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Railmen Drum and Bugle Corps

The Railmen Drum and Bugle Corps Memorial Page

About Me

I’ve just been informed our friend, frontline instructor and arranger Jim Heisinger passed away yesterday on March 10, 2008. As I get details and information on arrangements, I will pass them on.
Jim was a mentor and a friend. He was brilliant, but never stuffy. It was always a good time with Jim. Quick with a joke, and light of your smoke. Ha. Damn. Jim was my musical backdoor to Tower of Power, Steely Dan and Frank Zappa.
I’ve always said the the frontline books Jim Heisinger wrote and taught are the most interesting and complementary to the wind and batter books, bar none. Through the years I’ve listened to enough drum corps to suck the bark out of a dog, at ten paces.
And while there are many great frontline ensembles out there, the books he wrote, and his knowledge of how to get what he wrote performed was amazing. Many times he took people that had never played mallets in their lives, and turned them into 4mallet animals.
When ever I write percussion, I always try to write how I think Jim would write.
Dude, you were the best, and I’ll miss you!The Railmen were formed in 1939 by the Union Pacific Railroad Company as "The Union Pacific Drum and Bugle Corps," a local music organization to perform in parades and special events for the railroad. Specifically, the group was organized in celebration of Cecil B. DeMille’s film, "Union Pacific." The "Golden Spike Days" event was held in Omaha on April 28, 1939, starting a four day celebration for the Movie Premier. DeMille, Barbara Stanwyck, Joel McCrea, and other celebrities were brought in (by train of course) for the celebration. At the corps inception, participation was restricted to Union Pacific employee’s children.
The founder, Chris Jensen, was directing the Elks D&BC at the time when Mr. Jeffers, UP President at the time, saw it and wondered why Chris (UP employee) couldn’t do something like this for employees kids. It was such a success that he asked Mr. Jensen to continue with the corps. The 1st corps uniform mirrored those of a UP engineer: bib overalls, neck kerchiefs, and engineer hats. Instead of having a bugle (or soprano) line, they used ordinary trumpets, as well as batons instead of flags, sabers, rifles, etc.
In 1971 Ken Whittle took over the corps from Chris Jensen and began the corps transition from "kiddie" corps to a full competitive unit. Two valve "G" bugles and "Bridgmen" Style uniforms were purchased and the corps quickly became successful parade corps.
When the corps went competitive in 1983, membership was opened to "nonrailroaders." A new staff was brought in to bring the corps on the field. Frank Troyka, Madison Scout alum instructed the guard and designed the drill. Pete Tolhuizen was brought in to work the brass and Larry Lawless worked the percussion. In 1984, the Railmen became a competitive, touring group and in 1985 traveled to it’s first Drum Corps International Championship, coming away with a Class A finalist Position. The corps continued to develop, rising through the ranks and establishing itself as an entertaing, crowd favorite.
Facing budget cuts in 1988, Union Pacific, not interested in funding a touring, competitive corps, and content with its previous arrangement, dropped funding and the corps officailly separated from the railroad.
Shane Macklin took the reins of the Railmen as Director at the age of 21, a Nebraska native and fresh Madison Scout age out. Bringing in a new staff and recruitment team, Macklin oversaw the re-formation of the Railmen into a Not for Profit youth organization.
From 1988 through 1995 the average age of the corps raised from 15 to 18 years, with members choosing to march through their age out year (21 years) instead to leaving to march in other corps. Restructuring the corps while building on its previous success, the Railmen earned Drum Corps International "Top 25" member corps status in 1989. Donations were hard to come by since the corps was known in the Omaha area as the "Union Pacific" corps and the assumption was the railroad met all our financial needs. Funding relied largely on income from DCI and DCM sponsored contests and membership dues. By 1993, the corps was not able to meet its obligations and staff salaries went unpaid. The Railmen were not able to field a junior corps for the first time in 1994, yet the corps competed as a Senior Corps, earning a DCM finalist position in the Senior Division. In 1995 the corps fielded its last junior corps with a reduced touring schedule and increased member dues. By the end of the 1995 season, the board had no choice but to fold the competitive organization due to lack of funding
All that being said, the Railmen consitently brought a crowd pleasing show to the audience while providing a unique and educational music experience for its members. This page celebrates the success of the Railmen Drum and Bugle Corps family.
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Member Since: 11/5/2006
Band Website: myspace.com/railmendrumandbuglecorps
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Scroll below for season overview and memories

