Glimpse of the Past :Hospital rail car that made stops here displayed in Green Bay

Apr. 23—After more than 2 1/2 years of meticulous work, the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, Wisconsin, has unveiled its restored Joseph Lister hospital car.

The Lister, built in 1930 by the famed Pullman Company, transported patients from Chicago to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester for more than 30 years as part of the Chicago and North Western Railroad. Part of the Rochester-Minnesota Special train, the Lister was intended to provide sleeping quarters for overnight occupancy. Its Minnesota stops included Mankato and Waseca.

CNW information describes the Lister as a customized composite Pullman sleeping car that could hold six patients and medical personnel. The car had multiple private rooms.

To afford patients a greater level of comfort, the Lister featured three double doors along one side that each opened to 30 inches wide, enough to accommodate a stretcher. Two of the doors provided direct entrance into extra-wide rooms. The third set accessed multiple open sections at one end of the car.

By using the double doors, patients avoided the numerous turns associated with the usual vestibule entrance. To further aid mobility within the car, corridors were widened to facilitate stretchers and to aid patients moving about with an escort.

As such, the car was equipped with several special engineering features to reduce noise and vibration. In addition to roller bearings on the axles, a smoother ride was ensured by rubber "shock absorbers" placed between the car body and its trucks. The diaphragms at each end of the car were spring-hung, eliminating much of the noise associated with the between-car walkways.

A 1995 article in The Post-Bulletin newspaper in Rochester noted the train service had been key to the expansion of the Mayo Clinic's patient-service area in its early years of development. The Post-Bulletin quoted retired CNW station agent Cy Day as saying that "on many days (the hospital cars) were full with patients."

Retired Mayo Clinic administrator Slade Schuster also was quoted as saying the rail service was a boon to the clinic's expanding patient load, especially from the 1930s through the 1950s.

"The railroad was a lifeline for Mayo in those early days," a 2006 Post-Bulletin article noted.

Improved highways and expanded airline service decreased Mayo Clinic's dependence on rail service. In the early 1960s, CNW discontinued all rail passenger service to Rochester.

The hospital car has been part of the National Railroad Museum's rolling stock since 1988. CNW named it the Joseph Lister in honor of the famed English surgeon best known as the founder of antiseptic medicine and a pioneer in preventive medicine.

The Lister was one of two identical hospital cars manufactured for CNW. The other was dubbed Ephraim McDowell for the former American physician and pioneer surgeon; that car eventually was dismantled and used for parts.

Once the Joseph Lister was removed from hospital car service, its interior was gutted and it finished its career as a bunk car for CNW rail crews. Upon arrival at the museum, the Lister was used for storage before being converted into a maintenance space and then transitioning back to a storage space.

Thousands of hours have been devoted to resurrecting the Lister since it was moved inside the museum's shop in July 2019. Referencing more than 100 detailed blueprints, restoration team members fabricated many parts that deteriorated or were missing before the museum acquired the car. The Lister also received extensive metalwork, new wiring and fresh paint both inside and outside.

"Through more than 2 1/2 years of hard work by our staff and a dedicated volunteer corps, we have been able to re-create a significant piece of American railroad history," said Jacqueline Frank, CEO of the National Railroad Museum.

The restored Lister is being displayed in the National Railroad Museum's Lenfestey Center, with plans to relocate it once the center's east-end addition is constructed.

Financial support for the project was provided by the David L. and Rita E. Nelson Family Fund, as well as donations from Dr. Paul and Linda Koch, and other smaller donations. Paul Koch also donated historic medical equipment that will be used in the display once the east end addition is built.

For more information about the National Railroad Museum, visit nationalrrmuseum.org or call (920) 437-7623.