Depot Days hearkens to Lisle's early days

Sometime around the late 1800s, railroad workers devised a handcar to repair the track that runs through Lisle.

Recently restored, the antique handcar will be on public display for the first time Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 17 and 18, at the 32nd annual Lisle Depot Days.

"The railroad car was used in maintenance," said Joe Bennett, charter member of the Lisle Heritage Society. Bennett said a team of volunteers worked to rejuvenate the wood and brass vehicle now standing on the tracks by the old depot.

Depot Days, the weekend celebration of Lisle's history presented by the heritage society and the Lisle Park District, will include demonstrations, interactive exhibits, games, hayrides, a petting farm, square dancing and contests at the Museums at Lisle Station Park, 921 School St., Lisle.

"We work really hard to bring new attractions to complement longtime favorites, to keep the event fresh," said Cathy Cawiezel, Lisle Heritage Society board member.

After a long absence from Depot Days, the Wheelmen Antique Bicycle Club will return, Cawiezel said. The national nonprofit organization is dedicated to preserving America's cycling heritage through restoring and riding bicycles manufactured before 1918.

Also returning to the festival after several years will be the Morse Telegraph Club, she said.

A relatively new addition to Depot Days is also coming back this year.

"The straw bale maze was very popular last year, so we're bringing it back this year," Cawiezel said.

Cawiezel said the village of Lisle, celebrating the 60th anniversary of its incorporation this year, first was settled in 1832. In the following few decades, the railroad came to Lisle and the depot was built.

Depot Days visitors can see leather-making and basket-weaving demonstrations inside the 1830s Beaubien Tavern, watch beehive oven bread-baking inside the 1850s-era Netzley-Yender farmhouse and witness blacksmith and woodworking demonstrations inside the blacksmith shop.

The farmhouse basement is home to an elaborate model railroad that will be running throughout Depot Days.

"It's an HO-scale model railroad. We'll probably have four or five trains running on it at any one time," Bennett said. "There will be a circus train moving with music."

Also on display will be the CB&Q waycar, commonly called a caboose.

"You can go in. It's fabulously restored on the inside," Cawiezel said.

The wooden interior has a potbellied stove and a metal ladder that leads to a rooftop cupola where rail workers would sit and survey the tracks, she said.

At the 1870s-era depot, visitors can explore the passenger area and the station master's adjoining living quarters.

Admission is free fee for the event, which is fueled by volunteers who collectively put in an estimated 200 hours, Cawiezel said. Roughly 3,000 visitors attend each year, she said.

While details change, the festival maintains a sense of continuity, she said.

"The core of it has been the same. There's something for people of every age," Cawiezel said. "We're so proud the event has engaged so many generations. It's such a truly community-centered event."

If you go

What: 32nd annual Depot Days

When: Noon to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 17 and 18

Where: Museums at Lisle Station Park, 921 School St., Lisle

Admission: Free

Info: lisleheritagesociety.org or lisleparkdistrict.org