 PNW Fest: Reports from the Fest |
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| KevinKorell |
 Jul 14 2010, 02:24 PM
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#1
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 Board Leader  Group: Sr. Admin Posts: 43,681 Joined: 26-June 03 From: Howell, NJ Member No.: 2  |
OTOL PNW RailFest 2010 Lite runs from Sunday morning 7/18 upon arrival of the Empire Builder in Portland, and ends Friday night 7/23 upon arrival of the Cascades in Seattle. Post updates and thoughts here regarding events of these 6 days.
-------------------- Kevin Korell OTOL Board Leader Howell, NJ |
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| KevinKorell |
Jul 18 2010, 10:54 PM
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#2
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Board Leader Group: Sr. Admin Posts: 43,681 Joined: 26-June 03 From: Howell, NJ Member No.: 2 |
Well things went pretty well today, save for the Willammette Shore Trolley being down for "mechanical problems". And I was almost late to my own party when I went to check-in at my hotel by the airport after we'd arrived. The walk between LRT and the hotel was longer than expected and while that ate my free time, I had no time to eat lunch. The guys came through after my distress phone call and scurried to find me a sandwich to woof down at the streetcar stop. The day ended with an excellent dinner at Old Spaghetti Factory.
Today, we got to know the Portland Streetcar real well, and tomorrow we'll do the same with TriMet's MAX and WES trains. EDIT: 13 people were involved today. -------------------- Kevin Korell OTOL Board Leader Howell, NJ |
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| BillMagee |
Jul 18 2010, 11:51 PM
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#3
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 Moderator Group: Admin Posts: 2,854 Joined: 2-July 03 From: Cherry Hill, NJ Member No.: 11 |
Bummer about the trolley being down for the count. Pretty slick notification - a hand-written note stapled to the waiting shed.
I enjoyed my mini-fest, albeit even a little more mini than I anticipated. After I left the group on the streetcar, I took a nice ride out and back on the TriMet Blue Line to Hatfield Government Center (the end of the line, of course). At about 7:00 pm, I had a delightful dinner at McCormick & Schmick's Harborside, and spent much of my dinner sending harassing text messages to my wife. What more could one want - nice wine, good food, and harassing a loved one. Priceless. I hope everything goes well for you guys the rest of the way. Tell Alan and Grace I hope they have a great time on the Canadian. Meanwhile, I fly home tomorrow and go back to my stressful life in retirement. Oh, how can I stand it. |
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| jacorbett70 |
Jul 18 2010, 11:59 PM
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#4
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Member Group: Members Posts: 647 Joined: 6-September 03 Member No.: 74 |
Here are links to some images from the first day. The main difference from the scheduled itinerary, as Kevin mentioned, was that due to the Willamette Shore Trolley closure, we went back and rode the Vintage Trolley (originally omitted from our plans).
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l76/jaco...01007181020.jpg http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l76/jaco...01007181033.jpg http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l76/jaco...01007181341.jpg http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l76/jaco...01007181351.jpg http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l76/jaco...01007181457.jpg http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l76/jaco...01007181509.jpg http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l76/jaco...01007181515.jpg and the unexpected red signal: http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l76/jaco...70/IMG05568.jpg |
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| KevinKorell |
Jul 19 2010, 11:08 PM
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#5
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Board Leader Group: Sr. Admin Posts: 43,681 Joined: 26-June 03 From: Howell, NJ Member No.: 2 |
Well on Day Two of the PNW Fest 2010 Lite, we did everything we intended to, but kept it interesting by altering the afternoon schedule a bit.
See, with the padding I put in we inevitably did become 15 minutes ahead of schedule, and then we got another 15 ahead after lunch. Since WES starts its first trip of the afternoon rush at 4:05 PM, we would have been waiting around Beaverton TC a long time. So we instead did our run to Hillsboro on the MAX Blue Line first, and then came back to Beaverton in time for the 4:35 PM WES trip. to Wilsonville. Then after WES back at Beaverton, we just took the next MAX train back downtown. All told we did end up finished with the rail riding about half an hour sooner. BTW with the above change we rode the MAX Blue Line the entire run, end to end, going from Gresham/Cleveland Ave. to Hillsboro/Hatboro Government Center on one vehicle. With delays it took 1 hour 48 minutes. We had a count of 10 today riding the rails, as we lost Bill and Chris from yesterday, and Lynn opted to remain in downtown Portland to relax and shop. 8 of the 10, plus Lynn, opted to go to dinner at a very high (pricewise and altitude wise) restaurant downtown.... most likely they're still up there as I write this. Rick & I being out by the airport instead had a quick dinner at Lloyd Center mall and are back at our respective hotels. Tomorrow we meet at Portland Union Station in advance of our first Cascades TALGO trip. -------------------- Kevin Korell OTOL Board Leader Howell, NJ |
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| jacorbett70 |
Jul 20 2010, 12:54 AM
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#6
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Member Group: Members Posts: 647 Joined: 6-September 03 Member No.: 74 |
Here is a group photo from earlier today (yesterday for those in the east)
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l76/jaco...70/IMG06008.jpg |
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| jis |
Jul 20 2010, 07:03 AM
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#7
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Member Group: Global Moderator Posts: 1,348 Joined: 22-July 03 Member No.: 50 |
Hatboro Government Center?
 I am sure the "field" is feeling cheated  |
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| KevinKorell |
Jul 20 2010, 08:52 PM
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#8
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Board Leader Group: Sr. Admin Posts: 43,681 Joined: 26-June 03 From: Howell, NJ Member No.: 2 |
Day 3 is complete, at least for the rail riding. Today's travels had 11 of us meeting at Portland Union Station and then riding the TALGO train to Seattle. Mark came down from Seattle on the Coast Starlight to Centralia, and returned with us, making the group an even dozen. Despite being about 25 minutes late, we enjoyed our trip and wished we could ride these trains more often.
At King Street Station (KSS) in Seattle, there was a bit of confusion as our arrival was close to the departures of Cascades #509 and the eastbound Empire Builder. Many in the group stored their luggage at KSS for the Central LINK trip. We were joined there by Patrick and Alice, but we lost John as he went off to get ready to go to a Mariners game. So we had a group of 13 on the LINK. I left them when we got to the Airport end of the line, as I'm now at my hotel. The others returned downtown to pickup their luggage, check-in, and find dinner. I might have returned at least part way with them, but without a DayPass it didn't pay. Tomorrow's our busy day in this city, as we will do the Space Needle, Seattle Center Monorail, the rest of the Central LINK, Sounder, and Tacoma LINK. -------------------- Kevin Korell OTOL Board Leader Howell, NJ |
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| jacorbett70 |
Jul 21 2010, 01:00 AM
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#9
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Member Group: Members Posts: 647 Joined: 6-September 03 Member No.: 74 |
Here are a few pictures from Tuesday:
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l76/jaco...70/IMG06263.jpg http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l76/jaco...70/IMG06278.jpg http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l76/jaco...70/IMG06397.jpg http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l76/jaco...01007201615.jpg Yes, I split off for the Mariners game, and as a result heard and saw Amtrak 516, the last two Sounder departures for Tacoma, an occasional BNSF freight, and finally a tardy Coast Starlight (14). |
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| jacorbett70 |
Jul 21 2010, 07:51 PM
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#10
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Member Group: Members Posts: 647 Joined: 6-September 03 Member No.: 74 |
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