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OTOL Northern California RailFest 2007 is over


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#1 KevinKorell

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Posted 24 July 2007 - 09:19 PM

What a wonderful 12 days we just had ! Our plans were well documented on this board and on my web pages. We did everything we set out to do, and then some. There were a few bonuses as well. some which can't be mentioned here. We had 12 days of comeradie among an excellent group of people. In the coming days, I will update my web pages to reflect our actual group of participants, which turned out to be larger than expected thanks to some people who joined us along the way. I will put the official homepage in the past tense and also work on actual times we visited each station along the itinerary. I kept track of our progress on all of the light rail lines, cable cars, streetcars, and BART trains we rode. Thanks to Skip, Jishnu, Alan, and Steve for making note of our Amtrak progress across the country. When you guys get a chance please send me the times you have. Piotr joined us for the first segment of our travels, going only as far west as Chicago. We thank him for the Amtrak train tracker he did and continued to send to some of us even during the time we were on board and in California. Thank you to the ladies in our group: Grace, Lynn, and Marilyn, for putting up with us railfans and sticking with us for so long as we shined the rails throughout the San Francisco Bay area and Sacramento as well as aboard various Amtrak trains. Thanks to Bob Koski of Sacramento, who met us at one of our transfer stations on Friday and became our guide for the duration of our journey on the Gold Line. Bob was involved in the design of the system for RT, and he's also a station volunteer at the Sacramento Amtrak station. His commentary and his company were a welcome addition to our day in that city. Thank you also to Tom Preston of Sacramento, who helped out with our luggage transfer by offering use of his vehicle and his home as we resolved the problem of getting luggage from the Bay Area to Sacramento. Lynn Hammond deserves our heartfelt gratitude for all she did to make our fest the success that it was. She and Mike rented a van. Lynn drove down to San Jose, drove our luggage up to Sacramento, and with Tom's help got it delivered to the various hotels. She and Tom also helped to shuttle fest participants from the SAC station to our hotels on Thursday night. Lynn also got to shuttle us in two groups between downtown Stockton and a restaurant in the outskirts of town on Thursday night. Steve Weagant also helped me out often with dinner plans/reservations and such, so I thank him for his support. And of course thanks to our contingent who flew on airplanes in order to ride trains. HaRRy Sutton flew from San Diego to Oakland, spent several days with us, including riding the CZ from Sacramento to Reno, and then flew back from Reno to San Diego. Eric (GG-1) Minton flew from Honolulu to San Francisco and from Sacramento to Honolulu. Bill Magee flew Philly to Denver, rode over the Wyoming detour with us on the westbound CZ, and flew back to Philly from Reno. Jishnu Mukerji flew from Newark to Denver, and joined the rest of our fest there after spending a day on Denver's RTD system. Lou Petrillo and John Corbett also flew round trip from the New York/Connecticut area to spend four days with us in California. Then there was the group who rode across the country with us on Amtrak trains. The Hammonds, Steve Weagant, Alan & his mother Grace, and Skip Howard were involved wire to wire from their various start points. Piotr rode with us from the east coast to Chicago and then returned to New Jersey on his own on the Cardinal. And Jishnu was with us from Denver westbound until the end of our eastbound travels. There will be more updates and of course a report as we continue to remember our 12 days together. :)

Edited by KevinKorell, 30 July 2007 - 07:45 PM.


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#2 KevinKorell

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Posted 25 July 2007 - 08:46 PM

In thanking everyone I neglected to mention the great jobs that Bill Magee and Steve Weagant did on guides to the BNSF and UP routes, especially the detour route we took across Wyoming. I also thank Bill for the help he gave me in preparing for the San Francisco portion of our travels, particularly BART. Bill scouted things out on his own visit to the city earlier this year.


