This is the Centennial year for the city of Beech Grove & as part of the celebration, there will be public tours of Beech Grove Shops between 1230PM & 500PM on Saturday, Nov. 11th.
There will be shuttle service from the Senior Center at 602 Main Street, Beech Grove, to the Shops.
A tour of Beech Grove seems very intereasting. Does anyone know if Amtrak ever has tours for the general public any other times?
Posted by MDRR (Member # 2992) on :
About 20 years ago, I went with a railfan group on a Saturday day trip to Beech Grive and we were given a tour of all the shops, the work going on at the time, as well as allowed to wander thru equioment that was stored there at the time in the yard. It was a very rewarding trip. Whether something like that could be done today? I don't know...
Posted by zephyr (Member # 1651) on :
It's too bad the Amtrak Historical Society seems to have gone bye-bye.
I went to their 8th (and apparently last) annual convention in 2002. It was held in Portland, and it was excellent. Guided tours included Portland Union Station, Brooklyn Roundhouse, a Talgo trainset, MAX light rail, and so on. There were also a lot of interesting speakers and presentations. Details can be found on their now-quiet website at www.amtrakhistoricalsociety.com.
If you click on the agendas of this and other conventions, you'll see participants had opportunities to see the inner-workings of Amtrak not normally seen by the general public (too many see's in that sentence?).
Does anyone know what is happening (or happened) to this fine organization?
Posted by MDRR (Member # 2992) on :
they have pretty much been defunct since the last convention you attended. Jeff Kocar, the organizer of the group just could not get enough people actively involved to assist him with all the responsibilities of keeping this group up and running.
That being said, I attended several of the annual conventions in the midwest, and greatly enjoyed the programs and can also appreciate the amount of work involved in creating them.
Posted by zephyr (Member # 1651) on :
Too bad. The conventions were a great way to get to know more about Amtrak, its facilities and equipment, and employees. It was also a great way to meet kindred souls.
But you're right, MDRR, it takes a group effort to make any organization like this work.
Posted by notelvis (Member # 3071) on :
This Beech Grove tour looks pretty interesting but I've been looking at a Tennessee Valley Railway Museum trip that weekend.