I, like most modelers, also enjoy railfanning and photography. Below is a small display of some of my favorite photos from different trips and excursions that I have made in the past. All the photos are mine unless another photographer is credited. Unfortunately, I was only a wee lad with no camera when the Milwaukee Road was still operating, so none of these photos are of black and orange subject matter. I hope that you enjoy them in spite of that fact.

Milwaukee, WI

Well, just after reading that I do not have any black and orange photos, you see this one. While searchig through some of my junk I found this, my first of only 2 photos that I ever took of the Milwaukee Road. This one was taken 11/12/81, on my 15th birthday. I was standing on the 35th street bridge looking east at the railroad's West Milwaukee locomotive servicing facility. I apologize for the poor quality of this photo, but it is the first one that I ever took with a 35mm camera (my dad's old Argus C-Twenty) and I had no idea what I was doing. This was an extremely cold , windy day and the snow was falling quite rapidly, but I was in railroad heaven. Visible in the photo are 3 SD 40-2's, some GP 40's and a couple of GP 38-2's.

Milwaukee, WI

This photo was taken the same day as the previous photo. It is looking in the exact opposite direction as the previous photo, taken from atop the 35th street viaduct. You can see Milwaukee County Stadium in the distance. I think ths photo is neat because it shows the GE dead line in the back. If you look closely, you should be able to count over 70 locomotives in this photo. Most of them stored after the shutdown of lines west of Miles City, MT in March of 1980. My friend Peter Brushaber took the photo.

BNSF Savanna, IL

This is a west bound BNSF stack train negotiating the gentle "S" curves along the Mississippi River in Savanna, IL. The date on this photo is June of 1998. I remember this day as one of the hottest, most miserable days that I have had to endure. I am glad at least, that I have a nice photo to show for it.

Wisconsin & Calumet - Milton Jct., WI

This is a neat photo of a Wisconsin and Calumet (wicket) F unit eastbound through Milton Jct, WI. I would guess the date on this photo to be 1991. It was taken by my brother, Kevin, from his back porch when he used to live in Milton. This is ex-Milwaukee trackage, part of the original Milwaukee and Prarie du Chien RR. The F units and the "wicket" are now gone but the line still sees a lot of tonnage from Wisconsin & Southern trains.

Canadian Pacific Stoney Creek Trestle

This is an eastbound empty coal train crossing the beautiful Stoney Creek Trestle west of Golden,BC. This was taken in July of 1993 on a trip that my brother-in-law and I took . This site was a long way from the nearest road although if you know what your looking for, you can see the bridge from the highway waaaaaaay down in the valley. This photo may have been taken by my brother-in-law, John Figie. We had two cameras and one video camcorder going at once, so when we got the photos back we couldn't remember who took what.

CP Watertown, WI

I have a weakness for head-on shots. This is a picture dating from July of 1993, of the annual circus train on it's trek from Circus World Museum in Baraboo,WI to the Summerfest grounds on Milwaukee's lakefront. This train's cargo is a bunch of beautiful , antique circus wagons that are used in the Great Circus Parade, a very popular annual event in downtown Mlwaukee. I was able to photogrph it as it made a short stop in Watertown so the local citizens would be able to view the colorful circus wagons up close.

BNSF Scenic, WA

Here is a westbound BNSF stack train exiting the west portal of the Cascade tunnel high in the Cascade Mountains of Washington state. Completed in 1929 by the Great Northern Railway, the Cascade tunnel is 8 miles long. It replaced an earlier Cascade tunnel that was shorter and on a much steeper grade. I took this picture in June of 1999. This was my first trip west of Spokane, so I was really impressed with the beauty of the Cascades. I just wish that the weather was as nice as it is in the Rocky Mountains

BNSF Cascade Tunnel-East Portal

As long as we are on the subject of the Cascade Tunnel, we might as well take a look at the east portal. Since the tunnel is 8 miles long, huge fans are needed to blow the diesel exhaust out of the tunnel while a train is inside. Those fans are located at this end. If the locomotives did not have fresh oxygen, internal combustion could not take place and the engines would soon shut down, stranding the train and crew inside the tunnel. We followed this train east from Skykomish. It must have been in the tunnel for a good 15 minutes or more. Waiting for a train at this end of the tunnel is an interesting experience. When we first arrived, the big door in he portal was closed, allowing the ventilation system to blow fresh air at the approaching train. As the train neared this end of the tunnel, alarms started to sound, alerting track workers and anyone else in the area to get out of the way. Soon the doors opened revealing the train still a few hundred yards inside the tunnel, but bearing down on daylight quite rapidly. Soon the train is gone, the tunnel door closes, and the huge fans continue to roar as they purge the tunnel of the diesel exhaust in preparation for yet another train. This photo was taken in June of 1999.

BNSF Skykomish, WA

Before we leave Stevens Pass, I thought I'd include this photo taken while I was eating supper at the Skykomish Hotel. To "West End Milwaukee" fans, I think Skykomish is as close to Avery, ID., as we can get. It is a small, very busy, railroad town stuffed into a narrow valley along the Skykomish River. At one time, it even had a substation. Until the mid-1950's, Skykomish served as the western terminus for the Great Northern's Cascade Tunnel electrification. The eastern terminus was at Wenatchee. I was able to spend the night in "Sky" which was very enjoyable for me in spite of the fact that I was awakened five or six times as trains "whistled" all through the night for the only grade crossing in town. This photo of an eastbond train was taken in July of 1999.