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Future Fests as of Fall 2014/Winter 2014-15


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#1 KevinKorell

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Posted 22 September 2014 - 01:37 PM

Fresh topic as we move into the Fall, with the usual unlimited ideas for our future RailFests. As conditions have changed with new transit lines entering service, and others delayed, the itineraries I've published over recent years may be combined, separated, or otherwise changed. I still believe that to do justice to the state of Texas, we will need to visit there multiple times. In Dallas, the light rail system continues to grow, but there is enough new to ride as soon as we can get there. The next segment will be the Blue Line extension beyond the Ledbetter endpoint but it's a couple of years away. More importantly and closer to downtown, there are two streetcar lines under construction. One is a downtown loop extension of the M-Line (McKinney Avenue Streetcar), and the other is the new line to Oak Cliff also serving Union Station. Those additions are being watched carefully for completion dates. We also need to ride A-Train between Carrollton and Denton, and it would not hurt IF time allows to re-ride the Trinity Railway Express (TRE) between Dallas and Fort Worth. Elsewhere in Texas, the next big city to look at is Houston and its growing light rail network. The North Red Line opened in December of 2013, about doubling the length of the starter Red Line that opened 10 years prior. The next light rail lines to open will be the Purple Line and a portion of the Green Line -- those are expected to be in service by the end of 2014. The remainder of the Green Line will open in the future once a bridge over a freight rail line is built. Once that is completed, Houston beckons us for a visit. The other parts of the network, the Blue Line (University east-west) and the Gold Line (connecting with the Blue Line and potentially starting service as a Bus Rapid Transit line) are too far into the future. Then there is Austin, whose commuter operation between downtown and Leander would require us to make a one day stopover in that city so we can ride it during its weekday afternoon rush period when a round trip out and back is possible. The other route involving Austin and also going to San Antonio is Lone Star Rail, or L-Star, but again no recent progress has been made. Part of a Texas trip would also be a round trip on the Heartland Flyer between Fort Worth and Oklahoma City, with of course an overnight stay in the latter. It also would feature a 24-hour stopover in Little Rock to ride that city's streetcars. All of these elements need to be put together to best serve our needs, and hopefully eliminating early morning or late night Amtrak station stops (as we had in Salt Lake City) wherever possible. In recent discussions, it has become obvious that Houston poses a challenge. It sits on the thrice-weekly Sunset Limited route, and its only daily service on Amtrak's map is the Thruway bus connection to & from the north with the Texas Eagle at Longview. An overnight connection in San Antonio between the westbound Sunset Limited (Train 1) and the northbound Texas Eagle (Train 22) would be unpopular, as would the converse -- southbound Texas Eagle (Train 21) to eastbound Sunset Limited (Train 2). So there's that issue, as well as the Longview bus which is 5 or 6 hours depending on the direction. The only other alternative therefore, is to separate Houston from other Texas cities and instead enter and leave it from the east. Read on... We missed New Orleans' Riverfront Streetcar during the SERF 2011 event due to an unexplained and undocumented closure of the line. But the French Quarter extensions will incorporate the Riverfront Streetcar line anyhow. With the Loyola Streetcar line having already opened between Union Station and the rest of the network on Canal Street, and with more streetcar lines being built through the French Quarter, that city will rate another visit, even if we do the streetcar rides during an overnight stopover. Amtrak's Crescent is not conducive to this, with its evening arrival (Train 19) and early morning departure (Train 20). Therefore, it would be better to come in on the City of New Orleans (Train 59) and/or leave the same way (Train 58). The City works well for same-day transfers in Chicago. A visit to New Orleans could then be paired with Houston using the Sunset Limited. Train 1 runs between New Orleans and Houston on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays, getting to Houston 6:18 PM if on time. Train 2 runs between Houston and New Orleans on Tuesdays, Fridays, and Sundays, leaving Houston shortly after Noon if on time. So if the group left New Orleans on a Monday or Saturday, we would only have that evening and the following morning (Tuesday or Sunday) in town before we would have to leave. The Wednesday departure from New Orleans would give us one full day (Thursday) in Houston before we depart Friday midday --- and it would require a 2-night stay. Given how trains can be late, the two-day option seems best in order to accomplish what we would be there for. We have also discussed a visit to Minneapolis/St. Paul, which is ready for our exploration with completion of the light rail between the two cities and St. Paul Union Depot being the venue for Amtrak. Once more I would propose a 2-night stay in St. Paul, given the late evening westbound arrival of the Empire Builder (Train 7) and the early morning eastbound departure of the Empire Builder (Train 8). We could then utilize the Green Line to travel between St. Paul and Minneapolis on our one full day there, and while in the latter also do the Blue Line (some have requested a longer layover at the Mall of America) and the Northstar commuter rail. Pittsburgh is one city we have bypassed (or passed through at night on the Capitol Limited on our past trips) because of their fare structure and lack of a Day Pass instrument. However they now have a smart card which could be loaded with the appropriate fare so we don't have to keep fishing for quarters and dollar bills to pay for rush hour and zone surcharges. While I've written this as a 3-day round trip from New York City and Philadelphia via the Pennsylvanian (with 2 days on that train and one full day in Pittsburgh with 2 overnights), recent discussions have revealed that this could be done as a one day stopover as part of a longer trip to the West. We could ride the westbound Pennsylvanian (Train 43) to experience that route as well as the Horseshoe Curve, spend one evening overnight in Pittsburgh, use the next full day to explore the city's light rail lines and Inclines, and then leave that second night on the westbound Capitol Limited (Train 29) for travels further west towards whatever awaits us next. So in summary, there are many different scenarios in which we can mix and match different trip segments to build our next few summer Fests. I'll work on what the various programs would look like in the weeks to come. Meanwhile, as it is still not being officially announced, things are looking good for a Fest based in Washington, DC in January of 2015. The Silver Line is in service, and the DC Streetcar should be running by November. Once a schedule becomes available, an itinerary can be worked out. Preview work for a meal stop at Tysons Corner was done last week to scope out the route to walk and potential places to eat. Those two activities should fill up the short available daylight available to us on a winter day. We can leave the second day (Sunday) open to suggestions, such as whatever other Metro routes people wish to cover. Or we can use Sunday to go to Baltimore, perhaps using the relatively new weekend MARC service in one direction and an Amtrak Regional train in the other. And as happened at last winter's event, there could be impromptu points run type trips on Friday and/or Monday if enough people are in town and wish to take these rides together.


