550 SW Oak Street
Portland, Ore. 97204
503-505-5000
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Please join us for the 2010 ERA Convention, to be held in Portland, Oregon on Labor Day weekend.
Since the advent of Oregon’s first light rail line in 1986, Portland has become a hotbed of electric traction. Tri-Met, Portland’s public transit agency, now operates five light rail lines with modern, low-floor equipment. Our convention headquarters will be the Courtyard Portland City Center, a Marriott hotel in downtown Portland, at 550 SW Oak Street. It is very convenient to all of Portland’s electric railway attractions, being located along the city’s Transit Mall, between 5th and 6th Avenues. Click here to see the full 2010 Itinerary.
LA Metro train of Nippon-Sharyo articulated cars inbound at Wardlow Road. Photo by John Pappas (August 1, 2003).
The Greater Los Angeles region, home to one of the world’s greatest and most extensive urban rail systems, is the site of our 2009 Annual Convention. The Wilshire Grand Los Angeles, at 930 Wilshire Boulevard, will be our convention headquarters. This luxury hotel is across the street from the 7th St./Metro Center station, the main station of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (a.k.a. “Metro”) rail lines. Activites will include a tour of the Orange Empire Railway Museum on Friday, a trip to the Gold Line Shops & San Pedro Heritage Trolley on Saturday, rides on the Sprinter Diesel MU Light Rail Commuter Line & San Diego Trolley on Sunday, and an escorted tour of the entire MTA Light Rail System on Monday. Click here to see the full 2009 Itinerary.
Philadelphia PCC II 2334 sits in front of Callowhill carhouse waiting to leave on an ERA fantrip while Kawasaki 9079 assigned to subway-surface route 10 looks on. Photo by John Pappas (September 25, 2005).
Philadelphia, always a hotbed of electric traction with streetcars (including an extensive trolley subway), elevated and underground rapid transit, suburban MU operation and electrically-propelled intercity trains, was the site of our 2008 Annual Convention. This year’s convention treated participants to much of what Philadelphia has to offer, including travel by chartered coach to the Rockhill Trolley Museum in Orbisonia, Pennsylvania on Saturday, a four-hour Heritage PCC Fantrip on Sunday throughout West Philadelphia on lines that are normally operated with Kawasaki units, and a NJT River Line charter and shop tour on Monday. The Crowne Plaza Hotel Philadelphia Center City was our convention headquarters. Click here to see the full 2008 Itinerary.
A westbound St. Louis MetroLink departs from Delmar Loop station en route to Lambert St. Louis International Airport. Photo by John Pappas (September 2, 2007).
St. Louis, a hotbed of traction until after World War II, was the site of our 2007 Convention. The Crowne Plaza Hotel in downtown St. Louis, at 200 North 4th Street, was our convention headquarters. It is only a short walk from the 8th & Pine station of MetroLink, and convention participants could reach it easily from both Lambert Field and the Amtrak station. Activities included an excursion to the Midwest Electric Railway, a MetroLink Light Rail shop tour and ride, and a visit to the Museum of Transport. Convention goers who stayed for the Memphis/Little Rock Excursion were treated to private charters of the Main Street Trolley and Riverfront Loop heritage line in Memphis, Tenn. and the River Rail heritage line in Little Rock, Ark. Our excursion headquarters was the Comfort Inn in downtown Memphis. Click here to see the full 2007 Itinerary.
Edmonton ETS. NYCSubway.org photo by Steven J. Brown (June 15, 1996).
Edmonton and Calgary, the two cities that began the revival of light rail in North America in the late 1970s, were the sites of our 2006 Convention. Our convention headquarters were The Westin Edmonton in downtown Edmonton at 10135 100th Street, and The Sandman Hotel in downtown Calgary at 888 Seventh Avenue. Both are convenient venues in the two traction capitals of Alberta. Our annual movie/slideshow was held Saturday in Edmonton and our banquet took place Tuesday in Calgary.
The convention got off to a running start with a special trolleybus fantrip on Saturday. There are two electric traction operations in the City of Edmonton and we visited both on Sunday. In the morning we had a fantrip on the Edmonton Radial Railway Society’s High Level Bridge streetcar operation. In the afternoon we boarded a chartered Light Rail Vehicle and covered the LRT line and visited the system’s carhouse and shop for a tour.
