Image description
Hudson-Bergen Light Rail at Port Imperial, N.J. David Wilson photo, May 19, 2021

This month’s Zoom presentation by David Wilson is “Hudson Waterfront Redeemed.” David’s show will trace the redemption, reinvention and rebirth of rail services bringing passengers to, under, and along the Hudson River waterfront following decades of decline. This is our last show of the year, so don’t miss it! Read More

December 2022 Meeting Notice

Image description
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

Manducatis Restaurant Google Street View photo

Annual Membership Meeting

Friday, November 4, 2022

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

Image description
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

Image description
Scene from the June 2022 Zoom presentation. Kristen Fredriksen & Paul Grether video

Our October Zoom program, Kristen & Paul’s Excellent Adventures: Part 2, will be presented by Kristen Fredriksen of the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum and ERA board member Paul Grether. This is a continuation of their June 2022 presentation covering the United Kingdom from their trip in September 2021 focusing on all things new, old, preserved, abandoned, obscure or otherwise interesting. Read More

October 2022 Meeting Notice

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.

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

Kristen Fredriksen. 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

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

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

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

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

Sample video of Woodside LIRR station. Eric Oszustowicz video (December 8, 2021)

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

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

Facebook

Created in 2011 by Philip Hom, our Facebook page is the place to go for the latest news from ERA members.

Twitter

Our frequently updated Twitter feed is written by Alexander ‘Sasha’ Ivanoff, a contributing editor to the Bulletin.

YouTube

Fascinating member videos, including some of our monthly meetings, can be watched on our YouTube channel.

Issuu

Every back issue since 2002 of the Bulletin and previews of Headlights since 1996 can be found on our Issuu page.

S Search