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(Whistle) Music Spencer: Hi, I'm Spencer Christian.

On this episode of Tracks Ahead, we'll visit with a man who has combined his love of computers with his model railroad, visit an artist whose passion for railroading has lead to his design of collector plates, and go to Michigan, where we can visit the theater and have dinner - all while riding the rails.

The Milwaukee Road was broken up in the last half of the 20th century.

Some of the line was abandoned, but much was picked up by other railroads.

In some cases, whole new companies were formed.

Let's take a look a new railroad that has combined public and private sector operations to continue a long tradition of service to southern Wisconsin.

Ancr: A rambling freight train pushes its way through the Midwestern countryside.

A common sight to be sure.

But what you may not realize is in recent decades there has been a resurgence in demand for this age old technology.

due largely to the marvelous efficiency of rail transportation.

The Wisconsin & Southern Railroad is an inspiring chapter in this tale of rebirth.

Bill: We currently operate around 650 miles of railroad.

Most of it is former Milwaukee Road track and how we really got involved in railroading is in 1981 when the Milwaukee Road decided to abandon thousands of miles of railroad in the Midwest, the state of Wisconsin realized that if they lost rail to the State of Wisconsin that it would actually stymie economic growth to the state of Wisconsin.

So the State of Wisconsin actually stepped in to buy many of the abandoned lines of the Milwaukee Road that were going to be put up for abandonment and hopefully find an operator that would operate the rail lines to continue the economic growth for the State of Wisconsin.

Ancr: In the 1980's Bill Gardner was the owner of Gardner-Bender, a successful manufacturing company.

So what was it that brought Bill into the world of commercial railroading?

Bill: I've always had an interest in railroads; I just never thought I'd be an owner of one.

In 1987 when I had a publicly held company come and purchase Gardner-Bender, I had this check that was fairly sizeable.I was 42 years old and didn't know what to do and I needed a place to go to work, compared to just sitting at home and counting your money.

So I had the opportunity to buy the WI & Southern Railroad in 1988, which was at that time a 150 mile railroad.

Ancr: Entering into a unique and mutually beneficial partnership with the State of Wisconsin enabled Bill Gardner to expand his initial purchase into the larger operation he oversees today.

Bill: There was another rail operation on the south side of Wisconsin which was called the WI & Calumet Railroad, which roughly was 350 miles of railroad.

They were stumbling a lot.

The State of Wisconsin saw the success of the Wisconsin & Southern and asked me if I wanted to buy the Wisconsin & Calumet Railroad.

After negotiating with that organization, I was then able to acquire that railroad, which then boosted our railroad up a little bit.

From there more opportunities opened up to where I was able to lease the former Chicago-Northwestern which was then the Union-Pacific Railroad Reedsburg line from Madison to Reedsburg.

I was able to cut a couple of deals with the Canadian-Pacific RR which allowed me to acquire more mileage, so now we're actually operating a 650 mile railroad in the State of Wisconsin & Northern Illinois.

Ancr: The Wisconsin & Southern Railroad appears very differently today than it did when Bill took over in 1988.

Bill: The Wisconsin and Southern was formed in 1980 and was actually operated by a private operator who used it basically as a parking lot for parking rail cars because they were basically a large leasing firm.

When a lot of the cars would come off lease, they needed to park the cars someplace so they got the operating rights from the State of Wisconsin and basically used it as a parking lot.

Ancr: It's impossible for any railroad to be successful without the dedication of its people, and the Wisconsin & Southern is no exception.

Bill: Well, the employees really are the success of the railroad.

Without the employees the railroad would not be what it is today.

I take my hat off to them, they work hard, they're dedicated people.

We're just one big family.

Everybody gets along mostly with everybody.

It's a good working relationship and a good partnership with them.

Ancr: And lest you think Bill is merely blowing smoke, consider for a minute just what it takes to keep even a small railroad like the Wisconsin & Southern operating efficiently.

Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Ancr: And what does the future look like for the little railroad that could?

Bill: Expansion.

Expansion and growth.

We're working more & more with more industries that want to come into the State of Wisconsin and Northern Illinois that want to build here.

They want a quality service at a reasonable price.

They want somebody on the phone they actually get somebody on the phone vs. an answering machine.

We provide a lot of services that class 1 railroads are just getting away from these days.

