I left Fort Wayne at 6 a.m. on Friday morning (March 18), headed for South Bend Airport and the South Shore train. It's almost exactly 100 miles, and takes right at two hours.
I caught South Shore #14 at 8:55 ET (7:55 CT) and arrived at Van Buren station on time at 10:22 a.m., giving me more than an hour and a half to catch my Amtrak train at Union Station. I took my time, and took quite a few Chicago photos along the way. Those are for another thread, later.
Union Station is well-maintained, but the vast main hall is unused and roped off. I liked it better when it was filled with the massive wood benches. The airport-style boarding lounges just don't feel like a train station to me.
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I boarded Amtrak Hiawatha Service #335, departing Union Station at 1:05 and arriving on time in Milwaukee at 2:37. The coach was decent and the ride was comfortable. Milwaukee's Amtrak station needs help, though. The trainshed is dark and gloomy and has a leaky roof, and the platform has puddles on it.
Nighttime views from my window on the tenth floor of the Best Western Hotel at Wisconsin Avenue and Third Street.
On Saturday morning I awoke to big snowflakes coming down in a torrent. The gulls must have thought it was great fun; they were zooming through it above the plaza across the street. By the time I left to walk to the meet location, the snow had given way to a light drizzle. I took a few pictures along the way.
United For Peace and Justice rallied by the sunburst sculpture near the Calatrava wing of the art museum.
Forumers set out
New high-rise construction
I thought maybe Solomon Juneau was the guy who brought Milwaukee's weather from Alaska, but it turns out he was the first white resident and the first mayor of Milwaukee
Cathedral and a stop-an'-go light
What's that on the first floor of the Bar Association building? A bar? Yep!
Elegant cast-iron facade
Mitchell Building - 1876
Mitchell Building and Chamber of Commerce
Headed into the Historic Third Ward
Art Museum Calatrava Wing
On the last day of winter, forumers gape at City Hall. It's pretty amazing
This building makes me just a little nervous
The forumers planned to go to the revolving restaurant at the top of the Hyatt for drinks later, and then party at the hotel, but by then I decided to take a pass on that and veg out for a while in front of the TV and then turn in early. I can usually expect weird dreams when I'm that tired. . .
I heard people talkin' about these time machines, and thought I better check it out. I asked a fella, "Where can I find one o' dem der time machines I been hearin' about?"
He says, "Go left at da stop-an'-go light der and go about a block, an' it'll be right der on yer left." Sure enough, I found it. It had a Cirrus logo on it, so I put my card in and when the "how much" screen comes up I punch in 20 and push the OK button.
All of a sudden I was standing in sunshine and hearing music. I thought, "By Gosh, I musta' died and gone to heaven." Well, not exactly, but pretty close. I was in Milwaukee looking at a sign that said "Summerfest 1985." Amazing!
I walked around and enjoyed the music for a while, and then decided to take a walk and see some more.
In loving memory of Greg Robbins, 1960 – 1993. A loyal friend, he loved the arts, cities, architecture, and rail transit. If he were around now, he'd be among the most avid forumers.
No lie! I used to have hair!
The Grand Avenue Mall
I decided it was time to head back where I came from, reached for my wallet, and then realized that I didn't own one o' them time machine cards in 1985. Was I stuck with my step back? Would I have to go back to that job I hated and work another sixteen years before I could retire again?
Screaming, I woke myself.
I looked out my window on the tenth floor of the Best Western, and knew it was time to get ready to catch my train back to Chicago.
Lovely US Post Office
A full private trainset and at least three private business cars were stored at the Amtrak station
The lot behind the depot at Sturtevant is sometimes jam-packed with Case – IH and New Holland tractors. On the way to Chicago on Friday, I saw a Norfolk-Southern freight headed east with several flatcars loaded with tractors, so that's probably why there were so few there on Sunday.
The F40 on the left isn't really a locomotive any more; it's been "neutered." Amtrak has replaced that model as power for trains and sold most of them. They've taken a few and depowered them, and they use them as control cabs on the station-end of push-pull trains. I think they might sometimes serve an extra function as baggage cars, too. They work like the Metra bi-level cars with cabs on the end; they allow a train to be controlled from either end so that it doesn't have to be turned around to change directions. Putting a control cab on the station end avoids having a roaring, stinking diesel engine up next to the headhouse in a covered trainshed like the one at Union Station, and makes the walk between the station and the train much more pleasant.
Just after I shot this photo, I saw security coming for me. They have a standard way of approaching; they're on a path to pass you, and they're looking straight ahead, and then at the last minute they turn and intercept you. The guy at Randolph Street the last time used the same approach. Maybe it's to catch a terrorist off guard so he won't bolt?
The guy told me it wasn't legal to photograph any equipment anywhere. I had taken a picture of a Metra train, so I told him that as far as I knew, Metra permitted photographs any place that could be accessed by the public. I realized then that there had been two of them coming at me from opposite directions when another guy from behind me said that even then, I'd have to be accompanied by a Metra representative.
Just what a person needs to drive to Sunday brunch in Chicago. This sucker is fully tricked out, even including a fording kit.
I thought I might get updated photos of the progress on Randolph Street Station, but large parts of it were closed off for construction again, and I had to detour through the parking garage to get to the trains. Very little passenger traffic on a winter Sunday. I caught South Shore train 511 to South Bend at 2:00 p.m.
