Gone Railfanning

Frank writes...

And now for something completely different. Sunday happened to be the last day of the South Shore running down the middle of 11th Street in Michigan City, a fact of which I was unaware until it was pointed out to me late last week. Zach decided to ride the country's last interurban to commemorate the occasion, then a couple of car shop guys decided to go along, then a couple more, and, well, you know how it goes...

So here's the group that departed from Randolph Street on the 1:35pm train: Greg, Zach, Joel, Noah, and Nick. Nathan and Mikey boarded at Portage. Zach had actually boarded eastbound at the Michigan City shops and ridden into Chicago in the morning, while Greg, Joel, and Nick took Metra into the city and I drove.

I know, I know - "hey get out of the way, I want to look at the train." Well here you go. These cars are about 40 years old now, and starting to be cycled through their second mid-life rebuild.

Greg, Noah, Zach, and Nick on the train. To say these cars lack the personality of older interurban cars is a bit of an understatement. But it's still an interurban line, and the experience may not be wildly different than riding one of the old sealed-window A/C cars except for the welded rail and lack of good motor/pump noise. I'm embarrassed to say that as much of an interurban fan as I am, I'd never before ridden the line east of Michigan City.

And here's me and Joel, photo courtesy of Nick.

We rode to South Bend, with the train pictured here during its layover at the airport terminus, then back. Nathan and Mikey boarded and then alit at Portage, while Zach exited at the Michigan City shops on the return trip to get his car. It was an eminently enjoyable trip.

A scene no longer possible: the view out the train door window going westbound down 11th Street in Michigan City at sunset. There were a lot of photographers along the tracks, and we saw at least one or two IRM members who were there to observe and/or photograph the last day of street running.

And here we have a favorite subject matter of David, railfans taking pictures of railfans taking pictures, starring Nathan and Mikey.