A quick note from me to remind you to look for railroading all around you as you are out and about this summer. You never know when some slice of railroading will present itself. I was reminded of this last weekend when my family and I were taking a socially distanced day trip along Lake Michigan.
We arrived in Manitowoc, Wis., and drove toward the docks just in time for me to spot a familiar silhouette, the former Chesapeake & Ohio carferry Badger coming into port. Now set up to haul cars, trucks, and buses, the Badger is the last coal-burning Great Lakes car ferry still in operation, running back and forth between Manitowoc and Ludington, Mich. From the Badger’s parking lot you can see where the tracks once made their way to the dock.
At lunchtime, we pulled into Kewaunee, Wis., and sat down to a picnic lunch in a gazebo overlooking the harbor. The view was magnificent with a tug boat on display and a depot from the community’s past. A placard with information about the depot, now a private residence, filled in the story.
There’s my report far from the mainlines and the busy junctions of the world. Far even from the rusting siding of a loading dock. Railroading was found once upon a time in every corner of the country. You can still find it if you just get out there and look.
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