After riding the Saturday morning excursion from Irvine Yard in Chippewa Falls to Thorp, Wisconsin, we wanted to get a few pictures from outside of the train. This page has some of them, taken of the afternoon excursion.

Saturday Afternoon
	Jim Lanou (my brother-in-law), his grand-son Devon, and I had a quick lunch with our wives and my mother, then headed back to Jim's house to meet the train. Jim and wife Rita (my sister) live about a block from this point, just off State Highway J near Lake Wissota. We met the train here, about three miles east of Chippewa Falls. She blew by us making maybe thirty miles an hour, and quickly picked up speed heading through Bateman and Cadott. Photo was taken September 20, 1997.
	Because of the traffic following the train (see the left side of the previous photo), we couldn't get to Cadott in time, but we did reach a crossing off old Highway 29 (now called Highway X) about halfway between Cadott and Boyd. We waited there, along with about a dozen others, for the train. Photo was taken September 20, 1997.
	After the big Mike left us behind, steaming off through the grain fields, we jumped back onto Highway 29 (the new, four-lane version) and sped past Boyd to Stanley. There is an old station still standing there, and I was able to get this photo of our favourite train as it sped past on it's afternoon journey to Thorp. Photo was taken September 20, 1997.
	Leaving Stanley, we returned to my mother's house in Cadott. She lives two short blocks from the railroad tracks. We quaffed a couple of our local brews, then strolled down to the tracks to await the return of the excursion from Thorp. Soon the familiar maroon and gold hove around the bend beyond the Highway 27 viaduct, but rather than the WC # 3010, we saw Wisconsin Central's SD-45 # 6579 on the point of a string of coal hoppers. Photo was taken September 20, 1997.
	This particular Saturday, Cadott had the main business district (one block long) barricaded while they celebrated "Boyea Days" (don't ask). Local Octagenarian Tom Tobola, who owned the Ford franchise in Cadott for many years, had his Antique Ford Model A there for the occasion. Since there was no sign of the excursion Train, I snuck uptown and got this shot. Photo was taken September 20, 1997.
	Naturally, as soon as I walked away from the tracks, we heard the wail of Wisconsin Central GP-40 # 3010. I hurried back to the track and got this shot as the 3010 hauled the train backwards across the Main Street crossing in Cadott, toward Chippewa Falls. By the way, do you suppose it's a coincidence that # 3010 has the same four digits as # 1003? Photo was taken September 20, 1997.