I've wanted to ride the East Troy Electric Railroad for a while. I convinced the hubby to do so after seeing the display at the Titletown Train Show. Since we aren't going on vacation this year and doing mini baseball road trips, I said we should do the East Troy Railroad Museum when we go to Beloit. It is on the way and the hubby agree.
The East Troy Railroad Museum is located in East Troy and open on weekends seasonally from Mid-April to the beginning of September and then a Fall Harvest train every weekend until the end of October. Trains run about every hour on Saturdays and every two hours on Sundays except during Fall Harvest when they also depart every hour on Sunday. It is about an hour round trip. Cost is $15 for adults and $9.50 kids (3-14). There are also dinner trains.
We decided to board the train at the Elegant Farmer. You can either get tickets online or when you get to East Troy. After leaving the Elegant Farmer, the train continues down the line to Indianhead Park in Mukwonago and turns around.
Turning the train around isn't as big as a feat as you think it is. Two interesting things stand out, the conductor hops out as we approach and directs traffic since there is no railroad signs or lights at the crossing. The engineer takes the steering pieces he needs and heads to the other end of the train. He also instructs us to slid the seats the other way so we are facing forward. Then we are on our merry way and the conductor hops back on once we are past the crossing the second time.
We ride it all the way to East Troy with a quick stop at the Elegant Farmer to pick up passengers. Once at East Troy we have time to explore the museum. When Stacy said it was small, I didn't think it was that small. It is really just one room. There are some train articles from when traveling by rail was a big deal. There is also a train maintenance shop set up. That's about it. I was expecting to see more trains. I did not and was disappointed.
After getting ice cream and exploring the square, we hopped on the next train back to the Elegant Farmer. Not the same one we took. Oops. There were so many people that they had to add a second open air car to the back of our train.
Both of our trains were former streetcars. The one from the Elegant Farmer was from Minneapolis/St. Paul and was from the early 1900s. The one from East Troy was a Milwaukee Street car that was used until 1959. One of the conductors took it to the World Series at County Stadium.
Was I disappointed that there were not more trains? Yes. Was it worth it? Absolutely.. The train ride on vintage street cars was definitely worth it. The scenery was beautiful and in fall it has to be stunning. Depending on your conductor, you might get a story or three too.
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