1995 Railmen “Impressions of A Global Village” Daybreak / Ire Dodoye - Special EFX / Traditional
Saya – The Soto Koto Band
Africa – Robert Smith
Director: Steve Hermach
Drum Major: “Silky Smooth” Brian Alber
Brass Design: Bill Trulove
Batter Design:
Frontline Design: Jim Heisinger
Guard Design:
Drill Design: Eddie Carr
Brass Instruction: Bill Trulove, Leland Jordan, Javier Marquez
Percussion Instruction: Jeff Bush, Jim Heisinger
Guard Instruction:
Visual Instruction:
Brass: 9
Percussion:
Guard:
Competitive Show Schedule:
June 24 Alexandria, MN Vikingland Drum Corps Classic
June 26 Moorhead, MN
June 27 Eden Prairie, MN
July 1 Cedar Rapids, IA Tournament of Drums
July 3 Gowrie, IA
July 4 Ralston, NE Drums Across Nebraska
July 5 Kansas City, MO
July 14 Dekalb, IL DCM Championships
July 24 Omaha, NE Drums Across the Midlands
August 7 Buffalo, NY DCI World Championships
Reminiscence:The Toxic Avenger
Brian Hartman hanging back with the last of the contras from the Larger corps during Olympic style retreatsIf you listen to the mello book mid way through Saya, you’ll hear the UP motif.
The Railmen Brass Ensemble entry at DCI I&E (Individual and Ensemble) Competition was a Monty Python Sketch. The corps acted out working drill sets as baritone Derek Miller (if I’m remembering who did this right) was growing less happy by the moment. He exclaims “I never really wanted to be in Drum Corps. What I really want to be is…a Lumberjack!” and off we go with the Lumberjack Song. Followed by Every Sperm Is Sacred and Sit On My Face. It was much fun and the audience thought it was a riot. Big fun!!
Bar none, the toughest summer of my life, but I learned more, excelled more, and made better friendships that summer than the other 3 years I marched. Brass warm-ups in all of the fun places we had them...on the footbridge in Kansas City, on the dock in Grand Haven, Michigan, etc. Of course, the Monty Python Brass Ensemble, getting a 9.1 in performance brass with 9 horns. Favorite quote from a judge at DCI Prelims..."Oh... mellophones." – BH


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1994 Railmen Senior “Tower of Power” What is Hip? – Tower of Power
You’re Still A Young Man – Tower of Power
Soul With A Capital “S” – Tower of Power
Sparkling in the Sand – Tower of Power
Director: Steve Hermach
Drum Major: James Brown
Brass and Drill Design : Bill Trulove
Percussion Design: Jim Heisinger, Steve Hermach
Brass:
Percussion:
Guard:

Reminiscence:Double tonguing Contra run in What is Hipgetting chewed out by some Governaire’s members at DCM when we beat them. Reading in DCWorld about us this exact quote: "...this corps came prepared, and it showed!" after we learned the closer drill the night before. Meeting some guys while marching at Bluecoats in 96 who had seen us at DCM and were the kids in the front row going nuts at Bill and Dave’s solos in "What is Hip?" - BH
We marched the bare minimum of shows -- our home show, one road show, and DCM. We had one version of the program for the first two shows, then had two weeks (well, five rehearsals) to rewrite the drill and ground the percussion for DCM. We finally had everybody together for the first time Friday at DCM, finished learning the drill Saturday morning, and snuck past the likes of Governaires and Kilties to 2nd place and a Finals appearance. - LJ


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1993 Railmen “ Rain, Wind and All That Jazz” Blue Skies – Irving Berlin
Dave Turman and Javier Marquez – Soprano
Come Rain or Come Shine – Diane Shure
Javier Marquez, Dave Turman and Mike Nass – Soprano
Storm – Heisinger / Dudek
Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me – Elton John
Chris Burchell – Baritone
Director : Dave Young
Drum Major : Erin Richards
Brass Design: Mike Sisco, Bill Trulove
Batter Design: Keith Dudek
Frontline Design: Jim Heisinger
Guard Design:
Drill Design:
Brass Instruction: Mike Sisco, Bill Trulove and Leland Jordan
Percussion Instruction: Keith Dudek, Jim Heisinger
Guard Instruction:
Visual Instruction: Al PaulsonBrass: 37
Percussion: 22
Guard: 12
Competitive Show Schedule
June 24 Streator, IL
June 26 Muskegon, MI
June 27 La Porte, IN
June 30 Bellevue, NE Drums Across Nebraska
July 1 Gowrie, IA
July 2 Cedar Rapids, IA Tournament of Drums
July 3 Austin, MN
July 5 Mankato, MN
July 16 Dekalb, IL DCM Championships
July 23 Bettendorf, IA
July 24 Dubuque, IA
Aug 3 Ankeny, IA
Aug 4 Omaha, NE Drums Across the Midlands
Aug 11 Kitchener, ONT Canadian Open Championships
Aug 15 Springfield, IL
Aug 17 Jackson, MS DCI World Championships
Reminiscence:Preparing for the Jacksonville heat by suiting up at noon wearing sweats, coats, etc in 90 degree heat to do run throughs.Play that Beat! Play that Beat! Bang!
Snares play the “Singing in the Rain” Melody on Remo Drum Paddles while the guard and horns do a soft-shoe dance
Bob Stanke (is that how he spelled it?), drum tech & Dr. Beat carrier, whispering, "Watch this...", then sneaking up right behind Brad Benson... *CANK* CANK* *CANK* Brad: "Holy...!!"

