I just checked the Amtrak site again and there's a problem in that the Lake Shore limited arrives at 11:24am on the 12th June and the Adirondack leaves at 10:48 am!!! This means the Lake Shore Limited even if on time will now be 36 minutes LATE!! The original plan had 4 hours between the Arrival of the LSL and the departure of the Adirondack. Who and why was this changed?

I need to be on that train to get into Montreal on the 12th of June. Any ideas people on how I can get to Montreal if it's really true and I can't catch the Adirondack?

[This message has been edited by Rheboi (edited 04-30-2004).]

You are right. For some wierd reason, Amtrak broke the connection, but eastbound only. It still exists westbound.

Now to your eastbound problem: There is a solution. It is called Go Greyhound. You can make all your arrangements at www.greyhound.com.

Here is what I have found: Schenectady gives you a very short distance between train and bus, 0.36 miles per Mapquest. The bus then goes to Albany, and you have to change for Montreal. You can reduce this by taking the train to Rensselaer, but then you have a 1.9 mile taxi ride to the bus station in Albany. Bus stations: 322 Erie Blvd, Schenectady, phone 1-518-346-6113; 34 Hamilton St., Albany, phone 1-518-434-8461.

Train 48:
Ar Schenectady 11:38am
Ar Rensselaer 12:30am (shown as leaving time)

Here are the bus schedules:
Bus schedule no. 9670 0257
Lv Schenectady 1:45pm 3:15pm
Ar Albany----- 2:10pm 3:45pm
Lv Albany----- 2:50pm 4:15pm
Ar Montreal--- 8:20pm 10:15pm
There are also later busses.

Maybe not as great as arriving by train, but it saves your trip. At least the return is still there. Return train times are:

I was really looking forward to that part of the trip too!

I'll check out the Bus as I have to be in Montreal Saturday Night at the latest.

Would the fact that I had a guaranteed connection mean that they have to fix this problem?

Also at the Greyhound site there are many Montreal's to pick from. Which one do I want that gets me to somewhere near the train station?

When I first booked this trip it all worked, with up to 4 hour overlaps to allow for trains being late. I know 4 hours is not much but I've been watching the trains lately and they've been on schedule give or take an hour so I would have been ok.

Now effectively I'm being dumped in a strange city (for me) leaving me to find my own way to my journeys destination.

WB remains "good' Daily.

It would appear that the only alternatives are either to add a day to your trip and schedule an overnight somewhere between Schnectaday and New York or at Schnectady, hoof it on over to the *** pound. A third likely impractical alternative would be to arrange a one-way auto rental, but considering this is international travel, I would guess that option is a non-option.

I can't do a rental car as I don't drive LHD cars on the right hand side of the road. We here in NZ drive on left side of the road in RHD cars. I would not trust myself to drive in US. Also the cost would be too much.

I've already paid for my train trip that was supposed to get me to Montreal Saturday night.

From what I see the LSL does go through Albany so I should go there and get to Greyhound and hope I can get a bus that will get me to Montreal.

I know there are conductors that are on this site and there may be people who can talk to somebody at Amtrak who cares, could you find out what is going on and what happens to me now they've changed the schedule?

If your trip would get you to Toronto on a Saturday night please E mail me for another option but I need more details of your trip.

Chris

http://www.trainweb.org/chris

I'm planning on going to the Formula One race at the Giles Villneuve circuit on the 13th. I was to meet friends at the train station on the night of the 12th so I could get my ticket.

Arriving on the 13th will generally mean I miss it. Also the people I'm supposed to meet will be travelling with me down to Indiapolis for the US Formula One race. If I can't meet up with them I'm seriously lost@!

Are they planning on making me wait another night, meaning I then have to bus or have they got alternative transport planned?

Ringing them from here in New Zealand is too expensive and I believe you have a toll-free number you can use?

I've emailed Amtrak and have not had a response which is a bit poor.

However, it used to be that we could not reach "800" numbers at all from here (Taiwan). Now we can, but we have to wait through a recording that states that we will be charged at the regular international calling rate. Since the recording is in English, I believe that the change must be on the US end. (If it was on this end, the recording would most likely be in Chinese.)

When we first arrived in this place (1990), a weekly call to each side's parents plus a random occasional call otherwise usually got us a US$300.00 to $350.00 phone bill. Now with children and others in the states, we make probably 25 to 50 calls to the US a month without getting a phone bill above the $200.00 range.

I had requested information on why they had broken my connection and what, if anything Amtrak was going to do so I could get to Montreal on the 12th as originally planned and paid for...

Amtraks reply was....

Wait for it....

Thank you for contacting us.

Amtrak does not permit changes to reservations via the Internet. Discount fares
are limited and sell out quickly.

