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Auggie Otto's steam train only runs once a year during the Sandwich Fair. In 1999, when the BRHS Annual Meet was at Aurora, I attempted to get the Otto family to leave the engine and trainset available for the following weekend and we were respectfully denied due to the fall harvest season and their work schedule. After the fair is shutdown on Sunday evening, the cars and tender are placed in the car barn at the fair grounds, the engine is allowed to cool off over night, and the following day the locomotive is loaded in its transport frame and taken to its' climate controlled room at the Otto farm, where it stays until the following year. The rails of the layout at the fair are then painted with silver paint, which both protects the rail and helps in lubrication the following year.
When I inquired of having the train as an extra fare, I was taken through the machine shop and the locomotive storage room by Auggie Otto, where he shared with me all of his works in making the steam engine and others that were also in the storage room. Also, the ticket both is of interest to Q fans, as it is a replica of the Batavia Depot. When Auggie decided the fair needed a train and received permission from the Fair Association, he so much liked the Batavia Depot, that it became a natural fit with the locomotive. Friends of Auggie and of his family, have assisted the Otto family in operating and maintaining the equipment for the enjoyment of thousands of people each year.
Plan on making a trip to the Sandwich Fair next fall, always the week after Labor Day, and billed as the best county fair in Illinois! You will not be disappointed! And thanks go out to all who keep this local treasure alive and well! __._,_.___
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