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1992 Railmen On the Other Hand – Michael Camilo
Suite Sandrine – Michael Camilo
Javier Marquez - Soprano ; Jeff Stelling - Baritone
The Embrace – John Scofield
He Ain’t Heavy; He’s My Brother – The Hollies
Jeff Stelling and Travis Kilmer – Baritone
Director: Shane Macklin
Drum Major: Steve Lovci
Brass Design: Mike Sisco, Bill Trulove
Batter Design:
Frontline Design: Jim Heisinger
Guard Design: C J
Drill Design: Dave Weinberg
Brass Instruction: Mike Sisco, Bill Trulove
Percussion Instruction: Scott Amman, Jim Heisinger, Brad Woll
Guard Instruction: C J
Visual Instruction: Al Paulson
Brass: 21
Percussion: 16
Guard: 10
Competitive Show Schedule
June 25 Streator, IL
June 26 Monmouth, IL
June 27 Cedar Rapids, IA Tournament of Drums
July 10 Bettendorf, IA
July 11 Dubuque, IA
July 12 Rockford, IL
July 18 Toledo, OH DCM Championships
July 20 Omaha, NE Drums Across the Midlands
Aug 7 Sioux City, IA Drums Across America
Aug 8 Monticello, IA
Aug 11 Whitewater, WI DCI World Championships
Reminiscence:Killer hornline sound. Velvet dark tone from 6 French horns and 2 MellosOpen Nads with a brick…MEAT! – Haz and Stelling’s killer sop/bari duet in Suite SandrineRailmen West – 13 of us roomed together in a one bedroom apartment above a bar in Council Bluffs. We all slept on sleeping bags. Got free cable from the bar downstairs… It made rent REAL cheap!Hours of spades in the back of the staff van.Stelling single-handedly kept our hornline in repair, making killer modifications. He also built me a 3 valve Soprano bugle with a tapered bore I used in the 94 Railmen Senior show -- BT

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1991 Railmen Cruisin’ for a Bluesin’ – Maynard Ferguson
Bill Trulove – Soprano, Dave Turman and Kevin McBride – Mello.
James Brown and ??? Baritone, Leland Jordon – Contra
Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered – Linda Ronstadt
James Brown – Baritone, Dave Turman – Mello, Bill Trulove – Soprano
Festival De Ritmo – Dave Weckl
Bridge Over Troubled Water – Paul Simon
Dave Turman and Javier Marquez – Mello
Director: Shane Macklin
Drum Major: Bruce Godfrey
Brass Design: John Jorgenson
Batter Design: Keith Dudek
Frontline Design: Jim Heisinger
Guard Design: Tim Newlin
Drill Design:
Brass Instruction: Mike Sisco
Percussion Instruction: Keith Dudek, Jim Heisinger
Guard Instruction: Tim Newlin
Visual Instruction:
Brass: 29
Percussion: 21
Guard: 14
Competitive Show Schedule
June 18 Omaha, NE Drums Across Nebraska
June 20 Monmouth, IL
June 21 Whitewater, WI
June 23 Normal, IL
June 29 Cedar Rapids, IA Tournament of Drums
June 30 Rochester, MN
July 1 Alexandria, MN
July 2 Fairmont, MN
July 3 Austin, MN
July 5 Mankato, MN
July 20 Dekalb, IL DCM Championships
July 22 Omaha, NE Drums Across the Midlands
Aug 8 Marion, OH US Open
Aug 11 Tulsa, OK Music On The Move
Aug 12 Dallas, TX DCI World Championships
Reminiscence:New Uniforms: Switched out the mustard jackets for red with white shields. Aussie hats traded in for Shakos with the dead chicken on top.New Drum line!! Brushed gold finish Yamaha! Beautiful with the uniforms.I couldn’t eat tuna sandwiches for at least 6 mo after that tourSops in Cup Mutes, snares with brushes, frontline with a brush on a ride cymbal on the right hand with two mallets chording with the left.The Love Shack – Need more be said?Practicing in the Omaha heatLisa Nikkish turned into a Tympani Wonderchild. Girl got GAME!!Playing on the corps for retreat for D II/III finals. We were lined up next to Southwind at finals and after they had anounced them as D II champs our and we had saluted them we were called back to attention and we broke ranks and went and shook all of their hands congratulating them on their win.Jeff Mundt’s two note solo in Bewitched that in singing run throughs would always be sang with his name, “Jeff – Mundt”Beatrix Drum Corps Get together. This corps from Holland played Crusin’ also by the same arranger. We had altered our score so much that it was cool to see how each corps approached the tunes.Uniquely designed, home made snare scoops.Omar I GOTTA GET OFF THIS BUS!!If you listen in the sop solo in Crusin, I stuck the UP Motif in. Kickin it OLD SCHOOL! – BTRailmen Mixed Ensemble at DCI I&E was a performance of Tower of Power’s “Squib Cakes” arranged by Jim Heisinger. Raise the ROOF!The same thing happened to us in 91 at DCM. They start announcing the caption awards for D 2/3 we start taking everything, color guard, horns, even DM, it comes down to percussion and we are thinking we made a clean sweep of all captions when the announcer goes " And the best percussion goes to....Pioneer" all of us in the battery were like. The next things we hear are "and in Second place with a score of 61.50....The Railmen" OMG the crowd just goes ballistic with boos I can’t find the right words to describe what it felt like on the field.Coolest Drum Corps Show Ending Ever – (I realize I’m biased, but you gotta admit it was pretty darn COOL)Rachel Tomlinson did the artwork for the Railmen bugle-train for the prop and also did the member shirts.DCI Prelims we were soaked from the rainMarching the hill and the second rehearsal siteTim Newlin used to tell our rifles that he’d never "cheat" on a move where you hold the rifle at both ends and jump over it. Then at the Jolesch booth at DCI, some of the girls found an action shot of him in ’87 doing that exact move -- but with one hand free of the rifle. They gave him such over it.. lol – LJYeah, the whole corps had a great performance that morning, I still remember Jimmy G telling us to have fun. I remember playing a show in Oklahoma the night before hitting the road right after our performance, get in to Dallas at what 4:30 in the morning, the get up to do a show at 8:20am.I couldn’t eat tuna sandwiches for at least 6 mo after that tour
Watch Video from the 1991 Season Below

