Next Jamboree Site Chosen?Plus New High Adventure Base

[wagionvigil]

WIth the Amtrak stations close I see many units arriving by rail like they used to do But for me it is a 3 hour jaunt

[wagionvigil]

Winston Salem is an easy drive from Mt Hope. BSA will choose one airport to provide shuttle service from for staff Beckley I do not believe would be an option. Charleston,Winston Salem, would be choices. There will be deals being made with airlines for the jamboree and the World Jamboree.

[WVBeaver05]

On more serious note than my last post (although, there really isn't much flat land here), here are some other news reports of the announcement:

http://www.wvmetronews.com/index.cfm?func=displayfullstory&storyid=33669
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/boy-scouts-of-america-to,1052858.shtml
http://www.bdtonline.com/statenews/local_story_322203622.html
(I'll get a couple more from the local Charleston newspapers - I hope - when they get some server problem resolved.)

Note that there is an exit from I-77 just SW of the site in Prosperity, WV, and TWO Amtrak stations are located on the New River at Thurmond, WV, NE of the site, and at Prince, WV, east of McCreery. The Thurmond stop is a "Flag" stop, while the one in Prince is the one that serves Beckley. The Amtrak stations are on the "Cardinal" line between Chicago and New York via Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Charleston, DC, Baltimore, & Philadelphia, which runs 3 days a week. Schedules might not work though.

As for Airports, the NEAREST are in Beckley and Charleston, WV, but would require charter flights for contingents. Charleston could be used for individual staff travel. The nearest MAJOR airports would be those in Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and Washington DC. Each would be an easy (4.5-5 hour) drive on Interstate highways, with PGH the shortest. (I-75 and I-64 from Cinci, I-79 from Pgh, and I-66, I-81, I-64 from DC) So touring in DC can still be part of the experience.

The distance from a "major" airport was a consideration in the site selection process. I know that the team representing this site pomoted the use of rail transport to compensate. The proximity of both I-77 and I-64 also helps.

I have been out of town for my (non-Scouting) job al week and don't have any official info, but I'll be trying to find out more when I can.

YiS

[wagionvigil]

Wayne Dana is sending me some stuff. He was at the Dedication

[WVBeaver05]

Winston Salem is an easy drive from Mt Hope. BSA will choose one airport to provide shuttle service from for staff Beckley I do not believe would be an option. Charleston,Winston Salem, would be choices. There will be deals being made with airlines for the jamboree and the World Jamboree.

Just drove that and it is an easy drive. Same thing would apply to Charlotte, too - probably a bit easier but a little farther. Still Charleston would be a very good choice. The airport is nearly on I-64 then about an hour to the site. Winston-Salem would be over 2, Charlotte over 3. But some pretty nice views coming North on I-77 through VA from that direction.

Beckley airport is pretty small, but depending on where some folks are coming from or the connections there are more flights into there than you might expect.

I expect they will be working on deals for rail traffic around Jamoree time as well. Maybe even some for the High Adventure folks when that gets started. Guess we will see.


YiS

[PaulSWolf]

Remember all if you flatten out the state of WV it would be bigger than Alaska

I don't think the Amtrak schedules will work for anyone but individuals.

From: http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentSe ... 7405732505
The Cardinal/Hoosier State timetable gives these times:

Westbound Trains:
Leave NYC on Wed/Fri/Sun at 6:45 am
Leave DC at 11:10 am
and Arrive/Leave Prince at 630 pm
Arrive in Cinci at 1:03 am Tue/Thu/Mon
and Chicago at 10:35 am

Eastbound Trains:
Leave Chicago Tue/Thu/Sat at 5:45 pm
Leave Cinci at 3:30 am Wed/Fri/Sun
Arrive/Leave Prince at 9:53 am
Arrive in DC at 5:55 pm
Arrive in NYC at 9:43 pm

Arrival from the west and departure to the east around 10 am on a Wed/Fri/Sun if that's the opening or closing day isn't bad, but arrival from the east and/or departure to the west around 6:30 pm wouldn't make any sense no matter what day the Jambo starts or ends. So in either case, either arrival or departure would be nearly impossible to schedule.

I can't see Amtrak adding special trains, as they'd have to "deadhead once they unloaded.

OTOH, Cinci is a major Hub for Delta, and Dulles is for United, and those, plus Pittsburgh, National, and BWI all serve many airlines, so scheduling would be much easier. Charlotte and Winston Salem are nearly as far or further than Pittsburgh.

[wagionvigil]

In the past when they used trains there were special trains run for the Jamboree. Hey they 3 years to figure it out. If there is a need for more trains amtrak will add them. It would be fantastic coming from say LA by train to WV can you imagine the view along the way. We have forgotten that trains were once the way to travel. Go to Europe They still are.

[ronin718]

Remember all if you flatten out the state of WV it would be bigger than Alaska

But what would happen if you flattened Alaska???

[wagionvigil]

Good Buy Canada

[smtroop168]

And if you flattened out some of our guts we'd be 8 feet tall! Don't eat too much turkey.

[wagionvigil]

The "island" in the middle of the picture is the top of a mountain it is pat of the property but may no be usable. I also found out that most of the planning is being done by volunteers not the professional staff.
Waiting for a map with what will be where will se it later this week and will try to post a picture of it.

[wagionvigil]

here is the map of what they plan

[wagionvigil]

http://www.register-herald.com/policecourts/local_story_313215701.html

Arson on new BSA Property