La Crosse Soup

Last August 26th, behind the Root Note, your donations and vote helped 1 of 4  people bring a project to life.  A project that Makes La Crosse a Better Place.  

Here is the manifesto of La Crosse Soup.

The next #LAXSoup event will be Sept 30 -  https://www.facebook.com/events/455303707975281/

La Crosse's Steam Locomotive and Old Time Caboose

For anyone that drives into Downtown La Crosse from the direction of Interstate 90 will see Engine 4000  and Caboose 0359 over at Copeland Park.  At this location, The City of La Crosse has a min-train museum.  You will find an old Control Tower, a Steam Locomotive, and the oldest known Caboose.

La Crosse has a rich history regarding the railroads.  Several rail road companies crossed through this area.  And starting in the 60s, La Crosse wanted to make sure people could be reminded of that connection.

On Saturday, August 29th, I stopped by this display on a whim.  It just so happened that there was going to be an 'Open House' for this little museum and they were just opening when I got there.

I got invited to walk into the caboose and check it out.  I was advised, however, that I could walk up to the engine cab, but since a lot of work was still being done no one was able to go into that part.  There were two engineers that came to answer any questions for visitors.

The best thing about the caboose was I had no expectations.  Walking up to it, the guide told me that this was the oldest known caboose in the country.  Built in 1883 at a factory in Dubuque, IA it had been designed larger than most.  Farmers and Cattlemen would use this to accompany their crops and heard for sale.  Sometimes, farmers would also use this to watch their fields, for the farmers lucky enough to have a train go through their property.








This museum informs that the caboose used to be incredibly important to train operations.  The cupola was where you would watch for any issues with the cars on the train.  The caboose held much of the spare parts needed for each job.  All of the financial books were kept.

This was the home for everyone working on the train.  You had stoves in place for heat and cooking.  The desks and booths became beds.  And the conductor and crew were assigned to the caboose, not the train.


In a sense, you could identify the train more by the caboose than you could by identifying the engine.  If you had a shift change, you saw it done with the change of the caboose.

And during the times everyone was in the box at the same time, it must have been a crowded space.  So the trust required must have made everyone into a sort of family.

 The locomotive was #4000, a Hudson 4-6-4.  It was owned by the CB&Q, otherwise known as Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy (now part of Burlington Northern) Railroad.  This engine was built in 1930 by Baldwin Locomotive Works.  The wheels were 78 Inches and allowed the train to be capable of speeds between 90 and 100 miles per hour.  You can see the Timken brand all over this engine.

La Crosse had it's Grand Crossing terminal and Control Tower.  This location was where people would control the switches for a very wide operating area.  This must have been an amazing set of levers used for the job.

At one time, this control tower would operate the switches all the way out to Tomah, WI and somewhere half way up the Mississippi to the Twin Cities.  But with computer controls, these days, much of Wisconsin and Minnesota are operated out of Minneapolis.

A White Crane visits La Crosse, WI.

A White Crane visits La Crosse, WI.

This guy actually decided to land and sit at the top of a dead tree almost right over my head. I realized, there was no way he was making that tree home. That meant all I had to do was wait for this guy to spread his wings and fly.

It was also early morning so the sun was still low and warm. When this guy flew off, there was a chance to get a decent shot. And then he banked to the right, showing me everything you see here.

I might not be a "birder" but I did enjoy doing some #birding that morning. 

This was at Myrick Park Marsh, La Crosse, WI. morning of August 22nd, 2015.

#birding #discoverwisconsin #explorelacrosse #lacrossewi#wisconsin #whitecrane #whitebird #wideopenwings#spreadyourwingsandfly #bigbird #lifeinthemarsh #marshlife#wildlife #wisconsinlife 

Abstract Photography and Chicago's Mary Bartelme Park

I tried out #AbstractPhotography for the first time back on August 15th while going out to a +Drink and Click ™ Chicago event hosted by +Lauri Novak. My brother, +Adam Dooley asked me to go and I just so happened to be available to drive down from La Crosse and take part. We went to the Mary Batelme Park in the west loop neighborhood (http://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/parks/Bartelme-Mary-Park). 

