(erielack) ELDCPS Convention - Erie Lackawnna Veterans Reunion October 2005

[Jjbchian_@_aol.com]

To all concerned:

ELDCPS Members:,
Erie, DL&W, and Erie Lackawanna Veterans:
ELHS, NJM, and NKPHTS members:
All listers:

Erie Lackawanna Dining Car Preservation Society is pleased to announce our 
first Convention. We will also be sponsoring an Erie Lackawanna Veterans Reunion 
- - Vets 2005. Both events will begin Friday, October 21 and running through 
Sunday, October 23 at Scranton, Pennslyvania. All Erie, DL&W and Erie Lackawanna 
Veterans are invited and encouraged to attend. Convention Headquarters will 
be the Scranton Hilton Hotel and Conference Center in downtown Scranton. 
Although official Convention activities will begin on Friday, those wishing to 
arrive on Thursday evening, may do so at the reduced room rate. Participating 
organizations include: New Jersey Midland Historical Society and Nickel Plate Road 
Historical & Technical Society. We are also extending a cordial invitation to 
ELHS members who wish to attend. 

Room rates per room will be $99.00 per night. As we just signed the contract 
with the Hilton, we will have the numbers to call, and the code to mention to 
received the reduced special room rate in about a week. 

For people traveling to the Convention by Air, we have made a special 
arrangement with United Airlines to offer convention attendees a 10% discount off of 
the best available fare if booked up to 30 days before the convention. A 5% 
discount will apply to people booking in less then the 30 days. The discount is 
available for anyone flying into Newark, Philadelphia, as well as Wilkes 
Barre/Scranton. To obtain the discount, you must call United Group Travel at 
800-521-4041. Please identify yourself as attending the Erie Lackawanna Convention. 
You must also give the group discount ID number, which is: 530CG. 

We have a full schedule of activities. In brief:

Thursday: For folks coming in on Thursday, we have left this open for 
visiting with friends, meeting the Vets who come in early, etc. Evening open for 
dinner at your choice.

Friday: Convention Registration. Two seminars are planned for the afternoon. 
One is still in the planning stages, the other will be a course on Air Brakes. 
This will be taught in a classroom situation by professional railroaders, and 
a certified training instructor. Video, handouts, and a possible field trip 
for "hands on" training. A slide show geared to an EL related subject is also 
planned for the afternoon. The EL Vets will have a private reunion with open 
bar beginning at 4:30 to 6:30. This will only be open to Erie, DL&W and EL Vets 
along with their spouses or "significant other". (More details on this later) 
Dinner will be on your own. We will have a room open where members and 
supporters can meet and discuss issues with the ELDCPS Directors. We are planning on 
entertainment later that evening, and the venue is still being decided.  

(We are trying to make arrangements to hold a night photo shoot with EL 
equipment at Bridge 60 - we will post details as we have them)

We will get the word out to as many EL Veterans as possible, and we believe 
our efforts are succeeding. It is hoped that we will have as many as 5 former 
EL Company Officials at the Convention, as well as veterans from all the 
Operating and nonoperating crafts. This will be a very unique opportunity to meet 
them and discuss EL operations with the folks who ran the railroad.  Don't miss 
out on this! 

Saturday: We have planned several field trips in the area, and the final 
details are still being worked out. Tentatively we will have two seminars, one on 
the EL signal system, and the other on EL Passenger Service. We have asked 
Walt Zullig, Jr. to discuss EL's train off petitions, as he represented the state 
of New York PUC at the hearings. We have more planned for Saturday, and 
tentatively a nice surprise, but that announcement will have to wait for now. Vets 
activities have been scheduled, you can take the trolley to the Golf course. 

(We will hold an EL modeling contest -- but that is Paul's bailiwick!)

The Banquet will be our top event for Saturday evening. So far, we have 3 to 
5 speakers lined up. One speaker will be former EL Superintendent John R. 
Canfield, who will discuss his time with the Lackawanna and the EL. We have a 
speaker lined up from NS, who will talk about the past and the future of former EL 
lines in today's NS system. We have entertainment lined up for after the 
Banquet. 

Sunday: After Breakfast we will have our Annual Meeting. The meeting will be 
open to all, but only ELDCPS members may make motions, and vote. Other events 
will be planned, and will be announced. 

Other activities are being planned, and will be added as they are confirmed.  
We have a preliminary cost of the Banquet of around $45.00 per person, and 
this will be a top quality. Convention Registration will be around $40 per 
person, and that will gain entrance to all events except the Air and Signal 
seminars. Their will be a small charge for materials. We will take reservations for 
those seminars on a first come, first served basis. 

For the Ladies: We have several events just for them, so bring your spouse! 
Some events include a shopping trip with lunch, a cooking demonstration with 
the Hilton's awarding winning Four Star Chef, ladies breakfast, and a mansion 
tour. 

We will post updates and more information as it becomes available to this 
list and our website at: www.eldcps.org This will be a great convention, and we 
hope as many of you as possible will join us! 

Paul, if I have left anything out that I forgot to mention, please do so!

Any questions, please ask an ELDCPS Director.

Kind regards,

John Boehner, VP-Operations
ELDCPS 

 

 

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End of EL List Daily V3 #1578
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