonished me. Many things
happened that dealt with the trains. The trains
were very important. This has really become a
fun project. Mainly doing the art work, I have
realized that there was more to the railroad that
"choo choo." l have learned how to better work
with people and have improved my total way of
life.

lisa Olson
I enjoyed this project! I liked the interviews a
lot--they were fun! It seems like it will never get
done, but when we stop and look at all that's
been accomplished, it's really worth it. It makes
you feel so good to know that this book will be
around for a long time to come.

Dennis Docherty

Holly Hartje

I remember many things. Interviews, typing
interviews, retyping interviews. It seemed like
that was all I did. But on Friday, February 24, I
realized that the work finally added up to
something.

When I think back on my experience with the
train project, I remember the people I talked with
and interviewed. At first I thought that I was
getting myself into something very laborious and
boring, but once the interviews got started I had a
blast. It was so interesting to talk to people about
the train, and Lake Geneva in generaL All in all, I
learned a lot and had a lot of fun. I want to thank
everyone who contributed to make this become
what it is.

I looked at the !50-plus page "rough" of the
book, with green paper and one staple, and
realized that all the work had really added to
something. Everyone on the staff worked to
produce a book, not a "See Spot Run" one, but a
factual, interesting book. It was definitely worth
the time and energy,

106

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So as soon as the germs disappeared I called and
Donna Turner once again answered and said
"Yes, my Dad really wants to see you. So com~
right over." I did and Walter Hudson, Donna's
father, and I had a grand talk about the old days.
He knew lots of things I didn't know and had
many souvenirs. Walter had my mother in eighth
grade and told me she was wearing a nice blue
dress the first time he s~w her. We read together
hrs memones of the rarlroad which you'll find
included in this book. I could tell Walter was
getting tired, so as I was leaving I said, "I'll see
you next week and we'll visit some more." He
hoarsly whispered, "You better call first or look
in the obituaries."

Harry Van Dyke
The train PJ<?ject has been an impressive example
of commumty members and students working
together and learning from each other. It's heen a
pleasure to watch the enthusiasm with which
community members worked with the class to
create the "Train Project". The interesting
recollections and stories from the years when the
train were such an important part of everyone's
life gave me a chance to recall my own
experiences and relive an exciting period of
history. It would be my hope that the students
who had a chance to work with these community
members enjoyed the experience and that similar
projects will happen in the future.

Next week I called and Donna answered "Oh
Charlotte, my dad died and his funeral
thi;
afternoon." So instead of the visit I went to the
funeral of Walter Hudson.

is

\

In retrospect, I'm glad Walter had his memories
to occupy his mind and as I told him he was
leaving memories for the future underst~nding of
our past.

Sally Harper
From working on this project I certainly learned a
great deal about the trains in the Geneva Lake
area. I have not been here in Lake Geneva long
enough to know frrsthan~ much about the early
nders of the tram or how Important the train was
fo: commuting, transportation of goods or
bnngmg up tounsts to spend time in Lake
Ge_neva.. I worked mainly on publicity for the
tram proJect seeing that articles and pictures got
m the local papers and putting posters and
brochures around the area. I enjoyed helping
wrth the hot dog day at Wal-Mart.

Jay Martin.

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107

Charlie Bowman

Madeline J Huston
Carol Ruth Carlin

I'm grateful for the fun I've had participating in
the Geneva Lake Train Project. The school
administration has been most supportlve and the
steering committee a model of congemal
cooperation. For an entir~ year I have marveled at
the unflagged enthuSiasm and u~flappable
inaenuity maintained by Commumcatu:m Des1gn
Cl~ss teachers Carol Carlin and Maggte Huston
as the book was taking form. And I've rubbed
elbows with any number of wonderfully bnght
and delightful young people ·· the students :·
whom I might never met w1thout thts
opportunity.

Jennifer Hermance

Dean Dare
When I rrrst consented to become associated with
the Train Project, I felt it would involve a few
meetings, some decisions about ~ubhshmg, and
a small booklet would be the ftmshed result. I
have found this was not the case. After many
meetings and many d(Ocisions, the result 1s a
large, professional pubhcauon whtch wtll bnng
back fond memories to people all over the Lake
Geneva area. I am pleased to have been a small
part of this project and am looking forward w
publication. Those wh? were reallymvolved m
developing thts matenal w1ll be hsted m the
publication, but J would like. to thank those
students, teachers, and commumty members who
spent hours and hours of thetr ume: The results
are an indication of how well they dtd the1r work.
I believe the finished product will rank as one of
the finest books to describe a part of the local
history of Lake Geneva ever published.

Too, I've enjoyed doing interviews with many
friends in our area who were wtlhng to .share
their railroading experiences with me and dtg out
cherished photographs and memorabrha. Thelf
reminiscences .. and those of others .. are the
real heart and soul of the effort. Fwally, from 1ts
very beginning, 1 have been contmually
impressed with extent of commumty mterest that
the publication has aroused and the warmth ~f
aood will it has generated. Wherever I go, 11 s:
~How's the Train Project gomg? When'~ the
book coming out?" Well, at last it's here. EnJOY 1t
to the fullest. I'm sure you w1ll!

Gail Pachuck.i

.....

To the Lakes Area Community:

-••
••
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•
.

Some of you attended our class. Some of you
opened your homes to our student interviewers.
Some of you distributed our brochures. Some of
you sent us names of people to contact. Some of
you wrote wonderful histories. Each of you is
an important part of the success of this project.

