CENTRAL ELECTRIC RAILFANS' ASSOCIATION
What's new at CERA!
MEMBERS: WATCH CERA's Annual Meeting JAN. 28 Happy New Year! The CERA Board of Directors will present an annual meeting for members on Jan. 28 at 7 p.m. Central Time, on Zoom. Last year's Annual Meeting had great attendance in the Zoom format, from members around the country and even internationally. (There will be no 2nd Friday Zoom presentation on Jan. 14.) The Annual Meeting, in which members in good standing as of 2021 may vote during the procedings, begins at 7 p.m., followed shortly after by a program from outgoing CERA President John Nicholson about the North Shore Line. Please join us at 7 p.m., Central, on Friday, Jan. 28, 2022 at: https://tinyurl.com/CERAonZOOM Please stay tuned for news of January's meetings in the coming weeks. RECORDINGS AVAILABLE CEDAR RAPIDS: A TALE OF TWO INTERUBANS Take a ride over the Cedar Rapids and Iowa City Railway and the Waterloo, Cedar Falls and Northern Railroad Many of the interurbans of Iowa continued to provide electrically operated passenger and freight service well into the 1950s. Two of those were the Cedar Rapids and Iowa City Railway (Crandic) and the Waterloo, Cedar Falls and Northern Railroad. Watch the recorded Zoom session here. Luke Stephens is a Cedar Rapids area high school student who has a curiosity about “the way things used to be” where he lives. After seeing a 1920s photo of a Crandic interurban on the main street of his hometown, he began to research the interurban industry in general and the Crandic in particular. The result was a 20-minute video that impressed many of us “old timers” with his depth of research and articulate presentation. Luke now presents an expanded PowerPoint program on both of the Cedar Rapids interurbans with views along the line and insights into the operation of these roads. Many photos in both black-and-white and color (edited by John Nicholson), maps, and other graphics promise to make this an entertaining and informative program. Be sure to join us and spread the word to other CERA members. RECORDED PROGRAMS AVAILABLE TO ALL David Wilson: From the Garfield 'L' to Blue Line Rapid Transit Watch David Wilson's fascinating presentation of how a historic “L” and interurban corridor was transformed into today’s Eisenhower Expressway and its pioneering rapid transit line. Watch the recording of our public Zoom presentation from May 14, Before There Was a Prairie Path: The Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad, presented by John Nicholson. The program, which clocks in at an hour and 52 minutes of fascinating stories and photograpy can be viewed here. Watch 20th Century's LeHigh Valley Transit program. 20th Century Railroad Club welcomed CERA President John Nicholson for a reprise of the Lehigh Valley Transit portion of John's August CERA Zoom meeting. That's the program we had not been able to feature in a recording. So click here to see and hear the history of Pennsylvania inter-urban line Lehigh Valley Transit. The recording of the April 14 presentation for 20th Century runs just about an hour long. TIME TRAVEL TO CHICAGO'S METROPOLITAN "L" On Friday, Feb. 12, 2021 Bruce Moffat presented: Chicago’s Metropolitan “L”. The Zoom program recording is available here. OTHER CERA ZOOM PROGRAMS RIDE THE NORTH SHORE LINE AGAIN!We were happy to see at least 282 viewers on our Jan. 22 program about the North Shore Line. Watch the recorded program by following this link.
MANHATTAN TRANSFER David Wilson takes us on a trip to New York City in this recorded Zoom program. THE LOOP "L" Patrick Reardon's history of The Loop: The "L" Tracks That Shaped and Saved Chicago. The edited video of the program is now live. Ray DeGroote's October railfanning in Hungary and the Czech Republic, is also available. And from John Nicholson comes September's presentation ofthe Chicago South Shore and South Bend. If you’d like to present a program with CERA via Zoom, contact us. We can scan your photos or slides and format them into a PowerPoint program for presentation. |
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IN-PERSON MEETINGS RETURN!! Our last in-person meeting featured Norm Krentel discusssing Michigan Railway’s Flint-Saginaw-Bay City Line. Please stay tuned for news of January's meetings in the coming weeks. CERA on Zoom Recordings available now CEDAR RAPIDS: A TALE OF TWO INTERUBANS Watch the wildly successful July 23 program from railfan newcomer Luke Stephens. Take a ride over the Cedar Rapids and Iowa City Railway and the Waterloo, Cedar Falls and Northern Railroad Many of the interurbans of Iowa continued to provide electrically operated passenger and freight service well into the 1950s. Two of those were the Cedar Rapids and Iowa City Railway (Crandic) and the Waterloo, Cedar Falls and Northern Railroad. Watch the recorded Zoom session here. Luke Stephens is a Cedar Rapids area high school student who has a curiosity about “the way things used to be” where he lives. After seeing a 1920s photo of a Crandic interurban on the main street of his hometown, he began to research the interurban industry in general and the Crandic in particular. The result was a 20-minute video that impressed many of us “old timers” with his depth of research and articulate presentation. Luke now presents an expanded PowerPoint program on both of the Cedar Rapids interurbans with views along the line and insights into the operation of these roads. Many photos in both black-and-white and color (edited by John Nicholson), maps, and other graphics promise to make this an entertaining and informative program. Be sure to join us and spread the word to other CERA members. RECORDED PROGRAMS AVAILABLE TO ALL David Wilson: From the Garfield 'L' to Blue Line Rapid Transit Watch David Wilson's fascinating presentation of how a historic “L” and interurban corridor was transformed into today’s Eisenhower Expressway and its pioneering rapid transit line. Watch the recording of our public Zoom presentation from May 14, Before There Was a Prairie Path: The Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad, presented by John Nicholson. The program, which clocks in at an hour and 52 minutes of fascinating stories and photograpy can be viewed here. Watch 20th Century's LeHigh Valley Transit program. 20th Century Railroad Club welcomed CERA President John Nicholson for a reprise of the Lehigh Valley Transit portion of John's August CERA Zoom meeting. That's the program we had not been able to feature in a recording. So click here to see and hear the history of Pennsylvania inter-urban line Lehigh Valley Transit. The recording of the April 14 presentation for 20th Century runs just about an hour long. TIME TRAVEL TO CHICAGO'S METROPOLITAN "L" On Friday, Feb. 12, 2021 Bruce Moffat presented: Chicago’s Metropolitan “L”. The Zoom program recording is available here. OTHER CERA ZOOM PROGRAMS RIDE THE NORTH SHORE LINE AGAIN!We were happy to see at least 282 viewers on our Jan. 22 program about the North Shore Line. Watch the recorded program by following this link.
MANHATTAN TRANSFER David Wilson takes us on a trip to New York City in this recorded Zoom program. THE LOOP "L" Patrick Reardon's history of The Loop: The "L" Tracks That Shaped and Saved Chicago. The edited video of the program is now live. Ray DeGroote's October railfanning in Hungary and the Czech Republic, is also available. And from John Nicholson comes September's presentation ofthe Chicago South Shore and South Bend. If you’d like to present a program with CERA via Zoom, contact us. We can scan your photos or slides and format them into a PowerPoint program for presentation. |
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