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Our next Fest!


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#1 KevinKorell

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Posted 29 August 2003 - 09:09 PM

While the task of wrapping up the details of the Windy City RailFest continues, I cannot let the planning for future gatherings suffer.

Last year, we had a JerseyFest on the first weekend of October, mostly to celebrate the opening of the HBLRT to Hoboken just one week earlier. This particular weekend works well for me, because it's the last weekend I have off from work before my schedule changes for the quarter and I then work on weekends for the remainder of the year.

So, where to go, what to do?

Option 1
First of all, the same weekend is traditionally the Altoona Rail Fest. I attended two such events in 1997 and 1999, and they were worthwhile, although the bus shuttles between the venues around town were not handled well. Soon after the 1999 event they built a pedestrian bridge over the Norfolk Southern tracks, which eliminated the need for many to take the shuttle bus in that area, although it is still needed to access the Juniata Shops. I thought that if enough people were interested, it might be fun to travel there together, staying over on Saturday night in Altoona. Those from the east coast could take the PENNSYLVANIAN from New York City, New Jersey, or Philadelphia on Saturday morning, and take the THREE RIVERS back to those points on Sunday afternoon. Most hotels are outside of downtown near the major highways, but they offer shuttles to/from the train station. In numbers it would not be too difficult to share the cost of cabs either. Anyhow that is just one option. More on the Altoona Railfest is here.

Option 2
Option 2 is to be known as the Metro New York RailFest 2003. It would be different from the AppleFests of the past three years, in that we would not need to use any subways, other than getting to the various rail terminals in the city. It would encompass two days.

Day One would involve 100% Metro North. We would begin and end our day at Grand Central Terminal. We would make use of the New Haven Line as far as Bridgeport, as well as all three branches to New Canaan, Danbury, and Waterbury, connecting to them respectively at Stamford, South Norwalk, and Bridgeport. ( I think Ellis Simon did this years ago and called his trip the "Bury Hop" ;) !!) To do this would require a little bit of backtracking due to the sparse schedules on the branch lines, and it would be a ten-hour day.

Day Two would start out in Hoboken, NJ. We would ride an NJ TRANSIT commuter train a short distance to the newly-opened Secaucus Junction (formerly Secaucus Transfer). After some time exploring the new station, we would board an NJ TRANSIT Northeast Corridor train into New York's Penn Station. After a break there for an early lunch, we would then board the Long Island Railroad for an excursion out to Montauk and back. The trip to Montauk would require a change of trains at Jamaica Station in both directions. The round trip between New York and Montauk is almost 7 hours!

Keep in mind that many schools are closed on Monday, October 6 in observance of a religious holiday, so if you wish to bring your kids along on Sunday there is no reason to rush home.

A rough itinerary for this event is here. Keep in mind that until NJ TRANSIT publishes new timetables for all its routes effective September 6th, the Sunday morning times cannot be filled in.

So let's hear what you would rather do -- a group trip to Altoona, PA, or spending the two days in the New York area ?? Either way, this is only five weeks away, so it's time to begin the planning process.

And what about January?
I am almost certain that we will be going to Philadelphia for a winter event the third week of January. This past week I already rode some lines to preview walking distances and possible places to eat, and I will be going back there sometime in September to do more.


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#2 KevinKorell

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Posted 06 September 2003 - 10:39 AM

So far nobody has expressed any interest in a group trip to Altoona, PA... so I am abandoning that option.

The same weekend is the Lincoln Park Days steam train rides out of Lincoln Park, NJ. It's on the Montclair-Boonton Line, which does not have any weekend service, so that's out too (unless they stop in Dover, where there IS weekend service, to pickup passengers).

I'm going forward with a Metro New York RailFest for that weekend. Now that the timetables effective today are published, I've filled in the Sunday morning times in my itinerary. I also adjusted the Saturday itinerary based on my scouting trip to Connecticut last weekend, so that lunch will now be in Bridgeport instead of Stamford.

Given the extremely short lead time (it's just one month away), I don't expect to do route guides on the scale of our Boston "T" Party, AppleFest, or Windy City RailFest events. It may be no more than a rail itinerary and a restaurant guide.

You can see the updated itinerary here.

