WISCONSIN: 'WE'RE TRAIN GEEKS'



Tom Schultz, 68, of Watertown, Wisconsin, was fascinated by trains from an early age.



"We're headed to Glenwood Springs, Colorado. It's a very special stop for us. I hate to use the word, but it's kind of a yuppie place. It's very, very nice. You get off the train, and walk 100 feet, and the hotel is there. They've got a microbrewery. They've got this huge pool that's heated with water from the earth.



"I'm with two good friends. Once a year in January, when it gets to be the doldrums, especially after the Packers lose, we usually take a three- or four-day trip just to rejuvenate our lives. We always go on a train for this trip. I love training. Time is the issue. If you've got time, a train is the best.



"I guess we're train geeks. You have to be one to know what it is to be a train geek. I was born and raised ... about three blocks away from the train station in Watertown, Wisconsin. It was kind of a weird deal, back in those days, that was almost like our park. We'd go up and meet the station agent, and we'd have fun and we'd take the train when they'd turn it around. At night you'd go to sleep and in the middle of the night, the train would go by and the horn and the noise and everything, you'd never hear it, because you got so used to it. But it became ingrained in us. I've always been a train fan.



"The station agent that took care of the place back when they had station agents - he died some years ago. And I went to his funeral, and his wife cried with me: 'You were the guys that he talked about.' We were there all the time as kids.



"Getting on the train, it's just a chance to get away from the rat race. You just sit back and enjoy life."