Announcing OTOL Pacific Coast RailFest (PCRF) 2016: July 11-20, 2016
Pacific Coast RailFest 2016 will take place from Monday, July 11th through Wednesday, July 20th. Those dates represent our Chicago westbound departure at the start, and our Chicago eastbound arrival at the end. The journey will also feature 3 long distance trains together, including our first time as a group on the Coast Starlight.
With the dates in mind, let's go down the list of what will happen each day.
Monday 7/11/16
Leave Chicago westbound on Train #7, Empire Builder.
Tuesday 7/12/16
Aboard westbound Empire Builder.
Wednesday 7/13/16
Arrive Seattle on Empire Builder. Afternoon activities on LINK light rail and Seattle Streetcar, First Hill Line. The itinerary will for now not show these activities with actual times since neither has yet gone into service. Dinner & stay in Seattle.
Thursday 7/14/16
Time for make-up activities in the morning, in case we arrive very late into town and miss riding the streetcar or light rail. Leave Seattle on southbound Train #513, the Cascades, ride to Portland. Dinner & stay in Portland.
Friday 7/15/16
In Portland, ride new TriMet MAX Orange Line to Milwaukie, and the Portland Streetcar A & B Loops. In the afternoon, leave Portland southbound on Train #11, Coast Starlight.
Saturday 7/16/16
Arrive Los Angeles on Coast Starlight in the evening. Stay in Los Angeles.
Sunday 7/17/16
Ride LACMTA Metro Expo Line to Santa Monica, and Metro Gold Line to East Los Angeles end as well as newest segment beyond Pasadena to Azusa/Citrus College. The other thing I would like to do is the city's only funicular, Angels Flight. However it is currently closed and should not be expected to be back in service before our visit. Again the itinerary will not show calling times because the Azusa Gold Line won't be open until March, and the Expo Line extension to Santa Monica won't open until later in the Spring. Second night hotel stay in Los Angeles.
Monday 7/18/16
This day can be many things. Penciled in for now is a round trip on the Pacific Surfliner to Anaheim and back. The reason this was chosen is to be able to take a look at the new ARTIC transportation center. However turning there also requires a 48-minute layover. If enough people want to, we might be able to go a little further and turn around on the same chosen trains. Or we can split and some go further and some spend the dwell in Anaheim. Alternatively, we also could schedule a Metrolink round trip somewhere. Or we could go outbound on Amtrak and return by Metrolink, or vice versa. Remember that we no longer would earn 100 tier qualifying Guest Rewards points, so Amtrak has little advantage over Metrolink. This day also allows make-up time if we didn't get to ride all of the Gold or Expo Lines. In the evening, leave Los Angeles eastbound on Train #4, Southwest Chief.
Tuesday 7/19/16
Aboard eastbound Southwest Chief.
Wednesday 7/20/16
Arrive Chicago on Southwest Chief.
To summarize hotels, you would need the following:
- Seattle: 1 night, arriving 7/13, leaving 7/14.
- Portland: 1 night, arriving 7/14, leaving 7/15.
- Los Angeles: 2 nights, arriving 7/16, leaving 7/18.
Now an important word about hotels. You may suffer some sticker shock when researching stays on those evenings, particularly Seattle and Portland. Some hotels that may seem logical given their locations near transit lines may show as sold out or be very expensive, whether paying or applying loyalty program points. On the bright side, we have experienced this before in other cities, and eventually some previously sold out rooms became available as did lower rates. However if the prices don't come down, expect a splurge or use this advance time to earn or purchase more loyalty program points.
Synopsis of Amtrak reservations needed:
- Train #7, Empire Builder, departing Chicago 7/11/16, arriving Seattle 7/13/16.
- Train #513, Cascades, departing Seattle & arriving Portland 7/14/16.
- Train #11, Coast Starlight, departing Portland 7/15/16, arriving Los Angeles 7/16/16.
- Possibly Pacific Surfliner Trains 768 Los Angeles-Anaheim (or elsewhere), and/or Trains 769 Anaheim-Los Angeles, both 7/18/16.
- Train #4, Southwest Chief, departing Los Angeles 7/18/16, arriving Chicago 7/20/16.
- Plus any other trains needed to get between your favorite station and Chicago before and after the official Fest.
As always a homepage has been created. This should be your go-to point for all information and updates related to the Fest. They will also be mentioned here on the board. You will find links to tourist information, lists of hotel rooms & restaurants near transit in the cities we will visit, lists of rail transit and commuter rail lines, and railroad scanner information. There will be periodic updates to our itinerary, especially since some of the lines we plan to ride have either not yet opened or they don't have schedules available yet.
The only major element not yet completed are transit cost estimates in the three cities. We've been to all three before, but fares and policies might have changed. Rest assured these will become available long before the event takes place so that you can know how much the transit rides will cost you up front. This will also give you plenty of lead time to perhaps purchase fare media ahead of your trip if desired.
Now here is our first test to see if everyone can follow directions. At this time the only information I need is your interest in attending, your hometown if I don't know it, and if not the entire 10 days, then which days you will participate. I do NOT need your Amtrak travel information, hotel reservations, or anything else at this time. Please send via e-mail as it need not be posted here.