EDITION 6 - SUNDAY, MAY 9, 2021 This E-Newsletter is produced by the Wisconsin Great Northern Railroad's Office of Passenger Development to keep our supporters informed about the restoration of the Mark Twain Zephyr. We will send one to two updates per month and never sell/give your e-mail address to any third party. JOIN US FOR AN "OPEN HOUSE" ON MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND! Planning to head "Up North" for Memorial Day Weekend? Then you will want to add the Wisconsin Great Northern Railroad to your itinerary. Our crews... who have been hard at work on the Mark Twain Zephyr... will be putting down their saws, paint brushes, and other tools to host a special OPEN HOUSE EVENT that will give the public an inside look at the progress being made on the famous Burlington train. This FREE event will be held from 10:00am - 4:00pm CDT on Saturday, May 29, 2021 and Sunday, May 30, 2021.. Guided tours will be offered of the interior of the three passenger cars under construction, including "Tom Sawyer", "Huckleberry Finn", and "Effie Dean/Car #500". Self-guided tours of the exterior of the cars... as well as the new museum/display car "Becky Thatcher"... will be offered. Hot dogs, sloppy joes, and sides will be provided free from 11AM until gone each day. So, if nothing else... stop by and have lunch on us and check out the train! Railroad historians Robert & Kandace Tabern will be on-site selling copies of their historical books about the Mark Twain Zephyr entitled, "Mark Twain Zephyr: History, Restoration & Re-birth", Volume 1 and 2. (Volume 3 is currently being written and will be released in Spring 2022). Funds raised from the book sales goes to the Wisconsin Great Northern Railroad's restoration efforts of the Mark Twain Zephyr --- so snatching your copy is a great way to show your support for what we are doing. A limited number of Mark Twain Zephyr and WGNRR items will also be available for sale, although our main gift shop and offices will be closed. (Note: No rides will be offered, this is just an open house to view the Mark Twain Zephyr). View special historical displays including the original Mark Twain medallion and signature panel off the "Tom Sawyer"... which has not been on public display since 1962 (except at our October 2020 Open House). We will also have video displays for viewing and trivia. Working historic 1930's Zephyr model railroad layout (SATURDAY) with model railroader Greg Turinetti. Mark Twain Zephyr O-Scale brand new model of Mark Twain Zephyr and a brass HO model of the Flying Yankee on display (SUNDAY). & MUCH MORE!!!! WISCONSIN GREAT NORTHERN RAILROAD MARK TWAIN ZEPHYR OPEN HOUSE EVENT MAY 29 & 30, 2021 10AM - 4PM N6639 DILLY LAKE ROAD TREGO, WI 54888 U.S. 53/63 BETWEEN SPOONER AND TREGO, WI FREE!! RESERVATIONS NOT NEEDED, NOR ACCEPTED Please Note: PER THE MOST RECENT FRA/TSA FEDERAL MANDATE IN EFFECT UNTIL SEPTEMBER 13, 2021... FACE COVERINGS MUST BE WORN AT ALL TIME WHEN YOU ARE ON RAILROAD PROPERTY - EXCEPT WHEN ACTIVELY EATING OR DRINKING. THIS INCLUDES THIS INDOOR AND OUTDOOR PORTIONS OF THIS EVENT. BY ATTENDING THE MAY 29-30 OPEN HOUSE, YOU CONSENT TO FOLLOW THIS MANDATE. For more information: rtabern@spoonertrainride.com UPDATE ON OUR 2021 SEASON We have an update to share about the Wisconsin Great Northern's 2021 season. Last week, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and Transportation Security Administration (TSA), decided to extend their mask mandate through September 13. This mandate, which was set to expire originally this week, states that all visitors and passengers must wear their masks the entire time they are on railroad property. The FRA and TSA federal mandate for railroads supersedes any local or state mandates that may or may not be in place. The only exception for taking off your mask would be eating and drinking on one of our food trains --- however --- passengers would have to "re-mask after ever bite and sip". Those are literally the words used in the memo we received. We do not really envision meals, or even a simple cheese and wine tasting, being really enjoyable for passengers with having to constantly re-mask. So, our owners are making the difficult decision to remain closed for awhile longer... with hopes the mandate will be lifted soon. Our decision was also based on the fact that any passenger who violated