Texas Mini Gathering - DFW - January 7-8 2012

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Would you be interested in a Texas based Mini Gathering?

  • Total voters
    30
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D

Devil's Advocate

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Over time I've noticed that we seem to have a fair number of AU members in and around Texas. Possibly even enough to warrant our own Mini Gathering like Florida is currently planning. I don't have any specific idea of when or where exactly, at least beyond avoiding the same dates as other planned gatherings. I was just curious if anyone else had a similar idea floating around in their head?
 
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I am up for it if its gonna be anywhere in DFW metro area, or maybe even Austin
smile.gif


May I suggest a location? The (in)famous Tower 55 outside FTW
hi.gif
 
I'm up for it as well, since it would be a nice trip from Lafayette LA. Anywhere along the SL route would be fine with me! San Antonio would be ok, since that is more centralized and you have the SL and TE going through there.
 
Sure, I would be interested. Location TBD, but since I am in DFW area, would want it to be elsewhere....so I can have a train ride!
 
Yes, I'd probably be interested. Fort Worth or Dallas probably has the most train action available. I've never taken the Flyer, or the Green Line in Dallas, or the new A-line to Denton. Dallas has more bargains in hotels. Not much action in San Antonio, LOL!
 
Im thinking Temple for the Rail Museum,old Equipment, Model Traind Depot and good cheap eats, even Motels if one wanted to spend the night! :wub: No Local Transportation but the Eagles run throug@ 1130AM heading North (#22) and (usually! :lol: )#21 goes South @ 4:45PM. Daily!

Wouldnt be adverse to FTW/DAL either,as was said lots of Local Transportation, Heartland Flyer and the Eagles run through,there's cheap eating joints and plenty to see/do in the Metro Plex! Just dont have it when there is a Cowboy Game or TCU plays in FTW, hotels get pricey then! San Antonio is a good town, just dont wanna Live there! :lol: :lol: :lol:

I live in Austin, it's good too but the other places are better! (ie Pricey/Red Line doesnt run on weekends/traffic etc.)
 
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I think you should have it in Houston at Amtrak's 'Grand Central Station', probably on Saturday so we can watch and take pictures of the Eagle bus arriving and departing around 1pm.
 
Have it in Flatonia at the Pavilion on November 5th(if I knew how I would copy the poster in here for you - its a pdf file).

November 5, 2011

Flatonia Railfan Celebration

IN Flatonia,

Schedule of Events:

9:00 - 10:30 a.m.

10:30 - 11:00 a.m.

11:00 - Noon

1:00 - 2:00 p.m.

Registration

Exhibits

Train Viewing/Photo Ops

Welcome/Introductions

Flatonia Amtrak Update

Introduction of Guest Speaker

Dr. J. Parker Lamb

Development of railroads

in Texas since WW II

Noon - 1:00 p.m. Lunch*

Door Prize Drawing

Exhibits

Train Viewing/Photo Ops

Tour Central Texas Rail History Center

*Lunch will be available at the Photo Pavilion and will consist of your choice of: Ham/Cheese or Turkey

Sandwich with chips and brownie. Or two pieces of fried chicken with potato salad or cole slaw and

brownie. All lunches are only $5.00.

It’s All About Trains

-

-

-

-

-

For additional information or if you are interested in exhibiting at the event, please contact Mark Eversole at

[email protected] or call 361.865.9292.

All Aboard for Flatonia!

Train fans from all over the country are invited to converge in historic Flatonia in celebra-

tion of ‘Railfan Day.’ There will be exhibits, lectures, and a day devoted to nothing but

trains. The event will be held at Flatonia’s Photo Pavilian, located adjacent to the historic

Interlocker. The site is located off Hwy. 90, just west of downtown. Guest speaker for

the event is reknowned photographer and train historian, Dr. J.Parker Lamb.

November 5, 2011

Flatonia Railfan Celebration

IN Flatonia,

Schedule of Events:

9:00 - 10:30 a.m.

10:30 - 11:00 a.m.

11:00 - Noon

1:00 - 2:00 p.m.

