2008 Workshops

The Riverside & Great Northern offers workshops on a variety of topics of interest to rail buffs and enthusiasts.

Within the society members are encouraged to attend Steam School to learn the basics and perhaps become a R&GN Certified Steam Engineer. To name just a few disciplines one must study:

Conductor Training

• Railroad Safety
• Rules of the Road
• Radio Communications
• Signal School
• Diesel Operations

Steam Engineer Training

• Auxiliary Equipment Operations
• Care and Feeding of the Iron Horse
• Basic Steam Locomotive Operation

All of the above classes require written, oral and performance examination conducted by our conductor and senior engineer. Each year we have a few complete the requirements and become conductors and steam locomotive engineers. They then move on to volunteer or staff positions working at the R&GN. A few complete the courses just to experience what it would be like to work on a light railway.

We are currently working out our 2008 schedule.

Please call us for more information.

The Learning Center

The R&GN Learning Center features a custom model of the Sandley Light Railway Manufacturing Facility with an operating train - a train your children can operate.

Numerous historical photographs of the manufactured equipment and process are on display.

The video theater/library offers video presentations concerning the history of rail travel in Wisconsin, park railroad trains and the history of the Sandley Light Railway Equipment works.

Tours of the facility which include the machine shop, joinery and roundhouse, provide a close look at how things were done and how they are still done at the R&GN.

Explore and Learn at the R&GN

The mission statement of the Riverside & Great Northern Preservation Society, Inc. centers on experiencing "The Age of Steam".

To facilitate that goal we have become a living museum where equipment, practices and talents necessary to operate steam locomotives is something you do not just see in display cases.

Our display operates on 36 acres with 17 structures and many unique pieces of equipment. Individuals like yourself have come from all over the United States to join with us to provide you with the aroma, sights and sounds of the industrial age.

The support library is one of the finest technical libraries about the manufacturing of steam equipment in the country.

Notably the Sandley Light Railway Manufacturing Company produced some of the finest steam engines, coaches and freight equipment purchased by zoological parks.

The 15" gauge equipment is unique a light rail transportation, but for those who have studied this gauge have found that millions, yes millions of passengers have traveled thousands of miles behind these tiny locomotives.

As we celebrate our 20th year as a preservation society we are focusing on developing interpretive displays, comprised of technical drawings, patterns, castings and finished machined parts.