All Aboard the Li'L Joe

Waukesha Journal
By Cynthia Dennis 5/13/94


Children’s train to roll in for parade
Take a few feather dusters, assorted barrels and cans, a couple of 1915 Ford lanterns, an old swimming pool heater, a piece of Tupperware and some ice cream bar sticks. Add an imaginative and industrious man named Ken Mann to the mix and what do you get?
Some of the trimmings for a terrific 60-foot, five-car children’s train called Li’l Joe -- that’s what.
It has taken 12 years to build Li’l Joe. The engine car, the red tender car behind it, the Johnson Pickle Farm car, circus wagon and yellow caboose all sprang from Mann’s imagination. 
I can’t put it down on paper,:” he said, adjusting a cap with a “Ken Mann Engineer” signature on the front. “It’s all in my mind". Consider Li’l Joe’s engine. In 1981, Mann decided he wanted to make something to entertain kids at the St. Joseph’s Church Festival in Big Bend.
“My wife said,' Don't start now because the festival is only three weeks away,” he said, laughing. “but I had an old tractor and thought I could make something out of that.”
Atop the tractor he constructed a cab for the engineer. A barrel was placed in front of that. A tin can was recycled as the headlight. Other items were added; a bell from his patio, small American Flags, a smokestack (once a pool heater, it emits coconut scented, non-toxic smoke.) And Li’l Joe has a face with two big eyes that roll via hand crank about a wide smile.
Parade-watchers also will delight in four other clever cars. All but the circus wagon have bench seats for riders. Emblazoned on the side of the open-top, bright red tender car is “Big Bend Vernon Lines. Next in line is the appropriately green Johnson Pickle Farm car, its sides shaped like pickle vats. It was named after Mann’s neighbor, Willie Johnson. 
A big stuffed tiger is stationed atop a stool behind the metal bars of the authentic-looking gold and white circus wagon. Gold plaster lions’ heads, their ferocious-looking fangs fashioned from frozen-treat sticks, ornament the back of the wagon.
The final flourish is the bright yellow caboose with “Lions We Serve” embossed on its side. The insignia symbolized Mann’s commitment to his Big Bend-Vernon Lions Club, which he donated the train in 1983. Proceeds from the 50-cent rides are used for the train’s upkeep and community causes. Each year, the train is transported to the state Lions Club convention where Li’l Joe has garnered four first-place trophies.