National Train Day 2013!

[Acela150]

Do we have a Meeting Spot for those of us meeting in DC.

I will wear my Gathering Name Tag. I'll post what I'm wearing when I'm on the train or at PHL.

 

[pennyk]

Do we have a Meeting Spot for those of us meeting in DC.
I will wear my Gathering Name Tag. I'll post what I'm wearing when I'm on the train or at PHL.

I do not think we have decided on a meeting time or place. If 98 is on time, I will be arriving very early and will be hanging out in the Club Acela. If it is nice outside, I will go for an early walk. I will be wearing a black train t-shirt and most likely my hair will be in a pony tail. I am fairly short, so I am difficult to see in a crowd. If Alan does not chime in with a location and time, if I am not inside the CA, I will be just outside the CA around 11am.

 

[dlagrua]

I arrive in WAS on the 10:52 AM Acela. What would make sense for a meeting place is most likely a place in the great hall in front of the station. In front of CA is also fine. Being an ordinary looking older male, (5'11" Br hair, Medium build), I will send my cell phone number to a few in the group. Hope to hook up, see what is there and say hello to all. I will check back here again tonight to see if a meeting place has been decided upon.

 

[Shanghai]

Do we have a Meeting Spot for those of us meeting in DC.
I will wear my Gathering Name Tag. I'll post what I'm wearing when I'm on the train or at PHL.

I do not think we have decided on a meeting time or place. If 98 is on time, I will be arriving very early and will be hanging out in the Club Acela. If it is nice outside, I will go for an early walk. I will be wearing a black train t-shirt and most likely my hair will be in a pony tail. I am fairly short, so I am difficult to see in a crowd. If Alan does not chime in with a location and time, if I am not inside the CA, I will be just outside the CA around 11am.

Penny, if you are wearing a black t-shirt, will you be wearing your black, see-thru lulu yoga pants??

 

[AlanB]

If Alan does not chime in with a location and time, if I am not inside the CA, I will be just outside the CA around 11am.

This is probably as good a place as any other place, especially with things & events being less planned this year. Read no advance tickets or perks for AGR CC holders, etc. My mom & I are overnighting in DC, heading down there today.

So without having much of an idea about when others might be arriving, let's say that at least initially the group will meet behind the Amtrak information counter (which should not be confused with the Amtrak ticket counters) and sort of in front of the Club Acela, without blocking the doors. At least for now, we'll set the meeting time from 10:30 AM to 11 AM.

If I hear from enough people that they'll be getting there later than 11, then maybe we'll reconsider that time. Then we'll head off to do whatever there is to do. I'm not going to plan any formal lunch this year, after the disaster from 2 years ago.

Anyone who is coming in much later, or hasn't met others from the group, and would like a contact number please feel free to PM me your info and I'll send you mine by return. Many of the regular attendees to the Gatherings and past NTD's probably already have my info anyhow. I'll also be wearing my name tag from the Gathering and my Amtrak 40th Anniversary ball cap.

 

[pennyk]

Do we have a Meeting Spot for those of us meeting in DC.
I will wear my Gathering Name Tag. I'll post what I'm wearing when I'm on the train or at PHL.

I do not think we have decided on a meeting time or place. If 98 is on time, I will be arriving very early and will be hanging out in the Club Acela. If it is nice outside, I will go for an early walk. I will be wearing a black train t-shirt and most likely my hair will be in a pony tail. I am fairly short, so I am difficult to see in a crowd. If Alan does not chime in with a location and time, if I am not inside the CA, I will be just outside the CA around 11am.

Penny, if you are wearing a black t-shirt, will you be wearing your black, see-thru lulu yoga pants??

I will either be wearing gray shorts or Old Navy black yoga pants. (BTW, my lulus are the old style and are not see-thru). I will be wearing my eyeglasses and my weird five finger shoes.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Do we have a Meeting Spot for those of us meeting in DC.
I will wear my Gathering Name Tag. I'll post what I'm wearing when I'm on the train or at PHL.

I do not think we have decided on a meeting time or place. If 98 is on time, I will be arriving very early and will be hanging out in the Club Acela. If it is nice outside, I will go for an early walk. I will be wearing a black train t-shirt and most likely my hair will be in a pony tail. I am fairly short, so I am difficult to see in a crowd. If Alan does not chime in with a location and time, if I am not inside the CA, I will be just outside the CA around 11am.

Penny, if you are wearing a black t-shirt, will you be wearing your black, see-thru lulu yoga pants??

I will either be wearing gray shorts or Old Navy black yoga pants. (BTW, my lulus are the old style and are not see-thru). I will be wearing my eyeglasses and my weird five finger shoes.

So anyone looking for you should keep their eyes to the ground and look for those weird feet shoes.

 

[pennyk]

Do we have a Meeting Spot for those of us meeting in DC.
I will wear my Gathering Name Tag. I'll post what I'm wearing when I'm on the train or at PHL.

I do not think we have decided on a meeting time or place. If 98 is on time, I will be arriving very early and will be hanging out in the Club Acela. If it is nice outside, I will go for an early walk. I will be wearing a black train t-shirt and most likely my hair will be in a pony tail. I am fairly short, so I am difficult to see in a crowd. If Alan does not chime in with a location and time, if I am not inside the CA, I will be just outside the CA around 11am.

Penny, if you are wearing a black t-shirt, will you be wearing your black, see-thru lulu yoga pants??

