Soo Line Historical and Technical Society

Very Hard-core Railfans visit Portage

May 4, 2003

by Todd Brown

It's not untypical to find me spending a Saturday in Portage to get away from Madtown and watch the trains run. Only 40 minutes away, Portage is a great place for a RR geek like me to get my weekly fix.

On one particular such day, I was about to head home after watching the last eastbound freight change crews before sundown. As the sun was setting, a silver 4-day sedan rushed into the parking lot and 4 men quickly jumped out and starting taking pictures. I heard them talking and could detect a heavy accent.

I approached the gentlemen and asked them if they were here to see the trains. The answer was an enthusiastic yes. I then asked where they came from, and they stated that they had just flown into Chicago earlier in the day from Newcastle, England. Jokingly, I asked them if they had came all that way just to chase trains and the answer was, "of course!"

The four were on their way to Wisconsin Dells for dinner then destined for St. Paul, Minnesota the next day. From there they were going to take two weeks to travel the US, hitting all the railroad hot-spots along the way. Their trip was scheduled to end in Los Angeles where they would board a plane to fly back to England.

I hope they had a great time and if any of them are reading this, I would love to hear how your trip went. Just drop me an e-mail.

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