Wisconsin Railfanning- another day trip report with photos!

[Anonymous]

I am back agian with a trip report! The casue of this chase was a visit to Wisconsin. You see, my dad has a friend in Wisconsin, who is a HUGE railfan (almost as big as me [:D] ) and we wanted to do some railfanning while up in Wisconsin. Not knowing where to go, we sat in the Jeep, staring at maps, deciding where to go. And just as we were going to sit at the diamond at Duplainville, I asked if we could go see whats going on in Janesville. My dad's friend, being the Wisconsin Southern fan that he is, agreed, so we were off to Janesville. Upon arrival, we were justr about to go check out the yard when, merraculisliy we heard the ding ding ding of crossing bells, and the sound of a horn. I quickly saw that there was a train coming, so set up for a shot, only to see the 25th annaversary locomotive on the point!

http://www.railimages.com/gallery/chrisgroeling/aaq

After shooting that shot, I got my trailing shot

http://www.railimages.com/gallery/chrisgroeling/aar

and reallized how many locomotives were on that train. After sizing up our options, we decided it would be more fun to chase this train than sit at some diamond all day. So we gave chase. We saw a neat shot of the 4025 up on a bridge, so I took it.

http://www.railimages.com/gallery/chrisgroeling/aas

we chased him a little more, only to end up on this overpass, so I got this birds eye view

http://www.railimages.com/gallery/chrisgroeling/aat

We then caught up with him at a facotry, where my dad asked the engineer where they were headed, and the kind engineer replied- "Illinios!" So, we decided we would chase him till it got dark.

http://www.railimages.com/gallery/chrisgroeling/aau

After that last shot, we were boxed in by the train, and had to wait for the entire 100 car train to pass, before we could continue. Well, we finnaly caught up to him, and I was rewarded with these unique shots.

http://www.railimages.com/gallery/chrisgroeling/aav
http://www.railimages.com/gallery/chrisgroeling/aaw

We caught up with him at the grain elavators of the city o Avalon, where he would do some switching, and then depart for Bardwell.

http://www.railimages.com/gallery/chrisgroeling/aax
http://www.railimages.com/gallery/chrisgroeling/aay
http://www.railimages.com/gallery/chrisgroeling/aaz - check out the smoke!
http://www.railimages.com/gallery/chrisgroeling/aba

After those shots, all three of us piled back into the Jeep, and we encountered him yet again on this county road overpass. I tink this is my favorite shot of the whole trip.

http://www.railimages.com/gallery/chrisgroeling/abb

We caught up with him and watched him switch Bardwell

http://www.railimages.com/gallery/chrisgroeling/abc

We raced him to Walwurth, and found a quiet little overpass in Lake Geneva, where I took my last shot.

http://www.railimages.com/gallery/chrisgroeling/abd


I had an awesome train chase, despite the fact that it was cloudy![:p]

[railfan619]

Very cool pics you got there. I like alot[tup][tup][tup]

[eolafan]

Very nice shots and trip report, and thanks. Imagine a SD20 in mainline service at this late date!

[locomutt]

Nice shots Chris;you should be proud of them and the trip.
Very good work !![:D][tup][tup]

[dknelson]

I can testify that the weather was awful and the darkness was very bad.
Dave Nelson

[fievel]

Great pics ! They really capture the starkness of winter.[:)]

[Tharmeni]

The shots and commentary made it (almost) seem like I was along with you --- even though I was in 80 degree heat in Florida. Good Job!

[chad thomas]

Nice work Chris.[8D]

[Anonymous]

Nice stuff Chris. I like your MRL shots too. The photo of the F45 at a distance between the signals on Mullan Pass is really well composed. Its a shot that works well, even tho the train is at a distance.

[Anonymous]

Enjoyed the photos and the storyline. Great job.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dblstack

Nice stuff Chris. I like your MRL shots too. The photo of the F45 at a distance between the signals on Mullan Pass is really well composed. Its a shot that works well, even tho the train is at a distance.

Thanks to all of you for the kind comments, I really appreciate it [:)].

and, DBLSTACK, that was my attempt at an "artsy shot" on that trip. I have a trip report about my MRL train chasing vacation but it is 4 pages typed!

I really enjoy writing little reports after railfanning... just practicing in case I try become a TRAINS magazine editor!![;)]