Original plans were to go to Boston to ride a couple of MBTA commuter rail lines and the Downeaster to Brunswick and back. While the Royal Junction siding in Maine was completed in time to increase the number of Downeaster trains that run beyond Portland to Brunswick, not all round trips go that far on weekends, so a same-day round trip with minimal dwell in Brunswick is not yet possible. Hopefully this will be our activity for January of 2020.
There was not much new to do in other eastern locations. Discussions among our regulars yielded many interesting ideas. Longer trips to North Carolina and Miami were also considered, however we ran into issues with hotels either being very expensive or unavailable due to a busy season or events taking place. It was decided to go where the crowds aren't.
OTOL New York - Massachusetts RailFest 2019 turned out to be another exciting winter meet. Similar to our Virginia RailFest 2017 event two years prior, this journey was made up totally of Amtrak trains. We visited two rebuilt stations in Rochester, NY and Springfield, MA, and made use of Empire Service, the Lake Shore Limited, a Shuttle, and Northeast Regional, resulting in a large 3-day circle trip.
Saturday's activity was a one way trip from New York City to Rochester, arriving around dinnertime. On Sunday, we took the Lake Shore Limited from Rochester to Springfield. Finally on Monday, we left Springfield on a Shuttle, then switched in New Haven to a Northeast Regional train back to New York City or other destinations.
This event was originally scheduled for January 19-21, but was postponed due to snow and extreme cold.
| OTOL NEW YORK - MASSACHUSETTS RAILFEST 2019 2.0 | |
|---|---|
| Itinerary 2.0 | Updated 3/28/19 |
| Participant list 2.0 | Updated 3/19/19 |
| Links to other sites | Created 11/17/18 |