July 17: Leaving TC for the USA

Time to leave Traverse City; there is yet more to see in the USA. So I headed south for a rendezvous near Grand Rapids. Although I knew it'd be closed, I still wanted to visit the Steam Railroading Institute in Owosso to see what I could see through the fence. Maybe I'd catch a glimpse of the big ex-Pere Marquette Railroad 2-8-4 steam locomotive No. 1225 that starred in that famous 2004 animated kids movie, "The Polar Express". Of course, it was stabled well out of sight, and with the whole street area around the Steam Railroading Institute being a roading construction site, I was to be dead out of luck.

But as I drove south from the small town of St Charles towards Owosso, I passed the intersection of a road with my name on it, so I stopped and looked it up. It seems that many moons ago, a major railroad called the Michigan Central ran from Grand Rapids, through Owosso and St. Charles to Saginaw and there was a location called Fergus with its own railway station. So, I thought, if these Michiganders have been insightful enough to name a location after me, the least I can do is go and see it. So I drove down Fergus Rd to where this little place had been and photographed it. Now, it was not quite as salubrious as that other 'Fergus' that was named after me (in Ontario, Canada), but it was definitely worth recording, I thought.

Anyway, after that excitement I continued on to Owosso, where I did NOT have any excitement, and although I'm sure this attractive town has much to recommend it in addition to the Steam Railroading Institute, time was passing and I still had to get to Grand Rapids and check in.

This was a pleasant day's driving, through pleasant Michigan agricultural land, and finding another town named after me was excitement enough, I thought. And anyway, I've got a major vintage car rally to attend over the next two days.Read more