Our December meeting will be presented by ERA Program Chairman Andrew Grahl. Andrew’s show will consist of a news update of NYC rail operations, a pre-pandemic road trip to Little Rock, Oklahoma City, Dallas and El Paso, vintage Kodachromes of NYC in the 1950s, and more. Please join us for the final presentation of 2020 and enjoy a heartwarming slideshow of current and historical traction subjects!

The presenter of our November show is ERA member Mark Kavanagh (ERA #6317). Mark will share photos from his many travels to Japan over the past 30 years. He has seen a lot of change over the years and is pleased to share them with ERA members and guests from around the world. All ERA members and friends anywhere in the world are invited to attend this exciting online event!

Take a tour of the El Paso Streetcar maintenance facility with Chief Streetcar Officer Carl Jackson. SunMetroTV video

The presenter of tonight’s show is Sun Metro’s Carl Jackson, chief streetcar officer for the City of El Paso. Carl’s presentation, “El Paso Streetcar: The 21st Century PCC,” will cover three distinct areas in the restoration of El Paso’s streetcars: the cars’ exterior, motorman’s station, and modified Clark B2 trucks. Carl documented every step of the rehabilitation process with his own meticulously detailed before and after photos. This is a ‘must attend’ presentation, and all ERA members and friends anywhere in the world are invited to attend this exciting online event!

Broad St. #1 at Fern Rock. Russ Jackson photo (April 8, 1984)

The presenter of our September meeting will be Russ Jackson. His all-video Zoom program will start with ‘First Generation Subway Cars’ and then Lackawanna, Pennsylvania Railroad, and Reading ‘First Generation MU Cars’ in service in the 1970s, all from digitized Super 8 sound films. All ERA members and friends anywhere in the world are invited to attend this exciting online event!

Two Bombardier Flexity streetcars on King Street. Photo by Marcin Skalij on Unsplash

It is with great regret and sadness that we’re announcing the cancellation of this year’s ERA convention in Toronto, September 10-14, 2020. With the current lock-down, border closures, and likely longtime restrictions on gatherings of larger than 10 people combined with our older membership, the board of directors deem it prudent to consider rescheduling the convention to Toronto for September 9-13, 2021.

If you have already booked hotel and convention tickets, please await further instructions on both. We are working with the hotel as we speak. Mike Glikin, our treasurer, will reach out to you regarding your convention tickets.

Andrew Ludasi photo

Join us on Zoom for another bonus summer presentation. The presenter of our August meeting will be Andrew Ludasi. His show will feature Milan, Berlin, Cottbus, Hamburg, Takamatsu, Mexico City and a most recent trip to Colorado in September 2019, plus Lisbon and Sintra. All ERA members and friends anywhere in the world are invited to attend this exciting online event!

Detroit 287 at Congress Street. Peter Ehrlich photo (October 21, 2018)

Join us on Zoom for this bonus summer presentation by Peter Ehrlich, longtime San Francisco streetcar operator and author of the acclaimed 289-page book “San Francisco’s F Line.” All ERA members anywhere in the world are invited to attend this exciting online event!

Berlin F8Z class Tram on Rt 10 SB nearing Landsberger-Allee at Peterburger Straße. Ron Yee photo (October 2, 2019)

Join us again on Zoom for a look at Ron Yee’s rail-related travels around the world before the COVID-19 pandemic stopped all international travel. All ERA members anywhere in the world are invited to attend our second exciting online event!

2001 ex Kraków 107, 2000 ex Szczecin LXXI, 1979 ex 117, 1966 ex Warszawa 607. Jeff Erlitz photo (May 20, 2006)

Our May show will be hosted online by Jeff Erlitz. Jeff’s Zoom presentation is about the ERA’s nine-day tour of Poland in 2006. This program begins at 7:30 PM and is not to be missed!

