14 replies to this topic

[KevinKorell]

After our very successful and exciting Southern California RailFest over the summer, I've been getting questions about what our future holds. Here is a breakdown of what I am working on for Fests in the next year.

As you know, conditions permitting we will be doing the Pacific Northwest RailFest in the summer of 2010. This promises to be a very long one, roughly the same length as the SoCal one was earlier this year. Those crossing the country should expect about 13 days on the rails, during which time we will visit Portland, OR, Tacoma, WA, Seattle, WA, and Vancouver, BC. Our featured Amtrak train will be the Empire Builder, and the open jawed round trip allows us to sample both of its branches west of Spokane.

What about before the summer?

For several reasons, I won't be seeing Boston this November. After our Fests in November of 2007 & 2008, we only had one more MBTA line to ride anyhow, so a weekend visit would not be worth it. Perhaps we can work on an excursion to take place in warmer weather and at a time when we 're not in between two major transcontinental trips.

This past January we froze in abnormally cold weather during our Metro New York fest. Our discussions in person and some of you via e-mail have indicated that you would miss having a Fest in the winter months. How soon we forget almost losing our extremities!!

I think after what we went through at the 2009 event, it may be in our best interest to only meet two days instead of three. A Friday trip, given the time of day and what we still have on our plate to do, would not afford us the best scenery since it would run into darkness. So this Fest would be Saturday and Sunday only. To have a Fest in January in the New York area, I have been analyzing three different modules of activities, two of which can be done in the next Fest:

• Module #1: A round trip on Metro North between Grand Central Terminal and Waterbury. Keeping in mind the weather, this would include a layover in Waterbury (during which time we can have a quick lunch) of 51 minutes. In addition, a change of trains at Bridgeport is neccessary in both directions; it would be about 5 minutes each time provided everything is on schedule. One alternate option would be a return from Bridgeport to New York Penn Station on a Northeast Regional train.
  
• Module #2: Round trips on the Port Jefferson and Hempstead Branches of the Long Island Railroad (LIRR). Port Jefferson would include changes of trains at Huntington in both directions, scheduled for 7 or 8 minutes. Downtime in Port Jefferson between outbound and inbound runs would be 51 minutes (and inddoor shelter on a weekend day is questionable). Between the PJ trip and the Hempstead trip, we would layover at Jamaica 1 hour 48 minutes. This gives us time to go get lunch. If previous visits are our guide, there are not many places to eat near the Jamaica LIRR station. However the amount of time available allows us to take the E or J one stop to Jamaica Center where there are more lunch choices. The layover in Hempstead between outbound and inbound trips would be 44 minutes. Again I am not sure about availability of the train station as shelter from the cold on a weekend, however there is a bus terminal across the street. We would remain on the LIRR train from Hempstead into Brooklyn (Flatbush Avenue), then take the subway to Manhattan. A side trip to the new South Ferry subway station would be the last activity of the day before returning to Penn Station.
  
• Module #3: Round trips on the LIRR West Hempstead, Long Beach, and Oyster Bay Branches. Trips to West Hempstead require a change of trains at Valley Stream. These changes of trains would be 23 minutes and then 17 minutes. Layover time at West Hempstead would be 45 minutes. Layover at Long Beach would be 1 hour 44 minutes, and it would include having lunch within one or two blocks of the station. There would be a layover of 52 minutes at Jamaica Station between the Long Beach and Oyster Bay turns. Finally, the layover in Oyster Bay would be 34 minutes, again with the availability of shelter questionable.

So any combination of 2 of the above 3 modules can be plugged into Saturday or Sunday. The one left over can be the nucleus for building a 2011 winter fest, or we could meet in warmer weather and longer days in order to do other LIRR activities that are only possible on a weekday. Let me know here which two of the above you would prefer to do in 2010, given the potential exposure to the cold as detailed above.

[Railette]

I just read this to Mike and he would opt for the Oyster Bay module and the Waterbury module.

Lynn

[steve4031]

Kevin, I like Modules 1 and 2 the best. I would be happy doing module 3 in place of 2. I am really interested in the module 1. I like riding the New Haven line. The reason I like module 2 is that ride on the Atlantic ave. viaduct on the LIRR. I think that was in the French connection. I also drove underneath it with Rosalyn, so I want to see what it looks like up top. LOL

[LouP]

I'm very much looking forward to getting together with the gang again as I simply couldn't afford that trip to southern California. But my wife and her son are here now so I'll be able to travel again. Can I make a suggestion with regards to Module 1: take the Connecticut Transit J7 bus from Waterbury station to New Haven station. That way we take the train to Waterbury and then the bus from Waterbury to New Haven and return to New York by train. Thoughts anyone? As for Long Island I rode the Port Jefferson branch many years ago but the Oyster Bay branch very recently. I haven't ridden the Hempstead, West Hempstead, or Far Rockaway branches at all.

[KevinKorell]

Lou,

I admit I've done that circle trip many many years ago with the "J" bus between Waterbury and New Haven. It's quite a long bus trip, 4 fare zones IIRC. I only did it because I wanted to explore Waterbury on foot, and thus I intentionally missed the return train and would have had to wait long for the next one. But why do that as a group when we have the train going back in 51 minutes?

I'm surprised you haven't done Far Rockaway. That's the easiest LIRR branch to do since it curves back into Queens and ends a block from the A subway.

