Wisconsin Chapter, National Railway Historical Society
Wisconsin NRHS is a chapter of the National Railway Historical Society.
The NRHS was founded in 1935 by a group of rail historians. It has since grown from 40 founding members to include thousands of men and women of all ages and professions in every state and many foreign countries, making it the nation's largest rail preservation and historical society. More information about NRHS may be found at www.nrhs.com.
The Wisconsin Chapter was founded in 1950. Our purpose is to gather, preserve and disseminate information, both historic and current, pertaining to railroading in Wisconsin and the Upper Midwest.
The chapter holds membership meetings on the the first Friday evening of the month (excepting June, July and August) in Fox Point, just north of Milwaukee. Meeting programs are presented by leading local railroad historians, photographers, enthusiasts, and people involved with the railroad industry. Meetings are always open to the public, and no admission fee is charged. Click the "Meetings" menu for details on our next meeting.
Follow the Wisconsin Chapter on Facebook and visit the chapter's channel on YouTube.
Wisconsin Chapter meetings are held on the first Friday of every month (except July & August), at 7:30 p.m., in the lower level meeting room of the North Shore Congregational Church, 7330 North Santa Monica Boulevard in Fox Point, Wisconsin. Click here for a Bing map and directions.
During the coronavirus pandemic, we held our meetings remotely, online. We will endeavor to continue to stream our meetings via Zoom for the benefit of anyone who cannot attend in-person. To be advised of Zoom connection information, sign up for our email announcements. Just send your request to president (at-sign) nrhswis (period) org.
Our meetings are always open to members and to anyone who has an interest in railroad history or today's railroad operations. No admission fee is charged. If you find yourself aligned with the goals of the chapter, please consider joining.
Upcoming meetings:
Friday, September 9, 2022, 7:30 PM CDT - Members' Favorite Slide Night
Our annual opportunity for all members to share their favorite railroad photos!
As most of the photographers in our group have switched to digital media, the term "slide" is a bit of a misnomer, but serves to convey the rich tradition and history of our annual start-of-the-season program. The subject matter is up to you - what you did on your summer vacation, a few shots of a unique or out-of-the-way railroad operation, steam action from back in the day, railroads in transition in the 1980s, recent pics of trains or photos from deep in your vault. This is is your chance to shine!
This meeting will be held in-person, at our regular venue in Fox Point, and also streamed on the Zoom platform.
Guidelines for presenters
Ideally, local members who expect to attend in-person should submit their images beforehand - contact president (at-sign) nrhs (period) org to discuss. Alternately, in-person presenters may bring digital images on a USB flash drive.
You may use presentation software (such as PowerPoint or Keynote) or show loose pictures.
If using presentation software, avoid transitions such as dissolves, etc. (there are no issues for the in-person audience, but they don't work well when streamed due to limited Zoom bandwidth).
Digital only. If you have some old gems ("legacy media") and need assistance digitizing them, contact president (commercial-at) nrhswis (point) org.
You may narrate in real-time or provide a soundtrack.
The images you show should be predominately railroad-related, any era.
Please limit your presentation to approximately five minutes.
The presenter lineup will be posted here as it is developed.
If you are able, please attend in preson! Those who cannot are encouraged to download the latest version of Zoom software to their computers (or tablets, or smartphones) to attend virtually. Zoom connection info will be posted here in late August. If you would like to be notified of the virtual meeting details, or if you are a member who would like to present, please send a note to president (at-sign) nrhswis (dot) org. Thank you.