63 replies to this topic

[KevinKorell]

The rails are still shining from our Toronto Fest earlier this month, and already several of you have e-mailed me regarding how we can top what we just did at future railfests.

I won't keep everybody who was not in Toronto in suspense, because if you hold your breath until my report comes out, you'll never survive long enough to read it.

What is almost certain is that we're going to give Canada a break after these recent 4 days, and then visit Montreal in the summer of 2006. PLEASE Keep the ADIRONDACK running!

For July of 2005, we will go an entirely different direction, going to Dallas, Texas. The fantasy itinerary, which will of course be embellished many times in the next year, will also include a stopover in St. Louis to ride their bi-state Metrolink light rail in both Missouri and Illinois, and topping off our brief visit to St. Louis with dinner at the former-train-station-turned-shopping-mall (and food court) Union Station before boarding the TEXAS EAGLE for that train's namesake state.

While in Dallas we will have DART's two light rail lines (blue and red, which run together downtown but have separate endpoints on both ends), and the commuter rail Trinity Railway Express (TRE) that runs from Dallas Union Station to Fort Worth's new intermodal station.

Unfortunately there is nothing much in Fort Worth anymore now that the Tandy Subway has closed. It was suggested that we could ride the Tarantula, a tourist train that runs between Grapevine and the Fort Worth Stockyards District. I can look more into that if enough people wish to do it. This might require either renting cars to get to Grapevine, or we might be able to use a city bus to get from downtown Fort Worth to the Stockyards where we could catch the Tarantula there.

Back in Dallas, you also have what used to be MATA, the McKinney Avenue Transit Authority which ran its own streetcars along that street. They have recently been taken over by DART, who has extended the trackage to meet their own Cityplace underground LRT station. You can also still get to the southern end of what DART now calls the "M-Line" by walking a couple of blocks from one of the downtown stops along Main Street. MATA as a private company also offered and encouraged free tours of its streetcar barn, so hopefully if it is in the same place, the group may enjoy seeing some behind-the-scenes things in the barn.

DFW International Airport is probably not an option for us, since they are in a state of transition between their old Airport Train people mover cars and some newer, more modern system.

One more idea if people are into people movers, there is one at Las Colinas, an office/hotel complex to the north of DFW Airport and accessible by a DART bus. I'll have to find out more about this too, such as whether this system is even open to the public.

So that's for the summer of 2005. Now what about the rest of 2004 and early 2005 ??

October, a month in which we have had JerseyFest 2002 and Metro New York RailFest 2003, is out this time. Personally I have a wedding in the family to travel to, and it's accross the country necessitating using the evil metal bird. While I might eek out a small SoCal MiniFest on the days surrounding my brother's wedding, I won't be able to afford the money or the lead time in planning anything for the group to take place at that part of the fall.

I've been looking at possibly doing another Fest this winter ( read January 2005) in both Baltimore, MD and Washington, DC. Theoretically, the group would take in Baltimore (METRO subway and the entire LRT system) on Saturday, and then move down to Washington, DC and cover the entire WMATA Metro system in several hours on Sunday. This all pre-supposes that Baltimore has fully reopened the southern portion of their light rail system, and not yet closed the northern half for its double tracking blitz. It also assumes that the WMATA Metro Blue Line has been opened beyond Addison Road to Largo Town Center.

However, two negatives have been pointed out to me about visiting this area in January. First, our usual weekend of the month, which happens to also include the Monday holiday for Martin Luther King's birthday observance, might create some crowds in our nation's capital. In addition, there will be a presidential inauguration (or re-inauguration) in Washington that week as well. Both of these events would almost certainly book up the hotels throughout the area.

So it may be time to return to good old reliable New York City and environs in January of 2005. I've considered making up for the lack of an autumn Fest by having a second one in the winter/early spring of 2005 (March). Perhaps March would be a better (and slightly warmer) time to visit Baltimore and Washington, again assuming everything we would want to ride is open.

Of course, your ideas are also always welcome!

[BillMagee]

DFW International Airport is probably not an option for us, since they are in a state of transition between their old Airport Train people mover cars and some newer, more modern system.

Right now, SkyLink at DFW is scheduled to open in early 2005. Construction schedules, of course, are made to be broken.

However, SkyLink is intended for interterminal transfers and may be on the secure side of the operation, so it might not be an option for a joy ride. More info on SkyLink is here.

Edited by BillMagee, 28 July 2004 - 06:38 AM.

[KevinKorell]

Thanks, Bill. The old Airtrain had operations within both the secure and the unsecure areas. Anyone could travel between all the terminals on various routes outside of the secure area, but some cars also were routed between secure areas for the purpose of moving American Airlines passengers between that airline's gates, which are scattered among several terminal buildings. The system worked well. Even though the train cars shared the same single guideway between the terminal complexes, I never heard of any instance where a vehicle left an unsecure area and deposited passengers in a secure area, thus letting them bypass the security clearance.

[KevinKorell]

I've already been doing some preliminary alterations to the Montreal 2006 itinerary. I've added a "Pre-Fest", giving us mileage on the "VIA triangle" Montreal-Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal. Those doing this Pre-Fest would depart from New York on Tuesday rather than Thursday.

Five hours after arriving in Montreal on Amtrak's ADIRONDACK on Tuesday evening, we would use the overnight ENTERPRISE train from Montreal to Toronto. Wednesday morning we would ride TTC's 506 Carlton streetcar, the line we missed most of during our Toronto Fest due to construction-mandated detours. Then we would leave Toronto for a midday VIA Corridor trip to Ottawa. On Thursday we would ride Ottawa's O-Train, followed by 4 hours of sightseeing time in that nation's capital. Then an afternoon VIA Corridor train to Montreal, where we would arrive around dinnertime. Those not taking this Pre-Fest would arrive in Montreal the same evening on that day's ADIRONDACK. We would then proceed as has been posted before with our Friday and Saturday rides on Montreal's STM Metro, and three of their five AMT commuter rail lines. Sunday would be the return trip to New York on the ADIRONDACK.

