I have one major goal for the website during my evening visiting old family friends in Milwaukee. The goal is to visit the Milwaukee Airport. Had the Empire Builder been less than an hour late yesterday my plan was to buy a $7.50 for an extra 100 AGR points and the ten minute ride to the Airport before taking the bus back through downtown to my friends house. Instead this morning I decided I would simply board my southbound Hiawatha train (on my Multi-City Ticket) at the Airport instead of Downtown Milwaukee.
I begin the day in the rain on the Metro EXpress bus route Green (that accepted normal fares and didn’t feel too express) for the 45 minute ride from a bus stop near my friends house down to the airport.
It is an uneventful ride and at 10:33 we arrive at the terminus and bus layover area by a parking lot. The driver has no idea where the Amtrak Shuttle vs wound be. Its a short walk into the passenger terminal (that feels sleepy and quiet) and I have to ask someone before finding a sign for the Amtrak Station. I then find the stop for the Remote Parking & Amtrak Shuttle with vans for two other remote (private) parking lots. I see my Green Bus Route leave the layover area and come stop in front of the passenger terminal for a quick stop before making another northbound trip.
A little muni bus that says Super Saver Parking and Amtrak who is driven by a Consolidated Parking Driver shows up at 10:45. I’m the only passenger and am happy I’m doing this excursion with luggage. I get to the Amtrak Station that feels quite crowded at 10:50 and begin my photo essay with two TSA inspectors and a Milwaukee County Sheriff Police Dog (and his handler) roaming the station and plantforms. I don’t get as many photos as I might on a nicer day and with the security but they look but don’t say anything to me. They also don’t screen us at all luckily. It’s clear to me that the Milwaukee Airport station is mainly used by passengers wanting to take the Hiawatha from the suburbs who don’t want to drive downtown. The fact the station is near the Airport and has a shuttle bus seems like just a bonus. The bus stop at the train station has signs saying that your required to flash your train ticket to the driver for transport.
My first train #334 comes in 4 minutes late at 11:14 led by a Cabbage in the old paint scheme. I get a picture of it passing the police dog. I go grab a seat, getting on through one of two open doors. It becomes very clear to me that the conductors aren’t going to do a ticket sweep between here and Sturtevant. I get up and walk through the train to find the conductors and ask for my ticket to be scanned for the short ride. Their extremely friendly and I chat with them the rest of the way to SVT about my hobby photographing railroad stations. We get to SVT at 11:30.
I get off and immediately notice a TSA inspector on the platform and a few railfans. I get a picture of the P42 pushing our train out of the station and have a surprisingly good layover at a station in the middle of nowhere. The TSA inspector soon disappears after the train has left the station. The current station is a mile north of downtown Sturtevant that was where the former station stop that had a 1901 Depot was and was relocated in 2006. For modern stations Strutevant has done a good job including building a replica depot (although the interior walls are made of cinderblocks). Much to my surprise I even find somewhere for lunch in the Suburban Sprawl around the station, its only a Subway Sandwich shop but better than nothing.
I return to the station from my lunch and notice the same TSA Inspector is back 10 minutes before the train is scheduled for. At 1:18 a discombobulated but live voice tells us that train #336 will arrive on Track 1, farthest from the depot (wrong-railing) and to use the overpass to get there. He also says if there is an old man at the end of the platform to wish him a happy 85th birthday. There is one man with a suitcase who looks like he is considering trespassing across the tracks instead of using the overpass. I and the TSA Inspector both scream at him across the tracks to use the overpass that has elevators.
Train #336 comes in at 1:24 and I board walking through the train to the rear and empty Quiet Car. The train leaves at 1:25. The conductors comes through with their one, single ticket sweep and don’t bother with seat checks. I get my ticket scan and say I want to continue into Chicago. He says “You Bet.” I’ve booked the ticket with a stopover in Glenview but I’ve gotten some photos at Glenview before. I probably could use some more but this afternoons priority of finishing the CTA with the three day Groupon Day Pass gathering dust in my wallet. The price is less than a 24 hour pass now and I probably won’t be back this summer so I might as well use the 3 day pass.
- 1:49 – Come to a brief stop as we clearly enter Metra territory and the next northbound train passes with the cabbage I photographed early that Amtrak never got around to repainting
- 1:53 – Lake Forest on the dreary day. We go slowly as it starts raining again, my two Amtrak photo stops I’ve timed perfectly!
- 2:08 – The Glenview station stop
- 2:17 – Cross another train line and go trough Mayfair
- 2:20 – I recognize the lampposts, were in Chicago
- 2:22 – Through the Metra Yard
At 2:30 I arrive in Chicago as the EB is leaving on track 17. The crew doesn’t bother to walk back and open more doors from the outside, just the two towards the middle of the train they have opened at every station stop. This means us in the Quiet Car have to walk through one full car to finally detrain. The Empire Builder leaves before I can step off and get a picture of it.
My first stop is the Metropolitan Lounge. There the agent recognizes my Select+ card. She asks me what train I’m taking. I tell her I just got off the Hiawatha and want to leave my luggage. I check my luggage in with the red cap across from the front desk. They tell me I need to be back by 8:00 since they close at 8:30. I walk over to LaSalle that I need on the Blue Line and begin my near station to station of the Northeastern portion of the Blue Line at 2:55 out towards O’Hare.
It’s a fun time to railfan the blue line with us beating a lot of the traffic that is heavy as expected before a long weekend. It seems to be stop and go in both directions.
Eventually I return to Union Station at about 6:45 and use the extremely nice restroom in the Metropolitan Lounge and enjoy some Lays Chips before grabbing my luggage. At 6:56 Leaving after Picking up my luggage I hear someone ask about the Lincoln service to Springfield that departs at 7:00pm. The agent simply says it left at 6:55, not the gates were locked at 6:55. This is bad on her part to not inform the passenger.
I quickly check into my hostel. I’ve been tracking the last Purple Line Express of the evening and realize its running about 5 minutes late and discover its only on the northside of the loop. The CTA now has a neat Train Tracker Map. I quickly walk over to Library and just make the last purple line. The plan is to get the three stations I “lost” (accidentally deleted a small portion of photos from the trip) in Evanston. Going around the loop I notice the stations have green line signs for the PM rush hour trips that go around the loop with the red and green line trains running combined service this summer as the Dan Ryan Line is rebuilt. I’ll definitely be heading to the south side tomorrow. At the stations on the Red Line I immediately notice all of the signs have changed to Ashland/63rd with the Dan Ryan Line closed and trains rerouted to the South Side elevated. There are clearly slow orders on the express tracks, the ride doesn’t feel that express at all
I take the Purple Line first to Dempster and make a photo stop before a 15 minute layover and continuing up to Linden for photos in twilight. I get that station and go back south to Davis where I need a few more photos. At Davis I grab a burger for dinner at Five Guys.
Eventually I get to Davis and have a long wait for the Purple Line. Fireworks Flash in the distance that provide some decent entertainment during the wait.
It’s a long slog back downtown to the hostel on the Purple Line to the Red Line heading to Ashland/63.