(1)Back in the 1950's and 1960's, I grew up riding all sorts of interesting excursions in the Northeast. All of them were organized by regional NRHS Chapters or similar. By the 1980's, most of these efforts were abandoned, and the only "special events" in the Northeast thereafter were model railroad and memorabilia shows, and an occasional bus tour of abandoned sites on the NYO&W or CNE. Indeed, two special "rare mileage" excursions on the first weekend of November, 2010, via NS from Roanoke to Danville, VA and Roanoke to Bluefield, WV, were so rare that I made a special trip from my home in NW North Carolina to ride them both. They had mostly AMTRAK equipment, with several PV's (including domes) as well.
(2)Accordingly, in 2004, I actually succeeded in getting AMTRAK and NS approval for a special excursion train from Hoboken to Binghamton, NY and return, over the old Erie mainline. The last passenger excursion train west of Port Jervis had been an NJT-equipped excursion to Susquehanna, PA and return, in the 1980's.
Regrettably, AMTRAK refused to let its Philadelphia-based equipment out for a two-day weekend. A combination of a far-too-long single day and 20mph speed limits on the former Erie RR Delaware Division doomed my own, personal volunteer effort from the start.
(3)I would like to suggest here that an enterprising NRHS Chapter in the Northeast, or similar, approach AMTRAK President Joseph Boardman and ask him to personally intercede with top management at NS, NYS&W, CSX and Pan Am Railways to gain approval for the following railfan excursions over a two-day weekend:
(A)DAY ONE: Hoboken to Binghamton on the former Erie mainline (whose speed limits have been raised since 2004). Either overnight at Binghamton, or else proceed to Syracuse on the NYS&W and overnight there.
DAY TWO:
(i)EITHER Binghamton to Schenectady on the former D&H mainline (now CP); then CSX via Selkirk Yard and the River Division (West Shore) back to
Hoboken via connecting trackage on New Jersey; OR
(ii)CSX mainline Syracuse to junction for Selkirk Yard; then via Selkirk Yard and the River Division (West Shore) back to Hoboken via connecting trackage in New Jersey.
(B)DAY ONE: Boston North Station to Rotterdam Junction/Mohawk Yard (Schenectady) on the former B&M mainline through Hoosac Tunnel (now MBTA to Fitchburg and Pan Am Railways west of there) and overnight.
DAY TWO: Rotterdam Junction back to Boston North Station via the same routing, OR via former B&A mainline (CSX) to Boston South Station.
(A possible "wild card" on DAY TWO would be the CSX/Metro-North mainline from Schenectady to Beacon, NY; then Metro-North and the rest of the "Maybrook Line" to New Haven, and return to Boston South Station EITHER via the AMTRAK passenger mainline OR via Hartford and Springfield.)
(4)Though AMTRAK has a Charter Department in Philadelphia, a low-level approach to the private operating railroads would probably result in a "Not interested" reply. It was only with the assistance of Paul Reistrup at AMTRAK that I was able to get both AMTRAK and NS approval for my own operation in 2004.
(5)I did write to Joseph Boardman in mid-December, 2010, to ask whether he would be willing to make the needed approach. He did not even bother to reply for five weeks, despite my sending the request twice by fax to his private fax number, though the two of us have communicated in the past. Accordingly, I have washed my hands of again trying to do this myself.
*(6)If any pertinent railfans in the Northeast care enough to give it a try, I am certain that these trips would sell-out in less than a week after being announced to the public. The major effort of selling and fulfilling tickets could easily be handled by TICKETMASTER, with which I made a pioneering arrangement on 2004.
(7)I should add only that a $3,500-5,000 per person "millionaires-only" PV trip run by Bennett Levin or anyone else would hardly satisfy the pent-up demand for excursions such as those suggested above.
(2)Accordingly, in 2004, I actually succeeded in getting AMTRAK and NS approval for a special excursion train from Hoboken to Binghamton, NY and return, over the old Erie mainline. The last passenger excursion train west of Port Jervis had been an NJT-equipped excursion to Susquehanna, PA and return, in the 1980's.
Regrettably, AMTRAK refused to let its Philadelphia-based equipment out for a two-day weekend. A combination of a far-too-long single day and 20mph speed limits on the former Erie RR Delaware Division doomed my own, personal volunteer effort from the start.
(3)I would like to suggest here that an enterprising NRHS Chapter in the Northeast, or similar, approach AMTRAK President Joseph Boardman and ask him to personally intercede with top management at NS, NYS&W, CSX and Pan Am Railways to gain approval for the following railfan excursions over a two-day weekend:
(A)DAY ONE: Hoboken to Binghamton on the former Erie mainline (whose speed limits have been raised since 2004). Either overnight at Binghamton, or else proceed to Syracuse on the NYS&W and overnight there.
DAY TWO:
(i)EITHER Binghamton to Schenectady on the former D&H mainline (now CP); then CSX via Selkirk Yard and the River Division (West Shore) back to
Hoboken via connecting trackage on New Jersey; OR
(ii)CSX mainline Syracuse to junction for Selkirk Yard; then via Selkirk Yard and the River Division (West Shore) back to Hoboken via connecting trackage in New Jersey.
(B)DAY ONE: Boston North Station to Rotterdam Junction/Mohawk Yard (Schenectady) on the former B&M mainline through Hoosac Tunnel (now MBTA to Fitchburg and Pan Am Railways west of there) and overnight.
DAY TWO: Rotterdam Junction back to Boston North Station via the same routing, OR via former B&A mainline (CSX) to Boston South Station.
(A possible "wild card" on DAY TWO would be the CSX/Metro-North mainline from Schenectady to Beacon, NY; then Metro-North and the rest of the "Maybrook Line" to New Haven, and return to Boston South Station EITHER via the AMTRAK passenger mainline OR via Hartford and Springfield.)
(4)Though AMTRAK has a Charter Department in Philadelphia, a low-level approach to the private operating railroads would probably result in a "Not interested" reply. It was only with the assistance of Paul Reistrup at AMTRAK that I was able to get both AMTRAK and NS approval for my own operation in 2004.
(5)I did write to Joseph Boardman in mid-December, 2010, to ask whether he would be willing to make the needed approach. He did not even bother to reply for five weeks, despite my sending the request twice by fax to his private fax number, though the two of us have communicated in the past. Accordingly, I have washed my hands of again trying to do this myself.
*(6)If any pertinent railfans in the Northeast care enough to give it a try, I am certain that these trips would sell-out in less than a week after being announced to the public. The major effort of selling and fulfilling tickets could easily be handled by TICKETMASTER, with which I made a pioneering arrangement on 2004.
(7)I should add only that a $3,500-5,000 per person "millionaires-only" PV trip run by Bennett Levin or anyone else would hardly satisfy the pent-up demand for excursions such as those suggested above.
