Announcing Washington Area RailFest 2015 (WARF)
Once again I am pleased to announce our next Winter event, the OTOL Washington Area RailFest 2015, which will go by the acronym of WARF, because that's what it is. Dates will be Saturday, January 17th and Sunday, January 18th. This is the weekend of Martin Luther King Day, which traditionally has worked out for us many previous years.
The goals of this Fest are as follows:
- Ride the Metro Silver Line Phase I segment to Wiehle/Reston East that opened in August of 2014
- Ride the DC Streetcar H Street/Benning Road line. *
* At present, DC Streetcar has not gone into service, nor has an opening date been announced. If it is not open by the time of this Fest, we will substitute some other Metro riding of the participants' choice.
The Fest will also include a ride on the weekend MARC service that began in December of 2013, and some time will also be spent on the light rail and Metro lines in Baltimore.
Because most will prefer to base ourselves in the Washington area, the Baltimore day will have more activities than the one around Washington. Therefore, Saturday would work better with the Baltimore activities, while Sunday would be for Metro and DC Streetcar. The MARC, MTA light rail, and MTA Metro activities also work better on Saturday than Sunday. There are, for example, more MARC trips on Saturday than Sunday.
This is the homepage for the Washington Area RailFest 2015 event. And here is the tentative and incomplete WARF itinerary. I say incomplete because no times have been figured out for Sunday, and they can't until we find out what DC Streetcar's schedule is, and whether it will be up and running. But you can get the general idea what the day will be like. It will be updated once our plans come into better focus.
In addition to the official rail activities on Saturday and Sunday, if any happen to be in the area early enough on Friday or have the time on Monday, they may wish to ride other rail lines on their own.
I am still working on some of the other pages, and I will post here when they have been completed and activated for your perusal.
So far this is what most participants will need:
Amtrak
- Your own travel plans need to be made to get you to and from Washington (or Baltimore if only attending on Saturday). Some may choose to fly or get to/from the area by means other than Amtrak.
- The itinerary calls for us to take Regional #147 from Baltimore to Washington, leaving 2:43 PM and arriving 3:30 PM on Saturday, 1/17. At press time there are discounted early booking bucket fares that you may be able to grab.
- Any other Amtrak trips you choose to make within the area, such as on Friday or Monday.
Hotels
- Hotel(s) of your choice within the Washington, DC area. Remember you will need to allow enough time to travel to the start point at Union Station on Saturday and Sunday mornings. So you therefore may wish to stay in the area beginning Friday, January 16th.
Meals
- So far, lunch in Baltimore on Saturday will be at the Lexington Market, a large marketplace with many individual stands where you can find just about anything. It is conveniently located near a stop on the light rail, and where one would transfer between light rail and Metro.
- Lunch on Sunday during our Silver Line travels will take place at Tysons Corner Center.
- A suitable location for dinner on Saturday of the sit-down variety is being researched.
- Dinner on Sunday for those still in the Washington, DC area may be by individual choice, as many will have left for home by whenever our activities conclude.
- Breakfasts are usually at one's hotel and eaten on one's own before they arrive at the Fest initial meeting point.
To attend, all you need to do is contact me BY E-MAIL to let me know you are attending, and please state Saturday, Sunday, or both. I cannot accept any other means (such as chat mention, board post, phone call, etc.), as all my information needs to be kept in one place.
Fest information tends to play to 2 audiences because some parties do not regularly visit this board. I will send out one e-mail to past Fest participants and those who frequent this board, and then from that point on, all updates regarding WARF will be posted here only. It is up to those interested to visit this board to get important updates as they will inevitably happen.
Closer to the event, a confidential contact list will be created just like we do in the summer, to be able to call one another should an emergency or other sudden change of plans arise during the Fest weekend. The list will also contain everyone's hotel plans, which will be known by then. Please do NOT send me hotel plans at this time, as other elements of the weekend are still being put together. When ready to put out the list, I will let you know when to e-mail me your information.
In the coming days, earlier threads of interest about WARF 2015 will be moved to this forum. More updates to come!