SUMMER 1999
AMTRAK TRAVELOGUE
PART III OF
V
NRHS
CONVENTION AND RAILFAIR '99
by Carol Larsen
This segment of the travelogue is not a revue of either
the NRHS Convention or Railfair '99, but a chronicle
of my experiences and impressions during the week in
When I made my convention reservations, I wanted a hotel
room in the convention headquarters hotel, the
people involved. In the section of the hotel reservation form for checking "smoking" or "non-smoking," I debated which to check. I don't smoke, but it didn't matter to me which type of room I had. If I checked "non-smoking" and none of those were available, I would be assigned to a hotel of my 2nd to 7th choice. I decided to check both boxes and write "1st choice" over "non-smoking" and "2nd choice" over "smoking." I was to discover that my idea about the smoking/non-smoking issue worked, as evidenced by ashtrays in my room.
For the convention activity reservations, this year the convention had a web site. I could check the availability status of the rail excursions and their seating accommodations before making my selections. On most days there was more than one excursion to choose from, all of interest to me. In 1997 I registered for everything offered, which made a very hectic week and almost no free time for anything. Since commitments with friends at home this year prevented
me from arriving for the first two days of Railfair before the convention began, I needed to skip some
convention activities to allow enough time for all that Railfair
had to offer. I debated about the
two-day
it in favor of more time at Railfair, I discovered it was sold out anyway. I also skipped Tuesday's "Franklin Canyon Special," although it still had space available. I chose convention excursions on Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday, with Friday morning allocated to a
Railroadiana Show. The excursion through the
As I boarded the elevator after checking in at the front desk of the Holiday Inn, I discovered that my 16th floor room was on the top floor of the hotel. Stepping out of the elevator on that floor, I found banquet and meeting rooms with a separate door for privacy leading to
several guest suites and rooms. When I opened the door to room 1625, I was in for a pleasant surprise. Looking straight out my windows across the low level Denny's Restaurant and Vagabond Inn in the next block north, I had a perfect view of the west end of the Amtrak station and
platform where I could see
Amtrak trains and freights while listening to them on my radio. It would be entertaining just to be in my
room, in addition to my real reasons for being in
interested in Amtrak than the
freights. However, since there are no
trains to see or hear where I live, this was a special treat. The freight train horns blowing in the night
would remind me of my early childhood on
trains. Looking to the left, I saw the
I hurried to unpack my luggage, freshen up, change into cooler clothes, and begin exploring. I like to travel light as much as possible, but during the week I would be glad I thought to bring as many pairs of shorts, tank tops, and sandals as I did. I'm not into doing laundry
while on vacation. Although I was in my room by
The information book in my room indicated that I should
leave the hotel by the
leave just as Charlie, one of my dinner partners on the Zephyr, came along. He had walked over from his hotel, the Delta King, to dine at the Holiday Inn.
Leaving the
On Sunday morning, I awoke full of enthusiasm and eager
to be at Railfair.
While listening to NOAA weather on my radio, I learned that temperatures
in the mid-90's would be the norm in
At the gate, there was a long line at the ticket booth,
but I entered quickly in a separate line for those of us with multi-day pass
buttons. One of the many workers in
purple polo shirts was handing out schedules for the day's activities, with
shows listed in theatre areas at various times.
Those and the museum would be good options for avoiding the heat of
mid-day. The Locomotion Review was held
several times during the day at an open grandstand. I chose to attend the
Before I left home, Steve Grande had a message on the TrainWeb listserve that readers should check in at the TrainWeb booth in the museum building when they arrived at Railfair. In that way, a TrainWeb get-together might be arranged for meeting other TrainWeb readers at Railfair. That was my first order of business. It was difficult to pass all the locomotives and booths without stopping on the way to the museum, but it provided an overview of some attractions. There was so much to see and do that I was especially glad to have set aside five days there. Ray Burns and Frank Runyon were at the TrainWeb booth. Ray gave me an "Ask Me About www.TrainWeb.com" tag to wear for TrainWeb readers to identify each other at RailFair. Steve would be there later in the day, so I planned to return then. I spent the rest of the morning exploring the entire Railfair grounds, deciding where I would later spend more time.
