Past Events

Andrew Grahl

Friday, November 18, 2022

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The first five-car set of R-211Ts at the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal. That night, the set was transferred to Coney Island Yard’s Main Shop. Andrew Grahl photo, November 2, 2022

Our November Zoom program will be presented by ERA Program Chairman and transit professional Andrew Grahl. Andrew’s pre-Thanksgiving feast will be a veritable smorgasbord of transit updates from the Tri-State area, Montreal, Chicago, Philadelphia and Boston. For dessert, historic slides taken in the 1950s will be served, as well as additional news from Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Atlanta. Specially-wrapped Amtrak and NJ Transit locomotives featuring vintage paint schemes will complete this special treat! Read More

November 2022 Meeting Notice

Annual Membership Meeting

Friday, November 4, 2022

Manducatis Restaurant Google Street View photo

The Annual Membership Meeting of the ERA will be held on Friday, November 4, 2022, at Manducatis Restaurant, located at 13-27 Jackson Avenue in Long Island City, Queens.

There will be a cash bar opening at 7 p.m. The meeting will start promptly at 7:30 p.m., and a complimentary dinner will be served following the meeting. We have room for 50 paid-up ERA members, so please reserve your space as soon as possible by registering now.

Jerome Horne, director of transit leadership development at TransitCenter, will be our keynote speaker. TransitCenter is a foundation that works to improve public transit in cities across the U.S. This meeting will be recorded and posted on ERA-TV. There will be no live Zoom meeting.

Register today and download our meeting notice to read about the nomination process for the ERA Board of Directors.

Annual Meeting Presentation
Annual Meeting Notice

George Gula

Friday, October 21, 2022

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Switching in the Scranton yard beneath the Spruce Street Bridge is 403. Edward S. Miller photo, February 27, 1952

Due to a problem with the originally scheduled program for October 21, the ERA made a last-minute program substitution. George Gula of the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum presented “The Laurel Line.” George’s presentation showed the line from Scranton to Wilkes-Barre as it existed in the early 1950s. The majority of his marvelous photos were taken by the premier photographer Edward S. Miller. Read More

October 2022 Meeting Notice
October 2022 Meeting Notice (Original)

Chicago

October 13-16, 2022

DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Chicago O’Hare Airport – Rosemont Hilton photo

MBS invites our fellow ERA members to join us for our Fall 2022 Motor Bus Society Convention in Chicago. Please note that this is a four-day Thursday to Sunday convention, different from previous MBS conventions which started on a Friday. Read More

MBS Fall Convention Trip Notice & Order Form

Al Gaus

1947-2022

Alfred G. Gaus, Jr., a loyal ERA member since June 1968 (#3787), died on July 3 in Philadelphia. He was 75.

Al was born April 1, 1947 in Vienna. As an infant, Al’s family moved to the Brewerytown neighborhood of North Philadelphia where he spent his early years. He later became a long-term resident of the Fox Chase neighborhood in Northeast Philadelphia and worked for the claims/legal department of SEPTA until his retirement. Al participated in many of the ERA’s European trips and was really happy when the ERA ran a trip to Austria. Al was also an active member of the East Penn Traction Club.

A memorial gathering for Al will be held on Saturday, October 1, from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon, at the Cheltenham Center for the Arts / CCA at Elkins Central. Coffee and donuts will be served.

Peter Ehrlich

Friday, September 16, 2022

Pittsburgh Railways Company PCC 1483 on the 98-Glassport line passes McKeesport B&O station in May 1961. Ray Berger cover photo (Headlights Jul-Dec 2005)

Our September Zoom program will be presented by noted transit historian and retired San Francisco Muni motorman Peter Ehrlich. His show will be about Pittsburgh trolleys, a system he has been accumulating much material on over the last few years. Read More

September 2022 Meeting Notice

ERA Trips Are Back!

San Diego

Jul 6-10

Our 2022 convention was a tremendous success! We will be adding photos, videos, PDFs and maps from all of our activities, so keep checking back. Read More

Ottawa

Aug 13–17

The ordering deadline for the MNYBA annual trip is coming soon. Our venue is the classy Alt Hotel on Slater Street in downtown Ottawa, situated near many bus routes and one block from the O-Train. Click here for a detailed itinerary and ordering details. Read More

Greece

Sep 8–17

We hope you’ll be joining our first international tour in three years. We will travel on high-speed railways, a narrow-gauge steam train, and a luxury tour coach. Read More

NJ & Phila

Sep 17

Join MNYBA on a visit to The New Jersey Transportation Heritage Center’s Historic Bus Festival in Trenton and SEPTA’s Frankford Depot in Philadelphia. Read More

Chicago

Oct 13-16

MBS invites our fellow ERA members to join our Fall 2022 Motor Bus Society Convention in Chicago. Please note that this is a four-day Thursday to Sunday convention, different from previous MBS conventions which started on a Friday. Read More

Kristen Fredriksen & Paul Grether

Friday, June 17, 2022

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Paul Grether photo

Paul Grether photo

Our June Zoom program, Kristen & Paul’s Excellent Adventures: Trains, Trolleys, Tunnels and Tires, will be presented by Kristen Fredriksen of the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum and ERA board member Paul Grether. They will be showcasing travels in the United States and the United Kingdom focusing on all things new, old, preserved, abandoned, obscure or otherwise interesting. Read More

June 2022 Meeting Notice

Back on the Bus to the Spring Fling!

