Jump to content


Photo

Windy City Railfest Update


  • Please log in to reply
6 replies to this topic

#1 AlanB

AlanB

    Member

  • Global Moderator
  • PipPip
  • 2166 posts
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Queens, NY

Posted 17 July 2003 - 10:21 PM

The unofficial start of the fest occured as four of us departed New York's Penn station on the Lake Shore Limited. That included Kevin Korell, Michael Korell, Jishnu Mukerji, and myself (Alan Burden). Skip Howard joined our group when we got to Albany as he had arrived on the Boston section of the LSL.

As NickG noted in another post, we were running a little bit behind at South Bend. Well we lost a little more time after South Bend, weaving from track to track as they threaded us through multiple freight trains. Therefore we didn't arrive into Union Station until 10:09 AM CT. That one hour late arrival forced us to abandon our planned ride on the CTA Blue.

However after taking a more leisurely lunch and a ride halfway around on the loop from Quincy/Wells to Randolph/Wabash on a Brown Line train, we proceeded to take our planned ride on the South Shore Line from Randolph Station to the Michiana Regional Transportation Center in South Bend. There were six of us on the outbound run, including Doug Heinrichs, Skip, Kevin, Michael, Jishnu, David Korkhouse, and me. David had joined us on the Lake Shore at South Bend, while we met up with Doug in Chicago. The rest of us had all traveled from New York on the LSL.

David, who works in South Bend, left us when we arrived there. The five remaining returned on the next train back, encountering a rather severe thunderstorm during our journey back. After detraining back in Randolph station at around 6:30, we then took a ride on a Purple Line train back around the loop to Quincy/Wells, although Doug left the group at Randolph. We then walked back to Union Station for dinner and to retrieve our luggage. Dodging the raindrops when then caught a Blue Line train at Clinton, which we rode to Jackson. There we transferred to a Red Line train taking that to Grand, a short walk brought us to our hotels.

Apparently that thunderstorm that we encountered on the train, hit Chicago quite badly, as the local news is reporting many power outages and flooding. My hotel in fact has had its cable TV system knocked out, part of the phone system, and part of their reservation system. Oddly enough though, the hotel’s hi-speed internet access is working just fine, hence my ability to type this mini report.
Alan,

Take care and take trains!

#2 AlanB

AlanB

    Member

  • Global Moderator
  • PipPip
  • 2166 posts
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Queens, NY

Posted 18 July 2003 - 10:13 PM

Well day two of the fest saw us making a few more new friends, along with picking up a few old friends. Today Kevin, Michael, Jishnu, Skip, and I were joined by Irwin Davis, Brad Smith, Steve Weagent, HaRRy Sutton, Owen Sindler, Isak Sindler, and Bill Antonides. the whole group was never together at the same time as people joined us and left us during the day. We covered most of the Red Line, both legs of the Green line south of the City, the Purple Line, and the Yellow Line. We also took a short ride on the Metra UP-North line to Evanston, along with the Metra Heritage Corridor to Joliet and then returned on the Metra Rock Island District. Overall despite a cloudy start, the weather cooperated with us today. In fact is was rather nice, as the tempurature hovered in the very low 70's and the heavy humidity of yesterday was gone.
Alan,

Take care and take trains!

#3 AlanB

AlanB

    Member

  • Global Moderator
  • PipPip
  • 2166 posts
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Queens, NY

Posted 19 July 2003 - 09:30 PM

Day three of the fest has come and gone. Today we covered the Metra UP-West division, a ride on the Green line from Harlem/Lake to Clinton, Metra's Milwaukee District-North to Fox Lake and back, Metra's Rock Island to Blue Island and then a return on Metra Electric's Blue Island Branch. For most of the day we had fourteen participants. The only new arrival for today was Mike Hammond. The weather could not have been more perfect today, with sunshine, temps in the mid 70's, and low humidity. All in all a perfect day for railfanning.
Alan,

Take care and take trains!

#4 sindlero

sindlero

    Member

  • Members
  • PipPip
  • 9 posts
  • Location:Philadelphia
  • Interests:Travel--Rail--Athletics--Cooking--Shopping--Internet

Posted 20 July 2003 - 09:33 PM

Hello I want to send kudos to Kevin and Alan for a great Windy City Rail Fest. Isak and I arrived back in Philadelphia this afternoon and both had a great time in Chicago. As I was flying home, I re-read the itinerary and ride descriptions and was amazed at the detail of the information provided by Alan and Kevin. I had many fun conversations during the Fest. The presence of Irwin Davis, CTA motorman, added a big plus to the Fest. It's going to be tough going back to riding SEPTA, after a few days of the CTA and METRA. Owen Sindler
Black, with one sugar

#5 Mike Hammond

Mike Hammond

    Member

  • Members
  • PipPip
  • 8 posts

Posted 21 July 2003 - 02:11 PM

Hi everyone, Well, I made it home with no bitches :o for which I was very surprized. I could not believe how short and simple a walk it was from Union Station to the Greyhound station-5 minutes. Thanks to Alan for pointing me in the right direction. I will post my Saturday adventures later. Many thanks to Kevin and Alan and all for such a nice weekend. You guys are always a pleasure to hang with. Your trains aren't even in yet and I have already started exploring for the next possible fest. :P I am a nut for sure. Well, will post more later. BTW to Kevin and Alan, got 2nd call from OSB today from the interview last Thursday. I have a 2nd telephone interview tomorrow at 2PM. I made it though the first hurdle. Well folks, thanks again for such a nice weekend. Will talk to you soon and my version of a trip report will follow. Mike

#6 KevinKorell

KevinKorell

    Board Leader

  • Sr. Admin
  • PipPip
  • 82315 posts
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Lakewood, NJ
  • Interests:Making America TRAIN again!

Posted 21 July 2003 - 09:16 PM

First of all, I would like to thank Alan for bringing his laptop along and posting the daily updates. Obviously as many of you know, a more detailed report is forthcoming! Sunday was the fourth and final day of the Windy City RailFest. As if many of us had not yet had enough riding the rails, we embarked on a few more round-trip journeys. Our Chicago-area friends all deserted us for Sunday (only kidding, guys! :D ) and it was Mike, Alan, Skip, HaRRy, Jishnu, Michael, and me doing a round trip to Aurora on METRA's BNSF line. Then as HaRRy left us for the airport, and Skip decided to remain downtown, five of us completed the entire METRA Electric District, hitting both the South Chicago branch and the mainline to University Park. We finished off by filling in one segment of the Red Line that we had not yet ridden, and then returned via the Brown Line to Union Station where we ended our fun in Chicago. The same cast of characters rode the LAKE SHORE LIMITED back east. Skip was in a coach in the Boston section, Alan in a New York-bound sleeper, and Jishnu, Michael, and me in a New York-bound coach. Michael and I returned to Metropark the same way we had gotten to New York from there 5 days earlier, on an AMTRAK unreserved Regional train.


Kevin Korell


OTOL Board Leader


Lakewood, NJ


#7 Amfleet

Amfleet

    Member

  • Members
  • PipPip
  • 82 posts
  • Location:Southeastern, Massachusetts

Posted 21 July 2003 - 09:36 PM

Sounds like a great time. Next summer I will hopefully be able to embark on one of these unique and exciting fests. Keep up the good work Kevin, Alan, and everyone else who makes these trips possible! :)




0 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users