Tom Artzberger

Tom Artzberger owns and operates Hartford Shops. He designed a Rio Grande Southern #20 narrow gauge 4-6-0 steam locomotive.

Milwaukee Light Engineering Society

The following appeared in the Large Scale Model Railway Engineering newsletter of the Milwaukee Light Engineering Society, December 15, 1994.

Tom has been a member of the M.L.E.S. almost from the beginning. He missed the very first or charter meeting, but from the second meeting on he's been instrumental in the organization and formation of the society to date. Tom received his Bachelors degree in Engineering at the Milwaukee School of Engineering in 1972. That was two years after the club's formation in 1969. Today he's the Chief Design Engineer of the M.B.W. Ground Pounders Corp. in Slinger, Wisconsin which produces industrial concrete finishing equipment.

In 1970 when the Railroad Division of the M.L.E.S. was formed this was right down Tom's alley. his interest in trains and steam engines goes back to his childhood. Tom's grandfather was even the shop superintendent for the Porter Locomotive Works and after his retirement was commissioned to construct a 2 inch scale 4-8-4 Northern locomotive for a private party, which is still running today.

In 1972 Tom started writing technical articles for the then Railroad Division Stack Talk paper. At the time Tom was the Division Chief and has held that and a number of other offices in the club's history. Then when the land was acquired for the Railroad Park, Tom did most of the surveying and grading of the mainline with his own small crawler loader and through the years has been a major contributor in park maintenance and construction with his personally owned equipment. he's always been willing to bring it out any time to help with projects and grass cutting.

Tom's first live steam engine was alight two truck shay he built some 20 years ago. Since then he's ben setting his machine shop up and has built a number of engines, including a EMD SW-1200 diesel switcher, a Southern Pacific 4-6-0 Ten-Wheeler, and a 40 Ton Climax geared logging locomotive. At this time he's in the process of building two EMD GP-7 diesels, one gas powered, one electric powered -- all 1-1/2 inch scale, along with a 15 inch gauge diesel locomotive for the Riverside and Great Northern Society, intended for the Milwaukee County Zoo Line Railroad nearing completion for summer 1992 operation. He's also built about a dozen cars to include flat cars, gondolas, hoppers, a caboose, and even a drop bottom gondola, along with helping with the major rebuilding of a 0-4-2, 2-1/2 inch scale plantation locomotive into a 2-4-4, 1-1/2 inch scale logging engine.

Those who know Tom know that he's always willing to share his knowledge or lend a helping hand, and the club wouldn't be the same without him.

Ken Rodig

January 1992