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Future Fests as of Fall 2013/Winter 2014


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#1 KevinKorell

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Posted 29 October 2013 - 11:26 PM

Here is the long awaited updated topic for Future Fests, as of Fall 2013. With this new thread I am disabling conversation in the most recent one.

What seems to be definite is the plan for Summer 2014, the Rockies RailFest 2014 (RRF). There is a link to a tentative itinerary there, but like all Fests they aren't solid until we arrive in town. Things can and will change that will require updates. I have already turned this itinerary upside down a few times, totally rescheduling everything in each city. The only piece of the puzzle still unknown in Salt Lake City is the S-Line (formerly known as Sugar House Streetcar), which goes into revenue service the second week of December. I'll post when the itinerary is updated to reflect the schedule once it is known. Amtrak travels would take us as far west as Reno, NV.

RRF is written to take 8 days, Saturday through Saturday, but as has been done for previous trips to the West, only the activity from Chicago west is part of the Fest. For the many who live along the East Coast, there are varied means they may travel to get to and from Chicago. Obviously, this travel would increase your personal trip length to as many as 12 days depending on how long your trip is, and whether you travel directly or schedule your own Chicago stopover.

That said, the dates have not yet been chosen. It is way too soon to gauge my availability yet. In keeping with the time of month in July we have taken our trips in the past, the 8-day period could be July 12-19 or July 19-26.

The elephant in the room however seems to be what we are going to do in January. As with RRF, it is a little too soon for me to commit and make any announcement as to definite dates and venue.

Originally, this was supposed to be a Washington, DC oriented trip, taking in the Silver Line Phase 1 and the new DC Streetcar. Both were set to be in service by the end of 2013. The Silver Line was postponed a few months which then put it into January. We shoot for the MLK holiday weekend, so it would have had to be open within the first 2 weeks of January. Then, for a while there was a story that the Silver Line had been delayed another couple of months. It looked more like a March opening than January. And then a recent story once again estimated January. It said that the line would sometime be turned over from the DC Airports Authority to WMATA (Metro) in October -- and then 3 months would be needed before Metro could open the line. At present time, I have not heard of this transfer taking place, so were to happen within the remaining October days, the line would open too late in January.

Then came the news that DC Streetcar's starter line, H Street-Benning Road, also was delayed beyond late 2013 until at least March 2014. So even if Metro Silver Line were to open in January, we still would not have this other element to make our trip there more worthwhile.

An itinerary for a potential Washington Rail Fest was never written, because there were too many unknowns including the eventual timetables for both the DC Streetcar and the Silver Line. So, this won't happen in January, as it's already the time people want to make advance travel and hotel reservations. I have thought about when we can do Washington. If we don't want to wait until January of 2015, perhaps we can do it in the Spring, maybe in March or April depending on how things eventually shake out with both major elements going into service.

So that means January has to be a Plan B. I had to put something together to fill up two days of travel and tie together the several things the group hasn't done yet that exist in the mid-Atlantic area. The elements I found were the now-open Pennsauken Transit Center in South Jersey (which ties together the RiverLINE and Atlantic City Line), the new SEPTA #15 trolley branch (and currently the only operating branch on the east end of the route) to Sugar House Casino (Frankford & Delaware), the NJ TRANSIT Hudson-Bergen LRT beyond 22nd Street in Bayonne to 8th Street, NJ TRANSIT's Meadowlands rail line, and the extended Shore Line East between Old Saybrook and New London in Connecticut.

Of those choices, all but the Meadowlands rail line were possible. The Meadowlands line is still only event-driven, and it doesn't appear that there will be any post-season football games in January taking place there. If and when American Dream ever opens, then we should have regularly scheduled rail service on that line to ride.

