9 replies to this topic

[KevinKorell]

 OTOL BOSTON RAILFEST 2020

     March 28-30, 2020

 

 

 

ANNOUNCING OTOL BOSTON RAILFEST 2020

 

 

This is the announcement for our next Fest, the Boston RailFest (BRF) 2020, which will take place over the last weekend of March, 2020.   While in the past the tradition has been to have a winter meet over the MLK weekend in January, both common preference and last year's weather postponement led to decision to just plan this event for March. Decision to do it on this particular weekend was based on majority availability of regular participants, avoidance of known busier weekends such as events surrounding St. Patrick's Day, and the fact that a date later in the month should yield both more daylight and hopefully warmer temperatures.

 

The desire to do another Boston RailFest has existed for a few years.   Since this group last visited Boston for an official Fest, the following has come into existence:

 

• Amtrak Downeaster now has 5 weekend round trips that run the entire route to Brunswick.
• MBTA Fitchburg Line commuter rail was extended to Wachusett.
• MBTA Fairmount Line commuter rail line has been greatly improved.
• MBTA Foxboro Pilot commuter rail service has begun.

 

This Fest was planned to achieve those 4 goals.  Because Foxboro is only possible (for now) on a weekday, that is why this event will last until midday on Monday rather than wrapping up Sunday.

 

Discussion of MBTA fares is here.  No MBTA subway trips were planned, but there likely will be some necessary anyhow.  Read below.

 

Already, all should be aware of the following diversions of service that will affect us:

 

• Due to trackwork, the Downeaster is routed on weekends via the MBTA Haverhill Line between North Station and North Wilmington rather than its regular routing via the MBTA Lowell Line and Wildcat Branch.  No significant effect on our timekeeping.  Service alert here.
• The MBTA Fitchburg Line will not be serving North Station due to construction work being done on the Green Line Extension.  Alert here. Trains on this line will be starting and ending at Porter Square, which normally is accessible by the Red Line.  However....
• The MBTA Red Line is not running west of Harvard Square due to trackwork; substitute buses are running between Harvard Square and Alewife.  Alert here.  The trip between Harvard Square and Porter Square looks to be about 10 blocks, or not much more than a 5-minute bus ride.   

 

Because of the uncertainty of Sunday's activities, the Tentative Itinerary is even more tentative.  Refinements will definitely have to be made.  The activities may very well be inverted due to the longer travel time and connections required to achieve the trip to & from Wachusett. So anyone possibly planning to join or leave the group on Sunday please do not yet base those on the times shown as it is highly likely they will change.

 

So far, here are the travel plans you would need to make:
 
                                                                                   Amtrak
 

•    Your own travel plans, whether by Amtrak, bus, or air to & from Boston.
•    "Official" trips on our Saturday itinerary would be Train #691 Boston to Brunswick, and Train #696 Brunswick to Boston.
•    The classes of service that we choose to take will be discussed separately, and there is the chance we could be split up in different parts of the trains.  The Downeaster offers a choice between Coach or Business Class.

 
                                                                                    Hotels
 
Hotel(s) of your choice would be needed in the Boston area.  Depending on the length of your stay in the city, you would need between 1 and 3 nights starting: 

• Friday night, 3/27/20
• Saturday night, 3/28/20
• Sunday night, 3/29/20

 When choosing your hotel location, always consider the ease of getting to our starting points (probably North Station and/or South Station) in time to board the respective first trains each day.

                                                                                    Meals

 

•   Saturday: Breakfast on your own.  Lunch in Brunswick.  Dinner in Boston.  Locations to be discussed separately.
•   Sunday:  Breakfast on your own.  Lunch most likely at South Station between commuter rail runs. Dinner in Boston to be determined; likely a smaller number of folks will be left by then.
•   Monday:  Breakfast on your own.  Lunch following Foxboro trip or on your way home.

 

=================================================================================

 

To attend, all you need to do is contact me BY E-MAIL to let me know you are attending.  Please state whether you will participate Saturday, Sunday, Monday, or all.  No pre-Fest or post-Fest activities are anticipated at this time.

 

Fest information tends to play to more than one audience because some do not regularly visit the board. Outside this one initial announcement, all further updates will be done via the OTOL board in the Boston RailFest 2020 forum.  It is up to all potential participants to check the board regularly for updates, as things can change. 

