A new era for the Milwaukee, Racine & Troy

When Kalmbach Publishing Co. moved from Milwaukee to the western suburb of Waukesha in 1989, the Milwaukee, Racine & Troy had a blank slate. The ink-stained concrete floor; large, drafty windows; and sun-faded scenery were in the past.

“Our new layout room is a beautiful place, an open, rectangular space with a tile floor, drop ceiling, central air conditioning, and its own lab-size sink,” Andy Sperandeo wrote in the December 1989 Model Railroader. “The new railroad will have a better traffic pattern for entertaining visitors. Guests will be able to see the port and city scene through the hallway windows even before they enter the room. Coming in through the lower doorway, the first thing they’ll see will be the ‘roundhouse’ scene with its collection of motive power.”

Much of the reason for Kalmbach’s move was that it was outgrowing the old building at 1027 N. 7th Street. New magazines were being added to the company’s portfolio, leading Jim Kelly to jokingly suggest a name change for the MR&T in an issue of Proof, the company’s employee newsletter. “The club briefly considered incorporating the names of all these into a new railroad name – the Milwaukee, Racine, Tomahawk, Algoma, Cedarburg, Chippewa Falls, Delafield, Eau Claire, Fond du Lac, Green Bay, Oconomowoc, Thiensville, Madison, Minocqua, New Berlin & Troy RR (MRTACCDEFGOTMMN&T for short) – but decided against it. The American Associa­tion of Railroads limits railroad names to three cities.” – Cody Grivno

Milwaukee, Racine & Troy Dash 8-40BW No. 1175 brings a train down the 3% grade at Winter Hill on Model Railroader’s former staff model railroad. Construction started on the 28 x 54-foot HO scale layout in 1989. Bill Zuback photo

Model Railroader Editor Russ Larson and Managing Art Director La Verne Bleifuss work on benchwork in the early 1990s. Though it looks like Russ is drilling through La Verne’s hand, rest assured it’s just an optical illusion. Model Railroader collection

It took a small army of employees to get the MR&T built. Here, Bob Hayden and an unidentified Kalmbach employee work together to attach a piece of tempered hardboard backdrop to a support post. At right, Gordy Odegard hams it up for the camera, much to the amusement of Lee Vande Visse (in the striped shirt). Model Railroader collection

Erik Bergstrom worked with Ad Sales colleague Mike Brickl to ballast large stretches of the MR&T. In this April 1996 photo, Bergstrom is shown putting cars back in the freshly ballasted Port Marquette Yard. Model Railroader collection

George-Sebastian Coleman uses a hot glue gun to attach plaster rock castings at Winter Hill for a story that appeared in the September 1996 MR. In 2012, this section of the MR&T became the subject of the Winter Hill Branch project layout. Model Railroader collection

When Dick Christianson returned as MR’s managing editor in 2005, he led the push to get more work done on the MR&T. Here, he’s attaching cork sheet to the Wisconsin & Southern staging yard in 2007. Model Railroader collection

Andy Sperandeo, who designed the track plan for the current MR&T, operates a Wisconsin & Southern (WSOR) four-axle road unit over newly laid track at Troy. The WSOR project layout was built on the benchwork of the Troy & Northern, the only portion of the old MR&T moved to Kalmbach’s former headquarters. Model Railroader collection

After Erik Bergstrom and Mike Brickl left Kalmbach, Cody Grivno took over the ballasting duties on the MR&T. Here, he’s spreading ballast in the gauge of the rails on the Wisconsin & Southern project layout. Model Railroader collection

David Popp marks track centers at Bay Junction, one of three sections of the MR&T used as a project layout. David designed the track plans for the Bay Junction and Wisconsin & Southern layouts. Model Railroader collection

Bay Junction was where the Wisconsin & Southern interchanged with the Milwaukee, Racine & Troy. As Dana Kawala works the industries at Bay Junction with a pair of MR&T road switchers in the background, Jim Hediger eases a WSOR train out of the yard for its trip back to Troy. Model Railroader collection

The Milwaukee, Racine & Troy Turtle Creek Central heritage unit leads a grain train through Hales Corners. Lee Vande Visse originally worked on the scene. Cody Grivno finished it for a pair of Step by Step articles. Model Railroader collection

Though the Milwaukee, Racine & Troy is no more, the Model Railroader team is hard at work on a new staff layout known as the East Troy Industrial Park. You can watch the progress on this HO scale, 14 x 19-foot L-shaped layout on Trains.com Video, or on the Trains.com Workshop Webcam.

Click here for a retrospective gallery on the final days of the MR&T.

Click here for a retrospective gallery on the first iteration of the MR&T.

Click here for a DVD remembering 45 years on the MR&T.