Texas Mini Gathering - DFW - January 7-8 2012

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Would you be interested in a Texas based Mini Gathering?

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Finally, a chance to cover more of the Eagle than STL-CHI (In other words, barring some odd circumstance happening, consider me in ^_^ )
 
Folks, a suggestion- would anyone of you be interested in riding the Grapevine Vintage Railroad? They have not put up schedules for January yet but current schedule involves two types of runs- one is a Grapevine-Fort Worth (or vice versa) run that takes 1.5 hours, while the other is Trinity River run that starts and ends at same location in Fort Worth and takes 1 hour. They have one steam engine and one diesel engine. Currently steam engine is in repairs so trains run on diesel engine but if the steam engine gets up and running by January, it should be fun!

The question is, where do we fit this in the schedule. If we go for this on Saturday afternoon, we miss seeing the Anniversary train. If we do this Sunday afternoon, folks taking Eagles in both direction can not make it. I live in DFW metro area so I can visit this place anytime but if some of you are interested in doing this at Gathering time, I will wait for company :)
 
This looks like fun, even/especially since I'm already in Dallas! I'll try to make it to FW that Saturday, and I can be a backup to the more knowledgeable folks for questions about Dallas -- especially the off-the-beaten-path destinations in Oak Cliff (the more interesting side of town).
 
Texan Eagle said:
Folks, a suggestion- would anyone of you be interested in riding the Grapevine Vintage Railroad?
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I dunno. I'm a little hesitant to get involved with one of those community theater troupes that do the lunch/wine/dinner train thing. I like comedy, but I'm more of a stand-up comedy kind of fan. In any case I'll be riding in and out on the Texas Eagle so I guess that kind of kills it for me. Might be best to keep things relatively simple for this first event anyway.

RobertB said:
This looks like fun, even/especially since I'm already in Dallas! I'll try to make it to FW that Saturday, and I can be a backup to the more knowledgeable folks for questions about Dallas -- especially the off-the-beaten-path destinations in Oak Cliff (the more interesting side of town).
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Sounds good and we'd be glad to have you aboard. Although you might want to check the old radio first to make sure there's no shootout going down at the Union Corral before you head out. Hopefully 2012 can bring some stability back to Amtrak. Unless that whole Mayan astrological cataclysm thing comes about. In which case I guess it won't mater anymore. :lol:
 
Texas Sunset said:
Everydaymatters said:
Does anyone know why the TE leaving CHI on 1/6 requires a bus from LVW to either DAL or FTW?
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I'm guessing construction, but is there only one viable path between Longview and Fort Worth?
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There are other ways but you have to wind through the Piney Woods, do all kinds of backup moves etc. (ie down to Corsicana, through Big Sandy etc.)It makes the Trains run extremely late into Dal and FTW so in this case a trip on I20 is probably better even though NO Bus ride beats a train ride! :excl: :excl: Last year when the Eagles were rerouted due to Track Work and a Derailment in East Texas they were runnning 3-4 hours late into DAL and TXA! Id guess trackwork is the reason, Derailments arent scheduled! :lol:
 
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Well, that's news to me - Made my reservations Friday, and that was not up then. Who wants to take bets on when I get the automated call? :p

EDIT: The voice mail was left at 4:08. :lol: Still, not looking forward to having to get up that early just to take a bus the rest of the way to FTW, heh.
 
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MistyOLR said:
Well, that's news to me - Made my reservations Friday, and that was not up then. Who wants to take bets on when I get the automated call? :p

EDIT: The voice mail was left at 4:08. :lol: Still, not looking forward to having to get up that early just to take a bus the rest of the way to FTW, heh.
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Hey Misty! I got the Robo call about 4PM also! We only have to ride a bus from DAL-FTW returning home on Sun 1/08! And you could have had it worse, the Eagle doesnt get to LGW till about 8:30AM when on time, TXA is more like 6AM,so youll get a couple of more hours sleep which I know you like! ^_^ The trip from LGW-FTW isnt that bad via highway, you can actually see more than from the Train! :) Be sure and get a voucher upon your return to STL!!!
 
Hee. My call was from a human, though I didn't catch her name (a little more accent in the voice than I'm used to hearing, but it only really messed with my hearing her name)... I dunno about a voucher, though. Yeah, I have to get up earlier than originally planned, but that's more my screwy sleep patterns than their fault. I'd rather save a voucher for something epic, like a day or more late train, heh.
 
MistyOLR said:
Hee. My call was from a human, though I didn't catch her name (a little more accent in the voice than I'm used to hearing, but it only really messed with my hearing her name)... I dunno about a voucher, though. Yeah, I have to get up earlier than originally planned, but that's more my screwy sleep patterns than their fault. I'd rather save a voucher for something epic, like a day or more late train, heh.
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Every little bit helps Misty! With those Looooooow bucket Point runs from STL to Alton, even a small voucher would help, as much as you ride it all adds up and a Bus is NOT a Train no matter how nice! I know you didnt book a dog to DFW for the mini-Gathering! :excl: :excl: :excl: Getting up a little early will allow you to have breakfast in the Diner , just hope Miss Polly isnt working the Diner that trip! :help:
 
I got the call from Daisy Wednesday afternoon. Then emails reticketing me on Thruway Bus DAL-FTW and train #1020 FTW-SAS on Sunday. I hope they stick to this plan. I have been bustituted FTW to AUS and I didn't like it. We hit no less than three back ups behind accidents on IH35.
 