 

Please do NOT at this time send me hotel or travel plans.  That will be done separately closer to the event weekend.  In mid-March, a confidential contact list will be created, which will then show everyone's hotel plans and phone numbers in the event of emergency or unlikely last minute changes of plans.
 
More to come soon, but again keep on watching the board!

[BillMagee]

Just as a heads-up. Due to the coronavirus scare, hotel bookings and rates are down. It's always a good idea to recheck hotel reservations as you get closer to the arrival date. This time that is even more true.  My one night dropped by over $50.

[pennyk]

Just as a heads-up. Due to the coronavirus scare, hotel bookings and rates are down. It's always a good idea to recheck hotel reservations as you get closer to the arrival date. This time that is even more true.  My one night dropped by over $50.

I checked all 3 of the hotels I have booked for the fest and none had rates lower than my reserved rate.    One the other hand, I am one of "those" who gets scared by news of a possible pandemic and may cancel if it appears that the coronavirus has spread to NYC, Boston and/or Alexandria.

[KevinKorell]

As promised, I changed the itinerary for Sunday by flipping the Wachusett (Fitchburg Line) and Readville (Fairmount Line) trips.  This is because of the need for substitute bus between Harvard and Porter Square in both directions thus an extra connection.   MBTA's trip planner is loaded with the times for both the Red Line and the substitute bus, so all have been incorporated into our itinerary.  The alternate route involving the Red Line means we will depart after lunch from South Station.  On the way back, where we go once aboard the Red Line depends on where we decide to have dinner.

 

Thus the only usage of North Station will be the departure and arrival of the Downeaster on Saturday.

 

That all said, MBTA has its Spring timetable changes on its rail transit and commuter rail taking effect March 14th, so there could be slight changes again but nothing drastic once those schedules are known.

[pennyk]

 

Just as a heads-up. Due to the coronavirus scare, hotel bookings and rates are down. It's always a good idea to recheck hotel reservations as you get closer to the arrival date. This time that is even more true.  My one night dropped by over $50.

I checked all 3 of the hotels I have booked for the fest and none had rates lower than my reserved rate.    One the other hand, I am one of "those" who gets scared by news of a possible pandemic and may cancel if it appears that the coronavirus has spread to NYC, Boston and/or Alexandria.

 

Today, I canceled my trip to Alexandria where I had planned to attend one day of the RPA conference on my way home from Boston.  I also checked the rates on my NYC and Boston hotels.  My NYC hotel rate went down considerably and my Boston hotel rate went down slightly.  I updated both reservations to receive the lower rate.

[KevinKorell]

Boston hotels I've been looking at have still risen in rate since I reserved in early February..... but I am still watching when I can.  Since I am staying 3 nights and am willing to forego my usual routine of moving around from hotel to hotel, they do have a weekender rate that is considerable less for the third consecutive night.  Unlikely I'll switch unless things really come down considerably elsewhere.

[KevinKorell]

In the past couple of days, yes my hotels have come down in price. The hotel I have in Providence on the way north went down $25, and the 3-night Weekender rate I have in Boston came down $21.

[KevinKorell]

We will discuss real-time tonight SUNDAY 3/15/20 on our regularly scheduled Slack chat session.   9:30 PM Eastern, 8:30 PM Central, and I don't think we had anyone in other time zones.

[KevinKorell]

Everyone,

 

Given the situation with COVID-19 Coronavirus, and all the related ramifications to separate people from one another, it has become the only prudent thing to do to postpone this Fest until further notice.    There is no way forward as Amtrak has cancelled some trains, restaurants in Boston are not allowed to serve onsite, and also more cuts to travel could be coming as well as further limitations on the usual face to face interaction we look forward to.

 

Obviously it pains me to have made this decision, but it was the only right one to make.  It's not a cancellation but a postponement.   When we might actually be able to do this is not clear right now (nor is the discussion of what we might do in July or September).  

 

For now, stay home and stay safe!

[KevinKorell]

From Amtrak Downeaster site (cross posted from Coronavirus forum)

 

 

Beginning Saturday, March 21, the Downeaster will operate  the following on weekends: Trains 692, 693, 694 and 695.

 

 

And we were supposed to be on 691 and 696, so had I not postponed the Fest this would have done it for me.