The H-MADNTW rounds the bend in Savanna Illinois

At the conclusion of the 2008's trip ATCS Don and I took to Galesburg, Illinois, we vowed to do it again. The adventures we had were some I wanted to do over and over again; I spent all winter thinking and planning for the summer I knew would be coming in just a few months. Fast forward to September 17th. Don and I left the TwinCitiesRailfan area at 5 a.m. with a planned stop for some breakfast and driver switch in Waterloo, IA. We then continued onto East Dubuque, IL, where the first trains of the day were to be seen.

It was now close to 11 and the need to see a train was building. Getting closer to Dubuque, what made trainless matters worse was that we had turned on the radios before we left Waterloo, and heard all the radio traffic for the past two hours. From this, we knew there was plenty of activity on the rails.

Starting down the hill into Dubuque, we could see the progress of an eastbound BNSF train on the mobile ATCS computer. It was just across the river. Seeing that it was nearing the north side of East Dubuque, the red traffic light that had stopped us was not helping the chase. Trying to get the stoplight to change faster, I asked Don to make a "siren noise," to see if that would help. Of course it did not. As the light changed to green and we approached the bridge over the river, I no longer needed the mobile ATCS to tell me where the train was. I could see its rear end just coming up to the bridge. "Well, that one got away," I said, but Don pointed out several more on the screen.

We found our way back to a spot we had sat at last year; and this time it was much better looking. Before I got out of the car, I scanned the skies above, to make sure we would not have a repeat of the seagull bombing campaign that ended our railfanning in East Dubuque a year ago. With the skies clear of clouds and birds, we readied ourselves for the first trains of this trip.

Radio chatter had mentioned some track work north of us. This caused the trains to pass by in fleeting bursts - two east, then two west. Operations were down to single track conditions. Here we saw two westbound manifest trains and one eastbound intermodal. The two highlights from these trains would have to be: the ATSF diesel-electric crane used in Maintenance of Way service, it was tucked in behind the lead units of the first manifest train; the second manifest had a Canadian Pacific ES44AC in the consist. I'm sure the local railfans were in heaven seeing that unit pass by. Seeing the ATCS monitor now dark, we pressed on to Galena, IL. Following Don's directions, I drove down a road that started out two lanes wide and paved but ended as a dirt road just big enough for our car to pass. We were lucky to avoid being hit by the tree limbs on the side of the road. The road dead-ended right on the tracks! If you are going to fast, you may just end up on them. Be careful if you every venture down that road.

Here in Galena we were on the wrong side of the tracks for good photos, so, I set up the video camera. I was ready for the rush of trains we were about to see. First up was a westbound vehicle train that had a tailend meet with the headend of an eastbound stack train. It was closely followed by a westbound "Z" train. As with East Dubuque, the three trains came and went and the ATCS display went dark. Time for lunch.

After lunch we had plans to stop at a friend of Don's house to see his HO-scale layout. We also took a tour of the Savanna Historical Society's new building; it will soon be the home to a new HO layout depicting the historical railroads of Savanna. But, I also had a stop I wanted to make at the old Savanna Army Depot. I had stopped at the Army Depot back in May and found an old US Army Whitcomb-built RS-4-TC. Later, I found out that there were three more of these down here. Ever since, I have wanted to get back to see the others. Today was going to be the day! Pulling into the old depot I drove straight to the end of the road. I found the units parked inside a building. Not wanting to be "shut out," I walked into to the building and yelled out for anyone; I wanted to see if I could get some shots. With all of the doors opened, I figured someone must be there, yet, after five or six 'Hellos', no one answered. I got the shots I could, of what are now Riverport Railroad units, and said good bye.

Leaving the depot, the signal was lit for a westbound train. We decided it would be better to get our shots closer to town. Between Savanna and the depot, there is a great bridge crossing the river, and the tracks are right on the road. It was here I wanted to get my shot. A heavy foot was needed, we hurried, and got to the spot in time. We shot the H-MADNTW making its way along the river. Running into town I managed to get a shot of an Iowa, Chicago & Eastern (IC&E) train making its way across the diamond before we headed off to find Bob and see his layout.

Bob's layout was spectacular; not only is it big, it has every building, bridge, and street scene you could imagine. What makes if even more impressive, is that Bob makes every one of his structures from scratch. He is a master craftsman for sure. We spent some time chatting and taking notes before we headed over to the Savanna Historical Society's new building in Savanna. When complete, the building will house a large HO layout on the third floor. Work on the layout only began in March, so it leaves a lot to the imagination. Seeing the tracks laid out and a few buildings already in place, the highlight has to be the 18-stall handbuilt roundhouse from Bob. The benchwork gives you a good idea of what the finished product will look like. I know I will be stopping in, every time I pass through Savanna, to see the progress. I encourage all of you to do the same if you find yourself in Savanna.

After visiting both layouts, it was nearly 3 p.m. We said our good byes and continued on to the hotel. Our plan was to stop at the hotel, eat, then scout in a town named Colona. After a quick refresh at the hotel and dinner in the Quad Cities, we made our way to Colona. Here, Don was hoping to find a new ATCS server site. First I felt we needed to take an 18 mile detour. Ok, so I did not plan the detour, but hey, that is what happens when you take a wrong turn! Finally getting into Colona we heard an IAIS (Iowa Interstate Railroad) train making its way through town. Again, after making a few wrong turns, I found the tracks and the train. A lash-up of ex-Penn Central GP38-2s and a GEvo (one of their newest units), led a very nice looking train. Top that with a great location, what could I ask for in the last train of the day?

While the train passed over the crossing, the sun passed below the horizon. It was time to move on, so back into the car and we continued on Don's scouting mission. With a list of the fourteen registered ham radio operators in Colona, we carried out our search with hopes of making a few contacts. However, house after house, came up empty. Of all the addresses on the list, 13 of them had no signs of an "active" ham radio; the one that did, appeared to have an antenna built by MacGyver, held together by tin foil, rubber bands, and paper clips. There was no way Don was going to even attempt making contact here. One house was covered with railroad signs, but that house looked more like a series of ice shanties glued together. Out of the question as well.

Time to call it a day. It was 9:30 p.m., we both were running out of energy. Another full day lay ahead of us tomorrow. We returned to the hotel for some much needed sleep. With trip two, day one in the books, I drifted off to sleep with visions of Galesburg swirling in my head. I could only hope my dreams would become reality the next day.