I think the thing about the Wisconsin & Southern Railroad is that we are unique.

It's our employees.

They're dedicated, we have a good management team that works well with each other and I think when you have that along with the State of Wisconsin, the 5 commissions that I work with, we just have a good partnership, with everybody working together to expand industrial growth, economic growth in the State of Wisconsin with the assistance of the Wisconsin & Southern Railroad being the rail operator.

Ancr: Our hats are off to the Wisconsin & Southern Railroad and the inspiring story of this successful partnership between the public and private sectors, pulling together for the common good.

Spencer: The Wisconsin and Southern celebrated it's 25th year in 2005, and continues to expand it's operations.

Moving your entire model train layout 500 miles to a new home can present some challenges.

Here's how Daryl Kruse made the transition when he was uprooted from Missouri to Illinois.

But the transition allowed him to integrate his love of computers into his railroad.

Ancr: Moving your entire model train layout 500 miles to a new home can present some challenges.

Here' how Daryl Kruse made the transition when he was uprooted from Missouri to Illinois.

Kruse: When I built the layout in Missouri, I built it with the idea that at some point in time I would probably have to move it.

It wasn't a module type of thing, because I had plaster over the whole thing and the tracks ran from one section to the next.

But I was able to unbolt the sections and then with all the cars and structures off of course, I then took my Dremel tool and I just cut through the plaster and was able to get the layout into four somewhat manageable pieces.

Ancr: Daryl had much more space in the new house for his train room.

But first he had to finish the basement.

Luckily, his new town became a major source of inspiration.

Rochelle, Illinois has an active Union Pacific main line that crosses the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Line.

It's one of the best train watching spots in the Midwest.

Rail fans from all over the country come to Railroad Park to sight trains under a covered pavilion.

Daryl's original Union Pacific layout depicted the line from Pleasant Hill, Missouri to Bonner Springs, Kansas - a line that ran just a few miles away from his former home.

He decided to model a new portion of his layout on his new hometown.

But the new basement presented a few difficulties.

Kruse: There was a bay window here which of course, was a little bit tough to decide what to do with it.

I also had this 12 foot piece that I moved here from Missouri and that was the hardest piece to fit into this room because it was the longest.

But then when I figured out that this would kinda nestle nicely with the bay window it kind of set where everything else went.

And it worked out pretty nice.

And then I always wanted a nice long high bridge.

Because I wanted it to still look Midwestern, I didn't want any steep cliffs and so forth, so I wanted something to be more gentle and rolling, and the bay window worked out pretty nice, I think.

Ancr: Using Micro Engineering kits, Daryl now has a nine-span, four tower bridge.

The old layout is complete and he still has plenty of room to work on the Rochelle scene.

Kruse: Rochelle is a beautiful place and a beautiful town and lots of trains, but as far as scenery goes, there's not a whole lot around the town except for farm fields.

I have nothing against cornfields but it's not the most exciting thing to model.

I do plan on having some cornfields on the layout, but I didn't want to have a layout with just cornfield after cornfield.

So instead of trying to model the entire northern part of the state here, I'm basically planning on concentrating on modeling Rochelle as much as possible and as close as possible.

The rest of the part, the rest of the layout I'm pretty much freelancing and trying to make it generic Midwestern.

Ancr: The Staging yard is tucked into the furnace room and is filled with some very sharp turns, quite a an accomplishment when you consider that Daryl wanted to run seven tracks, some with lines of up to 40 cars.

Kruse: The curvature had to go down to 13 inches which I was a little concerned about but I was I think, somewhat made confident by the fact that all my couplers are body mounted which handles curves a lot better than truck mounted.

And a lot of the N scale cars come with the couplers mounted on the trucks which is fine.

But if you're going around a lot of sharp curves, can cause some problems.

And the body mounted couplers have really helped.

For the most part there haven't been to much trouble getting the trains in and out of the staging yards as long as I don't try to back it up all the way through the staging yards.

Ancr: One of Daryl's other hobbies is computers.

So it's no surprise that he had fun creating the layout wiring and a computer interface for the signaling systems.

His new layout features a Digitrax Digital Command Control center, which was added to his original electrical blocks.

Kruse: You don't have to mess with the flipping of the blocks and so forth, you can just concentrate on running the trains.

Ancr: The marriage of Daryl's two passions - N gauge train operations and computer programming - helped him create impressive signaling with a Centralized Traffic Control system.

