Each day of a Fest as we assemble to ride that day's trains, it is helpful to know where and when we should meet. Let us go through the days.
Day 1, 7/15/15: Officially what I call a "rolling meet" since the Fest begins on the Pennsylvanian, with some starting from New York City and others from Philadelphia. Each team can arrange on their own to meet in the respective Clubs Acela and get themselves on board.
Day 2, 7/16/15: Since 6 of the 7 expected participants are starting from the same hotel, and most may need to walk together earlier to get tickets at PAT headquarters, we will arrange that between us the night before. The person not in the same hotel should meet us before we take that walk. Our travels begin on a bus so we can get to Duquesne Incline.
Day 3, 7/17/15: Awaken on Capitol Limited, go through Chicago, and end up late night in St. Paul. In Chicago no doubt we separate into smaller groups to get lunch if time allows. Base will be the Metropolitan Lounge, though some expressed an interest in trying out the new pay lounge, so will determine that amongst us upon arrival.
Day 4, 7/18/15: Starting in St. Paul, since I am the odd one out in a different hotel I will get myself to where the rest are staying. Then the Fest light rail travel will begin at 11:22 AM, so let's start to meet at St. Paul Union Depot around 11:00. Where in the depot we will determine and point out upon arrival there the night before. If walking to Union Depot is an issue and you don't care about total coverage, you can do a shorter walk and board the same light rail vehicle when it passes Central Station a minute or two after the above departure time. But please let somebody in the group know so we don't look for you.
Day 5, 7/19/15: Supposedly on paper an early morning departure on the Empire Builder. No doubt many will be watching the train's progress, and we will meet at the station (or walk together from the hotel) accordingly based on the train's revised expected time of arrival.
Day 6, 7/20/15: By now we're in Chicago. With the first activity being a 9 AM departure from Union Station, and expecting that some may wish to store luggage there, let's meet around 8:30 AM in the Metropolitan Lounge. I expect that some coming from the one common hotel may walk together to this location.
Day 7, 7/21/15: Final official day, and by now the group numbers will be smaller. Will meet at Union Station for the Glenview trip, where exactly to be announced based on whether people need to leave luggage in the lounge.
Edited by KevinKorell, 12 July 2015 - 10:19 PM.
Misspelled the word "an"