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Galesburg RR Days
Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2016 6:27 pm
by w neal
Don't forget that the annual Galesburg RR Days is fast approaching. The dates are Saturday June 25th through Sunday June 26th. There will be some displays at the depot downtown which are always worth a look. I recommend the food for sale at the depot's "patio" from the Knox County Pork Producers. Great BBQ sandwiches and bacon sold by the slice! The special event is the excursion each day of steamer 765 from Chicago & return - following the former C,B,&Q mainline. (Beware the foamers!) Of course, the famous "altar", otherwise known as Thirwell or Route 10 bridge will be "open" for your viewing pleasure of BNSF's massive yard. An important reminder is that the train show has moved to a new location at the High School Fieldhouse - not the college. There are free shuttle busses running from the depot downtown out to the train show & back both days. I heartily recommend you stop by the show and purchase a railroad days poster or two from artist/railfan Ron Hatch. He is a great guy and very knowledgeable of all things train. See you there with my (our) switching layout based on an industrial district in "the 'burg". Also consider land west of town for great places to watch passing trains. I recommend the environs of the "Cameron Connection" and the Cameron overpass itself. Peck Park in Galesburg proper is also a good place to watch trains - but again, beware the foamers. It takes all kinds, ALL kinds of kinds. I recommend taking the time for one of the yard tours. I especially recommend the "V.I.P. yard tour" for those that arrive early Friday and Saturday and can get some of the very limited tickets. There is a whole list of non train events as well - but we're foamers, we don't have time for that stuff.
Visit http://www.galesburgrailroaddays.org for more info.
Also visit http://fortwaynerailroad.org/2016/05/76 ... -festival/ for info on the excursion.
See you there!
Re: Galesburg RR Days
Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2016 7:11 am
by GreatLakesRailfan
Sounds to me like the entire event would be rife with foamers, not just the 765's appearance.
Re: Galesburg RR Days
Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2016 1:01 pm
by w neal
GreatLakesRailfan wrote:Sounds to me like the entire event would be rife with foamers, not just the 765's appearance.
Only in the usual areas. Come on out and see for yourself. You'll be glad you did.
Re: Galesburg RR Days
Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2016 8:06 pm
by GreatLakesRailfan
w neal wrote:GreatLakesRailfan wrote:Sounds to me like the entire event would be rife with foamers, not just the 765's appearance.
Only in the usual areas. Come on out and see for yourself. You'll be glad you did.
I really wish I could. I'd love to visit Galesburg during RR Days, even without the 765's appearance.
Re: Galesburg RR Days
Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2016 1:56 pm
by GreatLakesRailfan
It's amazing how quickly some things can change. I just might be making the trip out this year after all...
Coincidentally, how heavy are the normal traffic levels on the line the 765 will be running on? Is much disruption to normal traffic movement anticipated because of the 765? Its been a few years since I had time to try to explore the line much and traffic levels were down at that time. I'm wondering if there's any sense to chasing the line between the western suburbs and Galesburg, with the plan of catching the 765 somewhere along the trip, but also getting a partial dose of the other traffic the line normally carries?
Re: Galesburg RR Days
Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2016 9:49 am
by TPW4055_BNSF2184
GreatLakesRailfan wrote:It's amazing how quickly some things can change. I just might be making the trip out this year after all...
Coincidentally, how heavy are the normal traffic levels on the line the 765 will be running on? Is much disruption to normal traffic movement anticipated because of the 765?
That would be the Mendota sub. Its very hit and miss. I don't think 765 will be a major disruption to any normal traffic except for the EB Amtrak in the morning and then the 2 westbounds in the evening. Excluding Amtrak you might see maybe 15-20 BNSF trains in a 24 hour period. But most likely that number is in the single digits during daylight hours.
Re: Galesburg RR Days
Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2016 10:14 am
by GTW
If they don't sell enough tickets you won't have to worry about. Hopefully enough to run Saturday.
Re: Galesburg RR Days
Posted: Fri Jun 17, 2016 8:06 pm
by NS3322
Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society leaders are canceling the June 25 and 26 Galesburg Zephyr excursions due to poor ticket sales.
http://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/20 ... nouncement
http://fortwaynerailroad.org/2016/06/ga ... -annulled/
Re: Galesburg RR Days
Posted: Sat Jun 18, 2016 8:39 am
by Ypsi
I know it's a smaller scale, but ticket sales on the PM 1225 Hamburg trains were very poor too, and talking to a crew member he mentioned how they were poor for the 765 as well. Stinks to cancel an excursion but you can't really run these at such an extreme loss.
Re: Galesburg RR Days
Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2016 6:57 pm
by dmitzel
CMStP&P #261 seemed to do well with the Duluth overnight trip earlier this month. First and Premium class sold out in days (tickets went on sale in March) and I think coach at least came close to being sold out if not completely filled. I rode the Superdome this excursion and despite the weather (on and off-again rain and T-storms) it was a fun trip. Pulling into the old Duluth Union Depot after snaking through Superior's terminal trackage was icing on the cake too.
The Milwaukee 261 group seems to keep demain high with the twice-annually format of Spring and Fall trips, and supplements their steam revenue by leasing the Hiawatha varnish and sponsoring charters. It is unfortunate but perhaps the two respective Berkshires are over-saturating the midwestern cinder market with too many trips. Might be better to tailor supply closer to demand, but obviously doing so is tough if less trips means not paying the bills.