After reading that The Adirondack is on the chopping block, I decided to go ahead and try to book a spur-of-the-moment trip to Montreal. I succeeded in making reservations. I'm leaving next week on my birthday, August 5th. And what do you know - it turns out that August 5th is The Adirondack's 25th birthday, so a special fare is being offered, just $35.
My friend's son is going to drive me from Ithaca to Syracuse at five in the morning. He just graduated and hasn't found a job yet. I'll give him $100 for dropping me off and picking me up the next evening.
Train 280 leaves Syracuse at 6:55 AM. It's an Empire Service train. Some Amfleet coaches, an Amcafe, and a loco. It starts its journey in Niagara Falls at 3:45 AM! I'll ride it to Schenectady where I'll connect with The Adirondack. The connecting layover at Schenectady is about two and a half hours.
While I have reserved coach seats, I'm not sure if seating is assigned. I'll want to sit on the right side of the train going north, so I can view Lake Champlain. They say The Adirondack is one of the ten most scenic railroad rides in the world.
It'll be a long day for some people on the train, but I'm a rail buff, so it will probably go all too fast. When we get to the Canadian Border, I'll get the chance to try out my new New York State Enhanced Driver License (EDL). So far, only 195,000 US citizens have them, and only a few states offer them. Privacy advocates say they're risky to carry. "Strangers" can scan your "personal" information without your knowledge. I'm not too worried about it. As far as I know, either a passport or an EDL is required at all border crossings now. And the new US Passports are scanable too.
Once in Montreal, I'll pick up some chinese take-out food at Kim Foo's and then check in to my hotel. It's called Hotel du Forum Nouveau. Rates start at $56 a night, and the bathroom is down the hall. Nothing special, but the price is right. It's just six blocks from VIA/AMTRAK's Gare Centrale.
Having freshened up in my overnight digs, I'll hit the Montreal Comedy Works nightclub. The show starts at 8:30 PM. After that, I might ask a cabbie to find me one of Montreal's famous all-night bagel-and-smoked-meats joints.
By then I should be wiped out! To bed at midnight, and back up at five for a photo safari with my Canon Digital Rebel XTi. The sun should rise at about 5:45 AM. Hopefully I'll get some nice shots of the Montreal skyline at dawn. I'll only have a few hours. The southbound Adirondack leaves at 9:30 AM. If I'm lucky I'll get Old Montreal, Hotel De Ville, the Old Port, Chinatown, Little Italy, and some skyscrapers. Plus a shot of the cross atop Mont-Royal.
And then I'll say goodbye to Montreal. The return ticket is going to cost $80. I'll re-trace my steps. When I reach Schenectady I'll connect to The Lake Shore Limited after another two and a half hour layover. Being onboard the long-distance LSL will give me a chance to enjoy dinner in a diner, although I'm not sure if the train still carries a full service dining car.
What a whirlwind trip it's going to be!
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
To me, this sounds like a ride on the "Masochist Express".
However, Amtrak's definition of a reserved seat is roundly that of an airline's confirmed reservation; your seat is not specifically assigned. If possible attempt on your Northbound journey to sit on the Fireman side Penn to Albany, then switch, being certain to move your hat check with you, to the Engineer's side for Albany to Montreal, SB is of course vice versa.
Enjoy, I'm simply too old to even begin fathoming such a journey.
Posted by Ocala Mike (Member # 4657) on :
Sounds like you've got things figured out pretty tightly. Hope you enjoy your trip!
Posted by SilverStar092 (Member # 2652) on :
Hopefully you are young and can handle the long days and nights. That said, the Adirondack is a beautiful ride. Last week I saw an Adirondack consist on the Canadian passenger train website and it had a couple Amfleet II coaches. A few weeks ago I saw the same thing on the Maple Leaf so maybe both now carry those cars...or maybe the Adirondack used them while the northern part of the Maple Leaf was annulled . The bottom line is: look at the entire consist when you board. If you find a coach with the permanent number 25XXX on the side, grab a seat. The windows are bigger and leg room more ample than the Amfleet I cars. Have fun.
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
Mr. DNS, while I would hope that Amtrak would assign their longest haul passengers, i.e. those traveling "all the way" such as yourself, to the best equipment on the train, namely the 25XXX 60 seat leg rest Coaches with larger windows, there is no assurance they will.
Passengers traveling to Canada are assigned to Coaches away from those traveling "short' e.g. NY-Saratoga Springs. This facilitates entry formalities.
I know young railfans do not like to be told where to sit (I didn't back when I fit that demographic) rather preferring to be free to jump about the car depending on where the view was at any given moment. Back then, opening vestibule Dutch Doors, while not openly condoned, was not cause to be removed from the train by law enforcement as it is today.
GBN South Kent School '61
Posted by dns8560 (Member # 15184) on :
Confession: I'm 49 years old! I'm a little worried that I've grown too old for this sort of whirlwind trip too! I'll look for the 25XXX coaches. Last year I photographed coach 25000 on The Pennsylvanian at Tyrone, PA. -Dave
Posted by birdchops (Member # 6669) on :
good gawd i think i would fall over from exhaustion after a trip like that....hey wait a minute, it sounds like my schedule on a typical work day..muh ha ha...have fun!
Posted by dns8560 (Member # 15184) on :
Just learned some disappointing news: The Cheyenne Diner in NYC that was so well-liked by cops, cabbies, and tourists, has closed its doors. I need a Plan B!
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
Plan B Mr. DNS is to reroute this journey to drive to Syracuse and originate the rail trip there, especially now that you have shared here your age. 280-SDY-69 and 68-SDY-49 are guaranteed connections. This will still be a long long day. Possibly you are faculty at either Cornell or Ithaca College and have peers who travel about like that, but I'm simply zombied out to think of anyone comptemplating such.
