This final report thread is to describe individual travels home from the Fest events.
MWRF/Getting home from the Fest
#1
Posted 12 July 2015 - 04:47 PM
Kevin Korell
OTOL Board Leader
Lakewood, NJ
#2
Posted 19 July 2015 - 01:01 PM
#3
Posted 20 July 2015 - 04:11 PM
Just to finish this off, my flight left MSP at 2:30pm (about 45 minutes late) and got in to PHL at 5:45pm (15 minutes late). It was a rough ride, but otherwise a nice flight. I pulled into the driveway at 6:20pm ending my Fest. Thanks to Kevin for a great plan, and to the group for making my brief participation fun. Looking forward to the 2016 events.
#4
Posted 21 July 2015 - 12:53 PM
#5
Posted 21 July 2015 - 07:22 PM
I found a last minute cheap rate at the Chicago O'hare Hilton after doing the unofficial Mendota points run. So I boarded the Blue Line out to ORD and got there about 11 pm. Nothing like walking out of the station to an escalator right to the checkin desk. The next day, I decided on an open Spirit flight to get me home. Took a long nap this afternoon to recover.
#6
Posted 21 July 2015 - 10:26 PM
#7
Posted 21 July 2015 - 11:25 PM
#8
Posted 22 July 2015 - 12:35 AM
My departure from Chicago was on #3, the Southwest Chief. While I live well east of Chicago, my post-Fest travels turned into a 6-day extravaganza that will have me visiting Kansas City, St. Louis (via the long way by Kansas City since the direct route is not available totally by train), then Nashville and Atlanta, and finally #20 the Crescent back to Philadelphia.
Under my belt is a nice relatively quick trip on the Southwest Chief that ran as much as 29 minutes late, but came into Kansas City 12 minutes down. Not too shabby. My attendant you had to grow to like her, and even more to look like her.. She was busy with 2 sleeper cars, including the 331 full sleeper and my 340 Transition sleeper. Itinerary for my post-travels is available here, (of which the official Fest was a subset)
Kevin Korell
OTOL Board Leader
Lakewood, NJ
#9
Posted 22 July 2015 - 08:30 PM
#10
Posted 22 July 2015 - 08:59 PM
Started Wednesday morning in Kansas City, and by mid-afternoon was in St. Louis, after taking my very first ride on the Missouri River Runner #314. Trip started out on time, got as much as 14 minutes late, but then due to the magic of schedule padding, arrived into St. Louis 3 minutes early. Crossed a few other firsts off my bucket list including seeing Gateway Station and riding the Metrolink Blue Line out to Shrewsbury. I had been trying to do this for 3 years after our Fests that passed through Chicago, but was stymied each time by suspensions of Lincoln Service.
I also visited Union Station to see what renovations looked like. Sad to see that it is not as vibrant as it once was. Doubletree, who now manages the in-station hotel, basically put their lobby and restaurant into the station headhouse, so that portion is open to only hotel guests, which I wasn't. Many of the stores and eateries, particularly on the second floor, have closed. Many of them didn't even take their signs down, so it looks like they left in a hurry. Whatever changes took place for the worst happened around 2010-2011 when there was a management change and renovation, but they failed to attract businesses back. There are a handful of restaurants still open, but on their website the Union Station complex only mentions 3 of them. I took notes to update my restaurant listing for this facility. There was also a trapeze performance going on in the train shed (under which the hotel, a lake, and deserted indoor mall also sit), and nobody was watching them. Our Fest visit in 2005 on the way to Texas predated that renovation, so this was the first I had seen of it.
I'm done with Amtrak train trips until Saturday evening, but I'll continue to update my activities here until I get home.
Kevin Korell
OTOL Board Leader
Lakewood, NJ
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