Announcing New York Area RailFest 2018 (NYRF)
Our next Winter event will be the OTOL New York Area RailFest 2018, which will go by the acronym of NYRF. Weekend dates will be Saturday, January 13th and Sunday, January 14th. As usual this will be over the Martin Luther King weekend, which usually works out well for everyone -- and hotel rates in the city usually remain reasonable. We might be able to throw in a Friday night activity if enough people wish to do it, and on Monday if enough are in the city and want to ride more trains, that is possible as well.
The goals of this Fest are as follows:
- Ride subways throughout the Bronx and upper Manhattan (re-living much of what was done during the AppleFest 2002 event 16 years ago)
- Visit newer stations in lower Manhattan (Fulton Transit Center and World Trade Center Oculus)
- Ride the Second Avenue Subway
- Ride some Amtrak and MTA Metro North, utilizing both Penn Station and Grand Central Terminal
Much of the planned activities have been done before, but by a far different group of people as we have lost and gained members over the years.
For those who might ask, what happened to plans for Boston this time around? Two issues have surfaced to work against Boston. First, it has been confirmed with the Downeaster's operating agency, the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority (NNEPRA) that the building of Royal Junction Siding in Maine, which would allow all 5 round trips to travel to & from Brunswick, will not be completed until the end of 2018. This would prohibit us from making a day trip up to Brunswick and back with a decent layover time (it is now too long and would get us back well past dinnertime). The second issue is uncertainty over the work being done on the commuter rail Fairmount Line, which I also felt was ready for us to ride once more as it has been improved including brand new stations. As things turn out, a station at Blue Hill Avenue is still under construction, which sometimes necessitates terminating and originating trains at an intermediate station with substitute bus for the outermost stations. A new timetable just went into effect on November 20th, and while it does say that trains will operate over the entire line most weekends, there is still a possibility that work being done can require last minute bus substitution. Rather than take that risk, and coupled with the Downeaster issue, New York was chosen for this time around. Hopefully by January 2019, the Royal Junction Siding will be completed, and the station work on the Fairmount Line will be further along making full rail service more certain. Of course the Fitchburg Line extension to Wachusett will still await us.
This is the homepage for this Fest. An easy link to the itinerary (which always remains tentative until we set foot on the trains) is here. Note that late announcement of weekend service disruptions might require last minute updates. Transit cost pages will be forthcoming.
Other needed pages pertinent to this Fest will be done within the next few weeks.
So far this is what most participants will need:
Amtrak
- Your own travel plans need to be made to get you to and from New York. Some may choose to fly or get to/from the area by means other than Amtrak.
- The "official" trips on our itinerary include Train #283 New York City to Croton-Harmon, and Train #165 New Rochelle to New York City on Saturday. Discounted "Saver" fares may still be available on some trains.
- Any other Amtrak trips you choose to make within the area, such as on Friday or Monday.
Hotels
- Hotel(s) of your choice within the New York City/North Jersey area. Remember you will need to allow enough time to travel to the start point at Herald Square on Saturday morning or at Penn Station Sunday morning. So you therefore may wish to stay in the area beginning Friday, January 12th.
Meals
- Breakfasts are usually at one's hotel and eaten on one's own before they arrive at the Fest initial meeting point.
- Lunch on Saturday will be somewhere in the general area around Penn Station.
- Dinner on Saturday will be part of the Metro North/Amtrak run to New Rochelle, namely Texas Roadhouse about one block from the station. They should have something that appeals to everyone.
- Lunch on Sunday will be in Harlem, in the area around Lexington Avenue/125th Street. There are many chain fast food locations in the area.
- Dinner on Sunday for those who have not yet gone home may be determined by whoever remains together by that time.
To attend, all you need to do is contact me BY E-MAIL to let me know you are attending, and please state Saturday, Sunday, or both. I cannot accept any other means (such as chat mention, board post, phone call, etc.), as all my information needs to be kept in one place.
Fest information tends to play to 2 audiences because some parties do not regularly visit this board. I will send out one e-mail to past Fest participants and those who frequent this board, and then from that point on, all updates regarding NYRF will be posted here only. It is up to those interested to visit this board to get important updates as they will inevitably happen.
Closer to the event, a confidential contact list will be created as has been done in the past, to be able to call one another should an emergency or other sudden change of plans arise during the Fest weekend. The list will also contain everyone's hotel plans, which will be known by then. Please do NOT send me hotel plans at this time, as other elements of the weekend are still being put together. When ready to put out the list, I will let you know when to e-mail me your information.
In the coming days, earlier threads of interest about NYRF 2018 will be moved to this forum. More updates to come!