Does any of this affect the northbound #22 on Saturday the 7th? I am taking the Sunset #1 Friday night to SAS and then #22 to Fort Worth on Saturday.
 
henryj said:
Does any of this affect the northbound #22 on Saturday the 7th? I am taking the Sunset #1 Friday night to SAS and then #22 to Fort Worth on Saturday.
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This only seems to affect travel North/East of Fort Worth and South of Longview as of the time of this writing. So, for Northbound members heading to the Mini-Gathering it's a non-issue. For folks heading South from Dallas on Sunday the 8th it will result in about an hour's worth of bus bridging back to Forth Worth to rejoin the southern portion of the Texas Eagle. For folks heading south from Chicago it's another story. :(
 
Service: 1021

Duration: 07H 45M

Departs:

Fort Worth, Texas (Ftw)

Sunday January 8, 2012 3:10PM

Arrives:

San Antonio, Texas (Sas)

Sunday January 8, 2012 10:55PM

I just noticed that according to my email (above) 1021 leaves FTW an hour later than usual and arrives SAS an hour later. If it's later than midnight it's a $20 cab ride for me. :angry: Anyway, we will have a long layover in FTW on Sunday afternoon.
 
City of Miami said:
Service: 1021

Duration: 07H 45M

Departs:

Fort Worth, Texas (Ftw)

Sunday January 8, 2012 3:10PM

Arrives:

San Antonio, Texas (Sas)

Sunday January 8, 2012 10:55PM

I just noticed that according to my email (above) 1021 leaves FTW an hour later than usual and arrives SAS an hour later. If it's later than midnight it's a $20 cab ride for me. :angry: Anyway, we will have a long layover in FTW on Sunday afternoon.
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The reason for the later Departure of #21 to SAS is that #22 will be turned in FTW, its a crew and service stop, and the busses from LGW and DAL bringing the pax from #21 out of CHI that will be turned in LGW to become #22 may have traffic problems on the way to FTW! Also the pax going between FTW and LGW will have to be loaded on busses in FTW, so it will be a busy afternoon @ the Intermodel Station! The agents that work FTW's counter aren't the friendliest or speediest people around also! For us it means we wont get Lunch :angry2: on the Train from DAL-FTW, hope the Hot Dog man is operating @ the FTW Station that day! :wub:
 
jimhudson said:
The reason for the later Departure of #21 to SAS is that #22 will be turned in FTW, its a crew and service stop, and the busses from LGW and DAL bringing the pax from #21 out of CHI that will be turned in LGW to become #22 may have traffic problems on the way to FTW! Also the pax going between FTW and LGW will have to be loaded on busses in FTW, so it will be a busy afternoon @ the Intermodel Station! The agents that work FTW's counter aren't the friendliest or speediest people around also! For us it means we wont get Lunch :angry2: on the Train from DAL-FTW, hope the Hot Dog man is operating @ the FTW Station that day! :wub:
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Jim I just got my email. I am now on train #1022 from SAS to FTW on Saturday the 7th rather than #22. Good news is I can get a private room for only $103. See you on the train or in FTW.
 
henryj said:
Jim I just got my email. I am now on train #1022 from SAS to FTW on Saturday the 7th rather than #22. Good news is I can get a private room for only $103. See you on the train or in FTW.
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I got my email as well. Although in the case of the outbound trip it wasn't exactly clear what had changed until I realized it was apparently referring to the change in train number alone. Seems like these notice emails could use a line drawing attention to whatever exactly had changed.
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Partyman said:
Has there been any kind of consensus on the motel yet?
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Hello Partyman. The two hotels that have received the most attention are the Hotel Lawrence‎ which has an advantage of location, and the Sheraton Dallas which has the advantage of price. At least when purchased as a bid through Priceline. Hope that helps! ^_^
 
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Alright folks it's getting pretty close to the arrival of the first AU gathering of 2012!

Let's get a roll call going so we can see who's planning to attend and how big the reservation needs to be for dinner on Saturday night. :cool:

This means YOU! ^_^

? Railroad Bill

? Texan Eagle

? Pat Harper

? tonys96

Y Texas Sunset

? City of Miami

? OlympianHiawatha

? henryj

? stntylr

? MistyOLR

? Partyman

? GlobalistPotato

? grounded flyboy

? saxman

? boxcar817

? wmk

? CNW

? jimhudson

? Will Ray

? RobertB

? buck1108

? Jim G.

? pennyk

? johnny.menhennet

? VentureForth

? NJCoastExp

All I need is a simple yes/no/maybe and your arrival/departure info if you'll be attending so we know when to expect you and if you intend to join us for evening dinner in Dallas. I'll PM my cell phone to those who are planning to attend in case you need help finding/avoiding us or the like. :hi:
 
Tonys96......yes, and will have my g/f (who took her first rail trip ever on the HF this year) in tow. We live in the DFW area.
 
Texan Eagle - Yes. Single guy, attending alone. Live in DFW area. Will have my car available to ferry folks around if required. Coach class only, no roomettes
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