Saturday, June 4, 2022

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The Metropolitan New York Bus Association Committee of the Motor Bus Society (MNYBA/MBS) welcomes our fellow ERA members back following a two-year absence from trips, for a comfortable Coach Tours bus to the Pennsylvania Dutch area.

Our first stop will be at the Museum of Bus Transportation in Hershey for the Spring Fling, where a huge collection of historic and modern buses will be available for riding and photographing. A bus memorbilia flea market and lunch will be available at the museum.

Next we will visit the Red Rose Transit Authority’s Transit Center in downtown Lancaster. There will be free time in Strasburg to visit the Strasburg Rail Road or the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. We will end the day at the fabulous Shady Maple Smorgasbord in East Earl with its gut busting variety of food offerings!

We plan on returning to NYC around 9:45 p.m. Please join us on a wonderful outing to Pennsylvania! Read More

June 2022 Spring Fling Order Form

Harvey Laner

Friday, May 20, 2022

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Union Electric of Kansas

Harvey Laner collection

Union Electric of Kansas. Harvey Laner collection

Our May Zoom program, Harvey Laner’s Midwest Traction Review, will be an all-video presentation of streetcar and interurban operations throughout the American Midwest. Primarily from the 1930s to the 1950s, the movie clips that make up this program are from the collections of numerous railfans that were amassed by Harvey from the late 1990s to the present. Read More

May 2022 Meeting Notice

Jeff Erlitz

Friday, April 8, 2022

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T1 No. 528 (ČKD Tatra, 1957) pausing for photos at the Svornosti stop in Ostrava, Czech Republic, during an ERA charter.

Jeff Erlitz photo (May 23, 2003)

T1 No. 528 (ČKD Tatra, 1957) pausing for photos at the Svornosti stop in Ostrava, Czech Republic, during an ERA charter. Jeff Erlitz photo (May 23, 2003)

Our April Zoom program will be a PowerPoint presentation by Jeff Erlitz of the ERA International Tour of the Czech Republic in 2003. Cities visited include Prague, Brno, Liberec and Ostrava. Also included was a ride on the former Bechyně Railway, the first electrified railway line in the former Austro-Hungarian Empire. You don’t want to miss this interesting meeting! Read More

April 2022 Meeting Notice

Andrew Ludasi

Friday, March 18, 2022

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Iowa Traction along 19th St SW / 255th St at the entrance to Renewable Energy

Andrew Ludasi photo (September 8, 2021)

Iowa Traction along 19th St SW / 255th St at the entrance to Renewable Energy. Andrew Ludasi photo (September 8, 2021)

This month’s speaker will be ERA member and accomplished world traveler Andrew Ludasi. Andrew has traveled to Europe frequently, as well as having spent three weeks in Australia in May 2012. His show will feature Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney, museums in Tasmania, as well as more recent photos from a trip west in September 2021 as far as Mason City, Iowa. Read More

March 2022 Meeting Notice

Eric and Mary Oszustowicz

Friday, February 18, 2022

Sample video of Woodside LIRR station on December 8th, 2021 at 3:47 p.m. Video: Eric Oszustowicz

Our February Zoom program will consist of videos by both Eric and Mary Oszustowicz. Footage shot in 2021 and 2022 of the New York subway system and New York City-area commuter lines will be shown especially for the benefit of our non-New Yorker viewers. Eric presented a similar program in February 2021 that was viewed by a record setting 175 participants. Some “best of” videos may also be included for those who didn’t see that presentation. You don’t want to miss this interesting meeting! Read More

February 2022 Meeting Notice

Jack May

Friday, January 21, 2022

Even in Japan things go better with Coke, especially a traditional streetcar, which is the real thing in the city of Takaoka, located in Toyama Prefecture. Nippon-Sharyo car 7075 was built in 1967 and continues in service 55 years later. Jack May photo (Mar 30, 2010)

Longtime conventions and trip chairman and former editor of Headlights Jack May will be the presenter of our January meeting, “Survey of the Streetcars of Japan.” Jack traditionally opens each year of ERA meetings with his outstanding presentations. Please join us on Zoom to welcome in the New Year with our first program of 2022! Read More

January 2022 Meeting Notice

ron yee

We are greatly saddened to announce that Ron Yee died on Friday, October 29 after a very brief but severe illness. Ron (#5169) was an ERA member for 46 years, having joined on July 19, 1976. In addition to being the Tri-State and North American news editor for The Bulletin and a frequent contributor to Headlights, Ron also served on the board of directors as second vice president and corresponding secretary. Our hearts and prayers go out to Ron’s wife Lily and the rest of his family and friends. Read More

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About the ERA

  • The Electric Railroaders Association is a non-profit educational organization consisting of people from all walks of life interested in the history and progress of electric railways.
  • The ERA was founded August 15, 1934 by Edwin Jay (E.J.) Quinby, 1894-1981.

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  • Benefits of ERA membership include regional trips, monthly meetings, annual conventions, biennial international tours, monthly Bulletin newsletters and a yearly Headlights magazine.

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