Northstar Chapter excursion train posing next to the Wisconsin Great Northern's F-unit after our trip. Photo by Russ Isbrandt.

Saturday morning, June 4th saw 24 members and guests boarding a Voigt's motor coach (air-conditioned long distance bus) at Amtrak’s Midway Station for a fun trip to the Wisconsin Great Northern Railroad in Spooner, Wisconsin.

On arriving at Spooner, we had an entertaining guided tour of the surprisingly large Omaha Road depot, now a museum. Following the tour we boarded the private car, Aristocrat, a former Nashville Chattanooga and St. Louis / Louisville and Nashville tavern lounge purchased in 1946 for those road’s Georgian and Hummingbird trains. The car is being renovated by its owner, member Charles Barthold. The WGN included a wooden caboose as part of the consist. The rains abated for our runby and photo ops.

On the return trip to Midway station the heavens opened up and shortly thereafter the bus conked out. Fortunately a replacement bus was provided fairly quickly, leading to only a 90min delay. Despite the delay everyone had a great time!

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