There is a fountain feature that looks like 5 off-centered frames that people can walk around and through. On hot days, it sprays a cool mist for everyone to enjoy. But the rest of the time, you can enjoy the lighting and aesthetics it brings to the area and the city as a whole. 

However, while I was there, I remembered some videos on +YouTube by Chelsea and +Tony Northrup about how to take abstract photographs. My mind lit up with the strength of the lights used to display the fountain at night.

For more information on the people that designed Mary Bartelme Park: 
http://www.site-design.com/projects/urban-park-design-chicago/

Devil's Lake East Bluff Trail

Stay on the path you kayed before yourself. Don't give up.  Keep climbing to reach your goals.

This photo is of a path along the Eastern Bluff along Devil's Lake in Wisconsin.  This part is the slightly easier incline than the one I took to see the Devil's Doorway rock formation.  But, never fear, because this path will also take you to that feature.

I only scratched the surface of what kind of photos are possible at Devil's Lake. I highly suggest any one to take a trip out there.

#hiking #path #devilslake #wisconsin #discoverwisconsin #midwestmoment #midwestlife #wisconsinlife #statepark #iceagetrail #naturetrail #nature #naturelife #highonlife #summertime

American Queen visits La Crosse, WI - August 2015

American Queen visits La Crosse, WI - August 2015

Living in an area known as the Seven Rivers Region, La Crosse is influenced by life brought forth from the area's abundance of water.  And there are so many rivers here because it is known as the Driftless Area, an area where this part of North America avoided that last 3 glaciations.

Today, is obvious, that the Mississippi River brings the big tours from the big boats.  And this boat is the American Queen.  Probably the largest steam ship still operating along the Mississippi and its tributaries.  She seems to get all of the attention.  People come dressed in an Antebellum style.  They drive, bike, and walk into the park to get a view of the big boat.  And I'm pretty sure I saw other boaters slow down to take in the occasion.

To take this photo, I too had to slow down.  I normally like a detail shot that is zoomed in on a particular feature of a vessel such as this.  But we had clouds with a blue sky.  Wonderfully dressed up people and the obvious spectacle of attention that it was.  I was able to get a combination of 3 photos for this HDR effect.

You can look them up at www.AmericanQueenSteamboatCompany.com or on twitter @CruiseAQSC  and use the tag: #AmericanQueen.  Maybe we can convince them to join Instagram?

#riverlife #steampower #slowdown #mississippiriver #AmericanQueen #puffyclouds #lacrossewi #discoverwi #riversidepark #hdr #midwestmoment #summerontheriver #summertime

Remnants of Sunset through the Devil's Doorway

Remnants of Sunset through the Devil's Doorway,
at Devil's Lake State Park, WI.

For the upper midwest, this is a massive granite monument.  People can climb it to get a great view of the lake and valley below them.  And sunsets with a half-moon like this are stunning.

I came to Devil's Lake for the first week of Summer and it just makes me realize how much I want to search for these photo opportunities.  Speaking of opportunities, what you don't see here are two rock climbers that are on the other side of this formation.

I came up here with +Adam Dooley and we stuck to the paths for the non-rock climbers.  I said to him, it will be a great place to photograph, and who knows, we just might find a rock climber or two.  At the end of this trip, he turned to me and said, "Tony, we need to get in better shape because we need to do more things like this."

I took this set of photos hand held, and the HDR was done by Google.  Enjoy.

#devilslake #wisconsin #discoverwisconsin #rockclimbing #sunsets #moonviews #halfmoon #wisconsinbluffs #wisconsinstateparks #nature #hdr #googlehdr #handheld #monuments #naturalmonuments #midwestmoment #whispyclouds #longsunsets #onlyinwisconsin