Jump to content


Photo

Announcing New York Area RailFest 2016 (NYRF)


  • Please log in to reply
27 replies to this topic

#11 KevinKorell

KevinKorell

    Board Leader

  • Sr. Admin
  • PipPip
  • 82315 posts
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Lakewood, NJ
  • Interests:Making America TRAIN again!

Posted 03 December 2015 - 06:39 PM

I am sure I made clear in the initial announcement above and in the only e-mail that I will handle the hotel plans separately and confidentially (meaning not naming hotels on this board).

 

There are no plans to my knowledge for any group to have dinner together on Friday, especially since I haven't yet said whether we will even be meeting to ride trains on Friday.   If anything does happen, it is conceivable that some may eat on the way to the city from wherever they are coming from.



Kevin Korell


OTOL Board Leader


Lakewood, NJ


#12 KevinKorell

KevinKorell

    Board Leader

  • Sr. Admin
  • PipPip
  • 82315 posts
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Lakewood, NJ
  • Interests:Making America TRAIN again!

Posted 13 December 2015 - 05:53 PM

I want to remind everyone attending that a breakdown of your expected transit costs can be found here. It would be advisable to make sure you purchase your tickets in advance wherever possible. Ticket vending machines do take some time to figure out when one is not used to them, and having potentially 20 or so last minute transactions at a limited number of machines could delay us and cause trains to be missed.

You can purchase your NJT tickets from their vending machines on New York's Penn Station in advance for the round trip, so you won't need to purchase another one in Plainfield (if we go there) or in Princeton Junction or Princeton. You can purchase any commuter rail ticket from the New York vending machines even for trips not originating in New York, by taking the option to change the origin. Therefore, although we are taking Amtrak to Princeton Junction, you should be able to buy your Princeton Junction-Princeton and Princeton-New York tickets in New York before we depart. Allow time to accomplish this before we meet for the day at New York's Penn Station.

You should also be able to purchase your Metro North ticket for both directions to North White Plains and back in Grand Central Terminal, and your LIRR Penn Station-Port Washington and Port Washington-Flushing tickets from the vending machines at Penn Station.

Doing your homework by reading what you need to pay, and obtaining tickets for yourself BEFORE we meet will help you and your fellow attendees to make all of our intended connections. The group WILL NOT WAIT for anyone who has not purchased their tickets ahead of time. Some connections may be tight, and we WILL make them where possible.

You also should ensure that you have a Metrocard for the NYC subways (and any PATH trips you might take on your own) with the proper value loaded for the trips we will be taking on the Fest as well as any extra trips you may need to get to the start point or from our ending point.

I want to caution everyone that some longer walks will be necessary to get to or from some train stations. If you do not feel you are agile enough to make such a walk, perhaps you should skip participation in the elements of the Fest that call for such walks. Of note is a walk on 34th Street from Penn Station to Hudson Yards, which is several longer blocks. Again this is not an effort to exclude anybody, but just as you would not try out for precision dancing like the Rockettes or playing for a major league sports team, consider that while we share the interests of riding trains, we also need to move between them possibly at a quick pace if the first train of a planned connection arrives late.

If you frequently need to use restrooms, I suggest monitoring your intake at breakfast and lunch to be able to get to the next break in activity. I believe that all three commuter railroads do have onboard restrooms, but subways don't. Subway stations do, but they are not the best places to visit.

Riding trains is the primary reason we have these events, and again we WILL when possible make those trains.


Kevin Korell


OTOL Board Leader


Lakewood, NJ


#13 KevinKorell

KevinKorell

    Board Leader

  • Sr. Admin
  • PipPip
  • 82315 posts
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Lakewood, NJ
  • Interests:Making America TRAIN again!

