{"id":28285,"date":"2025-01-11T00:01:28","date_gmt":"2025-01-11T08:01:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/?p=28285"},"modified":"2025-01-10T08:33:28","modified_gmt":"2025-01-10T16:33:28","slug":"green-bays-national-rail-museum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/2025\/01\/11\/green-bays-national-rail-museum\/","title":{"rendered":"Green Bay’s National Rail Museum"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Joe Berk<\/h6>\n

That picture above?\u00a0 It’s a Big Boy steam locomotive cockpit!\u00a0 Look at all those valves!<\/p>\n

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Green Bay, Wisconsin.\u00a0 Say that name, and most people think of Vince Lombardi and the Green Bay Packers.\u00a0 And why not?\u00a0 It’s what the town is known for.\u00a0 But I’ll let you in on a secret:\u00a0 Green Bay has one of the best rail museums I’ve ever visited.\u00a0 I like rail museums, and if there’s one anywhere near where I’m traveling, I’ll stop.\u00a0 Susie and I wrapped up a trip to Georgia, Wisconsin, and Michigan, and the National Rail Museum made our list. It’s easy to find, and Green Bay is a fun little town.<\/p>\n

The National Rail Museum has a bunch of small items on display after entering the first building (track maintenance hand tools and the like).\u00a0 Then it’s on to a hall where the big stuff is kept.\u00a0 One of the first trains is General Dwight D. Eisenhower’s European train, the one he used as the Supreme Allied Commander during World War II.\u00a0 It’s big, it’s impressive, and it’s fit for a 5-star general.<\/p>\n

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The Dwight D. Eisenhower train. It’s dark green and it’s imposing.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Eisenhower train was built by the British with a number of features to keep it low key (or so some of the signage said).\u00a0 The name on the locomotive and the exotic paint theme indicated otherwise.<\/p>\n

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Not very subtle, I would say. General Eisenhower used this train for getting around the European Theatre of Operations.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The Eisenhower train was built by British Railways. That, my friends, is a cool logo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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A photo of General Eisenhower leaving his train.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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A meeting room on the Eisenhower train.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The National Rail Museum has one of the very few surviving Big Boy locomotives.\u00a0 I’ve seen three (well, actually two, but I saw one of them twice).\u00a0 \u00a0One was at the National Steam Locomotive Museum in Scranton, and another was parked at the Pomona Fairgrounds (it’s that one I saw twice).\u00a0 \u00a0The first time was when it went from Ogden, Utah, to Pomona under its own power.\u00a0 It stopped in Pomona, and it was an amazing thing to see.<\/p>\n

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Big Boy No. 4017. I wish that Halloween decoration wasn’t there. I didn’t want to risk moving it.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It’s hard to put into words just how big a Big Boy is.\u00a0 Photos don’t really do its size justice.<\/p>\n

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Signs at the museum told us the temperature in the engineer’s compartment was typically 93 degrees even with the windows open.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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A peek into the coal tender. Big Boy locomotives consumed so much coal that a man couldn’t keep up with it, so instead of shoveling coal into the engine, the tender had a worm gear that drove it in.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A locomotive that caught my attention was the Pennsylvania Railroad’s GG-1 electric locomotive.\u00a0 When I was a kid growing up in New Jersey, the Pennsylvania Railroad’s main tracks were only a half mile from my home.\u00a0 We loved watching those trains scream by, always pulled by a GG-1.\u00a0 They are gorgeous locomotives.<\/p>\n

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A magnificent Pennsylvania Railroad GG-1 locomotive. These are beautiful machines. The GG-1 was entirely electric. They drew power from high voltage overhead wires with their pantograph.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From the engineer’s position, the view forward is through one small window.\u00a0 You really can’t see much of what’s ahead.\u00a0 That would make me nervous.<\/p>\n

By the 1950s, passenger rail travel was losing favor with the American public.\u00a0 Airplanes were faster, and with the advent of the Interstate Highway System, most people drove.\u00a0 \u00a0The railroads wanted to turn that around.\u00a0 One attempt involved General Motors designing an aerodynamic locomotive and less expensive rail cars.\u00a0 GM designed the “Aerotrain” drawing on their styling talents, but the effort flopped.\u00a0 \u00a0I’d seen pictures of that locomotive (there were only ever two made), but I’d never seen one in person until this visit.<\/p>\n

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The General Motors Aerotrain locomotive. It was a beautiful design but a commercial flop.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Aerotrain story is a fascinating one.\u00a0 This video explains it.<\/p>\n