Kruse: As the trains go through the layout the computer knows where the trains are and it sets the signal indications according to where the train is, and it just throws the signals as needed depending on where the trains are and where one train is going from one place to the next.

When we have a group come in and operate I can change the setup to the dispatcher setup.

And with this setup, I'm here at the computer while the trains are being operated by the crews.

I can again set the route for that train to come out of the staging yards.

Then when it stops the crews have to call me for further clearance.

Ancr: There's a timetable sheet for each train with information about the trains.

The computer shows the track layout and small sections of the tracks light up when trains are present, just like in a real operation.

The operators watch the signals and there's usually a Yardmaster in the town of Nelson.

They can run about 15 trains at once.

Daryl hopes to expand his layout into the entire basement someday.

In the meantime, he's enjoying brings the sights and sounds of Railroad Park to life in his own home.

Kruse: UP 118 Voice: UP 118 is in service switching out car on the interval.

Kruse: 10-4 Spencer: Daryl continues to expand and enhance the controls and operations of the railroad.

Soon, we'll meet David Tutweiler, an artist who's been called a 'painter of light and smoke.'

When you see his portraits of steam locomotives, you'll know why.

But before that, lets go to suburban Detroit, where for twenty years, people have been able to combine a ride on the rails, with a little dinner theater.

Ancr: Here's a riddle for you.

What serves as a stage for some of the most intimate and engaging theater anywhere.

prepares gourmet dinners for its guests.

and.

rolls on steel rails?

It's the one of a kind Michigan Star Clipper excursion train, located in suburban Detroit.

But just what has made this operation a success for over twenty years?

Lynn: I think because it's unique.

There aren't that many dinner trains out there and they're pretty few and far between.

There's a lot of restaurants and there's a lot of different attractions but we combine the best of both.

You get the entertainment plus the dinner plus the train rides.

It's just a very unique romantic unforgettable evening.

We've had several marriages on the train.

We've had, I couldn't tell you how many times, we've had people propose on the train because it is a very romantic relaxed setting.

It's a three hour excursion on the train.

A 22 mile trip at a very leisurely 10 miles a hour.

We go through Wixom, Walled Lake, West Bloomfield, through the West Bloomfield bird sanctuary which is very pretty with a lot of wild life back there.

We go to Woodpecker Lake which is very picturesque with beautiful homes all around the water and then we return here to the depot.

While you're on board you get the five course dinner and in between each course you'll see a set of entertainment.

We do different types of entertainment on the train.

We do a murder mystery show every evening Tuesday through Saturday.

On Sunday we do a wedding comedy show and Friday and Saturday night we do musical shows.

Fridays we do a 50's and 60's and Saturday we do Broadway jazz.

Ancr: But dinner theater on a moving train.

doesn't that present some challenges for the actors?

Voice: Well how ya all doing up there?

Michael : Working on a dinner train has a few challenges One is the aisle is about that big and there is wait staff coming down at all times and actors.

We make sure that we choreograph with each other.

We actually do it in sets so it's not 1500 wait staff all at the same time but they are constantly either clearing the tables or serving some drinks.

And by sets I mean they'll serving a soup, we'll do a set, they'll serve a salad, we'll do a set, they'll serve the dinner, we do a set, they serve the desert, and we do a set.

Voice: Stop, back it up, back it up.

I got this for you.

Where did you get that.

Let me just tell everybody, OK, Juice's sister at DQ, she told me to bring this out here.

Honey you're wearing it wrong you are supposed to wear it over your hair, it's to hide your roots.

Laughter There's enough peroxide in this room to choke a horse, lady, and I don't want to hear it.

Out out Michael: Its upbeat.

The comedy shows are all tongue in cheek, all family oriented so that anybody can come and have a good time.

There's nowhere else you can go and be on a train, have a nice meal, and have a good show, have some fun entertainment and spend two or three hours just getting away from the world for a while.

It's not like a restaurant at all except that obviously you're getting food.

It's much more an entertainment venue.

You get a ride on the train.

You get the show.

And of course you get a fine meal.

Ancr: Well, this rolling, improvisational theater must make for some memorable interaction with the audience.

Michael: Probably one of them that comes to mind is when one our people fell, on purpose of course, on a gentlemen's lap and the wife got all upset about it and starting beating the dead person.

