Unexpected find tucked away inside historic rail station
Model railroad club has been meeting since 1936
In Milwaukee’s hot Harbor District, home to upscale apartments, a growing nightlife scene and other new developments, this is one thing you don’t expect to find:
A model railroad club — which for several decades has been hiding in plain sight within a historic former train station.
“We like to keep a low profile,” said George Edward, secretary of the Model Railroad Club of Milwaukee Inc., with a chuckle.
The clubhouse is at 215 E. National Ave., where it’s built into a Canadian Pacific Railway bridge that spans the street.
The stark architectural style, which the Wisconsin Historical Society calls
“astylistic utilitarian,” helps the concrete building blend with its surroundings. The building has no signs identifying it as the model railroad club’s home — just a couple of “no parking” notices.
Club members have been meeting there since 1936.
The nonprofit group was founded in 1933 by Frank Zeidler, who later served as Milwaukee’s mayor from 1948 to 1960; Al Kalmbach, publisher of Model Railroader magazine, now part of Waukesha-based Kalmbach Media; and William Walthers, founder of Milwaukee-based model train maker Wm. K. Walthers Inc.
The trio in 1935 also helped launch the National Model Railroad Association.
The Milwaukee club landed a home three years after its start by renting the former train station from the now-defunct Milwaukee Road.
The building was constructed in 1916, according to the Historical Society.
It was known as the Allis Station Waiting Room, where workers from the nearby Allis-Chalmers Corp. and other Walker’s Point factories would come and go by commuter rail.
The station included ticket windows and an indoor stairway that passengers used to reach an outdoor platform along the railroad tracks.
The Milwaukee Road closed the station after about 10 years.
Allis-Chalmers in 1900 had bought around 100 acres in what’s now West Allis, where the company began developing a massive complex to build tractors (and which today continues to undergo its own redevelopment).
Allis-Chalmers eventually shut down its Milwaukee operations, which extended southward from what’s now the corner of South First and East Florida streets.
Also, Milwaukee’s growing streetcar system provided a cheaper and faster way for workers to commute to other factories in Walker’s Point, said John Gurda, a Milwaukee historian and author.
After 10 vacant years, the former Allis Station was leased to the Model Railroad Club of Milwaukee.
Club members built an extensive
layout, which spans two connected rooms, to run their trains. The 15 or so current members continue that activity, usually meeting on the last Sunday of each month from around 1 to 3 p.m. Visitors are welcome.
The members also get together to do repairs to the building as well as the train layout. The layout features railroad tracks going through tunnels, over bridges, through rail yards and past backdrops featuring city skylines, mountain ranges and other scenes.
Club members tend to be older. Most got into the hobby through a parent or other family member.
“My dad used to bring me down here in the 1940s,” said longtime member Gene Seidler.
At a recent work session, the clubhouse got some younger visitors.
Matt Olson was bringing some friends, including some from outside Wisconsin, to see the model train layout. They were making a stop while strolling a few blocks to The Cooperage, the new home to Boone & Crockett tavern, 818 S. Water St.
“I didn’t know what to expect,” said Ayla Kadri of St. Petersburg, Fla. “This is so cool.”
Olson, who isn’t a club member, had recently discovered the clubhouse after leaving the nearby Drink Wisconsinbly Pub, 135 E. National Ave., and noticing the open door.
He poked his head inside and was blown away. He sees the model railroad club as an unappreciated local treasure.
“Milwaukee does not know about it,” Olson said.
But that could be changing: The clubhouse has been added to this year’s lineup at Doors Open Milwaukee.
The Sept. 22-23 event, sponsored by Historic Milwaukee Inc., will offer behind-the-scenes tours of buildings throughout the area. Last year’s event drew 26,100 visitors to 170 sites.
“We are looking forward to having them be part of the event this year,” said Grace Fuhr, Historic Milwaukee’s director of special events. “This building had been on our wish list.”
Also, the clubhouse is in the reviving Harbor District, which has around 1,000 acres bordered roughly by South First Street, the lakefront, the Milwaukee River and Bay Street/Becher Street.
The district’s water and land use plan, approved in February by the Common Council and Mayor Tom Barrett, calls for a long-term transformation of former industrial sites into housing, offices and other new uses.
Some of that change is starting. The Cooperage, which also houses food truck Taco Moto, the Milwaukee Pedal Tavern and other businesses, opened in April.
Freshwater Plaza, which features apartments and commercial buildings east of South First Street and north of East Greenfield Avenue, began opening its first phase in late 2016, with more buildings in the works.
Also, the 47-acre former Milwaukee Solvay Coke Co. site is undergoing an environmental cleanup. The Solvay site , which is primarily south of Greenfield Ave. roughly two blocks east of First Street, could eventually be developed into light industrial and office buildings, housing and retail space.
Other likely development sites include the former Horny Goat Hideaway brewpub site, overlooking the Kinnickinnic River, west of South First Street, and a former industrial site just to the northeast. Both properties were sold over the past year to investors.
The Harbor District’s growing prominence could could lead to more visibility for the model railroad clubhouse.
Harbor District Inc., a nonprofit group that helps lead the redevelopment efforts, is interested in working with the club and Canadian Pacific Railway to improve the building, said Dan Adams, the organization’s planning director.
The renovations could highlight the club’s activities, Adams said, “and provide a more interesting and engaging street facade.”
All that interest could benefit the club by helping it draw new members, Edward said, musing that maybe it is time for its low profile to change.
“We have foot traffic going by now,” Edward said. “This could be good for us.”
Tom Daykin can be emailed tdaykin@jrn.com and followed Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
Club members tend to be older. Most got into the hobby through a parent or other family member. “My dad used to bring me down here in the 1940s,” said longtime member Gene Seidler.