SPECIAL PASSENGER TRAIN TO LEAVE PHILADELPHIA, PA
WITH STOPS IN HARRISBURG AND PITTSBURGH ARRIVING
IN DENNISON FOR TRAIN FESTIVAL 2004
JULY 30 - AUGUST 2

The Dennison Railroad Museum and the Ohio Central Railroad are excited to announce a special Amtrak train leaving Philadelphia, PA on Friday July 30th bound for America's Largest Celebration of Railroading in 2004 in Dennison, Ohio. After many months of negotiations, the trip has been approved to run by Amtrak and other host railroads. All passenger cars on the excursion are privately owned and car owners are selling space.

Single day trip segments will not be sold. Pittsburgh to Pittsburgh will be the minimum space available. All accommodations will be in first class private cars with only premium space and food service available. Some cars will have sleeping accommodations on board.

If you are interested in purchasing tickets for this exciting adventure, contact Bennett Levin at juniataboss@att.net, or 215.504.2760

Below is the operating schedule for this excursion. If you have questions regarding this rare mileage excursion contact Bennett Levin.

Friday July 30:

The special departs Philadelphia behind Juniata Terminal's ex-PRR E-units in the morning and arrive in Pittsburgh later that day. Dome cars will be added from the west at Pittsburgh and continue to Conway and then onto the NS's River Live to Steubenville and interchange with the OC at Mingo. The special will then run down the Panhandle to Dennison where the train will be parked for the evening. A block of rooms have been reserved at the Holiday Inn in the area with van transfers to and from the festival site.

The excursion pricing includes a full admission to all the events in Dennison except the optional Steam Locomotive excursions. It also includes an escorted tour of the Morgan Run Steam Locomotive Shops!

Saturday July 31:

The special is scheduled to run to Coshocton and then to Sugar Creek, Ohio where we will spend a few hours in the Amish community enjoying lunch. Track conditions will determine if we continue to Harmon or return to Morgan Run for a full escorted tour of the locomotive shops. The train will park in Dennison for the evening. Rooms have been reserved at the Holiday Inn and a shuttle will be available. Events are schedule to last well into the evening.

Sunday July 1:

The special will park at the festival until early afternoon when we will depart for Columbus. At least two photo run-bys for the exclusive benefit of the excursion riders are being planned. A block of rooms have been reserved at the Airport with van service to and from the train location.

Monday August 2:

The special will depart Columbus in the early morning and return via NS's former PRR Sandusky line to its junction with the Fort Wayne Line at Colson Interlocking in Bucyrus and then continue east to Pittsburgh passing through Crestline and Mansfield. The train will continue east to its termination in Philadelphia.

If interested contact Bennett Levin at juniataboss@att.net, or 215.504.2760. Tickets sales will be limited to 20 people

For more information TrainFestival 2004 visit www.TrainFestival2004.com


www.trainfestival2004.com

jmjohnson@ohiocentral.com

Several hosekeeping issues to compliment Jayson's Post.

1. The excursion would not have been possible except for the excellent cooperation of the folks at Amtrak; and even more, the outstanding commitment from NS to allow us to get to the OC and bring us back over rails on which the 5711 & 5809 called home in their early years. Without that commitment this trip would never have been possible.

2. There is no limit of 20 passengers, but I will gladly refer anyone with interest to any of the car owners that have space available. We have some easy rules for all cars making the excursion.

A) There will be no day trips sold for the Friday or Monday legs of the excursion. You can board at Philadelphia, Harrisburg, or Pittsburgh on the main section or at Chicago on those cars coming from the Mid-West. You must ride and purchase through space, at least, from Pittsburgh to Pittsburgh. No space will be sold Pittsburgh to Dennison or Dennison/Columbus to Pittsburgh.

The economics of this excursion are very fragile so I encourage you to contact me if you have an interest and I will refer you to those car owners that have space available and whose routing and accommodations suit your criteria. This train needs a certain minimum number of cars to participate to cover its costs.

There are various accommodations and space configurations available so I believe there is almost something to satisfy everyone.



v-scarpitti@att.net

I live on the "left coast" so will not be attending this event but I hope that all of you who live in the East can support this outing. Thanks to Bennett and all for putting this together. A great chance for the PRR E-units to stratch their legs on "home" rails.

Perhaps we should all send letters or e-mails fo thanks to Amtrak and NS for assisting. Might go a long way to open more doors in the future!

Scott

Bennett is a great guy and has the best interests of all parties at heart. I commend him for his perseverence to pull these trips off in the face of bureaucracies. He knows how to make things happen, talks to the right people in charge (with respect) and understands the system. He works with them, not against them. Not many people would have the patience to deal with class 1's and the hurdles they sometimes put into place when organizing a fantrip or special move. His program is first-class in my book, all the way.

K.R. Bell

> I live on the "left coast" so will
> not be attending this event but I hope that
> all of you who live in the East can support
> this outing. Thanks to Bennett and all for
> putting this together. A great chance for
> the PRR E-units to stratch their legs on
> "home" rails.

> Perhaps we should all send letters or
> e-mails fo thanks to Amtrak and NS for
> assisting. Might go a long way to open more
> doors in the future!

> Scott