Sites for the 2026 RRSHS Tour in Southern Michigan
The tour will include structures of the Ann Arbor Railroad (AA); Detroit, Toledo & Ironton; Pere Marquette (C&O), Grand Rapids & Indiana (PRR), Grand Trunk Western, Wabash, Lake Shore & Michigan Southern, and Michigan Central (New York Central System). A tour of the Steam Railroading Institute in Owosso is also planned. Some of these sites were seen on the 2004 tour.
Highlights of the tour include:
Niles, Dowagiac, Three Oaks, Lawton and New Buffalo are outside the geographic range of this tour, but may be covered in an upcoming Chicago Area tour already in planning.
Suggestions and offers of assistance are welcome; please contact Jim Kelling via: rshs2015@gmail.com or (414) 801-1293
Our hotel will be the La Quinta Inn & Suites by Wyndham, Detroit Metro Airport, 30847 Flynn Drive, Romulus, MI 48174, near Detroit-Wayne County Airport (DTW), offering free breakfast, free parking, and an airport shuttle. Our group rate is $97.00 per night plus tax. Use the following link: http://bit.ly/3Y7NIJf or use the group code “RAIL” when booking on the LaQuinta website. Reserve before May 3, 2026 to secure the discounted hotel rate. The nearest Amtrak station is in Dearborn a few miles away.
| Year | Location | Host(s) | Dates | Notes | # Attendees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | St. Louis | Shacklette | July 24‑25 | 7 | |
| 1972 | Pittsburgh | Koval / Weber | June 24‑25 | 6 | |
| 1973 | Toronto | Ehrke | Sept. 8 | 10 | |
| 1974 | Chicago | Koval | Aug. 17 | 1st slide show | 7 |
| 1975 | Philadelphia | Harwood | June 14 | 1st to use a bus(schoolbus) | 35 |
| 1976 | none | ||||
| 1977 | Cincinnati | Shacklette / Flinchpaugh | June 10‑11 | 12 | |
| 1978 | Chicago | Koval | June 10‑11 | 8 | |
| 1979 | none | ||||
| 1980 | none | ||||
| 1981 | Windsor, ON | Knudson / Seestedt / Weible | June 6‑7 | 1st Banquet | 10 |
| 1982 | Kansas City | Koval/Hannah/Shacklette | June 5 | 21 | |
| 1983 | Baltimore | Harwood | June 11 | approx. 10 | |
| 1984 | Minneapolis | Hannah | June 16‑17 | approx. 12‑14 | |
| 1985 | Buffalo | Rothenmeyer | June 15‑16 | 30 | |
| 1986 | Galesburg | Hannah | June 14‑15 | 15 | |
| 1987 | Boston | Parmenter / Goodwin / Hodge / Kierstad | June 13‑14 | 32 | |
| 1988 | Toledo | Camp | June 18‑19 | 30 | |
| 1989 | Richmond, VA | Traser/Mantey | June 3‑4 | 21 | |
| 1990 | Springfield, IL | Hannah | May 19‑20 | 28 | |
| 1991 | Grand Rapids | Rothwell | May 18‑19 | 28 | |
| 1992 | Toronto | Savage | June 5‑7 | 31 | |
| 1993 | New Stanton, PA | Ballash / Kevern / Waugh | June 5‑6 | 37 | |
| 1994 | Wilkes-Barre | Baker / Baker | June 4‑5 | 42 | |
| 1995 | Cedar Rapids | Koval | June 3‑4 | 25 | |
| 1996 | Ft. Worth-Dallas | Hannah | May 10‑12 | 23 | |
| 1997 | Dayton | Kolb Family | June 7‑9 | 32 | |
| 1998 | Newark, NJ | Garon / Garon | June 6‑8 | 36 | |
| 1999 | Elkhart | Koval / Davis | June 4‑6 | 38 | |
| 2000 | Rochester, NY | Rapp | June 3‑4 | 29 | |
| 2001 | Raleigh | Peterson | June 1‑3 | 44 | |
| 2002 | San Antonio | Langhart / Harris | Oct. 11‑14 | 24 | |
| 2003 | Portland, ME | Bachelder | June 6‑9 | First four days of bus trips | 26 |
| 2004 | Saginaw | Seward | June 4‑6 | 32 | |