The convention registration room opened at
Around
details about any restoration. Sitting in the shade of the grandstand, the
heat wasn't as noticeable, so I planned to attend the
When the revue ended, I returned to the TrainWeb booth where I met Steve Grande in person for the first time. He demonstrated his web cams and handed me his cell phone to call one of my friends back home. My friend accessed TrainWeb and saw me at the booth. The next day,
another of my friends saw me visiting the booth. So far I hadn't seen or been seen by anyone else wearing a TrainWeb tag, but I planned to stop at the booth each day to see if anyone else had indicated interest in a TrainWeb get-together.
Walking around the Railfair grounds was more pleasant now with much less heat and the weekend crowd dissipating. I was surprised that among all those people I hadn't seen anyone I met on the Zephyr. About that time, who should come along but Charlie. His hotel, the Riverboat
Delta King, was actually in the Railfair grounds. We discussed how we had chosen the hotels where we were staying. Charlie had chosen the Holiday Inn first and the Delta King second, as I had. He made his reservations a few days earlier than I did, but I was assigned to my
first choice and he to his second choice. Again it seemed that my tactic had worked by indicating that it didn't matter whether I had a smoking or non-smoking room. Charlie didn't care, either, but had checked that he wanted a non-smoking room. Next, we compared notes on
what we had each done at Railfair that day and went to see a couple of vintage
railcars that Charlie thought were particularly interesting. He would be gone for the next two days on the
excursion.
Coming from the passageway into Old Sacramento that morning, I stopped to investigate some shops on my way to Railfair. A shopkeeper was the first person to look at the TrainWeb tag I was wearing and "Ask Me About www.TrainWeb.com." There would be only one other person, on the
last day of Railfair, to respond to the tag. Upon entering the Railfair gate, I began the pattern I established the day before by getting a daily event schedule. I further investigated the exhibits, rolling stock, demonstrations, commercial booths, and the museum which is one of the finest railroad museums in the country. The different vintage locomotives on the turntable at the museum roundhouse and the progress of the team building a railcar became two of my favorite attractions.
I spent some time viewing a few of the performances
listed on the schedule. Particularly
interesting was seeing "Teddy Roosevelt" addressing the fairgoers
from the end car of his special train.
The actor portraying
"All Aboard for Alabam'" with a conductor and a station agent. I ended the day again at the Locomotion Revue.
I began my third day at Railfair
by stopping for breakfast at a restaurant in Old Sacramento. Later in the day, I bought a box of
nectarines at one of the produce stands on the Railfair
grounds. I couldn't resist the beautiful
While avoiding the heat, I saw two more musical shows at various intervals. One was a Big Band Swing revue, featuring the John Skinner Band, singers, and swing dancers in 1930's and 40's costumes. The other show was by a group called "The Rose Tattoo." One of their numbers was a poem about an engineer who saw a little girl waving to him every time his train passed her back yard. It reminded me of my childhood experiences. On our way to a neighborhood park, I always
waved to the engineers when my mother and I paused at the railroad viaduct to view trains. I would have liked to hear that poem performed again, but the group wasn't included in the daily entertainment on either of my remaining two days at Railfair.
Making my daily stop at the TrainWeb booth, I found that the TrainWeb readers or listserve participants who had been there were apparently too busy with Railfair and whoever they were with to be interested in a TrainWeb get-together. As I ended the day again with the Locomotion
Revue, I knew I would miss being at Railfair the next two days, although I was eager for the convention excursions.
There were three convention excursions that day, all of
interest to me. The two I had to skip
were a day riding and viewing historic diesels, streetcars, and interurbans at the
Walking over to the Amtrak station that morning to board
the vintage UP consist for the "City of
Although I missed being at Railfair,
I felt it was a good day to be in an air-conditioned train since I had heard
that
were the same ones I had ridden on
a 1997 convention excursion in
While mingling with the NRHS and R&LHS members on the
platform, I took photos around the station building and looked for people I
might have met at the 1997 convention. A
number of people were carrying signs about wanting tickets for this sold-out
event. The train arrived late into the
station and finally departed at
When it was time for the photo run-by, I decided to skip it. Listening to my radio on the train's operating channel and to NOAA weather, I learned that the temperature in our area was 102 degrees. Everyone on the train doesn't participate in a photo run-by, but normally I would
have been off the train, climbing through the underbrush with the rest of the photographers. As a Northerner, I'm not a hot weather person and 102 degrees was too much! As I sat looking out the window of the air-conditioned car at the people scrambling up the parched embankment
in the mid-day heat, I couldn't help feeling smug. However, when the run-by was over and the participants returned to the train, they brought some of that heat with them. As the afternoon wore on, the air-conditioning could no longer completely combat the outside temperatures or the 98 degrees radiating from the passengers.
