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January Fest will be in Philadelphia


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#1 KevinKorell

KevinKorell

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Posted 12 October 2003 - 10:13 PM

Our regular January group gathering will take place this year in Philadelphia. I thought that with three years in a row of having AppleFests in New York in the first quarter of the year, we deserved a break and would head back to Philadelphia. Other than several of us riding the holiday streetcars in West Philly one December a couple of years ago, we have not had a major gathering in Philly since the summer of 2001.

Rest assured we will once again have Fests within New York City, as its subways and commuter rails provide endless choices for us that can easily fill up a day or two of rail riding. Another reason for skipping New York City in early 2004 is that there will be major route changes coming later in the year due to the reopening of all four tracks over the Manhattan Bridge.

So back to Philly! We will not refer to this one as the PhillyFest, because I found when using search engines that other events (mostly non rail related) compete for similar names. It will most likely be called the Philly RailFest 2004. We've ruled out Pretzel Fest and Cheese Steak Fest because we want to emphasise that train riding is our most important goal (with eating a close second! ;)) And Brotherly Love Fest sounds way too corny. :o

What will we do there? These facts are known so far:
  • It will be a 2-day affair, with train riding all day Saturday and Sunday.
  • The dates will be January 17th and 18th.
  • Monday the 19th is the Martin Luther King holiday, which means that some participants don't have to rush home to be at work on Monday.
  • Sunday's activities will be a full day on the rails on the ex-Reading Railroad side of the system, doing R3 West Trenton, R5 Doylestown, and R2 Warminster. Lunch in Doylestown in Boston Market.
Saturday's activities are still being worked out. As many of you know, I wanted to include a one-way ride on the Southern New Jersey LRT to kick off the Fest, having us meet and start our day in Trenton, NJ. However, it looks more and more like the line may not be open in time. If by chance it is open, then we will include it in our Fest -- otherwise alternate activities have been planned to take its place. The line's opening date will be announced by NJ TRANSIT on November 12th. The only thing definite for Saturday is a round trip to Chestnut Hill: Outbound on R8 Chestnut Hill West, and inbound on R7 Chestnut Hill East. Lunch on Saturday will most likely be at the food court at the Gallery at Market East, adjacent to the Market East station. Optional dinners both days at 30th Street Station's food court.

More details about the activities and planning process will be coming soon.


Kevin Korell


OTOL Board Leader


Lakewood, NJ





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