Our Toys for Tots event will take place Wed. Dec. 7th. Our Santa Trains event will take place Saturday Dec. 10th.
Tommorow is the last day that vendors will accept SmartBenefit After tomorrow will no longer be able to exchange the paper vouchers for VRE tickets.
For more information about SmartBenefits, please visit http://www.vre.org/service/transitbenefits.html.
VRE will be holding its annual Toys for Tots collection on Wednesday, December 7th.
Once again, we are helping the U.S. Marine Corps to distribute toys to less fortunate children that might not otherwise receive any gifts during the holidays. The toys and donations by VRE riders will go towards making the holidays for underprivileged children in Washington a more special and exciting time.
VRE riders have always been very generous in the past and we would like to continue this tradition by helping make this holiday season special for children who may not be as fortunate as others.
If you are in Manassas Dec. 13th to the 17th, feel free to drop by the Winter Wonderland Model Train show located on the 3rd floor of the Center for the Arts, 9419 Battle Street.
The hours will be Tues.-Fri. 5pm to 8pm and Saturday, 10am to 4pm.
Visitors are asked to bring a canned good or an unwrapped toy to be donated to the SERVE shelter.
Want to work for the railroad? VRE has several positions open. Please visit our website at http://www.vre.org/about/vrejobs.htm for more information.
There will be no service this Thursday for the Thanksgiving Day holiday.
An “S” schedule service will resume on Friday.
Full service will resume Monday, November 28th.
On the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, we are normally over capacity on trains 301, 303, and 327. In order to accommodate these riders, we will be sending one of the two 8 car sets from the Manassas Line to the Fredericksburg Line in the afternoon.
Vendors will continue to accept SmartBenefit vouchers until November 30th. After Nov. 30th you will no longer be able to exchange the paper vouchers for VRE tickets.
Tickets go on sale November 28th, so be sure to visit our website at http://www.vre.org/seasonal/santa-trains.html.
Here you will find details such as Santa Train ticket vendor information as well as the schedules for the trains. All riders, from infant to infinity, must have a ticket. Tickets are $5.00 each at our participating physical vendors. Also, tickets will be available on-line via PayPal for $6; see our website for more info. All proceeds benefit Operation Lifesaver.
Also, keep in mind that Operation Lifesaver Santa Trains also work in conjunction with the Marine Corps Toys for Tots. So on December 10th, our Fredericksburg, Manassas, Burke Centre, and Woodbridge stations will be drop off sites for the Marine Corps Toys for Tots Campaign. We are, therefore, encouraging everyone to bring a toy to the Santa Trains so that someone less fortunate in the Virginia area can share in the joys of the holidays.
Just a 7 month heads up, but remember that FRCs have an expiration date. The latest batch (the teal and blue ones) expire on June 30th, 2012.
We’ll send reminders throughout the upcoming months. FRCs are not exchangable so if you happen to have a bundle of them, you may wish to remember to use them.
327 made it past the hill and left Burke center 20 min. late.
Correction: Train 327 is 20 min. late due to slippery rail near “Rolling Road”.
Train 327 is 20 min. late due to slippery rail near Rippon.
With Thanksgiving a week away, holiday event planning has some people in a tizzy. (Early planners have been asking about Santa Trains since the summer.) Never fear, as information on the ever popular Santa Trains has finally arrived!
There are two opportunities to contribute to the Marine Corps Toys for Tots collection. On Wednesday, December 7th, riders can leave an unwrapped toy that morning on the seat of their train and we will collected them for the Marines. Also, Conductors can accept donation checks and gift cards that passengers wish to give. Checks can be made payable to: Toys for Tots.
Saturday, December 10th, will be our Santa train event, where participants are encouraged to bring a toy on this day and we will collect them before everyone boards. Again, these toys will be presented to the Marines.
On Thursday, November 25th, there will be no VRE service for Thanksgiving Day.
Service will resume on Friday, November 26th, however, trains will only operate on the “S” schedule.
Please remind riders that saving seats is not permitted. It’s just unrealistic to think you can block others from taking an open seat, especially with the crowded conditions these days. Also, try acting like an adult rather than being passive-aggressive and antagonistic toward people who sit next to you! I think some of the long time riders think they own certain sections of certain trains.
Please close the bathroom door after exiting. It is so annoying to see someone open the door, close it and when they are finished, leave the door wide open. Passengers sitting near the bathroom don’t want to see the interior.
I have found more & more people talking for the entire ride, sometimes making a series of calls or having a marathon conversation (at times, embarrassingly intimate). Even though the cars may not be technically “Quiet,” it’s simple courtesy not to inflict one’s personal business on other riders for extended periods of time.
People who are considerate enough to use earphones with the MP3 players, or whatever gadget they are using seem to turn the volume up to a level where the rest of us in the car hear what sounds like a soft scream. Please remind people to turn the sound down.
We all are tired at the end of the day (or in the morning), but folks continue to put their feet on the seats and/or on the upper levels hanging over those seated below them. It would be one thing if they showered coins upon those seated below them but it is more like cinders.
The crest of the hill is just north of Rolling Road, once the trains pass that hill they should resume track speed.