Posted 14 December 2015 - 12:26 AM

I was re-checking my many hotel reservations tonight, rebooking where rates went down and retaining where they went up. Many rates have risen and some have sold out, particularly Saturday night when most of you will need a room. It is strongly suggested that if you plan on staying in NYC over this particular weekend, you research hotels and reserve soon. I still have at least 2 reservations for each night, which I hope to soon whittle down to one.


And another thought tonight as I observed during the Chat session some of you planning to join us at points other than the official starting point. This is surely a good plan for you, if you cannot start as early as we do. However you should keep in mind that while we will aim to leave the official start point right on time, the schedule padding of commuter rail lines sometimes allows us to catch an earlier inbound connection, so we could be as much as half an hour earlier than called for in the itinerary. Should this happen, and you plan to meet us at a certain point, we may have long gone by then. It would be best if you contact one of us by phone or text to figure out where the best place would be for you to meet up with us. In the cases of both the MNRR trip to North White Plains and the LIRR trip to Port Washington, earlier inbound runs deemed too tight a connection might be easier to make if we got there early, so we could take them if we can get everyone onto the first conveyance out wherever possible.

Edited by KevinKorell, 14 December 2015 - 01:31 AM.
Added thoughts about joining group en route


Kevin Korell


OTOL Board Leader


Lakewood, NJ


#14 jis

jis

    Member

  • Global Moderator
  • PipPip
  • 1753 posts

Posted 14 December 2015 - 10:47 AM

If you have a Smart phone you could also use the NJT MyTix App to buy and use E-tickets, and avoid the whole TVM rigmarole. You can buy the tickets the previous day and just activate the ticket just before boarding the train. I have not seen the face of an NJT TVM now for almost two years and I have taken dozens of NJT rides.



#15 steve4031

steve4031

    Member

  • Members
  • PipPip
  • 1514 posts

Posted 14 December 2015 - 05:31 PM

Just downloaded it. I like the arrival and departure info for each station. That's cool. It showed Amtrak info for nyp.

#16 amtrakwolverine

amtrakwolverine

    Member

  • Membres
  • PipPip
  • 334 posts
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Warren,MI
  • Interests:Riding trains, railfaining, small engines, guitars

Posted 14 December 2015 - 05:51 PM

Just downloaded the app also.

#17 jis

jis

    Member

  • Global Moderator
  • PipPip
  • 1753 posts

Posted 16 December 2015 - 10:37 AM

On the NJT MyTix, just remember to activate the ticket just before boarding the train. Specially important when departing from New York Penn since you lose internet connectivity in the tunnel. The act of activation requires that you have internet connectivity. I have seen people forget to do that and then fumble around while the Conductor is hovering over them. Specially embarrassing when you are sitting at a signal inside the tunnel. ;)



#18 saxman

saxman

    Member

  • Members
  • PipPip
  • 373 posts
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Dallas, TX

Posted 16 December 2015 - 03:42 PM

On the NJT MyTix, just remember to activate the ticket just before boarding the train. Specially important when departing from New York Penn since you lose internet connectivity in the tunnel. The act of activation requires that you have internet connectivity. I have seen people forget to do that and then fumble around while the Conductor is hovering over them. Specially embarrassing when you are sitting at a signal inside the tunnel. ;)

 

Didn't happen to you of course!



#19 jis

jis

    Member

  • Global Moderator
  • PipPip
  • 1753 posts

Posted 30 December 2015 - 12:13 PM

Didn't happen to you of course!

Fortunately not yet. ;) But Mr. Murphy is alive and well, and you never know when he strikes :)

#20 KevinKorell

KevinKorell

    Board Leader

  • Sr. Admin
  • PipPip
  • 82315 posts
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Lakewood, NJ
  • Interests:Making America TRAIN again!

Posted 03 January 2016 - 12:08 AM

As mentioned in the "Friday" thread, I have made Friday more definite as I know I am available and enough people have expressed interest.

However the overall Itinerary remains tentative until the event weekend because things can always change at the last minute.


Kevin Korell


OTOL Board Leader


Lakewood, NJ





0 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users