August 30–September 4

2012 ERA Convention in Boston

The 2012 ERA Convention will be held on Labor Day weekend, August 30 to September 4, in Boston. We will return to downtown Boston’s historic Omni Parker House Hotel as our convention headquarters. Full details and applications will be on this website and mailed to all members and friends well in advance. In the meantime, be sure to block out the weekend on your calendar and plan to join us for another memorable convention. Click here to see the full 2012 Itinerary.

September 1–6

2011 ERA Convention in Chicago

Chicago is one of North America’s most popular traction and tourist destinations and the site of the 2011 Annual Convetion. The Chicago Marriott O’Hare will serve as our convention headquarters. The Greater Chicago area is home to four outstanding electric railroad museums and heritage operations, and one of the nation’s oldest and most comprehensive rapid transit and commuter rail networks. Click here to see the full 2011 Itinerary.

September 3–7

2010 ERA Convention in Portland

Portland, with five light rail lines, a streetcar, an historic trolley and more, is the exciting site of the 2010 Annual Convention. Our convention headquarters will be the Courtyard Portland City Center, a Marriott hotel in downtown Portland. Activities will include a visit to the Oregon Electric Railway Museum in Brooks, a ride on the Mount Hood Railroad, chartered streetcar trips on both the Portland Streetcar and the Willamette Shore Trolley, and much more. Click here to see the full 2010 Itinerary.

September 4–7

2009 ERA Convention in Los Angeles

The Greater Los Angeles region, home to one of the world’s greatest and most extensive urban rail systems, is the site of the 2009 Annual Convention. The Wilshire Grand Los Angeles will be our convention headquarters. Activites will include a tour of the Orange Empire Railway Museum, a trip to the Gold Line Shops and San Pedro Heritage Trolley, and more. Click here to see the full 2009 Itinerary.

August 29–September 1

2008 ERA Convention in Philadelphia

Philadelphia, a hotbed of electric traction with streetcars, elevated and underground rapid transit, suburban MU operation and electrically-propelled intercity trains, is the site of the 2008 Annual Convention. The Crowne Plaza Hotel Philadelphia Center City will be our convention headquarters. Activities will include a visit to the Rockhill Trolley Museum in Orbisonia, a heritage PCC fantrip throughout West Philadelphia, and a NJT River Line charter and shop tour. Click here to see the full 2008 Itinerary.

August 31–September 5

2007 ERA Convention in St. Louis With Excursion to Memphis and Little Rock

St. Louis is the site of the 2007 Convention. The Crowne Plaza Hotel will be our convention headquarters. Activities will included an excursion to the Midwest Electric Railway, a MetroLink Light Rail shop tour and ride, and a visit to the Museum of Transport. There will be a Memphis/Little Rock Excursion with private charters of the Main Street Trolley and Riverfront Loop heritage line in Memphis and the River Rail heritage line in Little Rock. Our excursion headquarters will be the Comfort Inn in downtown Memphis. Click here to see the full 2007 Itinerary.

July 1–4

2006 ERA Convention in Edmonton and Calgary

Edmonton and Calgary, the two cities that began the revival of light rail in North America in the late 1970s, are the sites of the 2006 Annual Convention. Our convention headquarters will be The Westin Edmonton in downtown Edmonton and The Sandman Hotel in downtown Calgary. Activities will include a fantrip on the Edmonton Radial Railway Society’s High Level Bridge streetcar operation, a chartered Light Rail Vehicle covering the LRT line and a tour of the system’s carhouse and shop. Click here to see the full 2006 Itinerary.

September 2–6

2005 ERA Convention in Houston and Dallas

Houston and Dallas are the sites of the 2005 Annual Convention. Our Houston convention headquarters will be the Houston Marriott Medical Center and our Dallas convention headquarters will be the Hampton Inn Dallas-West End/Convention Center. Houston activities include a day trip to ride Galveston’s diesel streetcar line and a trip to Houston’s new MetroRail Light Rail Storage and Maintenance Facility. In Dallas, we’ll take a tour of the DART Red and Blue lines aboard a private LRV and visit the Texas Electric interurban museum in Plano. Click here to see the full 2005 Itinerary.

September 4–7

2004 ERA Convention in San Francisco

San Francisco is the site of our 2004 Annual Convention. Our convention headquarters will be The Best Western Canterbury Hotel. Activities will include a ride on the San Jose light rail line, a visit to the Kelly Park trolley museum, an all-day Municipal Railway streetcar fantrip and a visit to the Rio Vista Trolley Museum. Click here to see the full 2004 Itinerary.

August 30–September 1

2003 ERA Convention in Toronto

Toronto is the site of the 2003 Annual Convention. Our headquarters will be the Days Hotel and Conference Centre. Activities will include a riding streetcars, light rail and heavy rapid transit, and something in between, the Scarborough line. Click here to see the full 2003 Itinerary.

July 4–7

2002 ERA Convention in Portland

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.

2001 ERA Convention in Chicago

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.