I'll be traveling to the Madison, WI area coming up. I'm just curious if there are any sponsors or other good train shops in the area. Any other fun rail related things to see in the area? Thanks!
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Great train store in Butler, WI which is 78 miles from Madison. Sommerfeld's Trains has a great O gauge selection plus Matt, the best train mechanic in the Midwest. Certainly worth the 78 mile drive.
For full scale, the Mid-Continent Railroad Museum is about an hour away in North Freedom, WI.
Just a bit further north, there's the Riverside and Great Northern Railway, running 15" gauge live steam. It's at the site where many live steamers were once built. Still in operation, but I don't know if there is any opportunity to tour the build shop.
https://www.trains.com/trn/new...ilwaukee-county-zoo/
There is also Hiawatha Hobbies in Waukesha, again about an hour and a half. Good web site to see if there is anything of interest in stock.
If you have the time and want a good meal , go to the Harvey House. It's an upscale restaurant in a Milwaukee Road's station on Madison's west side. I recommend the Schnitzel but anything is good there. Little pricey but what isn't these days. If it's open, don't forget to tour the observation car turned into a 50's-60's bar & private lounge.
On the other side of the state (Milwaukee), Sommerfeld's is definitely the train shop you will want to go to, if possible.
