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Our 38th annual convention, to be held in Saint Louis, Missouri , is only one month away! We hope you will join us. The current plans, which have not yet received final approval by all host railroads and are subject to change, are as follows:
The dates of the convention activities at Saint Louis Union Station are Friday morning October 2 through Sunday night October 4, 2015.
Our special train will be named the Spirit of St. Louis and will travel over non Amtrak lines offering interesting scenery and wonderful stopover destinations. We will assemble the train in Chicago, Illinois on Saturday, September 26, 2015.
On Sunday, September 27 the Spirit of St. Louis will depart Chicago in the early morning and travel through scenic northern Indiana on the former Nickel Plate Road to Fort Wayne, Indiana. The special will then travel south to Cincinnati via the former Nickel Plate line to New Castle, Indiana, and the former Pennsylvania Railroad through Richmond, Indiana. The special will be parked on Sunday and Monday nights at a beautiful park alongside the Ohio River in Cincinnati, Ohio. This location is next to the Montgomery Inn Boathouse Restaurant and convenient to the downtown area. We are planning a special behind the scenes tour of historic Cincinnati Union Terminal; this event is only available for passengers riding on our special train. On Monday evening September 28, the Cincinnati Dinner Train will be open only to AAPRCO, for a four course meal during the trip from downtown out to Oakley and return.
On Tuesday, September, 29 our special train will depart Cincinnati and proceed south on the former Southern Railway’s CNO&TP First Subdivision. We will cross the Ohio River and travel through scenic Northern Kentucky to Danville, KY. The special will then head west on the former Southern Railway’s line through Kentucky into the historic city of Louisville, KY. Our special train will remain parked in Louisville for the evening and throughout the next day.
On Wednesday, September 30 our special will remain parked in Louisville, KY. Our passengers will be able to explore Louisville on their own or participate on one of several tours we’re planning. These tours include a trip to the historic Churchill Downs race track, home of the Kentucky Derby, and a tour of a Bourbon Distillery and a possible trip to the Hillerich & Bradsby baseball bat factory.
On Thursday, October 1 we will depart Louisville on the former Southern Railway’s St. Louis line and cross the Ohio River. We will travel through scenic southern Indiana and Illinois arriving at our convention destination of St. Louis, Missouri. The special will be parked at the historic St. Louis Union Station which has been beautifully restored with a hotel and shopping mall under the train shed. The Doubletree Hotel at Union Station will be our convention site. It is adjacent to where our train will be parked, so no shuttle service will be necessary. A special rate of $155 per night plus taxes has been arranged. To make your reservations online at this rate, follow this link.
While in St. Louis we will have our usual convention activities of meetings, car parties and our banquet which will take place at the Union Station hotel. Amtrak President & CEO Joe Boardman is scheduled to address the membership on Friday October 2. We have arranged a special tour of the St. Louis Museum of Transport and a visit to the John W. Barriger III National Railroad Library on Saturday October 3. The band for the banquet will be the same 1950’s rock and roll band that entertained us in Chattanooga and which everyone loved. Here is the current schedule for our convention activities at St. Louis.
Following the convention activities the special train will depart St. Louis on Monday, October 5 and travel on the BNSF’s former Burlington Route’s line alongside the Mississippi River to Burlington, Iowa. The special will then take the Burlington Route’s line through Galesburg, Illinois to Chicago where the special will terminate. PV’s will depart on scheduled Amtrak trains.