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Caboose
There is, perhaps, nothing that brings greater gladness to the heart of a railfan than the sight of a caboose. Just imagine owning one! In 1981 Mike Kirk was at the Soo Line Historical & Technical Society Convention in Duluth, MN. The Lake Superior Museum of Transportation, there, had been given several DM&IR cabooses to sell for fund raising. Mike bought two of them: C44 and C58. Keeping C44 to restore near his home in in Waupaca, Wisconsin, he sold C58 to the Iola, Wisconsin Historical Society.

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Inside the Caboose Cupola

The Duluth Missable & Iron Range C44 caboose was built in 1911. The railroad hauls primarily iron ore and taconite. It has been said tha the ore trains were the heaviest trains in the world. The DM&IR had steam locomotives called Yellowstones. They were more powerful than Big Boys and only slightly smaller. There are still three preserved in Minnesota. One, located at the Lake Superior Railroad Museum is raised a fraction of an inch off the rails. Its drivers and rods turn and sounds of the locomotive in operation are played. “It is an awesome sight”, according to Mike, “especially when I think about my caboose being pulled behind that locomotive.”

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Inside the caboose:
conductors desk

The caboose, which stands next to the The Lind Center Model Railroad Building, is much as it was when it was acquired from the railroad except that it has been repainted and rotted wood has been replaced. Currently, Mike is in the process of stripping badly pealing paint from the inside of the caboose. Mike would welcome contact from other caboose owners.

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C58, sold to Iola, WI
Historical Society

Baggage Car
The Waupaca Area Model Railroaders, Ltd. club acquired a single truck car in 1991. The car had been bought in 1899 by the Waupaca Electric Light & Railway Co. It ran on that line from 1899 to 1925. According to newspaper stories of the day, the baggage car was aquired used in 1899 from Milwaukee along with four other cars.

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Fall-o-Rama, South Park.
The flags have 46 stars, and were in use
while the electric line was in operation.

It had been converted to a lakeside cabin in 1927 after the railway ceased operation. Eventually it was shoved off into the woods when a new cottage was built. The owner was selling the property and wanted to have the eyesore removed. The club gladly took it off his hands. They started working on it in 1996.

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Mike, along with other club members, has completed all the restoration of the car body. Tar paper covered the old canvas roof and helped preserve the car from rotting. They had to replace the siding on one side, but were able to preserve most the rest. In working on the car, it became apparent that it had been rebuilt from a passenger car.

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Inside the car are displays about the history of The Waupaca Electric Light & Railway Co. The restoration of the car was completed in time for Waupaca’s 4th of July 1999 parade, the one hundredth anniversary of the line’s first trolley run on July 4, 1899. The line ran 5 miles from the Wisconsin Central (Soo line took over this line, and recently it again became the Wisconsin Central) depot in Waupaca to the Wisconsin Veteran’s Home in King and the Grand View Hotel on Rainbow lake. In 1899 Waupaca had about 3,000 residents. Today there is a population of a little over 5,000. In the summer the population greatly increases with tourists visiting the Chain o' Lakes.

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Mike is in the conductor’s uniform

According to Mike, “The baggage car is kept in a storage building belonging to one of the club members and is taken out for special occasions. We do not have a truck for the car. We built a rubber tired trailer that has the original wheel base and holds the car at the correct height. We got a pair of St. Louis car company spoked trolley wheels and axles from Wisconsin Electric. Some day we hope to build a truck for it. We also have some of the original rail to set it on. The track is still buried underneath the pavement in Waupaca's Main St., so when we had the car in the 4th of July parade It was actually being pulled over the track.” Mike would welcome hearing from readers who have experience with building trolley car trucks for this type of car.

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St. Louis Car Company wheels
from Wisconsin Electric

The Waupaca Area Model Railroaders, Ltd. club has about 35 members. It has a large portable layout that is displayed at various locations about six times per year. The layout has been to NMRA national conventions in Denver, CO and Madison, WI. They meet once a week to operate or work on different member layouts.

Mike Kirk is working on a book about the Waupaca Electric Light & Ry. Co. He has also reprinted an 1898 book, originally printed on Wisconsin’s 50th anniversary of Statehood, about Waupaca and the surrounding area, titled: The Wisconsin Semi-Centennial Souvenir Edition of the Waupaca Post. Proceeds from that book, which has over 200 photographs, have thus far gone towards work on the baggage car. Also available from Mike is the book: The Story of Waupaca and Its Railroads. Mike welcomes being contacted for details about any of these books.

Mike Kirk’s Links:

Mike Kirk’s e-mail address: mikekirk@juno.com

The Missabe Railroad Historical Society
http://www1.minn.net/~mspanton/mrhs.html

Soo Line Historical & Technical Society,
including the Wisconsin Central
http://www.rrhistorical-2.com/sooline/

Laker Superior Railroad Museum
http://www.duluth.com/lsrm/

Main St. Marketplace, has collection of historic Waupaca photos
http://www.mainstreet-marketplace.com/

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