SIG meeting times and places, hotel room sharing, and carpool information
From LdsigWiki
2006 Philadelphia NMRA National Convention
CONVENTION DATES: July 2 - 8, 2006
Contents |
Meeting Rooms, Banquet
SIG Room:
- The SIG room is Room 103C in PCC (Pennsylvania Convention Center).
Board Meetings:
- Sunday 2 July 1300-2400 (1pm start) - Room 104A in PCC (Pennsylvania Convention Center)
- Thursday 6 July 1600-2400 (4pm start) - Room 104A in PCC (Pennsylvania Convention Center)
Note: Board meetings may run longer or be recessed to another time or day.
Meet & Greet:
- Sunday 2 July 1900-2100 (7 to 9 p.m.) - Rooms 309 & 310 in the Marriott Hotel (<- click for floorplan).
Business Meeting (within which Layout Tour / Picnic maps are to be handed out):
- Wednesday 5 July at 1000-1100 - Lecture Hall, Room 114 in PCC (Pennsylvania Convention Center)
Banquet and speaker:
We will have Dick Flock speak on "The Johnstown & Lake Erie, Designed for Operation".
Despite rumors that Dick was in a serious accident an unable to attend, he will be present and he will make his presentation. He will also have some good advice to share about working on lawnmowers when the blade is spinning!
The dining room at Maggiano's is not very good for speakers, so we have scheduled the talk in a clinic room in room 111B of the Pennsylvania Convention Center at 9:30 pm.
Room Sharing:
In order to save money on the high cost of the hotel rooms, room sharing has become popular. Rooms may be shared for one night or all of them. This way, your room costs may be cut in half. If you would like to do this, send an email to convention@ldsig.org with the subject of “Roommate needed or wanted.” A couple of weeks before the convention we will share who has and needs what on the chat list. If you don’t participate on the list – email me at that time and I’ll send you what I have.
Cars for the layout tour / picnic carpool:
Because of the high cost of parking in Philadelphia, there may be a shortage of cars for the layout tour / picnic so we encourage all that will be driving to sign up at drivers for the car pooling. We also encourage you to think about renting a car for that day and sharing the expense with your passengers. You should think about reserving a car early, as it is a holiday week, rental cars may be in short supply. Places to rent those cars are unknown at thus time but we assume the hotel will be able to guide to a nearby location.
The Marriott Convention Hotel (215-625-2900) has valet parking for a rate of $35 per each 24 hour period (as of 4/2006). Across the street from the Marriott is the Parkway parking garage at 12th & Filbert Streets – their rate is $25 per each 24 hours (as of 8/2005). This garage can also accommodate large vans and busses (please call 215-575-4005 for specific fees). In addition, the Pennsylvania Convention Center has a listing and a map of 41 nearby parking lots and garages at: www.paconvention.com or by calling 800-428-9000.
The Convention Committee would like to recommend that all drivers park at the long term economy parking lot located at the Philadelphia International Airport which is just south of the city and adjacent to Interstate I-95. They have over 6,000 spaces with a fee of $9.00 per day (as of April 2006). You can contact the Philadelphia Parking Authority at: www.philapark.org/findparking/airport_planner.aspx or by calling 215-683-9840.
A free shuttle bus will take you (and your luggage) to the terminal areas which are serviced by the SEPTA R1, a regional commuter rail line. This train runs every half-hour and after a 20+ minute ride you will exit at the Market East station. The West end of the train platform is just over a block away from the Convention Hotel with direct access via elevators or escalators. A one-way ticket is $5.50 (as of April 2006). You can contact SEPTA at: www.septa.org.
NOTE: According to Septa's website they will allow any passenger with an Amtrak ticket free passage between 30th Street and the two Center City (downtown) stations via the Regional Rail service. The Regional Rail trains leave from the Upper level of 30th Street Station and you would just need to find one of them heading East into town.