Drum Corps Midwest Class A Champions
DCI Class A Finals Top Colorguard
Scroll below for season overview and memories

1990 Railmen I Can Cook Too – Patti Austin
Bill Trulove, Dave Turman, Mark ???? – Soprano, Jeremiah Ory – Baritone
When I First Saw You – Dreamgirls, the MusicalDirector: Shane Macklin
Drum Major: Mike Smith
Brass Design: Mike Sisco
Batter Design: Keith Dudek
Frontline Design: Jim Heisinger
Guard Design: Tim Newlin
Drill Design: Dave Young
Brass Instruction: Mike Sisco, Bruce
Percussion Instruction: Keith Dudek, Jim Heisinger, Ron Johnson
Guard Instruction: Tim Newlin, Jennifer Silva
Visual Instruction: Al Paulson, Brenda Sisco
Brass: 42
Percussion: 24
Guard: 17
Competitive Show Schedule
June 19 Oklahoma City, OK
June 21 Lincoln, NE Drums Across Nebraska
June 23 Cedar Rapids, IA Tournament of Drums
June 30 Rolling Meadows, IL
July 1 Franklin Park, IL
July 3 Racine, WI
July 4 New Berlin, WI
July 18 Carbondale, IL
July 23 Omaha, NE Drums Across the Midlands
July 24 Sioux City, IA Drums Across America
July 27 Des Plaines, IL Cavalcade of Brass
July 31 Canton, OH
Aug 1 Cleveland, OH Northern Lights Invitational
Aug 2 Ypsilanti, MI DCI North
Aug 4 Hamilton, ONT DCI Canada
Aug 6 Montreal, QUE Invitation Quebec
Aug 7 Rome, NY Drums Along the Mohawk
Aug 8 Pittsfield, MA Precision and Pageantry
Aug 9 Lynn, MA East Coast Classic
Aug 12 Endicott, NY Sounds on the Susquehanna
Aug 14 Buffalo, NY DCI World Championships

Reminiscence:When I First Saw You – DreamGirls (1990 Railmen Corps Song)When I first saw you, I said, “Oh my,” I said, “Oh my that’s a dream. That’s a dream.
I needed a dream when it all seemed to go bad. Then I found you.
And I have had the most beautiful dreams any man’s ever had.
When I first saw you, I said, “Oh my, oh my that’s my dream. That’s my dream.
I needed a dream to make me strong. You were the only reason I’ve had to go on.
You are my dream. All the things I never knew.
You are my dream. Who could believe they could ever come true.
And who could believe that the world would believe in my dreams too.
There comes a time when a child’s got to grow.
There comes a time when a woman’s got to go.
Mamma said I am special. She said I’ve got to prove I am just as good, I’m even better than..
That’s what she would say. (That’s what she would say)
Shine Nina, shine. (Shine Nina, Shine)
Shine Nina, shine. (And you’re gonna shine)
You are my dream.
All of my dreams are my own
All the things I could never be. (Dreams you’ll never know)
You are my dream. They’ll never take my dreams from me.
When I first saw you, I said, “Oh my. Oh my, that’s my dream.”Lemon Juice squirts in the mouth before shows (to make sure you could keep salivating) gave way to shocks with a nine volt battery from the tuner. Freaks!!Sops in Straight MutesThinking drumlines should not be marching up & down 20 ft. steep inclined hills while playing the show’s bookWhite Style Corps Jackets with Red “Superman Script” Railmen on Back debut.WIFSYThe candleHearing the corps announcers speak in French in Montreal. I would catch every fifth word or so. Blah, blah, blah, RAILMEN, blah, blah, blah, MIKE SISCO… you get the point. Freakin cool!Class A Finals Retreat and Extra Standstill in the parking lot.The gold “Rail-Bat” Batman T - As a side note here, saw posted on a forum where a member of the 90 Crossmen drumline said the entire line bought them and used them as undershirts for their uniforms.Realizing "jazz stepping" and "crab stepping" should not be mixed together while playing a snare drum. Did the drill writer understand we weren’t the color guard? Stretching with the color guard as a result.Posion (Bell Biv Devoe) Street BeatGene the Lean, Mean Truck Driving MachineBeing home a week after finals wishing I still had the chops of the previous weekFree night in Montreal!!Remember, "you have 5 minutes, ...." every morningSinging Van Halen’s "Finish What You Started" as Sean O’Malley ran for the bus leaving for tour after saying "by" to a girl in the parking lot of the Omaha show.Dale Hinkledye’s video collage for the banquet (Does anyone have a copy?)Laundry in the showers to save rehearsal timeUnderwear Run ThroughsDCI Division II/III Finals Retreat – This evening is what I consider the highlight of my drum corps career. The corps are set on the field to receive placements and scores. Traditionally, when scores are announced the section leaders of the guard, percussion and brass call their respective sections to attention, then back to parade rest to acknowledge the applause of the audience. When our score was announced placing us in 5th place the crowd “Booed” obviously expecting the corps to place higher. As I turned to call the hornline to attention, you could see the light in everyone’s eyes as it was obvious the audience overwhelmingly did not agree with the judges (surprised?). We went to attention and back to parade rest, but the crowd wouldn’t stop. It was so loud that the announcer stopped announcing the next corps. By then there erupted a chant from the stands of “Rail-men, Rail-men, Rail-men.” This time I turned around to call the horns back to attention, and I saw not one dry eye. So we stood at attention, retreat interrupted by the audience chanting our name. When things quieted down enough for the announcer to continue, we returned to parade rest. After the rest of the scores were announced, we set to play ourselves off the field. Someone had the wisdom to have us alter our regular routine. Typically we would start our retreat selection standing still, then march it off the field. This time instead of playing a song we marched off to snare taps. The crowd was going wild thinking we were not going to play. Then as we right in front of the stands we stopped and THEN played the back end of I Can Cook with the Soprano Trio and impact from WIFSY. The audience went insane and as we left things got crazy. Typically the crowd stays in the stands to watch the champion do their victory encore. As we left the stadium the bulk of the crowd left with us and followed us out to our trailer. It was obvious we were going to have to play again. So, inside the stadium as the champions were playing their encore to whomever was left, we were standing at attention while the pit equipment was unloaded again and we did another standstill in the parking lot. The whole experience was surreal. The write-up in Drum Corps World (does anyone still have a copy?) said something to the effect that we were the “Disputed Champion” of the night with chants of “Railmen, Railmen” ‘coming from everywhere. The judges numbers then mattered little. That spontaneous outpouring was the season’s best payoff. I’ve played in front of thousands of people. Won a DCA world championship with the Empire Statesmen in 94, and nothing in drum corps compared to that night -- BT
Watch Video from the 1990 Season Below

