OTOL RailFests: A Brief History

For those of you who have joined our group for the first time, or are thinking about doing so, we are not new to having these meets. The nucleus of our group began with the Prodigy Trains Group, a bunch of people who were members of the Prodigy online service.

When Prodigy Classic went away and Prodigy Internet replaced it in 1999, we became public since we were now an internet-based service. While our meets in various places were always open to everyone whether they were members of Prodigy or not, now we had much exposure to the "outside" world, and thus our nucleus group started to be comprised of many who were never a part of Prodigy. We began to drop the name "Prodigy" from the name of our Fests, and instead named them solely for the city in which they were taking place.

Although we'd held quite a few Prodigy Fests in New York City, Baltimore, and Washington, DC, and had a few informal meets without their announcement as "Fests" in places like North Jersey and Philadelphia, the contemporary series of meets really began with the "MetroFest" in Washington, DC on January 13, 2001, hosted by Don Weinstein. On that day, 20 people from around the country met on an unseasonably warm winter day to ride the Metro, specifically the Green Line segment to Branch Avenue on its opening day. We also had a very successful timetable exchange in Washington Union Station.

Two months later, on March 17, 2001 we had our first AppleFest in New York City. Brooklyn was featured this time around, as we rode all or part of the West End, Culver, Sea Beach, and Brighton Lines. We visited Coney Island and lunched at the original Nathan's Famous. We also went to the location of the New York City Transit Authority's highest track elevation, along the F line at the Smith/9th Streets station. We took a ride on the Long Island Railroad's Atlantic Branch between Brooklyn and Jamaica, Queens, and then returned to Manhattan via the then-newly-opened 63rd Street Tunnel under the East River. Unfortunately, this was before the days of creating homepages for the Fests, so nothing is available online.

On July 21, 2001, we met for the third time that year at our group's first PhillyFest. Our summer meet drew 17 people as we rode the subways, streetcars, and commuter rail lines around the Philadelphia area, as well as NJ TRANSIT's Atlantic City Line to Lindenwold, returning on the PATCO High Speed Line.

Over the weekend of August 18-19, 2001, four of us met in Cleveland, to ride that city's rapid transit lines. Our Cleveland Fest was hosted by Mike Hammond. Besides the RTA, on Saturday we also took a Cuyahoga Valley RR tourist train excursion, and visited nearby Trolleyville USA to sample some vintage streetcars. On Sunday we were given a tour of RTA's train maintenance facility. Mike's wife Lynn shuttled us around by car to the places not served by rail. Also, two of Lynn & Mike's friends joined the group for the Saturday afternoon events.

We returned to the Big Apple for AppleFest 2002 on January 19, 2002. Ten people braved the elements as that winter's only major snowstorm happened to hit on our Fest day. This time we featured the subway lines of the Bronx and upper Manhattan, and also took a short ride on Metro North Railroad from Grand Central Terminal to Wakefield.

Our big summer event that year was Boston "T" Party 2002. Our total count was 14 people, including three new friends we made in the Boston area who now join us for subsequent meets in other cities. This was our first event that ventured beyond two days to three, so that we could ride as much as possible. In Boston we rode just about all of the transit system, and several commuter lines. We also took a brief ride on Amtrak's Downeaster train to Haverhill.

We met a third time in 2002, and had the often-postponed Jersey Fest. On this trip, our group rode NJ TRANSIT's Hudson-Bergen light rail system, including the newly-opened section between Newport Centre and Hoboken. We also rode the Newark City Subway, which had recently been extended to Bloomfield. We also rode NJ TRANSIT's commuter rail line along the Northeast Corridor, including the Princeton "Dinky" shuttle train. Half a dozen people were involved in this event. Our only disappointment was that the AirTrain monorail at Newark Liberty International Airport had an unscheduled outage that day.

AppleFest 2003 was next, on the weekend of January 18-19, 2003. Ten of us came back to New York once more, and this time our Saturday activities included a ride on the Long Island Railroad to Port Washington and a return back to Flushing, a ride inbound on the 7 train, a trip on the 1 line through the former World Trade Center site, and the Staten Island Rapid Transit. Since we did not stick to one portion of the city, this limited our possible activities. On Sunday, five of us took a round trip on NJ TRANSIT between Hoboken, NJ and Port Jervis, NY. We capped off the weekend with another ride on the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail.

Our big event in the summer of 2003 was the OTOL Windy City RailFest 2003. At this event a number of us took a round trip together on the LAKE SHORE LIMITED between the east coast and Chicago. We had a "Pre-Fest" day in which we rode the South Shore Line commuter railroad between Chicago and South Bend, IN. The second day of the Fest was devoted to the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), as we wore out the rails and our rail passes traveling all over the city. On the same day we took a short one-way METRA trip to Evanston, and a much longer round trip to Joliet. On Saturday and Sunday, we made excellent use of our $5 Weekend Passes, riding twelve movements in various parts of METRA's system.

The fall of 2003 brought us back to the New York area for a much lower-key, but very official meet. The OTOL Metro New York RailFest 2003 was a two-day event that focused on Connecticut on Saturday. We rode the New Canaan and Danbury branches of Metro North, as well as the New Haven Line mainline in between them and to/from Grand Central Terminal. On Sunday we took a morning run to inspect the new Secaucus Junction station, and then a 7-hour round-trip excursion on the Long Island Railroad to Montauk.