!

llfl;

l

Working with the Train Project helped this non·
local gain a wealth of knowledge about the Lakes
area. My own train mem~nes came from the
very urban Milwaukee environment wher~ you
never examined the impact on the communny. I
have received an education about Lake Geneva
and its people and naturally, I loved hearm~ the
memories shared among the Steenng Commmee
members. I'm glad the Lake Geneva Library and
1 could help make this book a reahty,

II
'<"'''::'

Thank yo11 for sharing your stories, your
photographs, your postcards, your newspaper
clippings, your time, your contacts, your
insights, your enthusiasm, and your patience
with us. We appreciate the groundswell of
support the Geneva Lake Train Project achieved .
We are happy that we could provide a vehicle for
capturing and recording this important part of our
heritage.

To our Students:
From disbelief to acceptance, from reluctance to
enthusiasm, from timidity to confidence, we have
enjoyed watching you grow. Certainly you
became skilled in computer usage, layout
techniques, illustration, research, interviewing,
proofreading, and time management. Attention
to accuracy and detail became important to you.
Most significantly, you became a team. Respect
for the contributions of others, recognition of the
value of diverse talents, and pride in your own
efforts are valuable gains.
We hoped you would learn to value history, to
value personal experience, to appreciate people of
all ages, and to appreciate yourself. As we
achieve publication, glow in the warmth of your
success"
We are proud of you

We appreciate you.
To the Steering Committee:

Gretchen Allen

When we began this project, we knew we were
working with a group of talented, accomplished
individuals. We stand in awe at the depth and
breadth of your skills and contacts. Each of you
adds validity to our belief that our greatest natural
resources are people .

The train project, with it's nostalgic memories
and I Remember has been such a fine cooperative
activity. I am honored that l was asked to be on
it's steering committee,

Illustrative of your contribution is the time we
needed to receive permission to reprint two
photos. The book was out of print. The
publishing company was defunct.
The
photographer was dead. Charlie Bowman
offered to make a few calls to try to secure
permission. Within 24 hours he located the
purchaser of the photos, called his unpublished
phone number, secured permission and an offer
to send clear copies of the photos if they could be
found.
Charlotte Peterson, Sally Harper, Gretchen
Allen, Dean Dare, Charlie Bowman, Nancy
Page, Gail Pachucki, Harry Van Dyke, the
quality of the book is significantly enhanced by
your contributions. The diversity of your
backgrounds strengthened our efforts.

Coming to Lake Geneva in 1933 I remember
many things .. the depot, the weekend
excursions, whistles, bells, steam, ice-cutting,
winter horse-races. All these have been
mentioned in letters, photos, interviews .. all
meaningful.
To cooperate with students, faculty (especially
Maggie Huston, and Carol Carlin), friends and
new friends, has emphasized the fact that our
future will be as outstanding and great as it could
possibly be.
Praise goes to all who worked so diligently and
faithfully, having fun and laughter.
Thank you for this opportunity given to me.

The pleasure has been ours.
Heather O'Brien

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109

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thank you. You were wonderful. We appreciate. A project of this magnitude can be successful
only with support of many individuals. So many of you took the brochures and mailed them to a
friend. So many of you called others and encouraged them to send us photos. We don't know
who you are. We do want you to know that we appreciate your contributions.
The support throughout the community has been wonderful. To the churches that announced our
project and encouraged participation, the merchants that displayed our posters and brochures, the
service groups and civic groups that supported this project, the nursing homes that shared
infom1ation with their residents, we express our gratitude. The success of that quiet network is
reflected in the number of contributors. Although we don't have your individual names, we do
appreciate your assistance.
A number of individuals will be contributing to this project during this interesting period between
publication and distribution. We would like to thank in advance any additional individuals who
will work on binding, distribution, and publicity. Those are major tasks ahead, history by the time
you read this. Thank you. We obviously couldn't have finished without you.

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We do know some names of people and organizations and businesses who were particularly
helpful. We extend our gratitude.
Jane Conover, Pearl Schwartz, Jim Smith, Peggy Buczko, Barb Tonkin, Pat McNeely, Wally
Rouse, Ted Schaefer, Jim Beam, Lynn Hargrave, Fairy Ragland, Terry Woodward, Kristin
Callihan, Gina Bounaguidi, Tim Forester, Heather Harp, Herb Moering, Betty Less, Dave and
Margaret Torgeson, Wendy Fritz, Tammy Cinefro, Marta Johnson, Rhonda Yanke, Bill Wolff,
Susan Bill, Pat Shea, Bill Smarslik, Helen Brandt, George Krambles, H. C. McCarthy, Frank
Moertl, Larry Larkin, Charles Stats, Graphic Printing Corporation, Walmart, End of the Line
Motel, Lake Geneva Magazine, WMIR Radio, Geneva Lake History Buffs, Geneva Lake Area
Museum of History, Wisconsin Postal History Society, State Historical Society, Genoa City
Library, Lake Geneva Library, Janesville Gazette, Lake Geneva Regional News Inquirer.
To all others, thank you for joining us in The Geneva Lake Train Project.

Ill
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Colophon
This book was typeset on the Macintosh
system, using Helvetica for titles and Times
for text.
The original printing of 2000 copies was
done by Graphic Printing Corporation of
Lake Geneva.

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