| 2005 | Altoona | Ballash | June 3‑6 | Three days of bus trips | 34 |
| 2006 | Helena, Montana | Peterson | June 9‑11 | Three days of bus trips, first extension tour | 33 |
| 2007 | Cleveland | Camp | June 1‑4 | Three days of bus trips | 41 |
| 2008 | Charleston, SC | Xakellis | May 16‑19 | Three days of bus trips | 25 |
| 2009 | Topeka, Kansas | The Stahl's | June 3‑6 | Three days of bus trips, first Wed-Sat. meeting | 31 |
| 2010 | Central and Western Carolinas | Peterson / Shulby | June16‑19 | Three days of bus trips, pre-convention extension tour, June 14‑15 | 29 |
| 2011 | Oklahoma City | Nevins / Xakellis | June 8-11 | Four days of bus trips | 31 |
| 2012 | Baltimore, MD | Kelling | June 6‑9 | Four days of bus trips | 34 |
| 2013 | Providence, RI | Wickersham / Xakellis | June 5‑8 | Four days of bus trips | 31 |
| 2014 | Spokane/Seattle | High | July 13‑19 | Linear bus tour | 32 |
| 2015 | Harrisburg, PA | Kelling | June 3‑6 | Four days of bus tours | 37 |
| 2016 | Omaha-Council Bluffs | White / Hannah / Vana | June 7‑11 | Five days of bus tours | ?? |
| 2017 | Middletown, NY | Dent | June 25‑29 | Five days of bus tours | 34 |
| 2018 | Madison, WI | High | June 17‑21 | Five days of bus tours | 42 |
| 2019 | New Orleans, LA | Nevins / Xakellis | June 12‑15 | Four days of bus tours |
26 |
| 2020 | none | Not held due to global pandemic | |||
| 2021 | none | Not held due to global pandemic | |||
| 2022 | Easton, PA | Dent / Sosnowski | Aug. 18‑20 | Three days of bus tours | 25 |
| 2023 | Toledo, OH | Camp | June 7‑10 | Four days of bus tours | 22 |
| 2024 | Gainsville, GA | Dent / Xakellis | June 5-8 | Four days of bus tours | 29 |
| 2025 | Binghamton, NY | Dent / Xakellis / Pastorkey | June 11-14 | Four days of bus tours | 23 |
Binghamton, NY: June 11-14, 2025.
The 2025 convention was held Wednesday June 11 through Saturday June 14. It was hosted by Ted Xakellis, Jim Dent, and Bob Pastorkey, who is also a member of the Susquehanna Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society. Our hotel was in East Vestal, NY just a few miles west of Binghamton.
Wednesday covered Delaware & Hudson; Delaware, Lackawanna & Western; Erie and Lehigh Valley structures from Binghamton to Susquehanna, Nicholson, the iconic Sayre, PA depot and museum and ending at Nichols, NY.
Thursday covered D&H, Ulster & Delaware, Southern New York, Cooperstown & Charlotte Valley and New York Ontario & Western structures. Our stops included Bainbridge, Oneonta, Milford and Cooperstown, NY which has numerous depots.
Friday included DL&W, NYO&W, Lehigh Valley and Syracuse, Binghamton & New York depots. We shall visit Greene, Oxford, Norwich, Homer, Cortland and Cincinnatus, New York.
On Friday evening we met at My Uncle’s Place in Binghamton for a buffet dinner. Bob Pastorkey gave a PowerPoint presentation entitled Railroad Depots, Structures, and General Infrastructure in and around Binghamton – the Earlier Years!
Saturday we visited DL&W, Erie, Lehigh Valley and Pennsylvania Railroad structures. Stops included Vestal, Owego, Ithaca, Horseheads and Elmira, NY. There was a catered lunch at the Newark Valley, NY stop.
Last date this page was modified – 01/02/2026.
_____