# Non-Amtrak Rail to Sports and Events



## Willbridge (Apr 19, 2020)

I'm not sure where to put this, but I'm sure that some isolated readers will be interested. As widely discussed elsewhere, Amtrak has been hot and cold through the years on promoting travel tied to specific events. Regular cutbacks in regional sales staff may be part of the reason. Lack of equipment is the common excuse. Attached are some non-Amtrak event promotions. (VIA Rail folders were in French on the reverse side.)


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## railiner (Apr 19, 2020)

Even into the Amtrak era, some long time running special's continued on for a while...some were not operated by Amtrak.
When I lived in Omaha in '71 and '72, the Burlington Northern ran a chartered football special from its station in Omaha, direct to the University of Nebraska stadium in Lincoln for home games. There were mostly BN cars, plus at least one PV..."Linoma"....


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## NS VIA Fan (Apr 20, 2020)

Thanks for starting the thread!

Back in 1980-81 VIA offered Hockey Packages to Montreal to see The Habs.....and also within the Maritimes to see the New Brunswick Hawkes in Moncton and the Nova Scotia Voyageurs in Halifax. The Hawkes and Voyageurs played in the AHL against such teams as Binghamton, Hershey and Springfield. We took a trip that year to Montreal to see the Habs vs the Jets.

Also note there's fares shown from Brownville Jct. Maine where passengers from Bangor etc could board the _Atlantic_.


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## jiml (Apr 20, 2020)

I'm pretty sure TH&B railway ran shuttles from Toronto and Hamilton to Buffalo Bills weekend games in the Sixties. Not sure whether this continued past the AFL/NFL merger, or for that matter the merger of TH&B's partner New York Central or surrender of their passenger operations to Amtrak. When the Bills moved from War Memorial Stadium to Orchard Park there was talk of a service on the B&O tracks adjacent to what is now called New Era Field, but not sure if that ever happened. Amtrak did have special trains from other upper NYS cities in their early days, but none from Canada.

The fan loyalty continues as large numbers from the Niagara Peninsula make the trek every Sunday. It is not a good time to cross the border unless going for the game.


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## Bob Dylan (Apr 20, 2020)

Has the talk of moving the Bill's to Toronto died down? 

At one time that seemed to be a done deal when I was living in Oakville,On.


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## jiml (Apr 20, 2020)

Yeah, I think so. They used to play a few home games here until last year. The games weren't particularly well-attended (maybe 35K?), mostly due to the prohibitive prices. More than a few columnists pointed out that two could drive to Buffalo, stay in a nice hotel and attend the game for less than a single ticket at Rogers Centre. That, and the team became more successful, increasing demand at Ralph Wilson/New Era. Neither side seemed interested in extending the home-field agreement. Both the Blue Jays ownership group and MLSE (Leafs, Raptors, ML soccer) would like an NFL franchise, but it may require a stadium commitment that neither is prepared to make.


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## railiner (Apr 20, 2020)

jiml said:


> I'm pretty sure TH&B railway ran shuttles from Toronto and Hamilton to Buffalo Bills weekend games in the Sixties. Not sure whether this continued past the AFL/NFL merger, or for that matter the merger of TH&B's partner New York Central or surrender of their passenger operations to Amtrak..


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## Bob Dylan (Apr 20, 2020)

jiml said:


> Yeah, I think so. They used to play a few home games here until last year. The games weren't particularly well-attended (maybe 35K?), mostly due to the prohibitive prices. More than a few columnists pointed out that two could drive to Buffalo, stay in a nice hotel and attend the game for less than a single ticket at Rogers Centre. That, and the team became more successful, increasing demand at Ralph Wilson/New Era. Neither side seemed interested in extending the home-field agreement. Both the Blue Jays ownership group and MLSE (Leafs, Raptors, ML soccer) would like an NFL franchise, but it may require a stadium commitment that neither is prepared to make.


I know it's now Rogers Centre, but to me it'll always be The Skydome.

And at one time it was considered a "State of the Art " Stadium, I always liked it when I went to Blue Jay Games,especially when the Roof was Open!( Guess that's Rare??)


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## jiml (Apr 20, 2020)

Bob Dylan said:


> I know it's now Rogers Centre, but to me it'll always be The Skydome.


Me too! Also known as the "concrete convertible".


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## Bob Dylan (Apr 20, 2020)

jiml said:


> Me too! Also known as the "concrete convertible".


Never saw a Football Game there, only Dome I saw a CFL Game in was BC Place in Vancouver.

Did you ever see the Infamous Video of the Couple in the Hotel in Center Field that " Forgot" to close the Curtains during a Blue Jay Game??


