National Train Day Saturday May 10th 2014

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dlagrua said:
Here we are, only 5 days away and quite frankly I don't see the enthusiasm as in past years. None the less I will be attending NTD in Philadelphia this Saturday. I may be the only AU member there but if anyone else is going and wants to meet up to chat over coffee and/or lunch and tour the trains just let me know. I tend to be a talkative person and like just about everyone.
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Amtrak have not put a train display in New York City for two years now, so it has been a bummer here on their end. I have friends who would love to check out their stuff.
 
I will settle for my hometown of NY Penn this year, mainly because, as a recent poster cited, there has been no enthusiasm from the AU members, and was sort of waiting to hear word of something gathering but nothing ever did. Maybe we are bummed by the state of affairs in the world, including the world of passenger trains. Not helping matters is the continuing delay of the Viewliner II's, with only discouraging word of mouth reports of leaks and other signs of bad workmanship. I hope it's not that bad, but what else could account for this absence, so it probably is. The ACS64's are loaded with needs to be modified, so much that only two are allowed to go to Boston.

So I'm going to the land of dreams in my head, the place that lives by the credo that broken things can and shall be resolved as long as the people are willing to do the work, and will be in NY Penn sometime around 1PM-ish. Anyone interested in meeting please say so.
 
Anybody going to Emeryville? I just bought my tickets and will spend a couple of hours there. According to the website, there will be a few displays, contests, kids' activities, etc. Not a biggie, but sounds like fun, anyway.
 
dlagrua said:
Here we are, only 5 days away and quite frankly I don't see the enthusiasm as in past years. None the less I will be attending NTD in Philadelphia this Saturday. I may be the only AU member there but if anyone else is going and wants to meet up to chat over coffee and/or lunch and tour the trains just let me know. I tend to be a talkative person and like just about everyone.
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There's no enthusiasm because IMO NTD isn't anything special anymore. Think about it.. 7 years ago National Train day was a huge hit. Personally I think NTD is more of a family thing. I can tell you I'm planning on being at NTD saturday in Philly unless something changes.

jerichowhiskey said:
dlagrua said:
Here we are, only 5 days away and quite frankly I don't see the enthusiasm as in past years. None the less I will be attending NTD in Philadelphia this Saturday. I may be the only AU member there but if anyone else is going and wants to meet up to chat over coffee and/or lunch and tour the trains just let me know. I tend to be a talkative person and like just about everyone.
Click to expand...
Amtrak have not put a train display in New York City for two years now, so it has been a bummer here on their end. I have friends who would love to check out their stuff.
Click to expand...
Hmmmmm I wonder why Amtrak hasn't put up a display of equipment at NYP or GCT in the past 2 years.. NYP is obvious there is no place for it. Taking 2 tracks OOS for the few hours that NTD is would be horrendous for trains that need the platforms! And if one thinks about it they would need long platforms there. And on top of that.. The platforms are very narrow at NYP. GCT is easy.. Amtrak doesn't own it, run their trains into and out of there, unless needed. MTA would charge a hefty fee for using those platforms I would guess.
 
I loved NTD last year. Salinas had their engine going and their models and I got a free wall calendar! Nothing was happening last year but San Jose is having some small thing which we will probably go look at.
 
Seattle is doing a big exhibition this year, as is Bellingham and PDX. Apparently Amtrak is spreading things around this time. I will be at King Street Station, so let me know if you are planning to be there.
 
I'd be happy to meet up with some of the nice AU members at PHL. The event kicks off at 10am. I suggest that we meet up somewhere between 10:30 and 11:00 AM . There is a statue at one end of the station. IIRC, it appears to be a man with big wings on a pedestal. That's my suggestion for an easy to find spot. If we can agree on a time chime in, if not I'll be in front of the statue at 11 AM holding a blue employees Amtrak Rules and Instructions book. For those that have not been to NTD at PHL, the exhibits have been good and the food court is massive. Great place to sit and chat about upcoming trips and those kinds of important things-LOL.
 
There is a bunch of those that are on the Amtrak NEC Fans group on Facebook going to Washington DC. So I guess I will get to meet up with an entirely new group this time.

According to a tweet from Amtrak this morning the Acela short trip from Washington DC is a 35 minute trip.

Got my Acela First Class upgrade on both the outbound and return trip from Metropark too. So I am all set and excited about it.
 
Not much response on my suggested meeting spot and the event is tomorrow. If anyone wishes to meet up in PHL, My train arrives at 30th street station at 11:04 AM. I will walk to the statue and be there at about 11:08 AM and have the blue Amtrak rule book in hand.. I am 5'10 1/2", 200 lbs, brown hair, brown eyes, medium build, near retirement age and pretty ordinary looking. I will wait for a few minutes there and if anyone shows up we will have a small group of enthusiasts to tour the trains, have lunch, share trip stories and chat. If not, I guess I'm doing NTD solo!.
 
Acela150 said:
Hmmmmm I wonder why Amtrak hasn't put up a display of equipment at NYP or GCT in the past 2 years.. NYP is obvious there is no place for it. Taking 2 tracks OOS for the few hours that NTD is would be horrendous for trains that need the platforms! And if one thinks about it they would need long platforms there. And on top of that.. The platforms are very narrow at NYP. GCT is easy.. Amtrak doesn't own it, run their trains into and out of there, unless needed. MTA would charge a hefty fee for using those platforms I would guess.
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Last year was a head scratcher especially when it was GCT's centennial. They had a lot more people visit than they had expected too. I would not have mind taking my buddy through a Viewliner set than waiting in an M8 as the lines were extraordinarily long.
 
I am thinking of going to Chicago Union Station for Train Day, but is it worth the trip in from the suburbs??? I have been fortunate to take private rail car trips, but I am interested in seeing the private cars they are bringing in this time. Are there other exhibits besides the Metra, Private rail cars in Chicago????
 
jis said:
BTW NTD Excursions out of both Chicago and Washington DC are sold out as of 2pm Friday.
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A good indication that it will again be very crowded at the 2 stations and presumably in PHL as well with long slow lines to view the equipment on display. Can only have so many people per hour walk through the cars, so I can see why Amtrak may not be publicizing NTD as much this year as in previous years. They want enough people to come to the event, but not so many as to overwhelm the station and capacity to deal with the crowds.
BTW, those going to WAS can check out the western end of the H St streetcar tracks by walking through the eastern side of the parking garage on the bus boarding level and on the narrow sidewalk to the Hopscotch bridge. The stop for Union Station is under construction (or was under construction) in the median of the bridge. The test streetcars may still be parked on the eastern side of the Hopscotch bridge. By this fall, the streetcars should finally be running on the starter H St stub line. But given the many delays for the DC streetcar, no one should have any confidence in projected start dates.
 
Good point. I'll go and check it out at some point. I arrive at 10:52, and I have the excursion ride at 2:05 for 35 minutes, then departing back at 4pm. So I should be able to find time after my return from the excursion trip.
 
Happy National Train Day wherever you are! Took a points run yesterday to Temple and found out that the staffed Stations on the Eagle Route between SAS and Long view are having a raffle for two Round Trip Coach Tickets anywhere between SAS and LRK!

Here in Austin they have a nice Model Train layout set up inside the Station and will have refreshments and Amtrak goodie bags between 9:30 and 6PM!
 
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