Drum Corps International Top 25 Member Corps

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1989 Railmen Am I Blue
Brian Dusek – Mello Director: Shane Macklin
Drum Major: Mike Smith
Brass Design: John Jorgenson
Batter Design: Keith Dudek
Frontline Design: Jim Heisinger
Guard Design: Tim Newlin
Drill Design:
Brass Instruction : Mike Sisco, Bruce
Percussion Instruction: Keith Dudek, Jim Heisinger, Ron Johnson
Guard Instruction: Tim Newlin, Jennifer Silva
Visual Instruction: Al Paulson, Brenda Sisco
Brass: 28
Percussion: 17
Guard: 12
Competitive Show Schedule
June 20 Lincoln, NE Drums Across Nebraska
June 21 Hutchinson, KS
June 23 Oklahoma City, OK
July 24 Omaha, NE Drums Across the Midlands
July 28 Coopersville, MI
July 30 Sparta, MI
July 31 Bellevue, OH
Aug 1 Canton, OH
Aug 4 Grand Haven, MI US Coast Guard Open
Aug 6 Grand Rapids, MI
Aug 9 North Muskegon, MI
Aug 12 Whitewater, MI DCI Midwest
Aug 13 Sparta, IL
Aug 15 Kansas City, MO DCI World Championships

Reminiscence:Instant Corps…Just Add Sisco -- The winter camps were meager at best as far as membership was concerned. Along comes Mike Sisco and as we load the busses to leave for drill camp at the University of Nebraska at Kearney (Kearney State College at the time), there is a corps! Where did all these people come from, we wonder. Sisco was the guy with the right combination of enthusiasm, talent and knowledge that gave the corps just what it needed.Northern Aurora’s “Salad Bar”Road tripping through small towns and stopping in grocery store parking lots while still rolling so Dudek could go buy "power grapes".Finishing the first leg of tour and fearing cuts in the drumline.New Look: We switched out the charcoal pants and black shoes for white pants and shoes. Made a HUGE difference on the field.Frolicking – Thanks Brent“I’ve Got 50 lbs of meat sitting here in the parking lot”Why Not altered lyrics for horn breaks Come on and join the Railmen. We are a corps united. In the summer. Even in the winter. Neal beats off most all the time. Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike’s a dick. Sigida bugada Hugada bugada, up the butt.Bibbles and KitzBass Drum Muffles were pictures of the Drumline.UP Shield removed from uniforms and replaced with Gold Member Badges with year. We got to keep those at the end of the season. I’ve still got mine!Whitewater – Drum Major Mike Smith caught wind that most of the hornline (including the ladies) were going commando. He thought it would be fun to have us do jumping jacks during marching warm-ups. Ha”You could be sitting at home eating Moon Pies and drinking Dr. Pepper”Drill camp in Kearney was COLD. I remember everyone having to raid the University store for sweatpants, shirts, etc. It summer and most didn’t prepare for the cold temps.It was hard sticking around through the transition away from Union Pacific sponsorship. A lot of kids jumped ship, and it was almost a miracle that we came onto the field for ’89. Thank goodness it came together by the end of that season. I think we were so frustrated about losing to the likes of Americanos and Northern Aurora ("Go for the cucumber!") that we busted our butts to tighten down the show going into Finals week. That was an experience in itself, because prior to each performance, we figured that we were going to be one place away from continuing to the next show. Every corps ahead of us had beaten us all season long. Shane’s preshow speech for Class A prelims went something like, "Now, this is probably our last performance, so give it everything you’ve got, play smart, play well...”, etc. So, we beat out a corps for the first time that year, getting ourselves a Finals spot. Okay, well, to go past Finals, we had to get something like 5th or higher overall that night, but it looked like we were going to be 6th. Fine, "go out and give it your best", yadda yadda yadda... So we beat that corps and advanced again to Open prelims, where we had our best performance of the year and beat another couple of corps to make Top 25 and Quarterfinals. We just kinda had fun with Thursday night’s performance, figuring that we couldn’t advance eight spots to get into the Top 17 for Friday - LJCan’t remember the exact town. We were staing in an abandoned schoolhouse adjacent to a cemetery. The hornline was rehearsing in our horn arc when Heisinger and Sisko came running up pointing a garden hose at us, running around like ninnys making fire siren noises. They finally stop and declare. “You’re hosed!” And about 8 bars of brass book got moved into the pit.

