The hubby has been wanting to go to the Mid-Continent Railway Museum for a few years. We tried to go last summer when we were in Reedsville for baseball but it didn't really fit. When he heard about the Vintage Car Weekend, he decided that's when we should go. So as soon as we found out when Vintage Car weekend was, we put it on the calendar.
Vintage Rail Car Tour Weekend is usually the first weekend in October. This year it fell Sept 30-Oct 1. The Mid-Continent Railway Museum is in North Freedom about 30 minutes southwest of the Dells. They are open weekends starting Mother's Day weekend through the 3rd or so weekend of October. From Mid-June to Labor Day they are open Tuesday-Sunday. There is also a Santa Train two weekends in late November/Early December. The museum is free but train rides cost $24/adults. On Vintage Rail Car weekend, train tours are an additional $15/adult.
Vintage Rail Car Weekend gives you an inside look of some of the old wooden train cars they have painstakingly restored. They are tour guides that tell you the history of the railcar. This year they had a fish car open. I didn't even know that such a thing existed but back in the day when rail was the major mode of transportation, it was how the government stocked ponds and lakes. The fish would be stored in special milk cans and then traveled packed in ice until they reached their destination. Oh and people could sleep above the fish.
There was also a second class train car that was used as a school train in Minnesota before using to transport workers in the iron mines of the Upper Michigan. That tour guide kept repeating things and we almost missed our train.
The last car we visited was also from Minnesota and the tour guides were pheromonal. Since we were the only ones in the car, they told us a lot about the train, the museum, and restoration.
The train ride is 55 minutes through the countryside. It is kind of misleading. It's about 15-20 minutes to the turn around point where we sit for about 10-15 minutes while they turn the train around. You can get out and take a picture with the engine. Then it's 15-20 minutes back to the depot. It's a nice ride. They do try to tell the history but the people in our car was not interested.
The best part of the train ride was going through the ghost town of LaRue. It was an old mining town.
After the train ride, we checked out the rest of the trains. Besides the trains you could go inside of you still had access to the both train barns and the restoration barn. I really liked the snowplow train.. just to see how immense the plow was incredible.
By far, the best part of the day was the restoration barn. This is where the volunteers painstakingly restore these vintage wooden rail cars. Mid-Continent Railway Museum specializes in wooden railcars which can take millions of dollars and thousands of hours to restore.
One of the cars they are in the process of restoring was donated by a couple from Virginia. They found an old sleeper car that was used as a fishing cabin on Lake Superior. Initially they wanted to use it as a cabin until they realized that this car really should be in a museum. Much of the original seats, bunks, and even windows were in storage. To hear how they found this car and the process of restoring it was unbelievable. The hubby already said we need to go back to see the progress next year.
The hubby wanted to see the Crossing Tower. It was originally in Neenah.
Besides all the trains in the barns, there are engines and cars out in the yard. There is a ton to see. It is great place to spend several hours if you are train buff. There are no real concessions on site so it is best to eat before or after you unless you pack a lunch.
It is definitely worth the 2.5 hour drive to check out. If you have any interest in trains, it is worth checking out especially if you are already in the Dells.
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