I will either be wearing gray shorts or Old Navy black yoga pants. (BTW, my lulus are the old style and are not see-thru). I will be wearing my eyeglasses and my weird five finger shoes.

So anyone looking for you should keep their eyes to the ground and look for those weird feet shoes.

Funny you should mention keeping eyes on ground.... I used the women's room in the Orlando station before boarding 98 and the woman in the stall next to me asked me how I like my shoes. I thought it was an odd conversation with someone who I could not see, other than her feet. I have been known to be able to talk in almost any situation, and I guess I proved it this afternoon, but I admit it was strange. Just in case you are interested, I just had an excellent brownie for dessert. Yum. .... and everyone at my lunch table was talkative. I learned from my 3 seat mates that all if them thought you needed a Chase AGR card in order to sign up for Amtrak Guest Rewards.

 

[the_traveler]

"Five Finger Shoes"? You are strange indeed! Most people have toes on their feet, not fingers! :giggle:

 

[afigg]

I don't know if the WMATA DC Metro weekend track work notice has been posted in this thread, but figure those planning to go to WAS may want to be aware of the Metro service disruptions this weekend from 10 PM May 10 to closing on Sunday May 12.

The service disruption on the Red Line are not as bad as they look at first glance (every 28 minutes!) because "Additional trains will operate between Grosvenor and NoMa-Gallaudet, providing service about every 10 minutes" providing good coverage for trips within the city core. Trips from Glenmont, Silver Spring or Rockville will be slow with the limited single track service.

The Orange Line stations from East Falls Church to Vienna will be closed with bus service provided. Which is not too bad as all 4 stations are off of I-66 and Ballston not far off of an exit from I-66 so bus substitutions should not be that much of hit time wise, if someone was planning to park at Vienna.

Blue and Yellow line service frequencies will be poor because of the single tracking between Braddock Road and Pentagon City. Yes, when WMATA does weekend track work, they mess up 4 out of 5 lines.

The silver lining (ahem) is that by National Train Day 2014, Phase 1 of the DC Metro Silver Line should be running to Wiehle Avenue in Reston and the 2 mile H Street streetcar starter line should be running from the north side of the Union Station parking garage. Will provide some new local transit runs for out of town visitors to experience.

 

[greg1956a]

is anybody going from Philadelphia I Will be there with my wife

 

[The Chief]

When they list a locomotive as being on display, such as FTW & MEM, does that mean people will be allowed inside?

Nathan,

In years past at Fort Worth, on NTD, sometimes sightseers have been allowed into the loco cab to look around.

Hope this helps.

 

[MrFSS]

Everyone take lots of pictures for those of us who can't attend.

 

[crescent2]

Yes, please!

I guess I'll go to the nearest grade crossing and wave at a NS freight as it goes by. *sigh*

Happy NTD!!!

 

[Ryan]

Unfortunately, I'm not going to be able to join you guys tomorrow - it works out better to see my Mom that day, and since it's Mother's day, she wins.

In other news, look who started walking today:



In other other news, yes, that's a cast on her arm - she stopped putting weight on it when she was crawling about a week ago, the doctor finally gave her an x-ray this morning and sure enough, it's broke.

 

[pennyk]

We will miss you Ryan, but, I agree Moms trump trains. Thanks for posting the video. Your daughter is too cute.

 

[pennyk]

After sifting through posts in this thread, the following is a tentative list of AU members who plan (or at one time planned) to celebrate NTD in WAS:
Acela150

AlanB

Anthony (unsure of schedule however)

City of Miami?

Dlagrua

Grounded Flyboy

Hessjm

Jacorbett70

KayBee

pennyk (and possibly her sister)

Shanghai

VentureForth?

Either I or moderators can edit this list if you would like your name deleted or added.

Edited to delete Ryan.

 

[Acela150]

See everyone in the morning! I'm off to bed as I gotta get up at 5AM.

 

[oldtimer]

I'll be in beautiful downtown Belle Plaine Iowa, at the depot with my nephew!

I would like to see some pictures also.

PS Good Luck Betty!

 

[AmtrakBlue]

I'll be in beautiful downtown Belle Plaine Iowa, at the depot with my nephew!
I would like to see some pictures also.

PS Good Luck Betty!

Thanks

 

[Bob Dylan]

:wub: Lucky ya'll! She's a Sweetheart! I'm fortunate enough to still have my Mom too, as well as My Darling Daughter and My Precious 11 year old Granddaughter!!

 

[GG-1]

Aloha

I will be observing NTD on the Nevada Southern RR. 4 trips between 10 and 4.Enjoy wherever you are.

 

[Trainmans daughter]

I'll be in beautiful downtown Belle Plaine Iowa, at the depot with my nephew!
I would like to see some pictures also.

PS Good Luck Betty!

Not everyone is going to the big-time venues like WAS, CHI, NYP, Etc. Some of us are lucky enough to be able to attend small town events. I think that's where the heart of railroading is. I'm looking forward to seeing some pictures of Belle Plaine, Iowa. It sounds lovely. I'll take pictures of Suisun, CA, but I don't have a Flickr account. I'll just post them to my FB page. Have a wonderful day, Oldtimer and everyone else!

 

[Acela150]

Have a great National Foamers Train Day!

 

[jacorbett70]

For those not on Facebook, a look at Philadelphia three hours before opening. It looks like the display trains will be a big ol' line with no express or reserved option.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jacorbett70/8728759012/