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NEWSLETTER OF THE FORT WAYNE RAILROAD HISTORICAL SOCIETY | SUMMER 2018 • 2017: Year in Review • The Joliet Rocket • Positive Train Control task force assembled IN THIS ISSUE • Remembering Tom Stephens and Jerry Jacobson • Progress on Project 358 SPRING & SUMMER 2018 2018 BOARD OF DIRECTORS William Otter, President Kelly Lynch, Vice President REVENUE Brian Christophel, Treasurer Operating Revenue - $438,944 Rich Brinkley, Secretary Donations and Memberships - $72,853 Joe Knapke, Crew Chief & Volunteer Coordinator Rick Popp, Merchandise Manager EXPENSES Chuck Young, Assistant Operations Manager NKP 765 Repairs and Maintenance - $33,864 Wayne York, Senior Excursion Manager Track Repairs - $31,571 Steve Winicker, Mechanical Manager Buildings and Grounds - $23,741 Misc. Expenses - $61,457 EX. OFFICIO MANAGERS Zach Hall, Operations Manager Ray Kammer, Excursion Manager Brad Morocco, Membership Manager The Rock Island Line was “a mighty fine road” once again operations on the CVSR, we offered one of the most government-mandated system that is intended to thanks to our car attendants and train comprehensive Throttle Time experiences of big prevent trains from colliding with each other. It will crew, enjoying a brief steam available anywhere to the public. Over two days, be present on all Class I railroads in the near future. moment of downtime shortly before we were able to let 30 people pull the throttle and fire Although the complete details are still being defined, departure of the last the engine over about six miles of welded rail. This it will require us to outfit the 765 with approximately Matthew Malkiewicz trip of the weekend. involved obtaining a special waiver from the FRA 200k worth of hardware (both electronic and and of course permission from the CVSR and the mechanical) to be able to operate on any railroad so Now Boarding on Track Number 7... National Park System. Our waiver is good for a total equipped. This is an ongoing effort that will need to be By Bill Otter, President of five years and needless to say, we will be offering solved if big steam is to survive as we know it. “Now boarding on Track No. 7, extremely successful undertaking. Whether this once-in-a-lifetime experience again. Our challenges grow every year but we welcome The Joliet Rocket!” A sound that had not you run one trip or ten, the amount The landscape for big steam operations change as an opportunity to evolve and develop our been heard at the LaSalle Street Station of preparation, training, maintenance, continues to evolve and our organization is adapting organization and its members. As always, the Society is for many decades was heard in downtown expense and dedication remains constant well to the new reality of operating successful steam as good as its volunteers and supporters, and we could Chicago last year. for our volunteers. excursions in today’s environment. not be more grateful of all of you for your continued The Joliet Rocket let us recreate a We received nothing but One of the biggest challenges facing us in support. You are all members of a first-class railroad piece of history with our wonderful time compliments from Metra as to the the future is the implementation of PTC. This is a preservation and restoration operation, be proud of it! machine. Big Band music, period costumes professionalism of our total operation. This and a famous station setting formed the is something to be proud of coming from a background. massive commuter railroad like Metra. We This operation represented a different have been invited back for 2018 and ticket approach to how we have traditionally done sales are underway. things in the past. We were able to provide 2017 also saw our return to one of a memorable experience and I would say it our favorite venues, the Cuyahoga Valley is a safe bet that we converted a few folks to Scenic Railroad (CVSR). This was our join our ranks as avid fans and members. sixth successful year of operations in the Our Operations staff, Excursion staff, Cuyahoga National Park. We pulled eight and everyone else involved in the planning sold-out trains over two weekends and and execution of this event set a new created somewhere in the area of 3000 standard – even for us. From organizing smiling faces. The weather cooperated the intricate moves through Chicagoland’s perfectly and the ridership numbers showed maze of railroads to making sure our car that our engine has excellent drawing attendants and other support personnel power with the public. performed their duties well, it was an Along with our regular passenger Ben Sutton2 Experience-driven excursion model lifts off in Chicago and will return again in September By Kelly Lynch, Vice President Matthew Malkiewicz Conway and Tim