Philadelphia Area RailFest 2004-Post Fest update
#1
Posted 30 January 2004 - 08:22 PM
Quiz Answers
The quiz for the Fest was posted online on January 19th, the day after the Fest was over. One week and a half later, I have now put the quiz answers up on my site.
Be aware that even the best of us make mistakes. The response to Question #4 about how many rail platforms there are at Philadelphia International Airport was wrong in the print version of the quiz answers given in person to participants. The correct answer is 7, not 6. The reason is that while there is a continuous platform serving the Terminal A and Terminal B stops on the departures side, we found that each station has its own separate platform on the arrivals side. It was assumed that there was a continuous platform on the arrivals side too, hence the incorrect answer.
Fest By The Numbers
Of our 20 people on the guest list:
[*]One, Bill Magee, could not participate in the Fest itself due to illness. He remained on the list on an honorary status because he pre-purchased TransPasses for the group and saved us collectively a bundle of money.
[*]We had two Johns, and three Davids.
[*]There were eight participants who live in Pennsylvania. New Jersey came in second place with five. There were three people from Midwestern states (Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana), two from New York State, one from Delaware, and one from Idaho.
[*]We had three people whose last names begin with a "W", three with an "S", and three with a "K".
[*]Two participants were under the age of 12.
[*]Our largest group traveling together was right at the beginning, in Parts A1, A2, and A3. That was the R2 to Sharon Hill, the 102 trolley to 69th Street, and the Market-Frankford Line to Frankford. There were a total of 16 people on each of these segments. While we have had Fest counts of 20 or more, I don't think we have ever had more than 12 together at any one time during our contemporary era of Fests over the past three years.
[*]Part A4 would have been even larger, as a total of 17 people associated with the Fest rode the Market-Frankford Line from Frankford to 11th Street. That is where John Wireman joined the Fest. Problem was, when he got there, 13 of us had already left Frankford on an earlier train. Nick, Owen, and Isak had chosen to stay behind and ended up riding the intended train with John, so that sub-Fest had the other 4 people.
[*]17 people turned to 14 as David Morrison, and the two Sindlers left the group at lunchtime.
[*] Parts A5 and A6, which was our round trip over two different routes to and from Chestnut Hill, had 14 people outbound, and we gained a 15th when Ted Patchell joined us on the R7 train at Wyndmoor. We maintained the same 15 people through Parts A7 and A8, which was our round trip to Overbrook on the R5 train and returning on the #10 trolley.
[*]The #10 trolley's arrival at 30th Street Station is where our group had its biggest fragmentation. We basically split in half. Eight people stayed on, and seven got off and walked to 30th Street Station. Of the 8 who remained on board, three went to South Street for Cheese Steaks, one went to check-in to his hotel, three went home, and one stayed aboard by mistake and eventually went home too. Of the seven who went into 30th Street Station, two caught other transportation home, while the other five remained for dinner.
[*]Parts A9 and A10, our after-dark round trip to the Airport, was our smallest official group at just 5 people.
[*]Sunday was just as successful, another pleasant surprise for me. Traditionally, on our multi-day weekend Fests, Sundays usually have fewer people than we get on Saturdays. Well we never had fewer than 11 together at any one time. It was eleven people on Parts B1 and B2, our round trip to West Trenton, NJ, and the same group that had to hustle at Jenkintown to make the R5 train. Two more (Nick and John W.) joined us at Jenkintown, making Parts B3 and B4 (our R5 round trip to Doylestown) the peak of Sunday's participation at 13. The same 13 did Part B5 on the R2 up to Warminster. Then Todd, who lives there, left the group. He really did complete the cycle, having taken the inbound R2 in the morning to meet up with us. So our final trip inbound to Center City, Part B6, was a dozen people.
The report
Very slowly I am working on the report. Much of the data I collected from members last weekend via separate e-mails, which I used to determine the statistics above, will be good information for the report.
Kevin Korell
OTOL Board Leader
Lakewood, NJ
#2
Posted 31 January 2004 - 12:08 AM
Edited by BillMagee, 31 January 2004 - 12:11 AM.
#3
Posted 31 January 2004 - 11:49 AM
#4
Posted 31 January 2004 - 05:37 PM
It was several years ago when Bill left the PhillyFest 2001 group at Villanova. Now we know where he was headed!“several” years ago in freshman math at Villanova
Kevin Korell
OTOL Board Leader
Lakewood, NJ
#5
Posted 31 January 2004 - 06:52 PM
Visit our On Track On Line web site
#6
Posted 31 January 2004 - 07:05 PM
HaRRy is exactly right! The answer is: MILLBOURNE!!!Millbourne!
46, 52, 56, 60, 63, ??, 69. The seemingly obvious mathematical answer is Ellis’ choice of 66. It was the overwhelming choice back in 1965 as well. Good choice, but wrong. My math professor back then had both a wry sense of humor and knowledge of local rail transit.
The series is, from east to west, the above ground stops on the Market Street Subway Elevated (SEPTA Market-Frankford Line).
46th Street, 52nd Street, 56th Street, 60th Street, 63rd Street, Millbourne, 69th Street.
In returning the exams, he asked me to stand (a 17 year old college freshman who looked more like 12). “Mr. Magee,” he said, “As the only student to correctly solve the series problem, I’ll give you the honor of telling the class the answer.” When I said “Millbourne, sir.” half the class groaned (the half from the Philadelphia area) and half the class simply looked blank (the resident students from elsewhere). “And exactly what is that series, Mr. Magee?” he asked. “Stops on the Market Street El, sir.” Now, everyone (except me) groaned.
Mr. Goulet (my professor was a cousin of singer Robert Goulet) and I had a good laugh. He excluded that problem from the marks for the class, but awarded me 5 extra credit points for imagination and subway-elevated knowledge. Nearly 40 years later, I still remember that day.
Edited by BillMagee, 31 January 2004 - 07:06 PM.
#7
Posted 31 January 2004 - 07:18 PM
Visit our On Track On Line web site
#8
Posted 31 January 2004 - 07:22 PM
And that is the last hint anyone gets about the Fest report, which at the rate I am going, will be done by the end of 2004.
Kevin Korell
OTOL Board Leader
Lakewood, NJ
#9
Posted 31 January 2004 - 07:31 PM
No doubt connecting to or from the Media trolley......I've only ridden the Market St El once in the past 25 or so years (to downtown and a ball game at the Vet), but from nearly daily riding in the 50's and early 60's that numeric "series" is burned into my brain.
BTW, I've forgotten the reason why the Millbourne area of Upper Darby doesn't have number streets -- the numbers stop at 63rd then resume only once: 69th. But I do recall reading that there was (something like 80-100 years ago) a rational reason for that.
This passage from nycsubway.org's Philadelphia page about the Media & Sharon Hill trolleys might hopefully explain this:
Contrary to popular belief, 69th Street is not in Philadelphia, but in Upper Darby (the Philadelphia city limit is a little over a half-mile to the east). 69th Street is the only numbered street in Upper Darby, and allegedly got its name by distance. In Philadelphia, numbered streets are roughly 0.1 mile apart. Thus, the street being about 0.6 mile from 63rd Street, the last numbered street which intersects Market Street in Philadelphia, was given the name '69th'. (At one time, Millbourne, the Market-Frankford El stop between 63rd and 69th, was also known as '66th', even though no such street exists, again following the pattern of numbered streets.)
Kevin Korell
OTOL Board Leader
Lakewood, NJ
#10
Posted 31 January 2004 - 08:34 PM
Edited by BillMagee, 31 January 2004 - 08:35 PM.
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