Sure hoping for a Portland to Eugene train at more reasonable hours.
Richard
Posted by Vincent206 (Member # 15447) on :
Well, I was hoping to take a trip on a Wisconsin-built Talgo before Mr. Pressley reached 4000 posts, but it looks like he beat me to it--congratulations! I don't know if the Wisconsin-built trains have entered revenue service yet, but I'll be watching for them at King Street Station.
Posted by CG96 (Member # 1408) on :
Congratulations (sort of). You beat me to your goal. Here's to hoping I'll see train service back through Madison in my lifetime.
Posted by notelvis (Member # 3071) on :
quote:Originally posted by CG96: Congratulations (sort of). You beat me to your goal. Here's to hoping I'll see train service back through Madison in my lifetime.
During my 'younger days' in the 1990's and early 2000's I volunteered with both the Colts and Madison Scouts Drum and Bugle Corps.
As such, I had need every summer (and still go back for visits from time to time..... most recently this past July) to travel to either Dubuque, IA or Madison if not both.
I used a number of convoluted travel arrangements over the years before finally settling in to flying or Amtrak to Milwaukee and the Badger Coach over to Madison. It worked BUT I am firmly convinced that there is no city in the United States better poised to take full advantage of rail passenger service than Madison, WI. Given 3 or 4 daily departures to Milwaukee, the Milwaukee Airport station, and Chicago and the educated, progressive, green-minded populace of Madison would have filled those Talgos up.
I will continue visiting that area of the country for drum corps events and reunions and I will always try to work an Amtrak ride into my travel plans...... though it looks now like the odds are better that my Amtrak destination will be Dubuque before Madison.
Posted by Geoff Mayo (Member # 153) on :
Where and when was the last passenger train in Madison? My Google skills are not up to much this morning, it seems! The only reference I can find is to a Sioux train that run up until A-day in 1971 (and this forum doesn't like parenthesis in URLs so I can't link to it - search Wikipedia). Whereabouts in Madison would that have stopped? Is there still a depot there?
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
Well, for starters, here is the former MILW Madison station in its present day format as a restaurant:
'The Sioux' did survive until A-Day; a companion daylight train, 'The Varsity', did not fare so well.
Posted by notelvis (Member # 3071) on :
I'm guessing that that E-unit and the stainless steel coach are 'part of the atmosphere' for the restaurant?
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
Absolutely correct, Mr. Presley.
The only single level stainless cars ever owned by the MILW were five 'Pacific--' 10-6 Sleepers that they acquired from UP during June 1969. This transaction hardly represented any optimism regarding passenger trains, but rather a 'payoff' from UP to MILW for an imbalance of car-miles arising from The Pullman Company's folding.
Those cars never went to Amtrak; instead they went 'South of the Border'.
Posted by KacyB (Member # 52680) on :
Congratulations on your 4000th post, NotElvis :-)
Posted by notelvis (Member # 3071) on :