July 10, 2008 Update

The clock keeps ticking toward January, and RPCA Dallas 2009!

Host hotel is the Sheraton Dallas (formerly the Adam's Mark), located at 400 Olive St. Easily accessible from Union Station by Dart Red and Blue Lines, you de-board at the Pearl Street Station and the hotel is just across the street, about a half block away.

A block of rooms has been set aside for Conference attendees. Our Conference room rate is $124 + tax per night (single, double, triple, quad). Make your reservations directly with the hotel, by calling 1-888-627-8191 and mentioning the Railroad Passenger Car Alliance Conference rate.

Last date to make your reservations at the Conference rate is December 24, 2008. And there is much to see and do in Dallas, besides RPCA activities. The South Central High Performance Rail Corridor Conference (Texas Rail Advocates) will be holding their Banquet on Thursday evening the 15th and their Conference activities on Friday the 16th. So come early and stay late. Enjoy the educational activities, and all the sightseeing that Dallas has to offer.

We plan to have our agenda and registration form ready to go in early October, so watch your mailbox for the envelope from RPCA... Information will be available at www.rpca.com in mid - October.

See you in January!

On behalf of the Officers and Board of Directors of the Railroad Passenger Car Alliance, you are invited to join us at the 2009 Annual Conference, to be held in Dallas, Texas at the Sheraton Starwood Hotel - formerly the Adams Mark - in Downtown Dallas Friday, January 16 through Sunday, January 18. This Conference will include the typical array of seminars, a vendor room, Saturday night banquet, and the traditional Hospitality Room. In addition, we're planning a car party at Dallas Union Station Friday evening, access to a nearby rail museum, as well as an interesting optional rail site visit. And for those who may be interested, there will be an optional spouse tour.

Don't forget, in Dallas there are also some interesting rail miles, to be explored at your leisure. The Blue and Yellow light rail lines connect Union Station and the Adams Mark, as well as continuing further out into the suburbs. The Trinity Rail Express (TRE) departs Union Station and ends at Ft. Worth, with service 6 days a week to the Dallas/Ft. Worth Airport. Visit the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza and relive those fateful days in November 1963. And don't forget to explore Uptown on the McKinney Avenue Trolley, which provides free rides.

This Conference will be a first…Texas Rail Advocates is planning to hold their Conference in conjunction with ours! More information on these events will be available in the upcoming months in the RPCA Information Exchange, and also on the RPCA website. Preliminary plans call for a Conference visit to the Railroad Museum at Fair Park and a Monday visit to the BNSF National Operations Center in Fort Worth.

We plan to distribute Conference information on or about October 1, 2008. You can expect to receive a letter from the Conference Committee on RPCA letterhead, with instructions on how to obtain information from the RPCA website, and how to request a hard copy of the Registration Packet if you don't have access to a computer. Remember, using the Website to obtain your information will keep the cost of Conferences lower. Please do your part to help!

We look forward to seeing you there!

Sincerely,

The Dallas 2009 Conference Committee:
Courtney and Elaine Shenkle, Co-Chairpersons
Email: dallas09@rpca.com or 410-672-6639