Watch Video from the 1989 Season Below

Sounds Like:
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1988 Railmen The Fire and The Flame – Les Brown
     Steve Moore - Baritone
Don’t Rain on My Parade – Funny Girl
     Brian Dusek - Mello
Mira, Mira – Maynard Ferguson
I Have Dreamed – Richard Rodgers Director: Shane Macklin
Drum Major: Mike Smith
Brass Design: John Jorgenson
Batter Design: Terry DeJong
Frontline Design: Terry DeJong
Guard Design: Tim Newlin
Drill Design: Al Paulson
Brass Instruction: Steve Station, Dave Millar
Percussion Instruction: Terry DeJong, Monica Reed
Guard Instruction: Tim Newlin, Jennifer Silva
Visual Instruction: Al Paulson
Brass: 15
Percussion: 17
Guard: 9
Competitive Show Schedule
June 22 Atlantic, IA
June 24 Lincoln, NE Drums Across Nebraska
June 25 Hutchinson, KS
June 27 Oklahoma City, OK
July 1 Racine, WI
July 2 Rockford, IL
July 4 Vernon Hills, IL
Aug 10 Springfield, MO
Aug 15 Omaha, NE Drums Across the Midlands
Aug 16 Kansas City, MO DCI World Championships

Reminiscence:HOT HOT HOT at finals. I think it was something like 100 degrees outside, then we’re on Astroturf wearing dark, wool uniforms. It was so hot there was no way to reconcile the tuning discrepancies between the brass and mallets. Everything was wacked cause of the heat, and it shows in the recording.Get to know me!
Train Tours -- 1988 was the last year the Railmen took a tour by train. The UP would provide sleeper cars, dining cars, lounge cars and storage. We would tour each year performing at stops along the way to our destination at the UP Frontier Day’s Celebration in Cheyenne, WY. It was a special treat you would find no where else in drum corps. What’s better than being in a drum corps named “The Railmen” getting dropped off for a show BY TRAIN courtesy your sponsor. It was perfect, and what memories.How about the daily check of Mrs. Hinkledye’s upper arm to determine what color of kool-aid we’d be having at lunch. She was given a short wooden spoon to make 15 gallons or so of kool-aid. There was much rejoicing when the boosters finally went out and bought a small oar. Much better.Euchre and Trivial Pursuit Tournaments in the lounge car on the train tour.Tony Reed’s “Hold Your Fir” ShirtTaco Salad always became spaghetti the next day.A One Bus Drum Corps…Driving a car for the first time: Jeff Farber’s orange taxi in the parking lot of Central H.S. in Omaha -SS
Watch Video from the 1988 Season Below

Scroll below for season overview and memories

1987 River City Railmen I’ve Been Working On The Railroad
2nd Symphony – Malcolm Arnold
Moonlight Serenade – Glen Miller
I’ve Got a Gal in Kalamazoo – Glen Miller
Someone to Watch Over Me – George Gershwin
Director: Ken Whittle
Drum Major: Ricky Kinch
Brass Design: Pete Tolhuizen
Batter Design: Larry Lawless
Frontline Design: Larry Lawless
Guard Design: Frank Troyka
Drill Design: Frank Troyka
Brass Instruction: Pete Tolhuizen
Percussion Instruction: Larry Lawless, Steve LaHood, Monica Reed
Guard Instruction: Frank Troyka, Jennifer Silva
Visual Instruction: Al Paulson
Brass: 27
Percussion: 21
Guard: 15
Competitive Show Schedule
June 24 Hutchinson, KS
June 26 Omaha, NE Drums Across Nebraska
June 27 Atlantic, IA
July 3 La Crosse, WI
July 4 Saint Peter, MN
July 5 Saint Louis Park, MN
July 23 Casper, WY
July 24 Cheyenne, WY
July 27 Omaha, NE
Aug 11 Madison, WI

Reminiscence:New Unis designed by Michael Cesario. This time instead of using the colors of the emblem he used the colors of the engine. The mustard yellow for the jacket. The charcoal black for the pants, with a red shield (that was reversible to mustard) with white accents. This uniform (with or without the white pants) is what I think looked the most “Railmen” A new and unique style, not a knock-off of another look.
Watch Video from the 1987 Season Below