Tuesday was a very busy day, as we rode C-Train, Calgary’s Light Rail system, touring its shop facilities and then continuing on to Heritage Park, where we had the opportunity to ride and photograph the attraction’s streetcar and steam railway lines. We ended the day with our annual banquet. Click here to see the full 2006 Itinerary.
Galveston Island Trolley No. 503, Galveston, Texas. Photo by John Pappas (September 3, 2005).
The Electric Railroaders’ 2005 Convention was held in Houston and Dallas on Labor Day weekend. Participants had a chance to ride light rail lines and both diesel and electric streetcars.
Our Houston convention headquarters was the Houston Marriott Medical Center and our Dallas convention headquarters was the Hampton Inn Dallas-West End/Convention Center. Both hotels were conveniently located in the two traction capitals of Texas.
In Houston there was a day trip to ride Galveston’s diesel streetcar line and a Noon trip to Houston’s new MetroRail Light Rail Storage and Maintenance Facility. In Dallas, we took a tour of the DART Red and Blue lines aboard a private LRV and visited the Texas Electric interurban museum in Plano. We also had an opportunity to ride and photograph all available rolling stock of the McKinney Avenue streetcar line. Finally, as a convention bonus for tour members who stayed the extra day, there was time to finish riding DART, travel aboard RDCs of the Trinity Railway Express, and visit Fort Worth. Click here to see the full 2005 Itinerary.
Stopping for photos at the Montague station during tour of the VTA’s Tasman West line. Photo by Sandy Campbell (September 4, 2004).
The Electric Railroaders’ 2004 Convention was held in San Francisco on Labor Day Weekend. This year’s convention headquarters was The Best Western Canterbury Hotel, conveniently located in the central area of the city at 750 Sutter Street.
The convention included three excursions and a banquet. On Saturday we rode the San Jose light rail line and visited the Kelly Park trolley museum. On Sunday we had an all-day Municipal Railway streetcar fantrip and the banquet. And on Monday we visited the Rio Vista Trolley Museum. The cost of all excursions and our Sunday banquet was $153 per person. Individual trip pricing was also available. Plus, as a convention extra, those who were able to stay through Tuesday could visit Sacramento and Siemens for $43. Click here to see the full 2004 Itinerary.
Toronto streetcar 4147 operates along the tree-lined reservation on the northern end of Spadina Avenue. Photo by Frank Miklos (1997).
The Electric Railroaders’ 2003 Convention was held in Toronto, Canada. We stayed in the Days Hotel and Conference Centre at 30 Carlton Street, conveniently located along the TTC’s Carlton streetcar line and the Yonge Street Subway. Our 2003 convention included a free movie night and banquet. We rode streetcars, light rail and heavy rapid transit, and something in between, the Scarborough line. Those who stayed over got to cover GO Transit’s busy commuter services as well, or travel on VIA to Ottawa and see Canada’s only diesel light rail line. Click here to see the full 2003 Itinerary.
Portland Streetcar 004 approaches a traffic light at the intersection of S.W. Mill Street and S.W. 6th Avenue. Northbound cars cut diagonally through the campus of Portland State University. Photo by Frank Miklos (2002).
The Electric Railroaders’ 2002 Convention was held in Portland, Oregon. Much has happened since our last visit to the Rose City. The MAX light rail line has been extended westward to the suburb of Hillsboro and a new branch has been opened to the Airport. In addition, service has begun on a new downtown streetcar line which connects many of the important attractions in the center of the city. Vintage trolley service continues between downtown and the Lloyd Center on weekends and an occasional service is operated with vintage trolleys on the new streetcar line.
We took excursions to other nearby places of traction interest such as Yakima, Washington and Astoria, Oregon. Jack May worked hard on putting the convention package together.
Sandy Campbell
The 2001 Convention, held in Chicago, was one of our most successful to date. We visited the Illinois Railway Museum; the new PCC streetcar operation in Kenosha; the East Troy Railway Museum, and the Fox River Railway Museum. We also had fantrips on the Chicago Rapid Transit system on two different days.
A particular highlight was our excursion on the Douglas Park Line, which was held on a Saturday. Since that line normally operates Monday through Friday only, we had the entire line to ourselves. We were able to have photo stops at nearly every station on the line because we didn't have to worry about interfering with regular service. The crew on our four-car train went so far as to split it up into a pair of two car trains which were then posed on opposite platforms.
The speaker at our banquet was Professor George Smirk who gave an excellent presentation on recent improvements to the Chicago South Shore and South Bend rail service along with some long range plans for that service. We want to thank Jack May for the excellent job he did in putting the convention together.