05 October 2024 – Saturday
Heading south from Wisconsin to Illinois we stopped at three museums on the way to an overnight stay at a delightful winery.
0830 67,798 55°F Leave our son's house heading towards home
1000 67,859 63°F Exit 3 in Indiana
Dumped our holding tanks at Loves Truck Stop for $10
1120 67,902 67°F Rochelle, Indiana
Eighty to ninety trains a day from BNSF (Burlington Northern Santa Fe) and NS (Norfolk Southern) railroads cross here.
Both railroads have double tracks, so the configuration is called a quadruple diamond.
Observation platforms, one with a radio scanner, allow visitors to see the crossover and hear train communications.
There are clean restrooms and a little gift shop. We bought a 1000 piece vintage steam engine puzzle.
Trains Magazine sponsors a live webcam so the crossing can be viewed from anywhere.
A few vintage engines are on permanent display. This little Whitcomb engine was built here in Rochelle back in 1928. Whitcomb built lots of armor plated engines for military use in Europe during World War II.
Two trains came through during our twenty minute visit, one from each railroad.
Not just railroad tracks, but one of the first cross-country roads, pass through Rochelle. According to a park sign, "The Lincoln Highway was the first successful, all-weather, coast-to-coast automobile highway." A 1924 guide had a interesting list of recommended equipment for drivers.
1204 Back on the road.
Leaving town we chuckled at these camping themed Halloween decorations!
1225 67,920 Willow Creek Rest Area on I-39
Stopped for lunch.
1253 67,936 71°F Mendota, Illinois
Cute museum on Amtrak's cross-country route. Six passenger trains per day pass through here.
The museum houses a working model of Mendota at the peak of railroad activity.
This roundhouse scene has engine number 4978 rotating as it gets ready to head out.
The real 4978, a Mikado 2-8-2 built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1928, sits just outside in a static display. A sister engine still pulls passenger cars on the Grand Canyon Railroad if you want to see one in operation.
$5 admission per adult.
Only one end of the 1888 Union Station remains, but a detailed false front of the entire building was built nearby.
1355 We left trains behind and resumed driving.
1559 68,060 84°F Mahomet, Illinois
A small, but interesting, free museum about the history and communities of central Illinois.
It started with this timeline of human occupation beginning 4,000 years ago.
They also had an interesting exhibit on Abraham Lincoln who spent twenty years of his legal career in this area.
This John Deere Reliance Buggy is the kind of transportation the young lawyer would have used.
1640 Back on the road
1715 68,075 84°F Champaign, Illinois
Our Harvest Host for tonight.
I couldn't resist getting a shot of the crescent moon over their sign just after sunset.
Kilborn Alley, a blues band, was setting up when we arrived. They were entertaining, the staff were friendly, and the wine and beer were good.
Although freeway traffic could be heard in the distance, it wasn't loud enough to be annoying. We would definitely stop here again.
We enjoyed visiting with two other RV couples that also stayed overnight.
This kind of experience is why we like the Harvest Hosts program.
Overnight boondocking was in a level field behind the winery.
Bonus short videos of trains crossing the diamonds at the railroad park in Rochelle, Indiana.
Today's Route from Verona, WI to Champaign, IL
107 miles - 4 hrs 55 minutes
Note: We have used Google Maps "Timeline" feature for years to look back at and share our routes. That is no longer available in a browser and seems less accurate and difficult to edit on our iPhones. We would love to hear any suggestions for a replacement.
We are going to try an App from Outdoor Magazine called Gaia GPS.
We are fully embedded in the Apple ecosystem, using Macs since their introduction in 1984 (and Apple II and Lisa machines before that).
We are looking forward to your suggestions!
No comments:
Post a Comment
We appreciate your comments! They will be published as soon as we get a chance to read them. Solicitations will not be published.