Sturtevant, WI

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In order to qualify for the Guest Rewards "Midwest City Pairs Bonus" promotion, I need to do one more round trip between two of the qualifying cities listed in the promotion. I'll be in Chicago in a few weeks, and am thinking of taking 335 from Chicago to Sturtevant, and 338 back to Chicago the same day.

Since I am not at all familiar with the Sturtevant station, I was wondering if anybody could give me any more information about the station and the area that it's in. It appears from Amtrak's website that the station in Sturtevant is unstaffed, but I'm not sure. Is it in a reasonably good area? Since I'll be there for about an hour and a half, I'm also wondering if there is anywhere nearby where I could grab a bite to eat while I wait for my return train.

Any help that you can provide would be greatly appreciated.
 
Though I've passed Sturtevant dozens of times while riding Hiawatha trains, I've never really paid much attention to the area around the station. The station is unstaffed, and the building itself is decrepit. I don't know of any eateries in the area.

If you're simply doing this trip "just for the hell of it" and have no particular reason to visit Sturtevant, I'd recommend going all the way to Milwaukee and back. There are vending machines from which you could buy a snack (unfortunately, the 25 minutes the train spends in the station may not quite be enough to go to the nearby mall and grab a bite to eat). The trains also feature cart service on weekdays, which sells snacks and beverages.

So, if you're looking for something to eat, get it in Chicago Union Station and eat it on the train. Otherwise (if your schedule works out), you can do one of the other turns (such as 333 to 336, or 337 to 340), which give you enough time to walk over to the mall (three blocks north of the station) and get something from the food court.
 
Thank you for your thoughts. I had also thought of going all the way to Milwaukee, but was concerned about the quick turnaround...only about 20 minutes. I'd like to spend more time in Milwaukee, but my schedule will not permit it this time around....I'll save that for another time.

Should I be concerned with having only 20 minutes between trains. Do these trains run pretty much on time, or could 335 be delayed enough to cause me to miss 338?
 
Guest said:
Should I be concerned with having only 20 minutes between trains. Do these trains run pretty much on time, or could 335 be delayed enough to cause me to miss 338?
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Train #335 will become train #338. So if train #335 is late arriving in Milwaukee, then train #338 will be late leaving Milwaukee.
 
Thank you again.

I'll go ahead and take 335 all the way to Milwaukee....gotta get those Guest Rewards bonuses while you can.
 
My kids and I visit the Sturtevant station often for train watching, and the area is very safe. The area is of historical interest, with the old RR hotel adjacent to the station. While the dining room is closed, I believe there is a "New Age" bookstore in the building. There is also a terrific Greek-American restaurant across the street called "Castlewood" with great food and low prices. It is very clean, nicely decorated, and a favorite of the locals. Also across the street from the station (and next to the Castlewood), is an ex-Milwaukee caboose owned by a local RR historical club, which has many interesting artifacts. I think it is only open to the public on Sunday afternoons, however.

I think Sturtevant is a great destination for a 1 1/2 hour visit...much more interesting (and safer) than the dingy old station downtown Milwaukee.
 
The downtown Milwaukee station is dingy and somewhat old, but I wouldn't consider it unsafe by any means.
 
Ouch, that's a creative spelling of Zephyr in your signature line, AmtrakFan! :blink:
 
Thanks for your advice. Since I didn't book anything yet, maybe I'll go with the original plan, and save the trip to Milwaukee for when I have more time.

As a side note, as I was looking for information about Milwaukee somewhere online yesterday I found an article that said about $4.5 million was going to be spent remodeling and restoring the downtown Milwaukee station. If I remember correctly, it said that construction was to begin last year, and be completed sometime this year. Has anyone else heard this? Based on previous postings, I assume that construction hasn't started yet. Is this still in the works?
 
The Milwaukee station renovation is held up by a few issues. The city council has some concerns about exactly what will be done, and the alderman that represents the downtown area is pretty much blocking any progress because he doesn't like the plans. Then there's the issue of the city wanting to use some money to fix up the station, but the county wants that same money to rebuild a parking garage (yes, our county government is run by a jerk).
 
You could go all the way to Milwaukee, rather than turn at Sturtevant; the equipment from No. 335 becomes No. 338 after its arrival at Milwaukee. If you get off No. 335 at Sturtevant, you'll be boarding the same set of equipment on No. 338.
 
rmadisonwi said:
The downtown Milwaukee station is dingy and somewhat old, but I wouldn't consider it unsafe by any means.
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You need to get to Milwakuee and see the totally renovated new station. It opened several months ago. Get on the Hiawathas and get up to date on Milwaukee.
 
haolerider said:
rmadisonwi said:
The downtown Milwaukee station is dingy and somewhat old, but I wouldn't consider it unsafe by any means.
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You need to get to Milwakuee and see the totally renovated new station. It opened several months ago. Get on the Hiawathas and get up to date on Milwaukee.
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I'm pretty sure that Robert is aware of the new station, being he used to live in Milwakuee. :)

That comment that you quoted was made three years ago, prior to the completion of the new station. I'm not quite sure why Guest Joe thought to revisit this old topic with his post.
 
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As of late I've seen a few ancient topics pop onto the first page briefly with no new posts or anything, or any other rhyme or reason. Also, a few times I was dumped onto the last page when I surfed my way here. That might have something to do with it.
 
Green Maned Lion said:
As of late I've seen a few ancient topics pop onto the first page briefly with no new posts or anything, or any other rhyme or reason. Also, a few times I was dumped onto the last page when I surfed my way here. That might have something to do with it.
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I can't imagine what would cause you to be dumped onto the last page, that is definately odd. But if it continues to happen, then let's talk.

As for the first half of your post, one thing that can cause what you describe is if the topic had a poll in it. The BB software treats a vote in a poll as a new post in the topic. So therefore it will set the new post indicator and update the most recent post date, which in turn moves the topic back to the front page of the topic list.
 
I was on within the last hour, and then went to get something to eat. When I came back, and refreshed the screen, I noticed my post said i was a "guest"! I never signed off, but apparently the system signed me off (for the 1st time since I registered last year)!

Maybe something IS going on!
 
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