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WARF 2015 reports from Fest: Saturday, 1/17/15 activities


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#1 KevinKorell

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Posted 15 January 2015 - 01:31 PM

This thread is for discussion of our official Fest activities on Saturday, 1/17/15.



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#2 Ryan

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Posted 17 January 2015 - 05:25 PM

It was really great to see some familiar faces and meet some of you I hadn't yet had the pleasure of meeting.  A great day of riding trains!  Sorry that I didn't get to say goodbye to most of you, my MARC train home was leaving at 2:20, so I had jump on the Light Rail headed back to Baltimore Penn when it arrived.

 

Thanks to Kevin for putting everything together and Ross and Bill for arranging the purchase of the MTA Day Passes.

 

The subway ride was new mileage for me, and I also experienced my first low-level offload when we stopped at Odenton on the way home since Track 3 is OOS between Grove and Bowie.

 

Enjoy your day tomorrow, and I hope you stay dry!  Looks like most of the precip is going to stay here in the East, so the ride out to Tyson's and beyond has a decent chance of being dry.



#3 KevinKorell

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Posted 17 January 2015 - 06:59 PM

Ryan, pleasure meeting you and understood about running for the earlier light rail train -- it's what was necessary to get home.

 

More on today when I get to my hotel.



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#4 Long Train Runnin'

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Posted 17 January 2015 - 08:34 PM

Had a good day today. Had never ridden anything in Baltimore so it was all new for me. On the way back me and Chris scored 2-1 BC seating in the cafe car since I guess they had an equipment swap. It was good to see new and familiar faces today. 



#5 KevinKorell

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Posted 17 January 2015 - 08:36 PM

So Saturday ended up being a fun day for all 21 people involved.  We peaked at 20 people at two points, even as some did their own things, and some got where they had to go by other means (including one tight connection in Baltimore that was missed).

 

The Day Pass purchase for Baltimore that was coordinated by Bill and Ross went without a hitch ---- thanks to both for the perfectly executed plan and all that money and media that changed hands.

 

15 of us started at Washington Union Station, meeting inside Club Acela. Our MARC train was moderately crowded, but comfortably those who wanted a pair of seats could have them.  Ryan had been a late addition, and as planned he joined us in Odenton.  But a bigger surprise was Piotr, who decided last minute to travel down to BWI Airport and travel with us from there to Baltimore Penn Station.  That brought us to 17.  We were a little worried about that train being late, but as it turned out we arrived into Baltimore's Penn Station a few minutes early.

 

Once in Baltimore we were joined by three more who had come down from the Philly area, making our group twenty people.  Piotr also rode the short light rail shuttle with us between Penn Station and University of Baltimore, and then returned to Penn Station, so we were back to 19 for the second light rail ride from U. of Baltimore to BWI Airport.   At BWI Business Center (the stop before the airport proper), we were joined by Penny's sister Nina, which brought us back to 20 and raised our daily count to 21.  She qualified for inclusion with the group by riding with us from BWI Business Center to the airport and back downtown from there to Lexington Market.

 

Lexington Market itself has become noisy and seedy, but we all quickly found individual food choices and ate together in the upstairs dining  area.  Penny was joined by other family members and they remained in town while 18 of us did the heavy rail Metro round trip between Lexington Market and Owings Mills.  The Metro had minor delays both ways, so we got back to Lexington Market a couple minutes late, cutting a 7-minute scheduled transfer even shorter.  Safe to say, we did not all make it.  Bill and Ryan ran for and made the intended light rail shuttle train back to Penn Station because they had earlier trains to catch (and Penny was on that train too).  The rest of us took a Hunt Valley light rail train up to University of Baltimore, and then a few walked to Penn Station from there while the rest waited for the next light rail shuttle to Penn Station.  By the time most of us were back at Penn Station, Ryan had already left on MARC back to Odenton, and Bill went to get an Acela to Washington. 

 

And that left 17 of us who rode Amtrak Regional #147 from Baltimore to Washington.  We were dispersed among one car of the crowded train, which operated about 15 minutes late - making a few minutes up in padding by Washington. We found one another once through Gate G.   Two left us here, and Bill rejoined us after running over to his hotel.  We sat in the Club Acela for a while before 16 of us went to Pizzeria Uno on the second floor of the station for dinner.  A very nice meal for all ended a wonderful day on the rails.  Thanks to Steve as always for  coordinating the dinner plans and handling the reservation for so many people.



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#6 saxman

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Posted 17 January 2015 - 09:13 PM

All of today was new mileage for me and new to the MARC service as well. Seeing Baltimore Penn station was new to me as well. I enjoyed the Lexington Market because the choice of food was decent and most of it seemed quite good. Dinner was enjoyable as well as we enjoyed story telling and laughs.



#7 pennyk

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Posted 17 January 2015 - 09:14 PM

I totally agree with big thanks to Steve for arranging dinner.

I enjoyed seeing old friends and meeting new ones. I had a really nice time riding trains with friends and my sister, eating lunch with my sister, niece and nephew and eating dinner with 15 people that do not think I am weird for riding trains.

Thanks Kevin for planning a great itinerary.

#8 Ryan

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Posted 17 January 2015 - 10:42 PM

You're definitely weird for riding trains.  Good thing the rest of us are too.

 

I quite enjoyed Lexington Market - sometimes it's fun to step out of my comfort zone for a bit and get exposed to a different culture.  Inexpensive and tasty lunch, and a concert to boot!



#9 KevinKorell

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Posted 17 January 2015 - 11:23 PM

After Saturday's activities, the participant list increased to 21 names.

 

And you can see why the itinerary remains tentative until it is totally executed, as evidenced by Saturday's miss in Baltimore.



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#10 steve4031

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Posted 18 January 2015 - 12:55 PM

The trip was a grand success. I captured some railfan window video on the way back from owings mill. On 147 we rode behind one of the new electrics. That was cool too.




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