Badger, Milwaukee, Chicago - 7/23/05 to 7/25/05

[BB]

July 23rd of last year my dad and I went to the Wisconsin State Fair where the Milwaukee Mile race track is to watch the Indy cars. The morning of July 23rd we drove down to Ludington to catch the S.S. Badger.

Waiting in line for a staff member to drive the car onboard. 7:20am


The Badger's rails were kept in the pavement.


Pulling away from the ferry apron. 8:03am
VIDEO: http://www.dailymotion.com/BB/video/59604


S.S. Spartan the Badger's sister ship. Not in service.




Lowering the gate.


Passing residential housing.


Ludington Coast Guard Station.


Leaving Ludington


Passing the Ludington lighthouse. 8:09am


Lighthouse leaning to the left. Each year it seems to lean a little more.


Built for the C&O Railway.


Muddy anchor.


Manitowoc WI Coast Guard boat guides the Badger into port. 10:34am Central time


Manitowoc port




Smokestack


Deck


Docked at the Manitowoc apron. 11:17am


At the Badger's Manitowoc visiters center is a Chessie System brochure.


Also a model of the ship.


Drove from Manitowoc to Milwaukee and a way to spend the rest of the day was to take Amtrak's Hiawatha Service to Chicago. Here is the Milwaukee Amtrak Station which is on the Canadian Pacific line. Freight trains go through the station. 2:05pm


Aboard Amtrak Hiawatha Train #338 leaving the station. 3:02pm


Allen-Bradley Clock Tower seen from the train. 3:03pm


This train went through the station while our Amtrak was boarding. We overtook it outside the city but we made a stop at the General Mitchell International Airport station and it started to pass us back at its slow pace which can be seen in the video. Grain train(?) and 7 units(?). 3:12pm
VIDEO: http://railroadfan.com/gallery/displayi ... ?pos=-9741


Neat setup.


SOO's in a green landscape.


Crossing I-90 in Chicago. 4:14pm


Industry north of downtown.


Arriving on the north side of Chicago Union Station. 4:32pm
Hey Mr. Tops I was just arriving when you were about to depart from the south side of the station. http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... ?id=161497


New Metra sign for Van Buren Street station.


Skyscraper sunset


Union Station along the Chicago River.


Now on train 341. Looking out from where the above photo shows. 8:02pm


7/24/05
Police car outside the Wisconsin State Fair.


National Anthem playing at the Milwaukee Mile. 12pm


Video of the Indy cars.
VIDEO: http://www.dailymotion.com/BB/video/59629


Downtown Port Washington WI. Nice little town on the lake between Milwaukee and Manitowoc.


Good place to eat at off of I-43 in Sheboygan.


The Bud silos lit up at night in Manitowoc.


Badger's docked. 11:21am
Trucks driving off.
VIDEO: http://www.dailymotion.com/BB/video/59611


Backing a boat onto the boat.


Backing construction equipment onboard.


Oversize loads being brought aboard. This caused a slight delay to departing. My guess is this would be stuff used for a portable concrete plant.
VIDEO: http://www.dailymotion.com/BB/video/59624








The rotary kiln.








Departing Manitowoc. 1:10am


Ludington harbor. 5:52am Eastern time


Docked 6:10am




Oversize loads along the Spartan at sunrise.


The remaining equipment. 6:30am


ENJOY. Hopefully you've found interest in the non train pictures and videos.

[MMRR-24]

Hey I took the Badger and was in Wisconsin in that time peroid!

[leo28150]

Aside from the oversize loads, how full was the boat car wise going in each direction?

[~Z~]

ENJOY. Hopefully you've found interest in the non train pictures and videos.

Very much so BB. Watched all the vids, quite interesting to watch the car ferries. Thanks for creating this report.. Awesome video of passing that CP train.

[BB]

Hey I took the Badger and was in Wisconsin in that time peroid!

Have you taken the Lake Express from Muskegon? Standing outside on the top deck is as close to hurricane force winds I've been in, well maybe not but with the speed of the boat and wind gusts it makes you hold on to the railing.

Aside from the oversize loads, how full was the boat car wise going in each direction?

The morning run was I believe was pretty full. The night run I don't think there was a whole lot of cars. The price across at night was cheaper because of the less business. I had to go to work the morning we got back to Ludington and was hoping they wouldn't put our car on first but they did and it went up on one of the ramps toward the front of the boat. I would guess the oversize loads took up most of the main deck. Made it to work north of Manistee five minutes late.

ENJOY. Hopefully you've found interest in the non train pictures and videos.

Very much so BB. Watched all the vids, quite interesting to watch the car ferries. Thanks for creating this report.. Awesome video of passing that CP train.

The ferries are a neat mode of transport. Glad you liked the pics/vids Zack. I have some pretty interesting pictures from some trips I've made recently. The Hiawatha from Milwaukee to Chicago is a pretty much a straight line, not too many curves. A fun trip could be to take the ferry from Muskegon to Milwaukee then train to Chicago and the train back to GRR.