If you need to change your reservation, please call us immediately at
1-800-USA-RAIL (1-800-872-7245) from the United States and Canada. Outside the
United States you can reach us at 215-856-7952

I'm totally lost for words....

Dear,

Thank you for contacting us.

We apologize for the confusion. We mistook your previous
e-mail message to be an inquiry about the possibility of changing
your existing reservation.

We have forwarded your message to our International Sales
Department. Someone will contact you

Finally I was contacted by the "International" booking side of Amtrak. I was told I have 3 options:

A: stay overnight in SDY... No thanks, I'm not going to miss my F1 race! Not an option!

B: Get off in Buffalo and catch a Bus to Montreal $95US Sounds .. ok, but will I see any Buffalo in Buffalo or will they be Bison and the REAL Buffalo are in a place called... Bison?

C: Full refund - that certainly won't get me to Montreal for my F1 race! Not a viable option there... Puh-lease!

Before I could pick option B I got another email telling me I should stay on the train until Schnectady, get off and the Greyhound bus station is 3 blocks away? I'm sure somebody in this forum told me that! Anyway the trip on Greyhound from SDY is $45 so that's what I'm going to do...

This is the bit I like!! LOL

I then sent a thank-you back to Amtrak (I really am a NICE person! Really!) and said due to the hassle of missing my connection surely the least Amtrak could do is upgrade my LSL service to sleeper (could only afford sleeper on Chief)

Well I'm often told if ya don't ask you'll never know... LOL

Now I do... they have upgraded my LSL service to sleeper!!

So I may have been a bit harsh on those WONDERFUL people in the Amtrak booking office, those HARD working souls of the railroad so EVERYBODY here read it that I am 100% satisfied with Amtrak so far! LOL

Once again in the immortal words of Sherlock Holmes....

"The game is afoot!"

I'm told they have showers in the cars so I'm hoping before I get off the train and find the bus I can have a shower (I'm never 100% awake until I have my morning HOT shower)

What are the showers like on the trains Mr. Toy? I've never seen one? I'm sure they're not the "highlight" of any tour but still would like to know...

Regarding Mr. Royal's report, I also once "caught" an attendant (not a very good one in any manner) on the Lake Shore turning the shower room into a luggage area. I simply removed the pieces and took my shower. If he didn't like it, sorry bout that.

If one's idea of a shower is a "Niagra Falls torrent" of water complete with a 'Water Pik" massager head, then I guess you will be disappointed. But in my experiences, I have found the water flow to be of adequate pressure and temperature to be properly cleansed. There has always been an adequate supply of soap, toiletries and towells available.

However, considering the finite supply of water, one should be mindful of "waste not, want not".

To date "I'm batting a thousand" with Amtrak showers.

My trip back to LA on the SW Chief is coach so I envisage no showering 8-(( but such is life. I'm told as of now there is only one sleeper available on the trip back and the cost is prohibitive for me.

This is not really a big problem. I'm sure I'll be fine.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Rheboi:
What are the showers like on the trains Mr. Toy?

---

I've never used a train shower myself. My trips have never been omore than one night, so I could easily shower before leaving and after arriving.

I've only seen the Superliner showers. The public ones are quite spacious, with a full size stall and an adequate sized changing area. I usually see bath towels available in the changing room. The Deluxe bedroom showers are a joke. The toilet compartment doubles as the stall, and there is only about 18" square of floor space. No elbow room to speak of. I think if I had a Deluxe room I'd probably use the public shower anyway.

I seem to recall on one trip on the CZ that attendant was using the shower space to store dirty bed sheets in the final hours before we reached Emeryville.

------------------
Sing to the tune of Humoresque:
Passengers will please refrain,
From flushing toilets while the train,
Is standing in the station,
I love you.

Now I do... they have upgraded my LSL service to sleeper!!

My adventure to Montreal etc is back on "track"![/B][/QUOTE]

Excellent news!

I was wondering earlier today if there had been any resolution to your broken connection. This solution should at least get you where you need to be when you need to be there......and the upgrade on the Lake Shore Limited is a very nice gesture. Good for you for thinking to ask.

Make sure you tell us how your trip went once it's over.

You're Departing Los Angeles June 9th right? Seems like I remember that you would be heading east on the Chief the same day I'm going to be leaving Sacramento for Denver on the California Zephyr.

------------------
David Pressley

I will do my best, I've already written pages on why and how this trip started. I've got to edit it down a bit, add the travel story with some pictures, hopefully some video and get it up on the internet!

"You're Departing Los Angeles June 9th right?"

That's the plan!

"Seems like I remember that you would be heading east on the Chief the same day I'm going to be leaving Sacramento for Denver on the California Zephyr."