Illinois Railway Museum Blog

Saturday, June 20 marked the 50th anniversary of the end of trolley bus service in Milwaukee.  Noted historian Russ Schultz, who planted the seed for this event earlier this spring, acted as the "host" for the event.  Since April he has promoted it by distributing fliers around Milwaukee County Transit garages.  For the past couple months, Richard Schauer, Jerry Saunders, Greg Kepka, Nick Espevik, and many others (including Russ himself) worked to get Milwaukee Marmon 441 back into operating condition.  Early Saturday morning (06/20) operator Jerry Saunders had the coach out of the barn and ready to go.  After greeting and chatting with early arriving visitors in front of the Glenn Andersen Trolley Bus Garage for a little while, he went into service around 10:15am.  Almost immediately the bus was packed.  Incredibly, it stayed that way virtually the entire day, until we ended service around 5:30pm.  Russ had special passes and transfers printed up for the event which were handed out to the riders throughout the day.  For those who were not able to squeeze into the 441, Richard Schauer provided supplemental service with Seattle MAN articulated coach 4020.  He was also in service all day.  After dinner we returned and gave Russ and his group an added treat of nighttime operations.  Russ couldn't be happier with how the day went.  I want to thank all the guys who helped get the 441 ready for the event and a HUGE thank you to Jerry and Richard for spending their day providing service for the throngs of visitors.  Of course this event would not have happened without Russ Schultz.  He started it all with an idea, and with support from the shop guys and operators, was there all day handing out souvenirs, talking with visitors about Milwaukee transit history, taking photos, and overall lighting up the coach with his happiness and enthusiasm.