For everything else, I put together an East Coast RailFest 2014 (ECRF), which would encompass riding trains as far south as Philadelphia and as far north as New London, CT. THIS IS NOT AN OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT as of yet, but at least for those wish to make refundable reservations you would have a place to start. The Philly and New Jersey stuff would be on Saturday, while Connecticut would be on Sunday. You would need hotels in the Philadelphia area on Friday night, and the New York area on Saturday night. There would also be one Amtrak trip (back from New London to New York or wherever). Travel from the Philly area to the North Jersey/New York area would all be via transit and commuter lines, not Amtrak. As this is not official yet, we need not discuss it here yet either, lest anyone get the impression that it is.

Beyond ECRF, RRF, and something potentially for the Spring, we still have other longer range itineraries. What we do in 2015, for example, depends on what gets completed before then. A trip to Minneapolis/St. Paul, for example, depends on the new St. Paul Union Depot opening (now more than likely December of this year) AND the opening of the Green Line between the two cities. The latter is supposed to happen in 2014, but as we have seen from Union Depot and the aforementioned Washington, DC, dates can and will slip. As of now I have a trip to the Twin Cities paired with a triangle trip that would entail Southwest Chief Chicago to Kansas City, Missouri River Runner Kansas City to St. Louis, and then back to Chicago. The goal of a revisit to St. Louis would be to ride the newer line of the Metrolink LRT that wasn't yet open when we were there in 2005. In Kansas City however we now await a new modern streetcar line that currently is set to open in 2015. It depends when in 2015 that line comes into being. But the Fest as written has to change because it was done just for an overnight stay, not allotting any time to do anything there. As it stands now, it's known as Midwest RailFest, but it could very well be split up into separate trips with its elements becoming parts of other trips, if needed.

And then we still have TWO summer fests that would involve Texas. We await completion of the DART system, with the last segment of the Orange Line to DFW International Airport, currently targeted for the end of 2014 (except for a slightly longer branch loop north of the airport). Trinity Railway Express (TRE) hasn't changed since we did it in 2005, but the Dallas area has a second commuter rail property known as A-Train run by DCTA in the Denton area. Meanwhile, in Houston the Red Line extension will be open by the end of this year, while the new Purple and Green Lines will go into service sometime next year. With the Blue and Gold Lines (and potential commuter rail) too far into the future, Houston will rate a visit as what should be done by mid-2014 should be enough to fill up a day. If dates don't slip, a Texas RailFest is another candidate for 2015.

And another Fest remains involving Texas and other states, namely another Eagle RailFest, so named for the train. This one would allow us to do the Capitol Metro Metrorail line in the Austin area, stopover 24 hours in Little Rock to do that city's RiverRail streetcar (reminiscent of the TECO Line operation in Tampa), and a side trip to ride the Heartland Flyer to Oklahoma City. Also penciled in is the proposed L-Star operation between Austin and San Antonio, but there has been very little news about this lately, putting its availability in the near future in doubt. As it stands now, L-Star won't even be in its final design phase before 2016, and it still needs to be built. So an Eagle RailFest could be done without this element if needed -- we would just spend an extra night in Austin as dictated by the Texas Eagle schedule.

There still remain some Metra lines in Chicago that we have not yet covered together. Some of it is hidden within the above Midwest RailFest as it stands now, or it can be included as part of another pass through if we add a day, including even the RRF 2014 trip if enough people want to schedule a stopover there as we did in 2012.

And for the other Fests I've put together, that leaves Pittsburgh and a return to Montreal. You know my feelings about Pittsburgh -- as long as it lacks a Day Pass instrument it has an expensive and complicated fare structure that impedes the type of travels our group would be doing in a 1 or 2 day period. It may work out if enough people are willing to splurge for a one-week pass; at least there would not be the need to calculate zones and worry about the time of day when there is a rush hour surcharge. And yes they have a surcharge too just because you're riding the light rail and not a bus. Pittsburgh

Montreal has a few things possible we could do on a return visit, but with a new commuter line (Mascouche) set to open early next year, things may need to be re-evaluated to accommodate that line. With all of the above stuff to do in US cities, I don't anticipate doing this within the next few years, unless there is high demand for it. Montreal

And that's where we stand now. Hopefully by the time we do our Rockies trip in the summer of 2014, we will have a better idea of where we may end up a year from then. There is also no current thinking about Winter 2015, unless we don't get to do Washington, DC in the Spring... then it would revert to the next January.


