CLEVELAND RAILFEST

August 18, 2001

Greater Cleveland Regional  Transit Authority

We began our journey on the Red Line at approximately 657AM,from Cleveland Hopkins International Airport following breakfast at Burger King. We had originally planned on starting at Tower City but due to the delay of Amtrak's Lake Shore Ltd, we found that by eating some type of a breakfast, we would have a good start on the day. From the airport through Downtown Cleveland to ride the entire length of the line to the Windermere Rapid Station. We then returned to East 55th Street and transferred to the Green Line where we traveled East to Green Road. We then retraced our steps back to Shaker Square and took the Blue Line to Van Aken. We then traversed back to Tower city and continued on the new Waterfront Line which passed through the Flats, Cleveland's nightlife and Entertainment district, on to Cleveland Stadium, the Amtrak Station and to the South Harbor, which is the terminus of this line. We returned to Tower City where we took alternate transportation to our next adventure. The estimated cost of our RTA travels on Saturday was $4.00 which is the Day Pass that RTA offers for unlimited riding on its system all day. If you are traveling with a child, you can buy a Family Pass for $6.00.

Cuyahoga Valley  Scenic Railroad

We then ventured to Independence, a short drive from the downtown area to ride the scenic Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railway, departing Independence at 11:15 AM which was a 1-3/4 hour trip to Peninsula and back. Cost of this was $11.00. We made advance reservations by calling CVSR direct at (800)-468-4070. A short drive from Independence was our next stop of the day...

Trolleyville, U.S.A.

Founded in 1954 by the late Gerald E. Brookins, Trolleyville U.S.A. the Gerald E. Brookins Museum of Electric Railways Inc., was a non-profit educational corporation.

We had unlimited rides on 2 of the Trolleys that they had on display as well as a stop at the rail show that was also there on Saturday. Kevin was even recognized by exhibiters at this railroad show. He actually is a celebrity, although no cameras were following us. We also got to walk through the old B & O depot there with lots of trolley history. The cost of this was actually $4.00 per person.

Following our visit to Trolleyville, U.S.A., we enjoyed a hearty dinner at the Texas Roadhouse, very close to Trolleyville. Estimated cost averaged about $12.00 per person. We all ate well as we were ravenous by the time dinner came due to our lack of sufficient food during the day. Remember we had not eaten since 6AM. Please note that was a change from the Pufferbelly due to their limited menu selection. This also was a very late lunch/dinner, as the the tourist train only offered snack foods-no sandwiches. Following dinner, we arranged transport for those needing to go back to their hotel for the evening.

RTA offered a Sunday morning tour of the E. 55th Street Central Rail facility where we viewed some of RTA's rolling stock of transit cars and also toured their maintenance facility. This tour was scheduled for 10AM Sunday morning 8/19/01. There was a mix up on the communications and RTA actually did not meet us as planned as they had the meeting place and amount of attendees incorrect. They were expecting 13 instead of 4, so that delayed out start by about 25 minutes. We finally did connect however. The tour was very informative and was well enjoyed by all with RTA giving us goodies that included a visitors package as well as tee shirts. RTA required a dress code of long pants and shoes (NO SANDALS) for this tour which we complied with. We took RTA Red Line together as a group from the Baymont Hotel to Tower City and stopped at my office for a short tour and to stow the luggage while we took our tour. Following the conclusion of this tour, we took the Red Line to Tower City for Lunch in their Food Court which has several fast food restaurants, including McDonald's, Sbarro's, Taco Bell, KFC, Arbys, Wall Street Deli, Le Petit Bistro, Master Wok, Great Steak, Sakkio Japan, Cajun Grill. Also in Tower City, but not in the food court area is Original Cookie Company, Dairy Queen, Tower City Drug, Sweet Factory, Fudruckers, and Houlihans, as well as Morton's Steak House (out of my league) and in the attached Ritz Carlton, the 20th Century Restaurant, themed after the 20th Century Ltd, which ran in pre Amtrak days. Kevin and Alan did Sbarro's and Michael and I did KFC. Following lunch, we returned to my office to reclaim luggage and then took the Waterfront Line back to the Amtrak station. We asked for a courtesy stop but the motorwoman forgot. We just got off at North Coast and walked back to the Amtrak Station. We had also previously learned that Kevin and Michael's train was about 40 minutes behind, so we had some down time at the station before their train came, which was at about 135PM. The station agent didn't announce the train until the engine was actually on the platform. We then saw Kevin and Michael off and Alan and I returned to the Baymont where he could retrieve his luggage and relax a little bit before his train would depart at 607PM. At this point the activities of the fest officially concluded and all had a good time. We actually did discuss the next fest which is scheduled for sometime in January which is the Jersey Fest. See Kevin Korell's homepage for this information