Instead of returning to
over to Railfair
for the Locomotion Revue. I wasn't too
disappointed since all the extra time on the excursion was that "bonus
time on the train" I'm always referring to. Other passengers missed either the night
photo shoot at the
The next morning I was back at the Amtrak station by
hole in the fence.
The convention excursion of the day was called "The
West Coast." We would board a
special train of mixed Amtrak and Cal-Train cars pulled by an Amtrak
F40-PH. The route was down the
station at
This time our train left only fifteen minutes late, so we
didn't lose too much time before arriving in
There were several options available upon our arrival in
Since the next ferry going across would require an immediate return ferry ride to meet our train departure time, I decided to follow the small group setting out on the more varied choice of riding the BART across and returning on the ferry. None of us were familiar with the
route, but found the #72 city
bus took us to the closest BART station.
The first thing that happened to our group was that some of us were
separated going through the turnstiles in the BART station. Then, some left by different stairways when
we arrived at the Embarcadero station in
Coming up the stairs from the BART station, I discovered
I was the only one there from the original group. Being slightly familiar with the area from
previous stays in
I really enjoyed the walk as I do like walking and was in
good practice from walking around Railfair for three
days. It felt good to be in the cooler
About that time, the ferry from
Our train arrived in
This was another day with several convention activities
offered. Since I wanted to attend the
two-day Railroadiana Show, I would have to go on
Friday, as I would be on an excursion all day Saturday. I couldn't register for the Friday excursion,
"Last Train to
I had breakfast at the counter at Denny's while waiting
for the starting time of the Railroadiana Show. Apparently Denny's was the restaurant of
choice for people heading to Railfair, as evidenced
by my need to choose the counter in order to eat soon. The counter became a more interesting
location than having my own table or booth, as I soon was engaged in
conversation with two Railfair locomotive crew
members sitting next to me. It was then
that I first heard how UP 844, which led the "City of
Returning to the hotel, I found the Railroadiana
Show located in a large banquet room on the first floor. The show reminded me of some mid-size indoor Hamfests I attend with my fellow Ham Radio friends. There were all types of railroad memorabilia
including timetables, china and other dining utensils, buttons, jewelry, and
insignias. When I see railroad
memorabilia at a show or antique shop, I always look for some relatively
inexpensive item with a connection to my early train experiences. That would have to be a C&NW item, as it
was their tracks we lived near in
be the ideal souvenir.
The only item that somewhat tempted me was a C&NW timetable like those I saved each year from my vacation. Stupidly, when I moved into my own apartment, I decided that all my old childhood souvenirs weren't needed in my new adult life. That's probably a familiar scenario! I didn't
buy the timetable; it wouldn't be the same as having one that was from my vacation and that I had played with while pretending to ride all the C&NW routes that were still in existence then.
By
horses. The participants were costumed in period attire, further adding to the feeling in Old Sacramento of having stepped back in time.
This was the first day all week when daytime temperatures were at a more comfortable level. I could wander the grounds without seeking periodic relief in the museum, the shade of trees, or an entertainment tent. I somehow managed to look official again, although I wasn't wearing a purple polo shirt, which all the workers were wearing. Could it have been my TrainWeb tag? I thought I looked like all the other tourists in shorts, tank tops, and carrying cameras. However, a lady with a child approached me and asked if there were train rides leaving from the station on the Railfair grounds. I knew there were dinner train and other rides normally scheduled from the museum area, but since I had a full agenda of convention excursions, I hadn't pursued additional information. My indefinite answer didn't satisfy her, as she made some comment about how officials should know these things. When I explained that I was just another visitor, not an official, she adopted that attitude of someone who doesn't want to admit they made a mistake.
Late in the afternoon, I returned to the hotel briefly to
freshen up before dinner. Dinner that
night was a wonderful chef's salad at the "
Locomotion Revue, followed by looking in on a couple of the shows. I would have only one more day at Railfair, the closing day on Sunday.
