Saturday was ‘National Train Day’ across the United States, with celebratory events in various train stations and museums across the country. Where did you spend NTD?
I went to NTD events in both Los Angeles Union Station and (via Metrolink commuter rail) San Bernardino, an hour and a half away by rail, where this graced the tracks:
More pics here: National Train Day
I also had a great time at Union Station in LA. Took Metrorail from Riverside into LA and back via San Berdo and got to see the steam! Also, really enjoyed going through the private cars in both locations… if I only had the bucks to have one! O’well, I can dream can’t I…
I attended NTD at Union Station in Washington, DC. From a railfan’s perspective it was poor. Considering the increased need for security brought about by the world situation and by the need to keep the crowds organized and moving along, I can understand the way things were set up. Washington Union Station is always a busy place, but with all the additional people on Train Day the crowds were huge! Free advance time-specific tickets were made available online when the event was first announced back in March and apparently “sold out” quickly. My understanding of the purpose of those tickets was that if you wanted to tour the display car interiors, your ticket made it possible to show up trackside at your specified time and tour the cars without having to wait in a long line. Upon arrival I learned that the tickets only allowed you to bypass the incredibly long line of folks without those tickets waiting to access the platform area and merge with that line near the head end. However, once merged everyone was required to follow that line and everyone was required to walk through all the cars. The only escape from the line was for people like my wife who could not walk very far and asked a security person to leave the cordoned area to find a seat to wait for me to finish. There was no access to trackside views (and hence exterior photos) of the equipment other than at the entry and exit points of the cars. There were three strings of cars on separate tracks in the station. The cue lines were strictly enforced with a series of barricades and security personnel, both Amtrak and private, everywhere insuring that everyone stayed in line.
Equipment displayed included MARC and VRE bilevel commuter cab-coaches, new MARC MP36 #26, VRE F40PH #V35, NS BP4 #999, NS F9A #4270, the NS Exhibit Car, CSXT Genset #1318, AutoTrain Superliner Coach, Sleeping, Dining and Lounge cars, an Amfleet II Coach and Cafe, a complete Acela trainset and several beautiful PV’s, including MILW “Wisconsin”, “Kitchi Gammi Club”,
As you can expect, here on the west coast things were much more “laid back”. The was some security at Union Station but if you knew your way around the station you could by pass most lines and there were no problems taking pictures. At San Berdo I saw NO security and as you can see with the picture in a prior post it was very casual. I will say that Union Station was really crowded but I was pleased to see the number of kids there, I’m sure this was the closest most have ever been to passenger rolling stock. With any luck they may have left with a better idea of railroading!
I attended the festivities in Portland Or where 4449 was on display.
No Steam but,
A great time was had by all in FT Worth,Tx. on National Train Day !
I went to the Twin City Model Railroad Club/Museum’s flea market at the state fairgrounds in Falcon Heights MN. The entrance cost gives you free entrance to the club’s O scale layout, and their separate toy train division’s building, so after the flea market I picked up my grandson (3.5 yrs old) and we went to see the trains. It was fun but he really gets excited when we go see the toy trains, and he races around from one spot to another (including sneaking under the “members only” ropes a time or two). I thought about taking him to the stuff at the Amtrak depot but it was pretty cool out (windy, cloudy and in the forties) so we opted for the indoor stuff.
Sorry. I forgot all about it. Not a big deal in small burgs, even though our mayor is a “foamer”. Maybe it should be “National Train Week”, to obviate the big crowds at places like WUS and allow traveling exhibits to hit the smaller places. Of course, every day is “Train Day” in Shelby, MT. When I rode the SP 4449 Special over on 05 Jul 09, we had big crowds everywhere. They were controlled and respectful, not like those I saw pictures of in on the San Diego line last month when the ATSF engine went thru. That was scary! The “loons” weren’t railfans, methinks, but obvious blivits. A nice derailment would have cleansed the gene pool!
Hays
Went to the Arizona Railway Museum, Chandler, AZ. Arrived at about 10am, the parking lot was PACKED !!!..All of the Museums passenger cars were open for viewing, plus they were pulling ex-ATSF caboose with their Plymouth locomotive around the yard (Large crowds for that), pulling the airhorn on the museum ex-Magma Baldwin locomotive (DRS 6-6-1500) and ringing the bell on ex-SP 2-6-0 2562. They also had goodie bags (brocures, amtrak booklets, OLS info) for free. It was VERY BUSY ! I even joined the group to be “Closer” to the action !
Glenn, you are certainly right about the NTD activities at WUT. The sponsors, Amtrak, the public, and lots of little kids probably loved it, even if it was difficult, nay impossible, to get decent shots of the equipment. Based on the fact that we live in WAS and the security issues inherrent in that, I think we need to accept that it may not be as photography friendly as we railfans would like. I went through the equipment around 3:30 and didn’t find quite the lines that were around earlier in the day. That said, we should focus on and take heart in how excited all the young kids were up next to big passenger cars and locomotives they probably have never seen, or at least never ridden in before. They will be the next generation of railfans, and if we can cultivate them through an event like this, then I’ll live with not getting great shots of every PV that was there. (Given the Radio Disney stage out in Great Hall and the AmtraKids Depot, clearly kids were a big target for this.) It was heartening to see NS and CSX both take a much bigger role than they have in past years as they tend to have a reputation for not being railfan-friendly. All in all, it was a good day, photographic restrictions, lines and all.
