[PRCo] PAT/PTM Fantrip

[John Swindler]

I guess we all have our "strange" memories of fantrips.  There was a Cleveland fantrip in early 1980s.  I was sitting with Howard White and Gareth Rosenau (Fred would know them) across from 4-5 railfans who were loudly arguing the sequence that cars were released from PTC paint shop with a modified paint scheme early 1950s.  It might have been Howard who commented "I hope it isn't contagious" before we moved to a quieter part of the Breda car.
 
But looking back, the pleasant memories far-far outweigh any minor annoyances. And as the years pass, it becomes  more an opportunity to meet friends, then ride the fantrip car.
 
 

 
> From: fwschneider at comcast.net
> Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2014 14:08:15 -0400
> To: pittsburgh-railways at mailman.dementix.org
> Subject: Re: [PRCo] PAT/PTM Fantrip
> 
> Nice that PTM is trying to have a party, Dennis.   However, I have grown away from fantrips.
> 
> Let me describe the last three I attended.
> 
> 1.  About thirty years ago, a group ran an all-night trip over the SEPTA lines in West Philadelphia.   It was pleasant except for the chap who thought he had a right to set up and use my flash bulbs.   He threw a tantrum because I didn't tell him in advance when I was going to fire a bulb so that he could use it free.    Part of the entitled generation.   Other than that, most of the people were mellow, perhaps because they were tired.
> 
> 2.  A few years before that there was an ERA Convention in Philadelphia.   I had no intention of going but Tom Dworman of Detroit talked me into going … I became a last minute attendee.   Oh My God.  The hit of the play was a chap who droned on and on and on about why we should all consume a certain brand name … this man was a one-man advertising troop for Dr. Pepper and he preached for at least a half hour and added several degrees to a car that already had 75 people in it on a 90 degree summer day in a 56 seat PCC.    You had to be there to believe it.   He was enough to make me never again want to go on a fantrip.
> 
> 3.   Then there was the trip to Russia, Latvia and Estonia that Dan Joseph ran back in the 1990s.   In general, it was one of the better trips.   But I will never forget the chap from New York who planted himself in front of me to take his picture.   When I asked if he observed that I was already there to take my picture, he said, "I am more important than you are."   Then when Dan set up a final dinner of gourmet goodies typical of Estonia in Tallin, one of those loons complained, "We don't have to eat this slop in America.  Why do we have to pay to eat it here?"  
> 
> Dennis, I love seeing all the new light rail lines but with small groups of friends.   Leave the crazies that attend fantrips at home.
> 
> 
> '
> On Jul 14, 2014, at 6:49 AM, DF Cramer wrote:
> 
> > If you do not normally look at the PTM homepage, you maybe unaware of this event in October.
> > http://www.showclix.com/event/ptmfantrip
> > 
> > Dennis F. Cramer 
> > http://home.windstream.net/dfc1/ 		 	   		  
> > 
> > 
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