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SoCal Fest/OTOL Fest progress


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#11 KevinKorell

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Posted 18 July 2009 - 01:41 AM

Day 5 - Friday

Our first day in Los Angeles was some welcome downtime. We re-convened at LAUS around 3 PM, and then 9 of us participated in the Metrolink trip on the Ventura County Line to Moorpark. We met Ken Ruben and Dave Snowden, who pointed out sites of interest along the way and provided us with narration as well as some handouts.

A few from our group of regulars opted to be tourists and take a Hollywood tour, thus missing the trip, which is certainly anyone's perrogative to do so. Two weeks on the rails deserves a respite.

We all had dinner in Hollywood at uWink. My brother and his family came in from the Valley and met everyone.

Tomorrow we do two Metrolink lines, visiting San Bernardino and Lancaster.

Edited by KevinKorell, 20 July 2009 - 12:59 AM.


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#12 KevinKorell

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Posted 19 July 2009 - 12:48 AM

Day 6 - Saturday

Day Six of our Fest went without any hitches. We had 15 people this morning on the round trip to San Bernardino. As an unexpected bonus, we found a railroad museum open within the station building, one that appears to be open on Saturdays only. At least we were able to stay cool during our layover.

For our turn to Lancaster, we also had 15 people, although one person changed. Since it was 107 degrees when we got there, the folks either went across the street to a Thai restaurant, or took cabs to other places in town to have dinner.

Tomorrow (Sunday) we will all of the existing Metro light rail lines, and the Waterfront Red Car in San Pedro.

Edited by KevinKorell, 20 July 2009 - 12:58 AM.


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#13 KevinKorell

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Posted 20 July 2009 - 12:58 AM

Day 7 - Sunday

Well, on Day 7 we had some surprises and some pitfalls. Poor HaRRy got left behind in downtown L.A. when we got ahead of schedule and thus missed one another at Union Station. Luckily he caught up to us for lunch. Two were also left behind at the Norwalk Green Line station thanks to their having "TAP cards" and the need to tap them again for the next segment.

The surprises were some unexpected people who joined our travels. As always the more the merrier. Our group around the time we took the transit bus and the Waterfront Red Car was 18, which I believe to have smashed any previous records, at least in modern days, for a group to be together at any one time. Everyone of course is welcome to join us. However as you can well imagine, sorting out everyone's comings and goings will be nothing short of a nightmare. ;)

We covered all of Metro's light rail lines, the aforementioned Waterfront Red Car in San Pedro, and yes even rode 25 minutes each way on a bus.

General concensus: The TAP card process is a big mistake.... as is the new "one ticket-one ride" policy. The 3-seat ride required to get from El Segundo to Union Station for example without a DayPass it would cost $1.25 per segment or $3.75 -- making it one of the (if not THE) most expensive transit trip in the country. And each segment has to be bought separately, possible causing connections to be missed.

Connectivity between the Blue & Green Lines is nonexistent and downright annoying particularly with the enormous decibel level of passing traffic on the freeway that straddles the station. There is no reason why the Green Line cannot be scheduled to run with ample time to make a 3 or 4 minute connection to/from Blue Line trains. It's as if the two are run by completely separate agencies with no coordination.

Vagrants need to be dealt with, as they can get quite pushy. Passengers in clear violation of the posted rules and regulations make the ride unpleasant for everyone. While a gated system is a move in the wrong direction, one benefit will hopefully be a reduction in the number of beggars and obvious fare beaters and hoodlums who are riding the system.

Monday will be a mixed bag, with heavy rail in the morning (totally underground), and then a circle (or triangle, if you will) trip on Metrolink that will take us to both the Inland Empire and Orange County.

Edited by KevinKorell, 20 July 2009 - 01:29 AM.


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#14 KevinKorell

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Posted 22 July 2009 - 01:44 AM

Day 8-Monday


Well it was another action-packed day (and night) on the rails! Today we left Los Angeles, took Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner to Oceanside, rode Sprinter diesel LRT, rode Coaster commuter rail to San Diego, and then much of the San Diego Trolley system. We had a nice steak dinner at Original Roadhouse in Santee at the end of the trolley Green Line, and then our return trip became a "moonlight" run. I, myself got back to my hotel well after 11 PM.


Tomorrow we will complete the San Diego Trolley, head back to L.A. on the Pacific Surfliner, and then some of us head east on the Southwest Chief.

You probably won't get updates from me until I am home, so if anyone else get to this first, please provide a status report. Naturally I'll continue to do Twitter as I did throughout our westbound Amtrak trip.

Edited by KevinKorell, 22 July 2009 - 01:45 AM.


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#15 GG-1

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Posted 25 July 2009 - 02:44 AM

Aloha

Its Friday 9:15pm and I am home. Evan said She misses everyone an I agree. Boy am I tired but it was so much fun.