Scroll below for season overview and memories

1986 River City Railmen I’ve Been Working On The Railroad
We Can Stop The Hurtin’ – Chicago
Creatures – Mannheim Steamroller
Backwoods Sideman – Buddy Rich
Echano – Chuck Mangione
Director: Ken Whittle
Drum Major: Cheri Curran
Brass Design: Pete Tolhuizen
Batter Design: Larry Lawless
Frontline Design: Larry Lawless
Guard Design: Frank Troyka
Drill Design: Frank Troyka
Brass Instruction: Pete Tolhuizen
Percussion Instruction:
Guard Instruction: Frank Troyka
Visual Instruction: Al Paulson
Brass: 36
Percussion: 17
Guard: 22
Competitive Show Schedule
July 3 La Crosse, WI
July 4 Saint Peter, MN
July 5 Saint Louis Park, MN
July 12 Waterloo, IA
July 13 Dubuque, IA
July 21 Lander, WY
July 22 Sheridan, WY
July 23 Casper, WY
July 28 Omaha, NE Drums Across the Midlands
July 29 Tulsa, OK
July 31 Dallas, TX
Aug 12 Madison, WI DCI World Championships

Reminiscence:
Watch Video from the 1986 Season Below

Scroll below for season overview and memories

1985 River City Railmen Novena – James Swearingen
     Lyle Jackson - Mellophone
Backwoods Sideman – Buddy Rich
Sunrise, Sunset – Fiddler on the Roof
     Mike Daily and Kirk Fulton – Soprano; Mark Anderson Baritone
Hard to Say I’m Sorry/ Get Away - Chicago
     Kevin Houston, Kirk Fulton, Bill Trulove – Soprano Trio
     Mike Dailey, Bill Trulove – Soprano Duet
Director: Ken Whittle
Drum Major: Cheri Curran
Brass Design: Pete Tolhuizen
Batter Design: Larry Lawless
Frontline Design: Larry Lawless
Guard Design: Frank Troyka
Drill Design: Frank Troyka
Brass Instruction: Pete Tolhuizen, Dave Millar
Percussion Instruction: Larry Lawless, Monica Reed
Guard Instruction: Frank Troyka
Visual Instruction: Al Paulson
Brass: 32
Percussion: 18
Guard: 24
Competitive Show Schedule
June 25 Springfield, MO
July 3 Racine, WI
July 4 Saint Peter, MN
July 5 Saint Louis Park, MN
July 6 Hudson, WI
July 25 Omaha, NE Drums Across the Midlands
Aug 12 Madison, WI DCI World Championships

Reminiscence:Kimosabe … Jump On It!!Multi Tenors only had 3 drums. Tri-Toms!!Ken Whittle’s Construction Orange VanKevin Huston’s lips blistered BAD from wearing Carmex (without sunblock) out in the sun. Chris Byers (Beeker) was concurrently sporting a lobster-hued sunburn.Winter rehearsals in the Old Kirn Gym.Racine, WI Railmen Snag our first Win! YEAH! As the other corps left the field, we found ourselves in a situation we had not prepared for. So we were drilled about and prepped as best as could be in a couple of minuets on what we were about to do. They got the pit unloaded and I remember how proud we all were. It was evident the River City Railmen were going to be a force to be contended with! At least until we run out of money….Brake Drums – The Bass Drums removed their drums and played tuned brake drums painted black and white and layed out like a keyboard. I remember hearing Larry Lawless et all were at a junk yard with a tuner trying to find brake drums for the needed pitches. Listen for it in the drum solo.
Watch Video from the 1985 Season Below