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#2 amtrakwolverine

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Posted 30 October 2013 - 02:12 AM

Misty and I have got hotels for PHL and NY booked. NJ hotel is still up in the air for hotels as we might room with a friend if he has the room.I plan to fly to and from PHL so Monday after the fest weekend I will take a Amtrak train back to 30th and hop the airport line septa back to the airport.

#3 KevinKorell

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Posted 30 October 2013 - 07:22 AM

As this is not official yet, we need not discuss it here yet either, lest anyone get the impression that it is.



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#4 KevinKorell

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Posted 30 October 2013 - 07:25 AM

And what Ross posted this morning here supports the decision not to do Washington in January 2014.


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#5 BillMagee

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Posted 31 October 2013 - 03:02 PM

...The Meadowlands line is still only event-driven, and it doesn't appear that there will be any post-season football games in January taking place there....


The Jets are two games out of first in the AFC East and the Giants are one game out in the horrid NFC East. Post season play in January is certainly possible at MetLife. Post season play in February is assured since the Super Bowl will be at MetLife on February 2.

#6 amtrakwolverine

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Posted 31 October 2013 - 08:00 PM

I would like to know what the big deal is with us discussing our plains now. So what if we book trains plains and hotels now and talk about it. As long as we book refundable fairs and the fest doesn't happen we can get our money back so what's your issue with it.

#7 pennyk

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Posted 31 October 2013 - 08:43 PM

I would like to know what the big deal is with us discussing our plains now. So what if we book trains plains and hotels now and talk about it. As long as we book refundable fairs and the fest doesn't happen we can get our money back so what's your issue with it.

Kevin, I think Kevin K wants to avoid publicizing a trip when the itinerary and dates are not definite. Nothing is stopping you from making reservations as long as you are aware of the possible risks of date and/or itinerary changes.
You may not agree with the way Kevin K does things, but I think we should respect his wishes whether or not we agree. He spends a lot of time planning these fests, and even though I have only attended 2 of them, I appreciate the time and effort he has expended.
I have planned a few of my own trips and I know how difficult it is. Kevin is very detail oriented and I feel that the fests are more organized because of that skill.
In consideration of Kevin's request, I will not discuss on this board whether or not I have jumped the gun and made reservations for any fests that have not been announced.

#8 steve4031

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Posted 31 October 2013 - 09:06 PM

Penny, I could not have said it better.

#9 KevinKorell

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Posted 15 November 2013 - 05:52 PM

Also penciled in is the proposed L-Star operation between Austin and San Antonio, but there has been very little news about this lately, putting its availability in the near future in doubt. As it stands now, L-Star won't even be in its final design phase before 2016, and it still needs to be built. So an Eagle RailFest could be done without this element if needed -- we would just spend an extra night in Austin as dictated by the Texas Eagle schedule.

Removed L-Star from this itinerary. Instead, remain on southbound Texas Eagle to San Antonio, stay there overnight, and then northbound Texas Eagle from San Antonio to Austin next morning. The result is a 24-hour stopover in Austin, rather than having to stay there 2 nights.

In addition, for this same event the logos for CAT & RiverRail in Little Rock were updated, and the itinerary was changed to better reflect timepoints on the published schedule.


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#10 pennyk

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Posted 16 November 2013 - 07:14 AM

Removed L-Star from this itinerary. Instead, remain on southbound Texas Eagle to San Antonio, stay there overnight, and then northbound Texas Eagle from San Antonio to Austin next morning. The result is a 24-hour stopover in Austin, rather than having to stay there 2 nights.

In addition, for this same event the logos for CAT & RiverRail in Little Rock were updated, and the itinerary was changed to better reflect timepoints on the published schedule.


Sounds like a great trip. I am ready to go right now. :lol:




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