such mandate could face stiff fines from the government. (We don't want to subject you to that!) With that said, the Wisconsin Great Northern Railroad does not have an "official" opening date for 2021 at this time. This is because the federal mandate could end sooner than expected... or it could extended even further into the fall or winter. We simply do not know. Our staff will continue to remain busy despite passengers trains not running for the next couple of months. Work will continue on building 28 private dining rooms on our four main dining cars --- providing the only train in the country with a private dining experience for all passengers. Work has begun on building loops on the north and south end of our passenger main line --- so you will soon get a much different view when you head back to the WGNRR. Work will continue on ballasting the 2.5 miles of new track that was laid last fall north of our Trego Depot. Our media team is also hard at work... collaborating closely with TRAINS Magazine on a new DVD and special edition magazine they are putting together for release later this year. A lot of the DVD will feature video shot by our teams on-property. Our team of historians are looking at going "ON TOUR" this summer... reaching out to those along the original route of the Mark Twain Zephyr who might still remember the train or have memorabilia. They will give presentations to local libraries and rail history groups from Galesburg, IL to St. Louis, MO. More on these items coming in future E-Newsletters! Continue to watch our website... and when an exact re-open day is announced, we will also send out one our e-Newsletters. MARK TWAIN ZEPHYR BOOK ORDERING INFORMATION: After more than 3,000 hours of research and numerous trips that took the co-authors to Texas, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, and Iowa... the first two (of three) volumes of "Mark Twain Zephyr: History, Restoration, and Rebirth" have been published and are currently on sale. VOLUME #1 is 265 pages long and focuses on Albert Dean's design of the Zephyrs, a brief look at each of the Mark Twain Zephyr's sister trains, exclusive photos of the building of the Mark Twain Zephyr at the Budd Plant in Philadelphia, the "test run" of the Mark Twain Zephyr in New York and Pennsylvania, some of the pre-inaugural runs in the Midwest, the record set in Nebraska, and a play-by-play of the October 25, 1935 dedication in Hannibal, Missouri. VOLUME #2 is 287 pages long and focuses on the 23 years that the Mark Twain Zephyr operated under the CB&Q. You will be surprised at how many different lines the train set was used on besides the "home route" of Burlington, Iowa to St. Louis, Missouri via Hannibal. We will also trace the 60 year history that the Mark Twain Zephyr was under private ownership. We got the chance to interview the children of many of the original owners who provided exclusive content to this book. The last chapter focuses on the Wisconsin Great Northern's restoration plans. (VOLUME #3, which will be released in Winter or Spring 2022, is planned to focus on the move of the Mark Twain Zephyr from the St. Louis area to Northwest Wisconsin... many exclusive photos and content of the restoration process that you have not been able to see... and of course, the ribbon cutting and first few weeks of public runs at the Wisconsin Great Northern Railroad). You will have three different choices when it comes to purchasing your copies of "Mark Twain Zephyr: History, Restoration, and Rebirth". They are available from our publisher in a fine Collector's Edition Hard Cover edition, a lighter soft cover edition, and an e-Book for those... who are digital-minded and want to get reading instantly! No matter what your choice is, you'll want to head over to www.MTZstore.com right now to make your purchase of Volume #1 and Volume #2. FOR MORE UPDATES... FOLLOW THE MARK TWAIN ZEPHYR ON FACEBOOK & TWITTER @MarkTwainZephyr www.MarkTwainZephyr.com www.MTZstore.com Wisconsin Great Northern Railroad N6639 Dilly Lake Road Trego, Wisconsin 54888 Depot Phone: (715) 635-3200 Please direct inquiries about the MTZ Restoration Project to: Robert Tabern, WGNRR Director of Passenger Development rtabern@spoonertrainride.com (c)2021 Wisconsin Great Northern Railroad, Inc. - All Rights Reserved

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