The joint NRHS and R&LHS Annual Banquet was held that night, but I hadn't registered for it. Having registered for everything possible at
the 1997 convention, I had attended the banquet then. It was a fairly dressy event, but I had
attended some dressy events in
continuing on to the convention. I was joining a motor coach tour after that, so was already hauling a lot of clothes around the country. I enjoyed the banquet--food, companionship, and entertaining speaker. However, this year I decided to pass it up because, of all reasons, I
wouldn't have to pack a dressy
outfit and accessories to make my suitcase that much heavier and stuffed! That was a pretty silly reason, but since I
prefer to travel light, it made sense to me back in February when I filled out
the registration forms. I can enjoy
dressing up except on vacation, which is one reason why I will probably never
take a cruise. It was too bad that I
skipped the banquet this year. I would
have already known someone to sit with, as Charlie was going to be there. When I saw him the next day, he told me the
speaker was really good. I'll have to
consider signing up for the banquet again if I attend the 2001 convention in
This was the day I had chosen the San Francisco Trolley excursion over
the "Yolo
Shortline Photographers' Special" excursion when
the steam trip through the
8:45 AM, but I wanted to photograph the earlier departure of the steam excursion. This was to be on the vintage UP consist pulled by the 4-6-6-4 UP Challenger 3985. I took the short-cut across the Chinese center grounds, through the hole in the fence, and arrived for the scheduled
When the vintage consist finally backed into the station,
I began walking the length of the platform, taking photos. I saw John Cowan who had just learned that
the Challenger would not be pulling the train.
Since the Challenger had boiler tubes from the same stock as the failed
ones in the 844, it was decided to substitute diesel power for the excursion
instead of taking a chance on another tube failure. This, of course, was a major disappointment
for all the steam fans. Also waiting to
board the UP consist was Charlie. I had
to say good-bye to him then, as he would be leaving early Sunday morning on the
southbound Coast Starlight, completing his western loop back to
The group for the San Francisco Historic Trolley Car trip was going to ride one of the regularly scheduled Amtrak Capitols, a first for me. I had a coupon from Railfair that entitled me to a free Capitols thermal cup by mailing in a Capitols ticket stub. Since we were a tour group, we didn't have Capitols tickets. I went to the cafe car in the hopes of finding some Capitols souvenirs, but there was nothing except food.
It was a fairly quick trip to
retired vintage
Our tour provided the opportunity to view all parts of
the city, along with the fun of riding in the old cars. There were people along the route waiting to
board the regular streetcars who thought we were passing them up by
mistake. They even waved their arms, ran
out into the street, and pounded on the doors in an attempt to board! Also included in our tour were three San
Francisco Municipal Railway facilities and a box lunch. I shared a seat and interesting anecdotes the
rest of the day with a man from
It was with feelings of nostalgia that I met the final day of Railfair '99, determined to take full advantage of every last minute. As I left the hotel that morning, I was at last approached by another person responding to my "Ask Me About www.TrainWeb.com" tag. It was Larry Boerio, a friend of Steve Grande's. Not only did he already know all about TrainWeb, but I couldn't answer the question he did ask me—-where was Steve? Larry had been at the TrainWeb booth, but Steve was off walking around the Railfair grounds. This was my last day to browse
around the Railfair grounds, take photos, see a couple of new shows on the entertainment schedule, wander through the museum with which I had become so familiar, and say good-bye to Steve, Ray, and Frank at the TrainWeb booth. It was also my last chance to meet other TrainWeb
readers and listserve participants, but I never did. It would have been fun to put faces to names.
One person I knew who was also wandering around the
grounds was John Cowan. He told me that
the
At
comments were followed by a series of horn and whistle toots from the two engines in the Locomotion Revue and others around the grounds.
At
clean clothing!
Without Railfair, this would have been merely another fun convention week. Railfair was the frosting on the cake! It was the experience of a lifetime for me regarding my interest in trains. It wasn't just seeing all the vintage and historic replica engines and rolling stock;
the new equipment I had heard or read about; the museum; the Locomotion Revue; the demonstrations of the track lining crew, rail car builders, and roundhouse turntable operation; the commercial exhibits; the shows; and all the costumed actors walking throughout the grounds to create further atmosphere. It was a thrill just being there with all those other people who also like trains for whatever reason. Railfair, combined with the NRHS/R&LHS convention, made an exciting week that would be difficult to duplicate.
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Copyright © 1999 by Carol Larsen