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Announcing OTOL Virginia RailFest 2017


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#1 KevinKorell

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Posted 06 December 2016 - 10:56 PM

OTOL Virginia RailFest 2017

January 14-15, 2017

 

Announcing the OTOL Virginia RailFest 2017.

 

We will once again meet over the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend.   During this time, we will travel out of our base in Washington, DC and ride Amtrak trains to Richmond on Saturday and Charlottesville on Sunday.   Being in Washington also allows us to finally ride the DC Streetcar, whose opening was delayed many times.

 

If enough people are in town on Friday or Monday and enough wish to do other things, we could do more -- yet to be determined.

 

The homepage for this Fest is here.   And this is the tentative itinerary, which usually needs to get tweaked a bit before we travel together.   For this event, centered around Amtrak trips, I will not be providing any costs pages since Amtrak fares vary too much by distance travelled, class, discounts used, and fare buckets.  The DC Streetcar is free of charge.

 

Meal locations have not yet been decided, but watch our thread on the board for discussion about that.  If recent history is our guide, I would expect we may end up having dinner once or twice within Washington Union Station.

So far, here is pertinent information regarding Amtrak, hotels, and meals:

 

Amtrak

 

·         Your own travel plans, whether by Amtrak, bus, or air to & from Washington, DC.

·         "Official" trips on our itinerary would be Train #89 on Saturday Washington to Richmond, Train #80 on Saturday Richmond to Washington, Train #51 on Sunday Washington to Charlottesville, and Train #50 on Sunday Charlottesville to Washington. I could foresee some coming directly from stations to stations north of Washington on #89 Saturday morning, or continuing home to points north of Washington on #50 on Sunday evening.

 

Hotels

 

Hotel(s) of your choice within the Washington, DC area. Remember to allow enough time to travel to the start point at Union Station on Saturday and Sunday mornings.  You may therefore wish to stay in the area starting on Friday night, January 13th. 

 

Meals

·         Washington locations for dinner on Friday (if in town), Saturday, and Sunday (if remaining in town) yet to be determined.

·         Breakfast is traditionally at your own hotel before travelling to the meeting point. Alternatively, there are places in Union Station to get breakfast.

·         Lunch on Saturday would be in the vicinity of Staples Mill Road Station in Richmond.   My list of eateries dates back to  our last visit there in the Summer of 2013.   More than likely things have changed since then.  An update in 2014 removed the restaurant Anthony's & George's, which was closed and demolished to make way for station parking lot expansion.

·         Lunch on Sunday I expect would be aboard Cardinal Train #51, from its lounge car.  Dinner, I surmise for those who plan to get off Cardinal Train #50 in the Washington area, there won't be enough time for a meal if the train is on time.   Anyone planning to remain on this train to points north of Washington would probably have time before or after the Washington stop, keeping in mind that the power goes down for engine change while there.

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To attend, all you need to do is contact me BY E-MAIL to let me know you are attending.  Please state whether you will participate Saturday, Sunday, or both, and whether you would be arriving early enough on Friday to be interested in doing something that evening as well.

 

Fest information tends to play to more than one audience because some do not regularly visit the board. Outside this one initial announcement, all further updates will be done via the OTOL board in the Virginia RailFest 2017 forum.  It is up to all potential participants to check the board regularly for updates, as things can change. 

 

Please do NOT at this time send me hotel or travel plans.  That will be done separately closer to the event weekend.  In early January, a confidential contact list will be created, which will then show everyone's hotel plans and phone numbers in the event of emergency or unlikely  last minute changes of plans.

 

More to come soon, but again keep on watching the board!



Kevin Korell


OTOL Board Leader


Lakewood, NJ


#2 KevinKorell

KevinKorell

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Posted 04 January 2017 - 01:46 PM

The good news is that there are no Safe Track Surges scheduled for January, so Metro should be operating (albeit with some expected weekend long headways).   This makes it easier to get to & from hotels not within walking distance of Union Station.



Kevin Korell


OTOL Board Leader


Lakewood, NJ





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