Mahalo
Eric

#16 BillMagee

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Posted 25 July 2009 - 11:09 AM

After passing on the trolley rides Tuesday to tour the USS Midway in San Diego, I rejoined the group for the Surfliner trip to LA Tuesday afternoon. The unusually warm weather made the surf scenes particularly attractive (in various ways). A late departure from San Diego translated into a 22 minute late arrival into LA, but we still had over two hours to kill at LA Union Station before boarding the Chief for the trek east. It was a nice trip on the Southwest Chief, with terrific weather and on-time performance. The SWC Fest group included Kevin and Michael, Lynn and Mike, Piotr, Jishnu, Steve, and me. Dinner was served after departure from LA, with our group of eight taking the first seating at 7:15pm. Service in the dining car was good, as was the food. The climb across Cajon and into the desert was in the dark. From there until Winslow AZ it was sleep time for me. There are extended areas of 90mph running in Arizona and New Mexico along the impressive BNSF Transcon line. The Albuquerque stop was extra long due to a one hour early arrival added to the scheduled 43 minute dwell. This gave time for taking a walk through the downtown area, recording the train consist, getting a group photo, and for one of us (me), a chance to grab lunch at a local Subway to eat a bit lighter than the normal Amtrak dining car fare. Raton Pass was next - the highest point on the old Santa Fe (and, I think, the BNSF). The trip north and east across Raton and into Colorado passed through some local showers and provided a spectacular western prairie sunset while having our final group dinner. Night time came as we raced east into Kansas following venerable US 50, a major east-west route until overshadowed by I-70. I awakened just as we were arriving at Lawrence, home of the Kansas Jay Hawks. I had a nice breakfast with Kevin, Michael and Steve, and then retired to my room to ponder my future travel plans. I needed to be home Saturday by noon. I was booked to fly back to Philadelphia from Chicago late Friday evening after arrival of the Chief, but weather forecasts were indicating storms later that evening in both Chicago and Philadelphia. Given that ominous sign, I quickly made a change. I left the fest at Kansas City and flew back home from there thanks to a great last minute fare on Southwest connecting through Chicago Midway. So, my Fest ended 437 miles early, but I had a great time none the less. One last irony: my seat mate on the Southwest flight from Kansas City to Chicago is an engineer for BNSF Railway. Among his normal assignments: helping to service the Southwest Chief at Argentine Yard in Kansas City (KS). We had a nice talk on the 60 minute flight to Midway about rail travel, air travel, and working for the railroad.

#17 KevinKorell

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Posted 25 July 2009 - 11:23 PM

Days 9 & 10 - Tuesday & Wednesday

Well our days of riding the Pacific Surfliner and riding the rails in San Diego County were very successful. The Pacific Surfliner route provides some excellent "scenery", as Bill alluded to above. From the beachfront travel to running along the cliffsides further south, we had a couple of great trips. Coaster, while run by the NCTD, has cars identical to the Metrolink cars we rode, and it mimics the Surfliner route south of Oceanside. Sprinter was a little different, but fun. Things may have been improved since we heard negative reports about it.

We enjoyed riding on the San Diego Trolley, although one disappointment was that we had to ride the Orange Line after dark. The trade-off was a very enjoyable steak dinner representing both Eric's birthday and our last night together in California.


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#18 KevinKorell

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Posted 25 July 2009 - 11:31 PM

Days 10, 11, & 12, Wednesday through Friday

As Bill mentioned, we had a great ride on the Southwest Chief. Everything from Riverside, CA to Galesburg, IL was new trackage for me. Bill already pointed out the highlights of the trip .... although one thing that stands out is seeing him scurrying away with his luggage on the Kansas City platform to catch his flight. :)

We were split up amongst two sleepers, which (after we all were in the same car on the Sunset Limited) concerned some people. As I pointed out, we make two cars into one car by moving back and forth visiting one another. And we did just that throughout the trip.

On Friday, after KCY we were down to 7, and then Steve decided to get off at Naperville, IL. The remaining people 6 arrived into Chicago 4 minutes before the advertised. We had an early pizza dinner at Gioranno's. Then the Hammonds returned to Union Station to catch the Capitol Limited home, and Jishnu returned to the Metropolitan Lounge. Piotr, Michael, and I had time to do one CTA run, and we chose the Pink Line since it represented new trackage (over the Paulina Connector) for us. We then returned to CUS and joined Jishnu in the lounge.


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#19 KevinKorell

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Posted 25 July 2009 - 11:37 PM

Days 12 & 13 - Friday & Saturday

The last 4 participants standing took the Lake Shore Limited out of Chicago on Friday evening. We had our reception in the diner lite car before departure, and then returned to our rooms. Soon after we departed from CHII on time, we had our beds put down and made our return into the eastern time zone.

The LSL stayed fairly close to schedule, in fact arriving early in Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and Utica. I was on the ground in Buffalo, and Jishnu joined me on the platform in Syracuse. During the Utica layover, we were having our lunch. After a minor delay just east of Amsterdam, NY where the engine had to be rebooted, we were on our way towards Albany. The train was split just before the station, and Piotr was officially removed from the fest, leaving three.

The last jog down the Hudson was enjoyable as our attendant allowed us to move to rooms on the river side of the train. We left Albany on time and got to New York City about 1/2 hour early.

That officially ended our Fest.


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#20 KevinKorell

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Posted 28 March 2013 - 04:38 PM

In response to Post #11 above, the restaurant U-Wink (with the computers where one orders "online") closed in late 2010 -- it was only open for 2 years, and we were there about halfway between its grand opening and its closure. I guess we should our group should represent some sort of bad luck, as I always point out the restaurants and hotels that the group has patronized on our Fests, which have since closed. :)


Kevin Korell


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