The reason I created these modules is that certain LIRR branches work better with others according to the timetables. Since one has to change in Valley Stream to get to or from West Hempstead, and use a Long Beach train in the process anyhow, these two make sense to do together. Port Jefferson is a relatively longer trip, so it worked well being paired with Hempstead, which is a much shorter run.

As always anyone is welcome to participate all or any part of the day if they don't wish repetition. If we're going to keep having Fests in New York, or even any other eastern city, there will be repetition soon since we've already done so much.

[AlanB]

Kevin, Just as an FYI, the Hempstead train station should be open even on weekends, so finding shelter there should not be a problem. West Hempstead would be more problimatic, as that waiting room closes at 2:00 PM and I'm not sure if that's just for weekdays or weekends too. Oyster Bay is a big problem, depending on the winds. It has no waiting room and only a partial shelter as Mike and I found out a few years ago when we froze standing on that platform. I think that I had heard that they installed heaters in the shelters, but I wouldn't count on that or that they are actually working. The Port Jeff station info reports that the waiting room is open until 1:30 PM on the weekends. And Long Beach info reports that the waiting room is open until 7:00 PM, so no problems there.

[KevinKorell]

Thanks for checking, Alan. Long Beach is in a semi-urban area anyhow, so there are multiple storefronts up and down the main drag. If combined with lunch at least we have a legitimate reason to be using their shelter. West Hempstead I was there with a few people (I think Ellis Simon & Bill A.) many years ago are there are some restaurants nearby such as a Dunkin Donuts and White Castle.

[jis]

I would recommend that we save the Port Jeff trip for a summertime circle trip New York Penn (LIRR) Port Jeff Station (walk) Port Jeff Harbor (Ferry) Bridgeport (MNRR) New York GCT. In case we want to do Port Jeff, on a winter weekend you have to start very early to make it to Port Jeff and back to somewhere where you can have lunch and yet be in Port Jeff when the waiting room is open. Otherwise, after the waiting room closes, the situation in Port Jeff is sort of like in Suffern. There are a couple of bodegas and candy stores and a 7-11 within short walk in case of dire freeze emergency. On that line the last station that has any reasonable food possibilities close to the station is Stony Brook, which is not surprising,since it is adjacent to Stony Brook University campus. There is everything from Pizza to Greek with Dunkin Donuts and Baskin Robbins thrown in for good measure. Service on the PJ lin on weekends is every 90 mins these days I believe, alternate ones changing at Huntington (ex Huntington service) and Hicksville (ex Ronkonkoma service) OTOH, if one wants to become really creative one can take the S61 bus from Port Jeff to Patchogue and make a circle trip of it, if the schedules work out that is.

[nashscan]

Just want to say I am very interested in a January New York Rail Fest. It would be my first rail fest. I've got $400 in Amtrak vouchers from my honeymoon. When my wife and I took our honeymoon trip from Chicago to Los Angeles, our shower/toilet did not work. The voucher would almost completely cover round trip railfare from Atlanta to NY Penn, with a roomette on the way up. Preston

[KevinKorell]

I would recommend that we save the Port Jeff trip for a summertime circle trip New York Penn (LIRR) Port Jeff Station (walk) Port Jeff Harbor (Ferry) Bridgeport (MNRR) New York GCT.

In case we want to do Port Jeff, on a winter weekend you have to start very early to make it to Port Jeff and back to somewhere where you can have lunch and yet be in Port Jeff when the waiting room is open. Otherwise, after the waiting room closes, the situation in Port Jeff is sort of like in Suffern. There are a couple of bodegas and candy stores and a 7-11 within short walk in case of dire freeze emergency.

Jishnu,

Well certainly the idea of waiting for summer to do Port Jefferson is a good one. The outer (diesel) part of the line, which basically operates as a shuttle between Huntington and Port Jefferson, has a fairly long layover at the end no matter which trip one might choose.

In some of my earlier thoughts about creating Fests for the Metro NY area, I once did have such a trip including the LIRR PJ Branch, the ferry to Bridgeport, and then either Metro North or Amtrak from there. One model actually had us do a Waterbury turn too after arriving on the ferry in Bridgeport. However, I removed it in favor of separate out and back trips, because our group is getting older and collectively we're not the spring chickens we once were. The walk from the Port Jeff rail station to the ferry dock, while downhill, is still approximately one mile.

Similarly, I once had a trip going outbound to Hempstead, walking from there to the West Hempstead station, and then inbound from there. That too is about a mile walk, one I've done twice. Granted both the Port Jefferson and Hempstead gaps can be filled by local bus or taxi, but current thinking is that we can just endure the long layovers and return inbound on the same lines we arrived on.

On that line the last station that has any reasonable food possibilities close to the station is Stony Brook, which is not surprising,since it is adjacent to Stony Brook University campus. There is everything from Pizza to Greek with Dunkin Donuts and Baskin Robbins thrown in for good measure.

Is it really a worthwhile Fest if you short turn on a line (making the dwell even longer)?

Service on the PJ lin on weekends is every 90 mins these days I believe, alternate ones changing at Huntington (ex Huntington service) and Hicksville (ex Ronkonkoma service)

OTOH, if one wants to become really creative one can take the S61 bus from Port Jeff to Patchogue and make a circle trip of it, if the schedules work out that is.

It's OTOL. That's another good idea, if anyone else would go for a bus ride. Suffolk Transit is not known to be too dependent with its schedules, so it would be a risk to take. Maybe a shorter run say to a station on the Ronkonkoma Branch. But again I'm tempted to think at this point that most will opt for just staying put and awaiting an inbound Port Jeff train.

Thanks for the suggestions!