It was like it's a show, it's a show.

laughs They knew coming in.

And the dead person got up and said, "Would you not hit me, I'm just doing a show here."

So it's that kind of fun and then of course everybody laughs.

Ancr: Larry and Judy Coe purchased a freight railroad in Walled Lake, Michigan in 1984, and then set about the task of turning it into fine dining and entertainment on wheels.

What prompted such an ambitious project?

Michael: Larry and Judy started this 20 years ago.

They had been in the restaurant business formerly and were looking for a site.

At the time the track and the depot was for sale.

They were at first interested in the depot as a possible site for a restaurant and then that idea developed into actually doing dinner on the railroad rather than in the depot.

They saw a unique opportunity to do something for themselves, the community and the rail industry and have built in that 20 years what we feel is a truly unique dining experience.

Something that certainly we're all thrilled to be involved in.

Great customer response and certainly a lot of positive response from the industry.

Ancr: For over twenty years the Michigan Star Clipper has been truly one of the bright stars of the world of railroad entertainment.

Many passengers have returned time and time again.

And now that we've been along for the ride.

why they do is certainly no riddle to us.

Music Ancr: There are plenty of starving artists who will tell you how difficult it is to make a living as a painter.

And plenty of train enthusiasts will tell you just how expensive their hobby can be.

David Tutwiler has built his professional life around two of his great passions: painting and trains.

His award-winning portraits of steam engines can be seen around the country.

The "Romance of the Rail" collection - which he was commissioned to paint in the 1990's - were reproduced onto collector plates.

They feature famous trains from the 1930's and 40's that are either still in operation or in museums.

Anyone who has put a brush to canvas knows how exhilarating it is to create entire worlds from nothing but a little oil paint and a lot of imagination.

For David Tutwiler, it's a way of connecting with the past.

Tutwiler: All of America has a certain basis in it's.

Every individual has a little bit of train in them, because almost anyone we come across either has relatives that have worked for the railroads, been part of trains, they have children that just can't get enough of trains, they used to commute on the trains.

Everybody somehow is touched by trains.

They remember the trolleys in their local communities.

And trains touched every place.

So you can't get away from it.

Ancr: David's research for his work amounts to what train enthusiasts would consider a dream vacation: he chases trains around the country.

He often visits the actual places where the trains originally ran to takes photos and do sketches on location.

When he's back in the studio, those sketches and photographs are incorporated into the painting's composition.

Although mechanical accuracy is certainly important to David, he's more concerned with capturing a mood on canvas.

It's not just the locomotive itself, it's a moment in time.

Every locomotive has as unique personality, especially the old steam engines.

He likes to think of them as pieces of living sculpture.

They seem to breathe in and out as they pull into the station.

Tutwiler: The steam locomotive is probably the closest machine man will ever get to a living creature.

Cause all other things, machines are a different kind of a mechanism that don't take on that essence, like the Iron Horse, the gallop of the Iron Horse.

The living aspects of the steam locomotive were very unique.

I really like to enhance the effect of smoke and steam that comes out of a locomotive.

That's probably one of the most exciting things about painting a steam locomotive.

The smoke is what gives the action and the movement and the drama.

You can tell if a locomotive is speeding down the tracks and the smoke is laying across the train or if it's standing still and the smoke is drifting up.

It enhances the atmosphere around the engine.

You take something very mechanical and very hard like a locomotive, machinery, and you add smoke and steam and now you soften things around it.

Creates atmosphere, creates it's own environment and makes it very poetic, makes it very artistic.

How could you ever enjoy an old fashioned movie and really get the romance without the platform having steam, right?

Softening things, creating the mood.

It's not the same if there's no steam.

Capturing a train in a particular moment in time or place, is really the essence of suspending time.

For people to react to that and get excited about it and to be enthused about it is, is very satisfying to me as an artist.

Because I feel like I've accomplished something.

I feel like I've accomplished something that is important and it may be sparking some hope in them in their own hearts about, about a good time that they remember, a good place, or something.

That's what artwork, artwork should be a reflection of good things, great hopes, and great ideals and all that.

Spencer: David has also painted significant pieces depicting traditional American landscapes and sailing vessels, earning him many awards.

Well, that's it for this episode.

Please join us next time for more, Tracks Ahead.

Music Ancr: Tracks Ahead.

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(Whistle) Music