2013 Annual Meeting

On Saturday, November 16th, RAIL Solution will convene its 2013 Annual Meeting at 10:00 am in the Roanoke Higher Education Center in downtown Roanoke, VA. A light lunch will follow the meeting.

We welcome all rail supporters to join us.

Our speaker will be Bruce McFarling, author of the “Sunday Train” posts on his own blog, Burning the Midnight Oil, and on the progressive political blog Daily Kos. Modestly, Bruce describes himself as an “Obscure development economist living and teaching in Northeast Ohio.” Yet his “Sunday Train” postings voice clear and thoughtful analysis of transportation and energy use sustainability. A mighty advocate for rail, Bruce has promoted the concept of the Steel Interstate System across the U.S., for years, building a regular following on Dailykos.com. Bruce’s recent postings about the Steel Interstate and its quick and dramatic impact on slowing climate change are: “Steel Interstate Freight Rail” and “Passenger Rail“. More recent is his myFDF blog entitled “Steel Interstate Revolution.”

A portion of the meeting will offer a friendly, relaxed space to encourage rail supporters to share their hopes and dreams for rail transportation—both passenger and freight. How you would use trains? How rail improvements would benefit you? What you would be willing to pay to make this happen? How can we make this happen?

Last year in Abingdon, VA, RAIL Solution held just such an annual meeting. The response of rail supporters was deeply gratifying. So we wanted to give folks in the Roanoke and New River Valleys a chance to share their hopes, now that the promise of the return of passenger rail is only a couple of years away.

This year’s RAIL Solution Annual meeting will be in room 212 at the Roanoke Higher Education Center which is located across Jefferson Street from Hotel Roanoke in downtown Roanoke.  Take the Downtown exit off I-581, and keep right when the exit ramp splits.  Though it looks from the street like the main entrance is on Jefferson Street , in fact it is in back off the parking lot.  You will enter the 2nd floor from that level, and Room 212 is immediately on the left as you come in.  Parking in both the surface lot and the adjacent parking garage is free on weekends.

A dial-in conference-call option will be available for supporters unable to attend to hear the meeting. Email RAIL Solution to sign up as a supporter and receive the telephone number to join the meeting.

Rees Shearer, Chair, RAIL Solution