ANNOUNCING
MARP Member Meeting
Saturday, Nov. 12, 2011, 11 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
(Executive Committee will meet at 10:00 a.m.)
Amtrak St. Joseph Station
410 1/2 Vine Street
St. Joseph, MI 49085

Map& Driving Directions

The November 12 membership meeting will be held at the newly remodeled St. Joseph station. This will be the last meeting for 2011, wrapping up a series of meetings held in historic railroad stations. Our meetings coordinator, Jim Wallington, plans to continue this idea in 2012.

The general membership meeting begins at 11 am, but all are welcome to sit in on the Executive Committee meeting beginning at 10 am.

Our guest speaker will be Bob Meyers, Curator of the Courthouse Museum in Berrien Springs and the author of books about railroading in southwest Michigan. He will be talk about the development of the Michigan Central R.R and its importance to the development of St. Joseph.

At the close of the meeting, we will enjoy a pizza buffet lunch in the adjoining Silver Beach Pizza Restaurant. The cost of pizza and beverage (coffee, soft drink, water) will be $5 per person. I’ve been told that the freight engineers call ahead and make a brief stop at SJM to pick up a pizza. That may be apocryphal, but the pizza is that good!

For those of you who like to ride the train, the Pere Marquette morning train out of Grand Rapids arrives in St. Joe around 9:45 am. The evening train goes back to Grand Rapids at 8:00 pm.

Plan to spend the afternoon in St. Joseph. The beautiful Silver Beach Carousel, just across the tracks, will be running until 5 pm. The Curious Kids Museum is nearby – we’re all kids at heart, aren’t we? The Krasl Art Center is reknown for its sculpture collection. Or shop the Box Factory for the Artsfor items made by local artists. For more ideas, see Visitor Information

This will be a fun wrap-up to our MARP year of great meetings in great stations.
Michigan Association of Railroad Passengers

ANNOUNCING

MARP Member Meeting
Saturday, October 8, 2011, 11 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
(Executive Committee will meet at 10:00 a.m. – All are welcome to sit in)
Historic Michigan Theatre
124 North Mechanic Street
Jackson, MI 49201-1301
(517) 783-0962

Map & Directions: click HERE

This month’s meeting will be a real treat. John Guidinger, one of the founding members of MARP, will be our host as we meet in the historic Michigan Theatre. If you haven’t been to the theatre recently, you will be astonished at the progress that has been made through the hard work of some very dedicated volunteers in restoring much of the former glory of this unusual theatre.
John will also recount some of the history of the Jackson Station, just down the street, as well as the nearby NYC freight house, which now houses a Wendy’s restaurant where some of us may choose to have lunch. Others may wish to have lunch at Daryl’s or Belle Notte, just steps from the theatre.

Of course, the big attraction of the day will be the presence of the Amtrak 40th Anniversary Exhibit Train at the Jackson Station. The exhibit train will be open 10-4 both Saturday and Sunday, along with displays and exhibits within the station. The Jackson station opened to passengers of the Michigan Central in 1873 and is one of the oldest continuously functioning rail passenger stations in the country.

Westbound Wolverine #351 has been arriving in JXN ca. 9:15 am, but with the recent track work completed, it may be closer to the scheduled 8:24 am arrival time.

So do plan to make a day of it – or even a weekend!

Michigan Association of Railroad Passengers

Links of interest:
History of the Michigan Theatre

History of the Jackson Station

Amtrak’s 40th Anniversary Exhibit Train

Explore the City of Jackson