Sheboygan Railroad Museum

06/03/2026

Push-Pull Service and the "Cab Car"

Railroad passenger service is not only taking long-distance trains over soaring mountain passes and into western sunsets. Railroad commuter trains carry tens of thousands of people each year from the suburbs into the cities for their daily labors and jobs -- and then back home again.

One of the problems for these "back and forth" train runs used to be, "how do you turn the train around at the end of the run?"

Push-pull service and the locomotive-control-equipped "cab car" at the end of the train were an answer.

In push-pull, the locomotive pulls the train for part of the trip, as it usually does.

At the end of the line, the engineer walks to the other end of the train. The last car of the train contains a seat for him with remote controls for the locomotive.

The train then returns to its base "in reverse".

This concept was used by the CNW railroad, not only for commuter trains, but for some of its regular passenger runs (the last scheduled passenger trains through Sheboygan were run push-pull style).

On a "cab car" passenger car, note the details on the end of the coach: there are end windows for the engineer (with wipers!). Also on the example shown, note the bell, the air horn, and the extra headlights.

The double-decker cars were called "gallery cars" and permitted carrying more passengers. A "gallery car" made the perfect car in which to install a remote cab place for the engineer, as it put him way up high with a good view of the tracks ahead when running in reverse (in "push mode").

While the push-pull trains that visited Sheboygan were very short toward the end of intercity private passenger service, commuter trains in Chicago, say, could be many coaches, with two locomotives. To the uninitiated, first seeing a ten-coach train roar by "backwards" with the locomotives in the rear could be an unsettling experience!

Photos of models: Ken Bailey; Photos of prototypes: John F. Brown, Sr. (in April, 1971, Sheboygan Depot, just before Amtrak went on-line and Sheboygan passenger service ended).

05/29/2026

Model Railroading is FUN! (Well, perhaps not this level of "fun," but it is fun!)

Come on down and visit us at the Sheboygan Railroad Museum and find out for yourselves!

Public Open Orders:
Tuesday Night (first of month): 7:30-9:00 PM.
Tuesday Night (remaining Tuesdays of month): 6:30-9:00 PM.
First and Third Saturdays of Month: 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM

05/16/2026

...but it works better with "G" (Garden) Gauge!

05/11/2026

The Late, Great Train Station

For a hundred years or more, every American small town that had a railroad had a train station.

Usually found downtown, these buildings were the local face of the mighty railroad to the individual towns which they served.

Along with being a waiting room for passengers and a gathering area for local less-than-carload freight, the station was the office (and, sometimes, the home) of the local railroad station agent.

This man knew people of the town personally. It was he who sold tickets to passengers and handed up train orders to engineers and conductors. It was also he who was the railroad's ear to the local merchants and industrialists from whom local freight business came.

He drummed up business and shook hands. His connection to the huge railroad was his telegraph key (later, telephone). He kept track of moving trains and was the dispatcher's auxiliary eyes and ears.

As time passed, consolidations came, and his job and building became obsolete.

As roads improved and air travel became safe and trusted, he had less freight and passengers to deal with. The passenger side of his building became home many times to maintenance equipment and personnel.

As railroads consolidated and merged, his job and building often became superfluous, giving way to a competing railroad across town that now was part of the same company that his was.

As "less than carload" freight went to trucks, he no longer shipped in little Jimmy's new bicycle. His "Railway Express" small package business went to newer companies such as UPS and FedEx.

Finally, improving technology led to "Central Train Control" and other such things in that he no longer set switches and logged passing trains. That was done by people in a bunker in a distant city running transcontinental railroads from a huge central location.

As the men and women retired, the buildings hung on for a while. Some became offices and restaurants and bus depots. Some just faded away, until lack of maintenance led to their removal.

But the very nature of the industry that employed was once the hub of the downtown -- the railroad station and agent -- had evolved to the point that this local institution joined the steam locomotive and the freight train caboose as a fond but increasingly distant memory.

04/24/2026

Our N-Gauge line is now working again, with the new bridge installed! At our last Tuesday work night, builder Joe Frisbe ran a twelve-car train successfully around the layout and that worked, also! (There are still a few minor bugs to be addressed, but today was the light at the end of the tunnel for getting this layout back into service!)

As for Kathy P., she is an all around helper here at the Museum, as are our many other volunteer members at the SSSMRE.

04/20/2026

Layouts Tour of the Sheboygan Railroad Museum Spring 2026 Open House

04/20/2026

Too Close For Comfort!

Some humorous footage from the O-Gauge Figure 8 temporary train setup at our recent Open House!

04/19/2026

04/19/2026

04/18/2026

President Leo and his module-moving mini-dolly trolley!