It was nice seeing you there, too! It was a nice coincidence that we ended up in the same booth on the domeliner.
I've finally got my pictures all fixed up:
The rest of them, and a few videos, are here.
I agree real passenger service is probably very unlikely, not so much because of the speed (maybe modern self-propelled diesel ralicars could go a bit faster), but because of (a) having to deal with CSX for the Mt. Holly - NW Charlotte section, (b) rehabilitating the out-of-service track that goes as far as Cedar St. in Charlotte, and (c) dealing with the "last mile" into uptown.
Maybe some Panthers tailgating trains, if the Lakewood Trolley people can get something going, too.
I found out about this excursion pretty much by accident. I was Googling for "Piedmont and Northern", doing some research for my web pages, and the Premier Rails page about the excursion (with reservation info) turned up. I was surprised that it wasn't linked from anywhere on the Iowa Pacific web site, as far as I could tell. Then I found the P&N Facebook page which had a link to the Premier Rails page.