Our winter Fest in 2004 took place in Philadelphia, as we had twenty people participating or helping with the planning at various times. The OTOL Philadelphia Area RailFest 2004 event was a huge success as we rode SEPTA regional rail, heavy rail, and trolley lines throughout the area.

OTOL Toronto RailFest 2004 was our summer meet that year. Thirteen railfans from all over the United States crossed the border for our first-ever Fest outside the country. We had a blast on Toronto's subways and streetcars. Some of us also rode Buffalo's light rail line as a Pre-Fest activity. Some highlights of our time in Toronto were the impromptu after dinner Fests we took each night after the main Fest.

We started 2005 with OTOL Big Apple RailFest 2005, a two-day, twelve-person fest in New York City and New Jersey that saw us ride several subway lines, AirTrain JFK, Long Island Railroad's Far Rockaway branch, a small portion Metro North Railroad's Hudson Line, the newest segment of NJ TRANSIT's Hudson-Bergen Light Rail, and NJ TRANSIT's North Jersey Coast and Raritan Valley Lines. Three of us also had a pre-Fest aboard the Newark City Subway.

Then in March of 2005 we followed up with OTOL Philadelphia Area RailFest 2005. This event also spanned two days. Sixteen people were involved in this one. We did SEPTA Regional Rail lines to Thorndale, Trenton, and Fox Chase, as well as portions of two others. We rode all or part of five SEPTA light rail lines, a portion of PATCO's Speedline, and NJ TRANSIT's RiverLINE in its entirety.

OTOL Eagle RailFest 2005 was our big summer meet that year. Fifteen people rode the rails in Chicago, St. Louis, and Dallas, and some of us did over 3900 miles on Amtrak trains to, from, and in between them.

OTOL Washington RailFest 2005 followed five weeks later. We rode the entire Metro system, and also one VRE line and part of one MARC line.

Our first fest of 2006 was OTOL Big Apple RailFest 2006. We had 21 people involved in this one. Saturday we rode mostly elevated subway lines around Brooklyn and Queens. Then on Sunday we took a round trip on the Long Island Railroad to Greenport.

Next was the OTOL New Jersey RailFest 2006 during which we rode heavy rail, light rail, and commuter rail between Philadelphia and New York, spending most of the day in New Jersey. Fifteen people were involved in this one.

In the summer of 2006, we had our second fest north of the border. Seven people participated in OTOL Montreal RailFest 2006. We did all of Montreal's Metro system, as well as three commuter rail lines north and west of the city. We also rode Amtrak's ADIRONDACK round trip, and rode VIA Rail Canada to briefly visit Toronto and Ottawa. In Toronto, we completed our heavy rail and streetcar rides that we did not get to in 2004. In Ottawa, we rode that city's diesel light rail line, known as the O-Train.

Our next fest was held in August of 2006, entitled OTOL Mid Atlantic RailFest 2006. This was our first all-weekday fest, during which we spent two days in the Baltimore area riding two MARC lines as well as MTA's Metro and Light Rail. One day was spent in the Philadelphia area; highlight of this trip was the Girard Avenue Streetcar in Philly. We also did round trips to Newark, DE and Cynwyd. Although it was all weekdays, we still had a respectable thirteen people.

In early October of 2006, Mike Hammond hosted his second fest, dubbed Pittsburgh/Cuyahoga Valley RailFest. Three participants rode the light rail and inclines in Pittsburgh. Then the next day, they took the Cuyahoga Valley Railroad from suburban Cleveland to Akron and back.

Then in November of 2006, we had a one-day meet during which we rode Keystone Service from various points along the Northeast Corridor to and from Harrisburg. The OTOL Keystone Excursion 2006 drew eleven people.

2007 started out with yet another event in the New York City area. OTOL Big Apple RailFest 2007 drew 16 people. This group got to ride the LIRR's Lower Montauk Branch, many segments of the subway system we had not yet ridden, and on Sunday we took a round trip up the Harlem Line to Wassaic.

OTOL Northern California RailFest 2007 happened in July 2007. It included a round trip on Amtrak's California Zephyr, two other short Amtrak rides within California, and the transit systems and commuter rail lines in the San Francisco, San Jose, and Sacramento areas. At one time or another, a total of 18 people were involved.

Twelve people participated in OTOL Boston "T" Party RailFest 2007 in November of that year. The two-day event featured commuter rail lines on the south side, including all Old Colony Lines, the Providence Line and the Stoughton Branch. We also rode the Green Line trolley to Boston College.

Sixteen people braved the January cold and wind to participate in our first event of 2008, the OTOL Big Apple RailFest 2008. Our subway journeys on Friday evening and Saturday filled in segments of the system that our group had not yet ridden. On Sunday we turned our attention to New Jersey, riding the newest segment of Newark Light Rail, as well as the Gladstone Branch and the Pascack Valley Line.

For the OTOL Florida RailFest 2008, held in July of that year, the group visited Florida. We rode the TECO Line Streetcar in Tampa as well as Miami Dade Transit's MetroRail and MetroMover, and also the TriRail commuter line between Mangonia Park and Miami Airport. Fourteen people were involved.

In the coming years, we will certainly return to Boston, Chicago, and New York yet again. We also hope to eventually ride the various rail systems in Houston, New Orleans, Atlanta, Charlotte, Denver, Salt Lake City, Minneapolis, Memphis, Vancouver, Seattle, Albuquerque, Portland, San Diego, and Los Angeles.