Society President Steve Staffieri announced the cancellation, saying, “Despite the tremendous effort on the part of Bennett Levin, Amtrak has decided not to honor the agreement we already had with them.” Staffieri said tickets would be refunded.
The trip was to have been the highlight of the annual meeting and the last run of the runs as Levin has said he does not plan to equip the units with Positive Train Control, a crash avoidance system that is required after Dec. 31, 2018. “A huge amount of time, money and effort has been spent putting this trip together on the part of Mr. Levin, the PRRT&HS, and myself,” Staffieri wrote. “My sincere apologies to those who made their plans and reservations to be a part of our 50th annual meeting celebration and will not be attending due to this cancellation.”
The annual meeting features multiple seminars for model builders and historians, as well as bus trips to the Railroaders Memorial Museum and Horseshoe Curve on and to the Everett Railroad.
