Being fueled primarily by coffee and excitement, day 2 of my trip to Portage, Wisconsin, to see the CP 2816 "Empress" started at around 7:00 AM after a horrible night's sleep (along with a couple of wood ticks from the previous day's adventure!)
Knowing that this train would be hard to get ahead of on the roads once it got rolling towards Milwaukee, I had to decide if I wanted to catch it leaving Portage or just go East and get prepared to catch it enroute to Watertown and beyond. Thanks to the advice of a young railfan I met at Portage, I decided to stay to watch the "Empress" leave Portage and planned to meet it again at Columbus, Wisconsin, if traffic allowed. I'm glad I stayed. Strangely, most of the other rail fans must've decided to head East as the CP security teams pushed rail fans back away from the tracks in preparation for the departure. For reasons I can't explain, no one told me to move from my clear vantage point right next to the tracks. Perhaps my blaze-orange Rugby Junction t-shirt made it look like I was a CP employee?
As #2816 started leaving, one could really understand why they say that steam locomotives "breath"... inhaling and exhaling as large poofs of steam and burnt oil were lofted into the air. What was a complete surprise to me was how loud the vented steam was going to be... I really should've had ear plugs in as the train rolled by as I felt like the steam was going right through my ears and into my brain!
Being a Monday morning, traffic from Portage to Columbus was nearly non-existent and I was able to get a few minutes ahead of the train as it waited to leave the East side of Portage Yard. I was making good time until a farm tractor had traffic backed-up just before Columbus... ah, Wisconsin! Knowing that I was only a few minutes ahead of the train, I found a location in Columbus that was right near an overpass that should've been in good light, but in hind-site wasn't an ideal spot but I didn't have time to go elsewhere.
My spot was right next to several red markers that were pushed into the track ballast (not visible in the video) that was supposed to signify to the train crew that there was work being done near the tracks in front of the Columbus depot and the train should slow down... but it definitely did not! (A message from a Columbus city worker on Steel Highway's Columbus rail cam also mentioned that she had requested that the train roll slow by the Columbus depot, but that message must've gotten lost.) As the train roared by me, I realized that I was too d@mn close to the tracks for comfort, even though I was on public property with a barrier next to me, and hence my video got a bit "lumpy" as I stepped back a few feet.
To conclude my journey, I went to the Columbus depot to observe the working being done to add new elevated walkways alongside the tracks. This much needed improvement likely came from Federal Amtrak funds and will better serve Amtrak passengers now that the new "Borealis" service was announced. (I.e., the "Borealis" service is a second Amtrak train between Chicago and Minneapolis with many stops along the way, including Columbus.) I also noticed that a poor man with a brand new full-sized pick-up had gotten the side of his truck caved-in right near the depot... perhaps a casualty of overly excited railfans?
www.amtrak.com/borealis-train
A special "thank you" to the CPKC for putting all the time, effort, and financial resources into making this celebration a reality. Wisconsin is pretty much considered "fly-over country" as far as railroads are concerned, so I feel fortunate that I was able to capture this once in a lifetime event without having to go very far from home.
www.cpkcr.com/en/community/fi...
#cpkc #2816