Milwaukee and Madison, Wisconsin, December 2021
Milwaukee and Detroit are spiritual sister cities in many ways, not the least of which being similar architecture.
Quick note up top: This writeup includes a tour of a well-known corporate campus, typically marketed to prospective employees but also open to the general public. Usual disclaimers apply: This is my writing, said company had no involvement or editorial control, etc etc. You know the drill.
This is a continuation of Part 1: CTA Holiday Bus and Train and an expansion of a livethread originally posted to Twitter .
The Chicago Connection: Amtrak’s Hiawatha
The Hiawatha is unique in that it’s one of the few true regional Amtrak services outside of the Northeast Corridor, offering seven round trips daily with only three stops between Chicago and Milwaukee. Given day-to-day congestion in Chicago, the 90-minute trip rivals drive time if it doesn’t beat it outright.
Chicago Union Station and Milwaukee Intermodal Station are roughly 90 miles apart. For reference, that’s about the same as the distance between Detroit and Lansing, where there’s no direct rail connection (we have intercity bus connections, but the stop locations and timetables are in constant flux ). The Hiawatha is a no-frills service – the trains don’t even run with a café car because of how short the trips are. I didn’t take any pictures while onboard because there’s no discernible difference between the Hiawatha and the Michigan routes I more frequently ride. It’s just a train, plain and simple - and sometimes, simple works.
The Hiawatha and the Lake Shore Limited are the last two trains out of Union Station every night. (Yes, the Polar Express show train shows up on the departure boards like a real train.)
Milwaukee: Home of a Familiar Streetcar
Day two of my journey to Illinois and Wisconsin started in downtown Milwaukee. Fun experience for me, as it was the first time I’d ever checked into a hotel traveling solo.
When you’re traveling, never turn down “free” hotel food. You paid for it as part of your room - take some muffins, fruit, and tea packets with you for your journey.
I had very little time to spend in Milwaukee - I picked it as a reasonably priced place to weigh anchor between Chicago and Madison, my next destination. More to look forward to should I return!
I did get to hop on The Hop, or the M-Line, on my return trip to the train station.
Looks familiar, wouldn't you say?
Dan Gilbert, the founder of Quicken Loans in Detroit and provider of the private funding used to operate the QLINE , is known to have visited Milwaukee while planning our streetcar along Woodward. The two were in the design phase at roughly the same time, and both feature similar concessions: Curb-running tracks and a lack of a dedicated lane for most of the route, instead running in mixed traffic. The rolling stock is identical.
The interior of the M-Line looks and sounds identical to the QLINE, though the Milwaukee streetcars have interior destination screens. On my trip, the screens were frozen - a bug which often plagues the QLINE’s audio announcement system as well.
In Detroit, the QLINE doesn’t make any sharp turns along its route except to exit and re-enter the garage. That’s probably for the best - the M-Line doesn’t seem too happy about it.
Just last month, on October 29th, Milwaukee’s first streetcar expansion began operating limited preview service .
Madison: Wisconsin’s Capitol and Home of Epic Systems
From Milwaukee Multimodal I boarded the Badger Bus to downtown Madison, which provides daily service between the two cities in the absence of a rail connection. This was my second trip to Wisconsin’s capital city: I’d previously visited in 2018 to attend a student conference.
The State Capitol building, reflected in a restaurant window in Capitol Square in 2018.
A daytime view from the window of the Badger Bus three years later.
On this trip I wasn’t in Madison to see downtown. Instead I was headed to Verona, a suburb southwest of the city, for a public tour of Epic Systems, a prominent healthcare software company used by multiple hospital systems in Michigan and known for its large “city within a city” style campus. Madison’s Metro Transit can get you there on weekdays, but at the time of my visit, public tours were only offered on weekends. I had no choice but to rely on a transit rider’s last-resort option.
Bleh, rideshare. You’ll hear no praise on this blog.
Every building on Epic’s campus is connected by enclosed walkways and underground tunnels – in fact, on the self-guided tour you can’t go outside or you’ll be locked out. The public can only enter and exit through Andromeda, the building directly across from visitor parking.