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## Willbridge (Apr 21, 2020)

NS VIA Fan said:


> Thanks for starting the thread!
> 
> Back in 1980-81 VIA offered Hockey Packages to Montreal to see The Habs.....and also within the Maritimes to see the New Brunswick Hawkes in Moncton and the Nova Scotia Voyageurs in Halifax. The Hawkes and Voyageurs played in the AHL against such teams as Binghamton, Hershey and Springfield. We took a trip that year to Montreal to see the Habs vs the Jets.
> 
> Also note there's fares shown from Brownville Jct. Maine where passengers from Bangor etc could board the _Atlantic_.



It's interesting to note that the VIA Rail samples we came up with were just before the 1981 Jean-Luc Pepin cutbacks. When I started this thread I was thinking about how this is a specialized subsector of transport marketing: it requires knowledgeable regional railway staff and/or a knowledgeable promoter and toleration of a degree of risk. Game attendance results may vary.

All of the samples we've come up with fit that description. That Sons of Norway event could have been scheduled for August 2014 and there would have been a flood of cancellations. The Oregon Electric Railway football trains were set up by Bob Krebs who already had experience with intermodal conventional excursions and tours and the OE's parent, the SP&S, was always open to ideas for special trains. 

It's different than selling an "experiential" journey like the "Canadian" that may be made 2½ days a week any week. (Not that the experiential is any easier, just different in that the competitive situation is different.)


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## NS VIA Fan (Apr 21, 2020)

Bob Dylan said:


> I know it's now Rogers Centre, but to me it'll always be The Skydome.
> 
> And at one time it was considered a "State of the Art " Stadium, I always liked it when I went to Blue Jay Games,especially when the Roof was Open!( Guess that's Rare??)



Here you go!

VIA to Jay's game in 1989....the year the Sky Dome opened (first part of the season was at Exhibition Stadium)....and BTW not rare at all for the Roof to be open for most of the Ball Season.... except maybe April and certainly not this year!

And to Montreal for the Expos (a.k.a. Washington Nationals!) at the Big 'O'


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## Bob Dylan (Apr 21, 2020)

NS VIA Fan said:


> Here you go!
> 
> VIA to Jay's game in 1989....the year the Sky Dome opened (first part of the season was at Exhibition Stadium)....and BTW not rare at all for the Roof to be open for most of the Ball Season.... except maybe April and certainly not this year!
> 
> And to Montreal for the Expos (a.k.a. Washington Nationals!) at the Big 'O'


I would ride the GO Train from Oakville to Union Station, and then walk over to Skydome for the Game.


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## jiml (Apr 21, 2020)

Exhibition Stadium was more fun. It had (actually still has) its own train stop.


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## jiml (Apr 21, 2020)

NS VIA Fan said:


> Here you go!
> 
> VIA to Jay's game in 1989....the year the Sky Dome opened (first part of the season was at Exhibition Stadium)....and BTW not rare at all for the Roof to be open for most of the Ball Season.... except maybe April and certainly not this year!
> 
> And to Montreal for the Expos (a.k.a. Washington Nationals!) at the Big 'O'


There's a lot of interesting detail there - especially the prices. Great deal for the Queen Elizabeth for example. I'm shocked that other hotels would be "additional cost". At that time the QE was too pricey for my employer; we got the crappy Holiday Inn with the ever-present "ladies" nearby.  Neither the Toronto or Montreal hotel choices were that close to their respective ballparks either.


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## Metra Electric Rider (May 1, 2020)

So who did the Sons of Norway sail to Christiana with?


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## Willbridge (May 5, 2020)

Metra Electric Rider said:


> So who did the Sons of Norway sail to Christiana with?


Well, the smart alec answer is that Prohibition wasn't in effect yet, so they probably sailed with hangovers. Seriously, the ad names the ship and the line. In the back of my head is the idea that James Hill had an interest in the shipping line. Wikipedia says that the Pennsy started the company, which originally sailed from Philadelphia (where this ship was built). The St. Paul would have been 19 years old, had seen war service, but was a well-regarded vessel and had an unusual safety feature: lifeboats enough for all passengers! Just the sort of ship for a bunch of practical, tough retired Norwegians from the Northwest to make a once in a lifetime trip home.



Once I had to transfer a group like that from Portland Union Station to the then Sheraton when I was with the Gray Line. It only took an hour so (three buses and four trips) but there was a lot of material for a long blog entry. The Sons of Norway excursion must have been a memorable trip for the NP tour escort/s.


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## Metra Electric Rider (May 6, 2020)

How did I miss that in the ad?


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## Willbridge (May 10, 2020)

If I stay isolated longer, I'll keep finding more stuff. Here's a hybrid event/railfan train, probably from 1968 or1969. The event should meet the trip guaranty on its own, but there's a photo stop for fans -- and a chance to thumb a nose at the Friendly Southern Pacific by riding the Oregon Electric Railway instead.


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