The revised itinerary is posted here. See you in 2006!

[RailHaRRy]

FYI, if you do schedule a March 05 fest, somewhere along the NE Corridor, I'll very likely attend. I want to get to the East Coast next year anyway, to see some non-rail friends and visit some non-rail places (Franklin Institute, USS NEW JERSEY perhaps). I can't attend a Fest in January because I'm committed to attend an event in Las Vegas at about the same time. I'll do a mini-fest while there -- ride the monorail. Conversely, also FYI, I doubt very much I'll make the July Fest next year. Between baseball and some other non-rail stuff next summer, I'll likely be "booked up".

[KevinKorell]

FYI, if you do schedule a March 05 fest, somewhere along the NE Corridor, I'll very likely attend.  I want to get to the East Coast next year anyway, to see some non-rail friends and visit some non-rail places (Franklin Institute, USS NEW JERSEY perhaps).

I can't attend a Fest in January because I'm committed to attend an event in Las Vegas at about the same time.  I'll do a mini-fest while there -- ride the monorail.

Conversely, also FYI, I doubt very much I'll make the July Fest next year.  Between baseball and some other non-rail stuff next summer, I'll likely be "booked up".

HaRRy, your message is bittersweet. It's a shame you would have to miss Dallas, which will be is as close as we've ever come to San Diego!! (We'll get out to California one of these years, I mean everyone for a week-long extravaganza!!!).

As for something on the East Coast in March, if Baltimore/Washington doesn't work out, there is always more to do in Philly that the main Fest group has not done yet, so we could work something out there. I know somebody who will be getting the North America's third diesel light rail line in his area, and by visiting the USS New Jersey he would have to ride North America's second diesel light rail line which runs by about one block away !! Heck I found myself in Philadelphia quite a bit last March on account of a couple of mini-Fests we did during the maiden week of the River Line. I can surely blow off a Monday from work at that time of year to extend our weekend on the rails by a day.

[jacorbett70]

Here is what I don't like about Dallas in July, the weather: Mid-to-upper 90's, high humidity, heat index over 100. The heat is worse and more consistent than in the Northeast. This is not good for walking and/or waiting outdoors for trains and buses. Is what's there worth putting up with that summer heat? I personally doubt it and I'm not sure that I would go even if there isn't a conflict next July.

[KevinKorell]

When Michael and I went to the DFW area in 1998, we ran into a heat wave. UP had heat restrictions that put our TEXAS EAGLE (which we were riding from Chicago to Fort Worth) down about 4 hours. When we finally got to Dallas I stepped off the train during its layover there into 113-degree weather. By the time we got to Fort Worth, it had gotten dark and had cooled to a frigid 109 degrees. I remember my glasses totally fogged up as I stepped off the air-conditioned train into the night.

So 90 degrees, while not comfortable, would seem a pleasure to me in comparison to what I experienced. We cannot predict extremes in weather (we got through severe cold in New York in January of 2003), but as a group we've been through thick and thin.

Dallas, like Toronto, Chicago, and other cities, has a system of underground passageways and skybridges that connect various buildings. The transit vehicles are air-conditioned, although admittedly I am not sure about the heritage streetcars on McKinney Avenue (the M Line).

Bottom line is that I could plan a Fest right there in New York City or any other eastern city in July, and we could see prolonged 90-degree weather there too. We also could get anything from unseasonably cool weather to a hurricane. We shall persevere!

[RailHaRRy]

Kevin wrote:

I know somebody who will be getting the North America's third diesel light rail line in his area, and by visiting the USS New Jersey he would have to ride North America's second diesel light rail line which runs by about one block away !!

Very true and that would be on my schedule. Actually I've ridden very little of the rail lines in the Philly area in the past 40 years. A few years ago I rode portions of the Market-Frankford line, the 101, 100, R1, R6 and R8, and also PATCO and the Atlantic City line. I haven't ridden most of the 102 since the 1950's, and the Broadstreet subway since about 1977. I can't remember ever riding any of the subway-surface car lines except the line on Balto Ave in the mid 1940's!

So, a fest or mini-fest in Philly would suit me fine -- even of course if it included riding any/all of the above again.

[KevinKorell]

This all pre-supposes that Baltimore has fully reopened the southern portion of their light rail system, and not yet closed the northern half for its double tracking blitz. It also assumes that the WMATA Metro Blue Line has been opened beyond Addison Road to Largo Town Center.

Today's news: While the southern portion of the LRT is reopening on December 5, 2004 (to both Glen Burnie and BWI Airport), the northern portion from North Avenue to Hunt Valley will be closing starting January 3, 2005. That kills any possibility of a major Baltimore/Washington Fest anytime in 2005.

However, we may still do a mini-Fest in Washington in February, to ride the new Blue Line segment to Largo Town Center, and to see the new Red Line in-fill station at New York Avenue/Florida Avenue/Galudet.

This makes it look more likely that we will be returning to Philadelphia in March for a major two-day fest. (HaRRy just jumped up, clicked his heels, and said, "YES!" .) We have to work around certain holidays, but if enough people want to get together anyhow, we will do it the third weekend in March.

However please do not go by the itinerary I have posted on my website for a future Philadelphia Fest. I will take that down soon. I expect it to change drastically, since I originally envisioned it happening in the summer when there is no school on weekdays and assumed I the Fest would begin on a Friday afternoon. We also want to do some Red Arrow Lines (now 101 & 102) for HaRRy's sake. And of course we would venture into New Jersey as well and ride the RiverLINE.