For those interested, car numbers on display: MARC 7856, VRE V714, NS 27, NS 999, NS 4270, VRE V35, MARC 26, CSX 1318…Wisconsin, Golden Tower, Mount Vernon, Kitchi Gammi Club, Oliver Hazard Perry,The Observatory, Chapel Hill…Superliner Sleeper #32089, Lounge 33100, Diner 38047, Coach 34119, Transition Sleeper 39044, Amcafe 20174 Coach 82785, Acela set power cars 2002 and 2000. All the Superliners are usually captive to the AutoTrain and the sleeper still had its 52 number displayed.
Uh…there was NTD? I guess I didn’t know of it. Oops…
It was National Train Day?
Second Saturday of May every year. Put it in your calendar.
But I haven’t gotten next years calender yet! And I usually don’t receive mine until a couple months into the year!
Glenn, thanks much for the excellent “trip report”. I thought about going Philly or DC - esp. the latter to see the NS battery-powered switcher 999 - but had “other plans” per the missus, and the time and expense to get there didn’t seem worthwhile for the likely opportunity, which you’ve confirmed. For about the same time and money, I can get to Altoona and maybe see it actually operating from one of the several overhead bridges. But I’m glad it was worthwhile for the non-railfans and esp. the kids. Wonder what they did in Philly this year . . . ?
MY DAUGHTER AND I WENT TO OLD SACRAMENTO, CA. ON AMTRAK FROM MARTINEZ . LOTS OF RIDERS AND KIDS ON THE TRAIN AND AT OLD SACRAMENTO ALSO. THEY HAD ALL KINDS OF DISPLAYS TO LOOK AT AND LOTS OF GIVE-A-WAYS AND LOTS OF DIFFERENT GROUPS WITH THINGS TO GIVE OUT AND GIVE YOU INFO.
THEY HAD A STEAM TRAIN RIDE YOU COULD RIDE THERE WAS LOTS TO DO AND THE DAY WAS WONDERFUL TO GO WITH ALL OF IT! THERE WERE A LOT OF CARS YOU COULD GO ON AND LOOK IN SIDE. THE HAVE A POSTAL CAR YOU CAN GO ON AND SEE HOW THEY DELIVERED THE MAIL AND A PULLMAN SLEEPER THAT ROCKS AND A DINNING CAR TO SEE ALL OF THE OLD PLATES THEY USED TO SERVE WITH. THE MUSEUM THERE IS THE BEST AROUND!
Second Saturday of May every year. Put it in your calendar
Ditto CNW ! Put it on your calender the minute you get one !
I visited San Bernardino for the event, toured the cab of the 3751 and enjoyed the exhibits.
I staked out a position and took this video of 3751 headed to LA
Full screen for effect
http://www.youtube.com/mphill66#p/u/0/qf3gNZO01fM
and the 2nd one was last week after headed out of Fullerton to San Diego.
[quote user=“Anderphoto”]
I attended NTD at Union Station in Washington, DC. From a railfan’s perspective it was poor. Considering the increased need for security brought about by the world situation and by the need to keep the crowds organized and moving along, I can understand the way things were set up. Washington Union Station is always a busy place, but with all the additional people on Train Day the crowds were huge! Free advance time-specific tickets were made available online when the event was first announced back in March and apparently “sold out” quickly. My understanding of the purpose of those tickets was that if you wanted to tour the display car interiors, your ticket made it possible to show up trackside at your specified time and tour the cars without having to wait in a long line. Upon arrival I learned that the tickets only allowed you to bypass the incredibly long line of folks without those tickets waiting to access the platform area and merge with that line near the head end. However, once merged everyone was required to follow that line and everyone was required to walk through all the cars. The only escape from the line was for people like my wife who could not walk very far and asked a security person to leave the cordoned area to find a seat to wait for me to finish. There was no access to trackside views (and hence exterior photos) of the equipment other than at the entry and exit points of the cars. There were three strings of cars on separate tracks in the station. The cue lines were strictly enforced with a series of barricades and security personnel, both Amtrak and private, everywhere insuring that everyone stayed in line.
Equipment displayed included MARC and VRE bilevel commuter cab-coaches, new MARC MP36 #26, VRE F40PH #V35, NS BP4 #999, NS F9A #4270, the NS Exhibit Car, CSXT Genset #1318, AutoTrain Superliner Coach, Sleeping, Dining and Lounge cars, an Amfleet II Coach and Cafe, a complete Acela trainset and several beautiful PV’s, in