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OTOL Big Apple RailFest 2006 update 11/15/05


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#1 KevinKorell

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Posted 15 November 2005 - 01:30 PM

The general announcement has gone out via e-mail for OTOL Big Apple RailFest 2006. We have just two months to go, so it is imperative that people start marking their calendars for the big weekend.

I've billed this as the "last fest in New York to feature above ground subways". Many of you enjoy the scenery you can see from the train, and feel that trains operating in tunnels are pretty much generic. While we will still have fests in New York in the future, and will certainly ride below-ground lines as well as portions of the three commuter railroads that serve the city, there are not many above ground segments of track left that we have not traveled as a group since 2001. That is, unless we start doing repeats.

The homepage is set, and it has links to the other important pages you will need to plan for this event, including scanner frequencies, places to eat, hotels, lists of transit and commuter lines, and a links page. Just yesterday as a result of the above e-mail, I've started the participant list as well, and we already have 11 people at this present time who either tentatively or definitely will be there.

About the itinerary: If you have seen it already, you may want to look again. This was actually created about a year ago, once the 2005 event was over and we knew we had missed riding the M route to Metropolitan Avenue. Since then, most timetables changed in May of 2005, so I found that some of the times were off by 1-4 minutes. The schedule has been tweeked based on current online timetables.

Likewise, the LIRR schedule was basically the same, except that our Penn Station arrival is one minute later than before.

In addition, one slight Saturday route change was already made. Thanks to Piotr, who informed me that at Nostrand Avenue, one cannot make the switch between local and express trains by walking across the platform; the local and express tracks are on different levels. Instead, we will make the transfer from the C to the A at Utica Avenue. Times have been adjusted accordingly since the transfer will take place further east.

We need to keep watching the MTA's alerts, which come out every Friday. By New Years Day, we should have an idea whether all of our trains will be running, or whether they will be rerouted or bustituted.

The only web page still for me to create is the Costs page. Most of you pretty much know that a Fun Pass can be purchased for $7. You can enjoy unlimited riding on the subways with it all day Saturday. If you choose to pay as you go, please keep in mind that our switch from the L to the 3 necessitates leaving and then re-entering the system, with a one-block walk on the street in between them.

And since it has worked out well in the past, we can ask the New York based guys to pre-purchase Fun Passes for those participants not living on the city. They can be paid back either in advance, or in person on the day of the fest.


Kevin Korell


OTOL Board Leader


Lakewood, NJ





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