Please start letting me know if you are able to attend one or both days. As always it is never obligatory that people participate in every minute of the Fest, unless they want to. Feel free to join us later in the day or leave us early if you have other plans. As it stands now, the Saturday Connecticut trip will be 10-1/2 hours, and Sunday's combination Secaucus Transfer and LIRR Montauk excursion will be 9 hours.


Kevin Korell


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#3 KevinKorell

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Posted 06 September 2003 - 08:00 PM

Homepage created today:

http://pages.prodigy...nyfest/home.htm


Kevin Korell


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#4 KevinKorell

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Posted 08 September 2003 - 10:46 AM

One small thing that makes me a little nervous...... :blink: The itinerary calls for a three-minute connection at Stamford, between an inbound mainline train and an outbound New Canaan branch train. If the inbound train is late, does the outbound New Canaan train hold for it? I know that the outbound New Canaan Branch train should hold for an outbound mainline train, since more people would be making connections. I guess if we miss it, we can nix the New Canaan Branch and just take the local inbound mainline train back to Grand Central, ending the day an hour early. But I really would like to get all three branches in on the same day, and this is the only way to do it. Had Stamford been the lunch stop, this would have been a moot point because we would have been there already. But as my onsite research found, there are no decent places to eat in a relatively short time in close proximity to that station, so I opted for Bridgeport instead. So does anyone know if branch line trains are held for the mainline trains in both directions if one is late?


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#5 AlanB

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Posted 09 September 2003 - 05:54 AM

One small thing that makes me a little nervous...... :blink:

Kevin,

I might be able to help alleviate the need to be nervous, at least about the connection in Stamford. :)

Check out the story that I posted in the Commuter section located here.

According to the story in the New Haven register, there is the possibility that we might have plenty of time on our hands. If they start the construction on the Waterbury Branch before the fest, we may not be riding it. :o

This of course though would leave us with more time to ride the other branches.

Can you say "Thanks, MTA. Again!"? :P
Of course now I may have made you nervous about whether we will be able to ride the Waterbury Branch. :blink:
Alan,

Take care and take trains!

#6 KevinKorell

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Posted 09 September 2003 - 02:10 PM

Been there done that --- I've ridden the Waterbury branch on a substitute bus along Route 8, and I've ridden the route in a Budd car. I don't think we would have any need or reason to use a bus to get to Waterbury, only to turn around and ride a bus back to Bridgeport. I am going to go back to Connecticut, possibly this weekend if not busy with other things, and will look at places to eat in New Haven and South Norwalk, since if the Waterbury branch is out, there really would be no reason to get off the train at Bridgeport.


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#7 NJCoastExp

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Posted 09 September 2003 - 10:13 PM

:( Don't even bother with New Haven food hunt. The only food place within walking distance, is at the station itself and are limited to "Subway" and "Dunkin Donuts". The next closest place (10 minutes of hard walk) was Burger King on the Green, unfortunately closed over the summer and may never reopen, at least based on personal observations made two weeks ago. Piotr (Pete the Pole) Dzwonek

This is train 3267, 5:43 Long Branch express with connection to Bay Head. South Amboy is next. First and last cars are Quiet Cars. All tickets please.


#8 KevinKorell

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Posted 09 September 2003 - 10:31 PM

Piotr, Thanks for that. I have eaten at the sub shop in New Haven Union Station, but I wasn't sure whether it was a Subway or a Blimpie's. That might suffice with our group though, so it remains a possibility. I've eaten in that BK on the New Haven Green as well. It was part of a small downtown shopping mall, which as I recall was not doing too well. I think it was closed when I was there last a few years ago.


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#9 KevinKorell

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Posted 09 September 2003 - 11:14 PM

At any rate, no need to panic Posted Imageyet -- I will come up with a few alternatives just in case we have more curves thrown our way. Our good luck in Philadelphia in 2001 and in Chicago in July 2003 could not have been expected to carry through to other gatherings.


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#10 EdFindlay

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Posted 10 September 2003 - 11:27 PM

You mean the Philly Fest 01 and Windy City Rail Fest 2003 were your only fests that stuck(mostly) to their schedules? :o Wow, i thought only the T Party and the Apple Fests were the only ones




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