southern Wisconsin

[Anonymous]

I am going to be traveling in southern Wisconsin in early October and am looking for at least one good place to watch and/or photograph trains. Is the Madison area a good place to start? Or are there better towns in southern Wisconsin? Thanks.

[eolafan]

Lisa, as one who frequently travels in Wisconsin I would NOT suggest Madison as a starting place, as there are trains but not very many and since Madison is a large city and hard to get around if you don't know where you are going you will find it frustrating spending lots of time for few train sightings (although Madison is where Wisconsin Southern stores their business train with the E units). I would suggest Janesville as there is a Wisconsin Southern yard and roundhouse there. The last time I visited I saw F units, BL2 units, E-8's, and lots of other unusual units whose heritage is with many other large roads (SP and the like). I would also suggest you stop by Slinger, WI (near West Bend). The Wisconsin Central main line goes right through downtown Slinger as does the Wisconsin Southern branch so you get to see a fair amount of action. These two lines are within sight of one another so you really can't miss anything on either (most of the trains will be on WC, but that's cool with their purchase by CN). Hope this helps. Jim

[dknelson]

I agree with James, at one time Madison WI was a great city for trains but there is relatively little reliable action now. North and east of Madison is Columbus WI on the CP/Soo, where Amtrak Empire Builder stops with bus service to Madison. West to the Mississippi River is Prarie du Chien on the BNSF - lots of action. James mentioned Slinger but I'd also mention Duplainville where the CN (Wisconsin Central) crosses the CP/Soo (ex Milw Road). Amtrak goes through at 2 and 4:30 pm. Check this website out
http://members.aol.com/ALFONZE886/
While you are in Duplainville or Slinger, Milwaukee is quite close. There are spots on both the UP (C&NW) and CP (So0). You might find Jones Island on the lakefront to be interesting. And this website has info on a popular railfan spot on Milwaukee's south side (CP/Soo) called Waterford Avenue, also known as Powerton from when an electric railroad interchanged with the Milwaukee Road for power generating coal:
http://www.geocities.com/kschmidt626/

A somewhat confusing site but one with some good info and links and a button called hot spots

http://wisconsinrails.50megs.com/cgi-bin/redirect?id=SPRINKS_POP_KW_IMP&keyword=chicago

[Anonymous]

Thanks a lot, James. Janesville is a good option. I vaguely remember stopping there when I drove from St Louis MO to Minneapolis a few years back!
Is there anything around Portage WI?
I am not going to have a lot of time in this area, because I am going to be en route to central Illinois.

[eolafan]

Yes, Portage is a pretty good area. You may want to hang around the Wisconsin Dells Amtrak station. Another good spot is Sturtevant (in the Racine area off of I94)There is a small and very run down Amtrak station there that is used by the Hiawatha trains to and from Chicago, and it is a pretty popular railfan hangout, especially around the early evening dinner hours and on weekends. Jim