In light of the ongoing New York State prohibition of movement except for essential grocery and medical trips and closure of hotels, Ron Yee’s presentation scheduled for the April 17th meeting has been tentatively rescheduled for May 15th. Jeff Erlitz’s March 20th meeting is tentatively rescheduled for June 19th. Our actions are consistent with those of our sister groups, the Central Electric Railfans Association and the Motor Bus Society which also had events even later into the month of April.

By the end of April we should know more, and we will advise members on this site and in the Bulletin whether the May 2020 meeting will go forward at the Roosevelt Hotel. Thank you for your understanding in these difficult times.

Next Two Presenters (Tentative)
  • May 15, 2020 — Ron Yee (rescheduled from April)
  • June 19, 2020 — Jeff Erlitz (rescheduled from March)
  • No meetings in July or August
Regional Trips Planned for 2020 (Tentative)
Meeting Notice
A complete lockdown was declared on March 20. News 4 New York video (March 20, 2020)
Breaking News

March Meeting Cancelled

Quarantine Declared

Our March 20th meeting has been cancelled due to an abundance of caution around large gatherings during the COVID-19 pandemic. The safety and health of our members is the ERA’s top priority and we apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. We fully expect to reschedule Mr. Erlitz’s amazing presentation for a later date.

Tram line 22 at stop Arkady in Wroclaw on May 30, 2009. Nillerdk photo (Wikipedia)

On the ERA’s 2006 International Trip to Poland, our group visited 10 of the 14 cities that had tramway operations at the time. These included Bydgoszcz, Gdansk, Elblag, Grudziadz, Katowice, Krakow, Lodz, Poznan, Torun and Warsaw. In addition, we had a trackless trolley tour of Gdynia. On the last day of the tour, a small group of us did a mini-tour of Wroclaw as we had to change trains there and had a couple of hours to lay over.

Meeting Notice
On the streets of the city of Sofia. Milan Sladić photo (Unsplash)

The dates are final and the itinerary has been set: our 2020 International Tour will be to Greece and the Balkan countries! Greece and the Balkans will cover two cities in Greece and seven Balkan cities in an extensive 16-day tour. The tour will include visits to six major regional cities that have electrified transit operations such as trams, metros or trolley buses, and includes first-class travel on the new Greek high-speed rail line between Athens and Thessolaniki, followed by coach travel throughout the Balkan countries. Sightseeing opportunities will be provided to cover many beautiful and historic places in Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia.

Corona Yard shortly after sunrise. Eric Oszustowicz photo (April 27, 2019)

Our February program will consist of videos and slides by Eric Oszustowicz and will be different from any presentation we have ever had. We will see videos from early 2001 of many now retired subway cars in regular service, including “Redbird” R26 through R36 subway cars, plus videos of the original 1913 wooden subway cars operating in Buenos Aires. As with all of Eric’s presentations, we will see behind-the-scenes views of the New York subway system. Please join us for an interesting evening.

Meeting Notice
Highlights from the 2019 Hobby Show. Sandy Campbell photo (January 26, 2019)
Regional Trips

Railroad Hobby Show

Saturday, January 25, 2020

MNYBA welcomes fellow ERA members on a full-day trip to the famous Amherst Railway Society’s Railroad Hobby Show in West Springfield, Mass. This annual model railroading event spans four buildings of railroad and transportation vendors, displays and public information. Try not to miss this one!

Trip Notice
No. 3020 is at the rear of a typical four-car train of TTC’s 28 intermediate capacity transit cars. It has just left the Lawrence East station and is en route to the commercial center of what was the borough of Scarborough, now just the Scarborough section of Toronto. Jack May photo (August 2019)

Noted rail photographer Jack May will be the presenter of our first 2020 meeting. Jack’s program will feature the new streetcar systems in Milwaukee, Oklahoma City and El Paso, plus light rail in Dallas, Houston, Charlotte, Buffalo, Toronto and San Francisco. Plus a lot more! Please join us in the new year for a wonderful presentation.

The January 17th meeting on Friday has been moved to the Terrace Ballroom on the lobby level of the Roosevelt Hotel. Please turn right at top of stairs in the 45th street entrance to the hotel.

Meeting Notice

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