Scroll below for season overview and memories

1984 River City Railmen 1st Competitive Tour Novena – James Swearingen
Late In the Evening – Paul Simon
     Melody Johnson – Baritone, Kirk Fulton -- Soprano
Chattanooga Choo Choo – Glen Miller
Wabash Cannonball -- Traditional
If You Believe – The Wiz
Union Pacific Chorale
Great Big Rolling Railroad
     Mike Dailey - Soprano
Director: Ken Whittle
Drum Major: Al Paulson
Brass Design: Pete Tolhuizen
Batter Design: Larry Lawless
Frontline Design: Larry Lawless
Guard Design: Frank Troyka
Drill Design: Frank Troyka
Brass Instruction: Pete Tolhuizen, Mark Arnold
Percussion Instruction: Larry Lawless, Brian Mordhardt, Monica Reed
Guard Instruction: Frank Troyka
Visual Instruction: Frank Troyka
Brass: 28
Percussion: 20
Guard: 20
Competitive Show Schedule
July 1 Dixon, IL
July 3 Wheaton, IL
July 4 Champaign, IL
July 26 Kansas City, KS
July 29 Cheyenne, WY
July 31 Sioux City, IA
Aug 1 Omaha, NE Drums Across the Midlands
Reminiscence:Dixon Show, first show of the season is one I’ll never forget. I’m 14 years old and overwhelmed anyway. It’s the last set of the show; we’ve made the Union Pacific shield and were kicking it on the last note. Now, everyone kneels down on one knee on the last note, except for yours truly. I didn’t even notice everyone had knelt down till the song was over. So I hopped down right away and told myself that hopefully the audience would think I was playing a solo they couldn’t hear… or something. Needless to say horn line section leader Mike Dailey, Kirk Fulton et all, provided a generous amount of rebuke. Didn’t make that mistake again… -- BTCamp Okoboji – For those of you who didn’t get to march in the early 80’s era, each season we had our drill learning camp at Camp Okoboji in Milford, Iowa. We were forced (ha) to stay in cabins. That’s right. No gym floors here folks. Right on the lake, beautiful! Anyway, my roommates (Keith Zuehlke and JJ Kozoil) thought it would be funny to not wake me up. So, I sleep right through breakfast. After breakfast we would perform our morning wake-up calisthenics or “Frankersize,” led by guard instructor and drill designer Frank Troyka. A few minutes into Frankersizes, assistant director Luigi Waites came in to check on me. Make sure I wasn’t sick or something. I hurry to the rec room where we Frankersized, and nothing was said. At the sit down right before lunch, Pete Tolhuizen pulled me up front and I’m told to apologize to the corps for being late. Then he added, “Especially to the drumline.” Now, I knew something was up because Ken Whittle was standing there with a big grin on his face… and had his camera out. So did a handful of others, so as I turn to face the drum line I’m expecting them to throw their sticks at me or something. What I wasn’t expecting was Frank coming up from behind me as I turned to the drums with a Shaving Cream Pie I got right in the face. I later received 2 8X10’s a during and an after shot from Ken. Those pictures were framed and up on my walls for years until lost in a move. – BTAppendix to the above . Apparently Drum Major Al Paulson didn’t think that was enough, cause later that day he depantsed me and threw my shorts up in a tree.Our uniforms are what I would call “Bridgemen Style”, but if you aren’t familiar with the Bridgemen, that’s not much help.
I can’t remember which show it was, but I remember the "We Can Handle It" Banner unfurled at the end of the show, was unrolled upside down at one point.I figured out right away the best bus to ride is the DRUM Bus. Here is where my music education really began. Frank Zappa, Rush, hanging out with my practice pad and sticks and worked my drum chops and got pointers on technique, writing etc. I find there is a tendency among marching music writers that happen to not be percussionists (nearly all) to be deficient in the drum book writing. I learned all sorts of things I would have not been exposed to otherwise. If anyone reads this who is marching now and you think you might want to do something in music one day, reserve your seat on the drum bus. Sorry, got preachy there… -- BT
Watch Video from the 1984 Season Below



Record Label: Mystery Punch Forearm Stain
Type of Label: None

My Blog

Yes, Im Updating the Site And Getting It Working!

Allrighty then...I’ve been receiving a lot of messages from fans and myspace friends about Jim’s passing. We appreciate the comments and if anyone hasn’t posted on the blog and has ...
Posted by Railmen Drum and Bugle Corps on Sun, 30 Mar 2008 07:52:00 PST

Jim Heisinger

I've just been informed our friend, frontline instructor and arranger Jim Heisinger passed away yesterday on March 10, 2008. As I get details and information on arrangements, I will pass them on. Ji...
Posted by Railmen Drum and Bugle Corps on Tue, 11 Mar 2008 03:01:00 PST

Website Issues

My file server that I kept my pictures and music for my personal myspace and the one for the Railmen Drum and Bugle Corps has deleted my files due to some account error.  It was a free service, ...
Posted by Railmen Drum and Bugle Corps on Tue, 29 Jan 2008 03:00:00 PST

Long time no posts!

Things have been crazy for me this summer and I haven't been able to update the site in a bit. I have some new alums to add into the members section, and am sorry I haven't gotten to those yet. Tha...
Posted by Railmen Drum and Bugle Corps on Mon, 20 Aug 2007 12:57:00 PST

What's Your Favorite Railmen Tune?

I sent a bulletin out on this but want to make sure everyone that wants to can comment.  So..... What's Your Favorite Railmen Tune.  Besides the 5 tunes in the MySpace player, I also have a ...
Posted by Railmen Drum and Bugle Corps on Mon, 16 Apr 2007 04:26:00 PST

New Railmen MySpace Alum Section added

I've re-formatted the "friends" section of our MySpace page.  I've added a "Railmen Alumni" section for those of you whom I've picked up as we added people in along the way.  If I have misse...
Posted by Railmen Drum and Bugle Corps on Thu, 12 Apr 2007 10:43:00 PST

New Railmen Alums Online

The Railmen are happy to welcome two more alums to our site: Tim Blankenship (Tim-Huskerman) marched Baritone 80-83  and Bruce Godfrey Marched Soprano 86, 87, 90 and served as Drum Major in 1991....
Posted by Railmen Drum and Bugle Corps on Wed, 28 Mar 2007 04:15:00 PST

5th Song Added

I've added  Storm - Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me from the 1993 season to the Myspace Music Player as it has expanded to allow another song.  You have to scroll down in the music play...
Posted by Railmen Drum and Bugle Corps on Mon, 26 Mar 2007 03:57:00 PST

Layout Update

I've updated the layout.  Added some banners and group pictures for the years that I have them.  I've also added scrollbars to each year's comments to save some space. If anyone knows what p...
Posted by Railmen Drum and Bugle Corps on Sat, 10 Mar 2007 09:46:00 PST

New Pic, New Alums and more friends

Hey all.  There is a new pic up of  of 1993 Railmen (Thanks, Mandy!).  Also Matt, Neil, Jessie, and Theresa have signed on recently.  Stop on by and share some love!
Posted by Railmen Drum and Bugle Corps on Mon, 26 Feb 2007 04:02:00 PST