Pitzen, our two primary stewards at appetizers inspired by the era in the ticket price. With the railroad, the question was posed: what if we could $40,000 budgeted towards event costs alone, The Joliet create a destination event at LaSalle Street Station and Rocket was starting off as a bit of a gamble. limited compared to their entire network, which is make the 765 the star of the show? Our first step was to study where our previous AN OPPORTUNITY AND A CHALLENGE The Rock Island’s Rocket trains were marketed customers had come from. We mapped out the zip Last summer - and for the first time in over shared with BNSF and Union Pacific. as some of the premier first-class trains of their codes from The Varsity and the mothballed Galesburg 30 years - a steam locomotive pulled into LaSalle While our 2016 Varsity trips north of Chicago kind. While they were all diesel powered, the idea of trip with Amtrak. 40% of those customers were from Street Station. Thanks in no small part to Metra, were well attended, the high-speed highlights of the taking passengers to the same terminal once shared the immediate Chicago region and the rest were its employees and our dedicated volunteers, the 765 trip bookended an otherwise eight-hour plod with by the Rock Island, Nickel Plate Road, and New from the tri-state area and beyond. Being able to spirited nearly 3,000 people to and from the heart of copious speed restrictions. There was no destination or York Central had a lot of appeal. It was the perfect capture 40% or greater of that audience, with several downtown Chicago during Fathers Day Weekend. layover and the boxed lunches left some to be desired. opportunity to highlight the fact that the railroads months of lead time improved the operating prospects As the first event of its kind and over half a The passenger experience overall was just fair. Open invented the red-carpet experience - and at the same immeasurably. year in the making, the weeks leading up to it were vestibules were a plus. spot where the railroad’s invented it! And that’s how Steam engines and passenger cars are costly a constant flurry of preparation and white-knuckle When you’re operating a regal mainline time The Joliet Rocket was born. endeavors whether you’re going ten miles or 100, logistical hurdles. Our relationship with Metra has machine with some of the best vintage cars in the which meant we had to operate several trips during the provided the Society with an extremely valuable country, “fair” may is not the standard you work THE ENTERTAINMENT BUSINESS weekend to make a profit. Instead of trying to sell out opportunity and great teamwork, but also some for. Fair doesn’t win repeat customers. Fair does not To thrive in the 21st Century, steam locomotive just one or two trains, we had to sell out four! unusual operating and marketing challenges. To name provide full value. operators like us must realize that we in the We employed an aggressive digital marketing a few: The only other route we could conceivably entertainment business. With this in mind, we set forth campaign, relying heavily on video marketing, our • Chicago is a massive market, but one where explore was on was the Rock Island District. The making the entire operation more than just a train email newsletter, and social media to average $10- demands for your dollar are everywhere. problem? The route is just 46 miles and there’s no ride. $14,000 in ticket sales every week. We completely • You can ride a train just about 24/7 at any time logistically feasible way turn the train. At 60-70MPH, We asked customers to dress for the period, re-approached the way tickets were sold online and of the year throughout the region. a trip on the Rock is over relatively quickly. hired a jazz band, populated the train with WWII re- created a new web page for the event to help evoke the • The available railroad that Metra owns is During an October conference call with Rob enactors and made sure to include craft cocktails and 6 Rob Olewinksi essence of the trips. Past ticketing pages had offered a Operationally speaking, the trips went off breathless wall-of-text with minimal visuals. At 60 days extremely well and we quickly adapted to challenges out from the event, we could start to breathe a little as they arose. After departing shortly behind schedule easier. from Joliet, we had to scrub the planned runby in As part of our event permit, we were able to order to keep our tight, commuter train timetable. carve out a 150 x 80-foot portion of the station Rather than eliminate the opportunity to experience pavilion and get the necessary clearances for security, the 765 up close and under power, we came up with food and alcohol sales and more-or-less segment the an alternative: “the dramatic entrance.” area off for passengers only.