Registration

Exhibits

Train Viewing/Photo Ops

Welcome/Introductions

Flatonia Amtrak Update

Introduction of Guest Speaker

Dr. J. Parker Lamb

Development of railroads

in Texas since WW II

Noon - 1:00 p.m. Lunch*

Door Prize Drawing

Exhibits

Train Viewing/Photo Ops

Tour Central Texas Rail History Center

*Lunch will be available at the Photo Pavilion and will consist of your choice of: Ham/Cheese or Turkey

Sandwich with chips and brownie. Or two pieces of fried chicken with potato salad or cole slaw and

brownie. All lunches are only $5.00.

It’s All About Trains

-

-

-

-

-

For additional information or if you are interested in exhibiting at the event, please contact Mark Eversole at

[email protected] or call 361.865.9292.

All Aboard for Flatonia!

Train fans from all over the country are invited to converge in historic Flatonia in celebra-

tion of ‘Railfan Day.’ There will be exhibits, lectures, and a day devoted to nothing but

trains. The event will be held at Flatonia’s Photo Pavilian, located adjacent to the historic

Interlocker. The site is located off Hwy. 90, just west of downtown. Guest speaker for

the event is reknowned photographer and train historian, Dr. J.Parker Lamb.
 
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So far we have...

Texan Eagle - DFW or Austin

Pat Harper - San Antonio or SL route

Everydaymatters - DFW

Tonys96 - Anywhere except DFW?

City of Miami - DFW (but not SA)

Jim Hudson- Temple, DFW, San Antonio (but not Austin)

Olympian Hiawatha - DFW

henryj - Houston (?) or Flatonia (?)

Texas Sunset - DFW

I agree with those who consider DFW as having the most rail related action and among the easiest to schedule for with daily LD service on two lines. If I'm understanding people's suggestions correctly I believe that brings the "votes" for DFW to six with a pretty clear lead over everything else so far. I'm fine with other locations as well but since I've spent very little time in Dallas (outside the airport anyway) I'd like the opportunity to get a closer look. Folks like Tony who don't want to miss out on the train travel could consider heading down to AUS or SAS the day before and meet up with the folks heading north the following morning. Folks like Pat Harper on the Sunset Limited route would have to jump through more hoops than those of us on the Texas Eagle route but hopefully we could schedule things in a way that would work out for them. And worse case there are plenty of flights to DFW and DAL.
 
I am OK with DFW...hell, I can do a point run from Dal to FTW.............

I absolutely agree with Jim on making darned sure we look carefully at dates, though....no Cowboy or TCU home games especially.

I would be glad to help out with tips about lodging, DART/TRE schedules, activities, attractions, and such stuff, as being a local I would be aware of.

And the Flyer most certainly is a nice little run, and doing an overnight in OKC is not bad at all.
 
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Gosh, I could drive to Dallas quicker than the time it would take to get there by train, but the whole purpose is going on the train, right? I'm not looking forward to that long layover in SAS. Also what time of year would this be? Hubby couldn't go until August at the earliest.
 
Pat Harper said:
Gosh, I could drive to Dallas quicker than the time it would take to get there by train, but the whole purpose is going on the train, right? I'm not looking forward to that long layover in SAS. Also what time of year would this be? Hubby couldn't go until August at the earliest.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the layover is a hassle.
 
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I'm ok with DFW. From Houston it's a 16 hour trip with a four hour layover in SAS in the wee hours. lol. Southbound it's only a two hour layover, but if the Eagle is late you miss your train to Houston and ugh that 4:40am arrival in Houston sucks. I would probably fly back SWA. When do you want to do this and what are we going to do when we get there? I can't make it Oct 15, it's the Baylor-A&M game.
 
Sounds like we have the DFW metro area mostly uncontested then. Now we just need to figure out dates and activities. I'm assuming we're looking at a weekend event. Weekdays would not be easy for me. The specific weekend isn't that big of a deal, although it does get fairly cold in the DFW metro area from what I understand. Are y'all more interested in doing this sooner or would y'all rather plan it out a few months from now? I'm cool either way so long as it doesn't fall close to Thanksgiving or Christmas or something. Would probably be pretty darn cold by then anyway. As for what to see and do I'd have to defer to the DFW crew!
 