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#2 steve4031

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Posted 22 September 2014 - 03:59 PM

Great work Kevin. I like the New Orleans stop over for getting to Houston. I think its possible to do a same day connection from 58 to 7 or 30 and 48. The connection from 8 to 59 or 30--48 would best be done with an overall night connection

#3 KevinKorell

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Posted 22 September 2014 - 04:21 PM

A Houston via New Orleans journey would take a week out of Chicago. To hit the Sunset Limited operation days, we would need to leave Chicago on a Monday night and would get back the following Sunday morning. Of course it would be longer for those making connections to/from the East, but there is no reason why 59 should miss connections from the East or 58 to miss connections to the East.

Folks would also have the alternative on the way back to take 20 (Crescent) from New Orleans to the Northeast if they desire, keeping in mind the 7 AM departure from New Orleans.

Using the City of New Orleans in both directions, a Houston via New Orleans trip would look a little something like this.


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#4 KevinKorell

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Posted 22 September 2014 - 07:33 PM

Here are some other Fest segments that I have broken up. As each year rolls around we can reassemble these modules to create the total experience.And this one I've left alone for now, as it's long enough with all of its stopovers:


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#5 steve4031

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Posted 22 September 2014 - 09:48 PM

These are all very manageable itineraries. The Pittsburgh could be combined with Minneapolis. I would ride 48 to NYC to meet up with the east coast contingent.

#6 pennyk

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Posted 23 September 2014 - 05:15 PM

All options look good to me since I have not spent a lot of time (or any time) in most of the cities mentioned.

I really would like to take the Pennsylvanian to Pittsburgh. The last time I was in that city was 1980 and I flew there. I have been to MSP by train in 2004 and rode light rail from the airport to downtown Minneapolis. I have been to New Orleans by Crescent and departed by City of New Orleans, but did not ride anything while in town. My first trip to Texas by train will be in 2 weeks (to LAX from CHI) but I will just be passing through (with no significant stops, I hope)

#7 saxman

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Posted 23 September 2014 - 05:55 PM

New Orleans does have a streetcar line that's suppose to start construction this fall. I thought they were suppose to start last spring, but knowing how slow Nola operates, I shouldn't be surprised. It's suppose to run a block from me though, and it'll provide direct access to the Amtrak station once built! They say it should be complete by the end of 2015, but I'm thinking more like 2016. I like the idea of combining New Orleans and Houston. That would avoid the weird times at SAS and a long bus ride from Longview.

Edited by saxman, 23 September 2014 - 05:56 PM.


#8 KevinKorell

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Posted 24 September 2014 - 01:41 AM

Chris,

So what you are saying is that the current Loyola line, rather than turning River-bound onto Canal Street, will instead go across Canal to what will be the French Quarter line?

So 2016 or even 2017 would work because I doubt the last Houston segment of its Green Line will be open next year anyhow. If combining the two cities into one Fest, all elements need to be available in both places.

To expand on the last of the Fests I listed that involves San Antonio and Austin, that was originally written to include a one way ride on the Lone Star Transit District regional rail line (L-Star). However their website conspicuously does not mention any projected completion date. This is the best they can do on their timeline:

2016/2017: Anticipated date for completion and federal approval of engineering and environmental studies and receipt of a notice-to-proceed allowing Lone Star Rail to begin final design and construction.

So I don't even want to think how long it will be once they have the green light to begin final design and construction until the line goes into revenue service. What I am saying is, since there is nothing else to ride in San Antonio, one alternative option might be to get off the southbound Texas Eagle in Austin, and stay there 2 nights, rather than one night in San Antonio and one in Austin.

Edited by KevinKorell, 24 September 2014 - 01:53 AM.


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#9 jis

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Posted 24 September 2014 - 10:18 AM

These are all very manageable itineraries. The Pittsburgh could be combined with Minneapolis. I would ride 48 to NYC to meet up with the east coast contingent.

You'd never know for sure which day you will arrive in NY though :)

#10 saxman

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Posted 24 September 2014 - 01:20 PM

Chris,

So what you are saying is that the current Loyola line, rather than turning River-bound onto Canal Street, will instead go across Canal to what will be the French Quarter line?

So 2016 or even 2017 would work because I doubt the last Houston segment of its Green Line will be open next year anyhow. If combining the two cities into one Fest, all elements need to be available in both places.


I think that is what I saw, but not I can't find anything on it. The RTA has very little information on the project. Now it says it should be completed by early 2016.

Here is the information about it, with a map and fact sheet, but it doesn't say where the line will come from.




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