The original campus is space exploration themed, onto which multiple additions were built including Storybook, themed after children’s novels, and Wizard’s Academy.
Underground tunnels connect the complex.
Remember in the first part of this writeup when I said I enjoy finding a city’s secret hiding spots, cavernous atriums and the like? During the weekend, when the employees aren’t on campus, this entire complex is one giant space of interconnected hiding spots to explore. I only ever saw about three other people touring the building the whole afternoon.
Each building and common space has its own theme.
Wayfinding maps are installed all over the campus. You’re also given one when you check in for your tour.
For its winding twists and turns and walled-garden design, Epic does have direct bus service. It’s a bit of a walk between the bus stop and the publicly accessible entrance - visitors cannot enter through this door - but it’s certainly possible should someone wish to travel by transit for a tour.
You could spend half a day here easily. Do bring your own lunch as cafeteria food is reserved for employees only. I bought a prepackaged sandwich from a grocery store in downtown Madison to eat after the tour while waiting on my rideshare back into town.
End of the Road: The Return Trip to Michigan
After a fun morning in Milwaukee and afternoon in Madison, it was time to reverse route and head back to Union Station.
The Badger Bus is your typical short-hop intercity coach.
I made some frenemies in Milwaukee by wearing my Detroit ballcap. All in good fun!
My original plan was to take the Hiawatha back and risk a fairly tight connection at Union Station. But, in proper transit adventure fashion, I made a game-time change to my itinerary with the help of the friendly ticket counter staff in Milwaukee. Enter Wisconsin Coach Lines, which runs service between Milwaukee and Kenosha’s Metra station. That’s right: One last trip to the north concourse at Ogilvie was in order!
Kenosha has a really nice station. Only a few Metra trains come this far north per day.
Sometimes the best transit trip planning is done in transit.
I have no hope of reaching podium position in Chicagoland. There’s too many of us!
One final adventure to close out the trip: Traveling between Ogilvie Transit Center and Union Station the sneaky way. Union Station has a stairs-only entrance off Madison Street — if you’re able to maneuver that and briefly stomach the exhaust fumes from multiple diesel locomotives idling on platforms, it’s the most direct way into the station concourse. The smarter and more accessible way is still just walking down Canal and entering through the Great Hall as intended, though.
Back on board an Amcan on the Lake Shore Limited, I got a row to myself by picking the seat nobody else wanted: The windowless seat! I’d be getting off the train in the early hours of the morning and attempting to sleep for most of the ride, so I wasn’t concerned with the view. Passengers staying on through to the Northeast Corridor would have much more scenery to look forward to.
Also caught a glimpse of the dining car as I was boarding. One day, if I ever have the luxury of cross-country travel in a sleeper car, that’ll be a trip report in and of itself.
Just an Amburger for me on this trip.
Finally, after a freight delay-filled slog back across the cornfields and small towns of the Midwest, I made it back to Toledo just before 5:00 in the morning. A couple pit stops for a breakfast sandwich and standard-issue MDOT coffee later, I was back home in Metro Detroit.
Closing Thoughts
There’s 66 miles to Detroit, we’ve got a full tank of gas, half a cup of coffee, it’s no longer dark out, and we’re wearing… just glasses. Hit it. 👓
I’d absolutely do this trip again: In fact I plan to, just on a warmer weekend next time and with the Lake Shore Limited removed from the equation. I love Amtrak, but when you’re traveling overnight in coach on a low-speed route while the café car attendant is trying to serve the whole train in the last 15 minutes before closing up shop… Holy Toledo, it’s a long ride. It’s not much better than sleeping on a motorcoach with your own snacks. Roomettes are so expensive you have to be traveling clear across the country to justify the price, sadly.
The speed of the Blue Water and Wolverine has spoiled me. We need more higher speed rail connections in this country on top of the baseline service we already have. Half of the Detroit to Chicago trip runs at 110 miles per hour, and Toledo should be afforded the same luxury.
There is another way to Milwaukee from Michigan. It’s not driving, it’s not a bus, and it’s not a train. It’s a straight-line path, and one that’s been on my transit wishlist for years.
One of these summers. Stay tuned. ⛴️