My first impression was that it was going to be a mini-gathering like the one in Florida and not a full weekend like the regular annual gathering. That's not to say that some wouldn't want to explore other activities on their own.

The mini gathering in Florida looks like it will be a brunch, dinner, whatever, just to say hello, meet people on the forum, and get away from home for a few days.

If it's a mini-gathering, I think a winter date would be nice. If it's a full blown weekend of riding light rail, etc, etc, count me out. Sorry, my budget won't allow for two major AU gatherings.
 
That's how I originally envisioned it as well; a couple hours instead of a couple days. And in the case of a city like Temple that works out well for folks traveling northbound. However, if you're arriving in DFW via the Eagle you'll probably end up spending the night regardless of your direction as the northbound and southbound trains are scheduled to meet around the same time. Maybe some folks could stop by for an hour or two and then take off while the overnight folks moved on to other things?
 
To get there by train the only option for me is the Friday night departure on the Sunset with a Saturday morning departure from SAS to FTW(otherwise I would just drive). Fort Worth has a nice new inter-modal center and the two Eagles arrive and depart around the same time. The intermodal center has meeting rooms upstairs. I am sure there are places to eat around there and/or there is the 'stock yards' for an evening get together. The TRE has a limited schedule on Saturday and no service on Sunday, except during the State Fair in October. So if you are flying back from DFW there is no rail service on Sunday. Dallas Union Station I am not familiar with but at least there you have the light rail system to get you around and the McKinney Ave heritage streetcars which are free. If the meeting is Saturday afternoon there would be little time before having to leave for DFW to fly out or an overnight stay if you are taking rail. If the meeting is in Dallas the northbound Eagle doesn't arrive until 3:20pm so you would be looking at an overnight stay probably. There are plenty of places in the warehouse district near Union Station to eat in Dallas.

An option might be to meet in FTW and then take the TRE to or back to Dallas and just have the meeting on the train. Do some light rail exploring in Dallas the then fly home or whatever your plans might be. TRE leaves from the FTW Intermodal center for Dallas pm at 3:21, 5:21, 6:21, 8:21 and 9:51 on Saturday so unless either train is horribly late there should be a TRE schedule that works. A contingency plan needs to be in place in case the Eagle is delayed and/or bustituted. On a Saturday my last flight back to Houston is 7pm. Other days it is 9pm. However if I stay on the Eagle I can be in Dallas by 3:20pm which gives more time in Dallas. Weekdays gives more riding options, but remember anyone doing the Sunset/Eagle connection only has that option three days a week. I would hate to have to drive or fly to a train meeting. <_<
 
Everydaymatters said:
I have an old time table, but it shows the TE is daily from Chicago to San Marcos. If that doesn't change, it'll work for me. It gets into Dallas at 11:30 and Ft. Worth around 1:30.
Click to expand...
Betty: So they must have quit going to SAS since Texas Sunset lives there! :eek: :lol: :lol: :lol: (Actually San Marcos is the only stop between SAS and AUS, its a picnic table with a shed for a station! Shades of Taylor, Beaumont and Sanderson! :lol: )See you in SEA!!! ^_^
 
Everydaymatters said:
I have an old time table, but it shows the TE is daily from Chicago to San Marcos. If that doesn't change, it'll work for me. It gets into Dallas at 11:30 and Ft. Worth around 1:30.
Click to expand...

The TE is daily to San Antonio. It is the SL that is thrice weekly.
 
jimhudson said:
Actually San Marcos is the only stop between SAS and AUS, its a picnic table with a shed for a station! Shades of Taylor, Beaumont and Sanderson! :lol:
Click to expand...
If you look at the satellite view of this location, you'll see that it's also where you can board Greyhound, and there is a small brick building there. The platform is a bit of a walk from that area, though. There is no quicktrak machine or ticket agent there. Also, no checked baggage. It's sort of like the station in Lafayette LA.
 
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