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#3 Skip Howard

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Posted 26 July 2007 - 12:05 PM

I would to thank everybody who participated in OTOL NoCal Fest 2007. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was great for me to re-establish old friendships and make new ones. I also found a cousin (Railette) which is really exciting. I especially want to thank Kevin for his hard work and all the time and effort he has put into not only this trip but to all the other Fests. I was asked to how my trip was. I described it this way. The trip out and back was one of total relaxation. In between was a great adventure of discovery and exploration. I would not have done all that I did if this opportunity had not been given to me. For that I am very greatful. Again thank you and especially to Kevin. :D Skip
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#4 KevinKorell

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Posted 26 July 2007 - 02:23 PM

Post-Fest website changes:

The participant list now reflects who was actually there, including the new friends we met along the way.

The planned itinerary was updated to include the BART-related changes that were added at the last minute the night before the fest began. An actual itinerary will be published once the participants who were on the long distance Amtrak trains send me the station times (I really only need the start & end times for this, not all of the stations.... that can come later when the report is being done.).

The official homepage was rewritten in the past tense.

The special San Francisco itineraries (Teams Orange, Green, Yellow, Blue, and Red) have been eliminated from the website to create more space. They were only for the convenience of each group to determine BART fares and the times they needed to leave to meet up with the group each morning. All links to these itineraries have been deleted as well.


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#5 KevinKorell

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Posted 26 July 2007 - 02:58 PM

The Fest Scorecard feature has now been updated.

You can find updated status for:

BART
AirTrain SFO
Muni
CalTrain
ACE
Sacramento RT

I am aware of the technicality that we did not ride the AirTrain Red Line due to time constraints, however we since we did visit all AirTrain stations on the longer Blue Line, I gave us credit for completing the system.

The only system with a significant section we did not ride is CalTrain, the portion south of San Jose Diridon Station. John Corbett did take a ride on his own to the end in Gilroy and returned by bus. Perhaps if the line is someday extended beyond Gilroy to a point where Amtrak also stops, we can add that trackage to our belts for the group.

Edited by KevinKorell, 26 July 2007 - 03:00 PM.


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#6 Railette

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Posted 27 July 2007 - 09:16 PM

I did this via email to the participants, but since I'm STILL in training, I see that it would have been better to post the following to the board: There's another person who needs to be thanked. KEVIN KORELL for all of his diligent, hard work in making this trip such a wonderful success - the countless hours of planning, answering any and all questions, taking into consideration each one of our suggestions, keeping us all informed on a regular basis for months and months and covering all the painstaking details of an 11 day spectacular vacation. Kevin, where do we even begin to thank you!!!! In addition, you took time to make sure that all of us were having a super time, visiting us and making sure that each of us knew that you cared. We would be hard pressed to find such a "tour guide" as Kevin Korell. I know each and every one of us is so very grateful to you, Kevin. Without you, this trip just wouldn't have happened. THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts!!!!! Railette still in training <_<

#7 KevinKorell

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Posted 27 July 2007 - 09:42 PM

Railette still in training

Hmmm, you know after last week one can take that a number of ways..... :D

At any rate, I appreciate the kind words. Thanks to Amtrak making sure that all of us were scattered among two different sleepers on every long distance train, it became necessary to pay visits to others to keep the comeraderie going.

In reality I was just making sure that everyone wanted to be among the first to show up at the next meal call! :)


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#8 GG-1

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Posted 29 July 2007 - 01:06 AM

I did this via email to the participants, but since I'm STILL in training, I see that it would have been better to post the following to the board:

There's another person who needs to be thanked. KEVIN KORELL for all of his diligent, hard work in making this trip such a wonderful success
Railette still in training <_<

Aloha

Railette you are absolutely right Mahalo to all but especially to Kevin that without his dedication we all might not have met and the meeting was Supercalifragilitcexpialadosis (probably misspelled ;) )

Mahalo

#9 KevinKorell

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Posted 30 July 2007 - 01:47 PM

Supercalifragilitcexpialadosis

As per Mary Poppins, it's:

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious


Kevin Korell


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#10 GG-1

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Posted 31 July 2007 - 12:26 AM


Supercalifragilitcexpialadosis

As per Mary Poppins, it's:

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

Mahalo for the spelling :) ii still applies to how you put the fest together :) :) :) :)

GG-1




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