Posted by dns8560 (Member # 15184) on :
Getting from Ithaca to Syracuse has proved to be a hassle. None of my friends want to drive me. No bus connects with the trains. I don't own a car. This leaves taxi services. A taxi one-way from Ithaca to Syracuse is $145. I would need to go round-trip. That's more money than the entire trip via NYC. It goes to show how sorely lacking public transit is in the rural parts. It's actually easier and cheaper to go to NYC first. And to think, Ithaca once had such terrific train service.
BTW, thanks for giving my plans some thought!
-Dave
Posted by dns8560 (Member # 15184) on :
My friend's son has offered to drive me to Syracuse at 5:00 AM, and pick-me up the next evening at 9:41 PM. I'll get a chance to enjoy dinner on the LSL. Mr. Norman's suggested itinerary may come to be realized! -Dave
Posted by sojourner (Member # 3134) on :
Dave, I think your trip sounds fine, but if you wanted to cut down on exhaustion, my advice would simply be to stay another day in Montreal.
I am confused about the Cheyenne Diner; I thought you said you were going to the Tick Tock? I thought that was still open, in the Hotel New Yorker; but I could be wrong.
Re the route: On the right side it's not just Lake Champlain you see; at first I believe it's actually the Upper Hudson (which you cross just after Rensselaer (the Albany-Rensselaer train staiton).
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
Of course, David, you could always take #8, Maple Leaf, leaving Ithaca 111AM and arriving Penn Station 8AM. There is a set out Sleeper operating from Ithaca to NY that you can board at 930PM. You should be adequately rested for your journey to Montreal on the Laurantian.
Here's the Timetable Posted by dns8560 (Member # 15184) on :
And let's not forget the Lackawanna's overnight service to NYC either. It went up the famous Ithaca switchback! Plus the LVRR's service from Ithaca to Auburn and Syracuse. Trains departed Ithaca in virtually all directions!
You know your Ithaca trains as well as any informed member of the Cornell Railroad Historical Society!
-Dave
Posted by dns8560 (Member # 15184) on :
Sojourner, someone tipped me off that The Cheyenne Diner went out of business in 2008. So I was going to try The Tick-Tock Diner. Now my route has changed. I'm going via Syracuse and Schenectady. My original post needs editing.
-Dave
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
David, I only had one ride on the "Leaky Valley" in this life; Penn Station to Flemington Jc, where a good friend during prep school, SKS (far...FAR more culturally diverse today than when I graduated from the institution during 1961) as noted earlier, lived.
But give The Valley's management credit for having the foresight to know that it was "Tilt; Game Over" for the passenger train after WWII; they never ordered any "post-war" passenger equipment other than Alco PA Diesel locomotives.
Finally, prompted by whatever reason, I'm glad you have had "rethink" about the itinerary.
Posted by dns8560 (Member # 15184) on :
Thanks, Mr. Norman. Unfortunately, I've edited my original post.
BTW It looks like the full service diner has been cut off from the LSL. Pity.
"Dining - Casual service offering complete meals and appetizers with an all-day menu on Trains 48 and 49 between New York and Chicago. Not available between Albany and Boston; Sleeping car passengers will receive complimentary cold meal service."
Who shot the passenger train?
-Dave
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
Just some odds and ends - all off topic.
David, I presume you are aware that "Who Shot The Passenger Train" is the title of an epic DPM treatiste appearing in Aptil 1959 TRAINS of "how did it go wrong'. This is truly the most researched work on the decline and fall of the passenger train ever appearing in a popular publication (since you are from an academic community I hope my qualification is duly noted),
Incidentially, Kalmbach presently has for sale reprints of this article. Poke around their website, and you will find such.
Finally, and I mean this with admiration and no disrespect, how anyone is able to carry on life in a community such as Ithaca without an auto escapes me. While it appears there is TomCAT regional bus service, I must wonder what else, save the intercity busses you note and airline service that appears to be of the puddle jumper varietal. If you are on faculty/staff at either Cornell or Ithaca College, maybe each institution has a (hopefully eco-friendly) campus bus system.
Posted by dns8560 (Member # 15184) on :
Yes, I borrowed the phrase from DPM to express my sorrow about the continuing slow demise of trains. I'm not on staff at the schools. Just a poor journalist. I have the anthology book Confessions of a Train Watcher, but "shot" isn't in it. Isn't that odd!
Anyway...
Ithaca - 10 square miles surrounded by reality.
AIR - US Airways jets to Detroit and Philadelphia, turboprops to NY La Guardia. Continental turboprops to Newark.
RAIL - Daily NS coal and salt trains on ex-LVRR line through town.
INTERCITY BUS - Greyhound, New York Trailways, and Coach USA/Shortline.
LOCAL BUS - TCAT
I live in the heart of town near City Hall. I ride a bicycle everywhere. In the winter I walk.
-Dave
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
Welcome back Mr. Sommer, you came out compliments of your linked photos.
I note you have a new handle; you always posted in a mature and respectful manner under your previous "dnsommer".
Posted by dns8560 (Member # 15184) on :
Thanks for the compliment. I changed my ISP and so too my handle.
I checked out SKS's web site. It looks a lot like Kents Hill School in Maine, where I went.
Was Holden Caulfield the catcher in the rye? Or was it someone else?
-Dave
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
quote:Originally posted by dns8560: I checked out SKS's web site. It looks a lot like Kents Hill School in Maine, where I went.
Once again Mr. Sommer, "back in my day" there was hardly the cultural diversity as the site, as well as on the material sent out to alums when it's time to "break out the checkbook", would suggest. Same applies to any of the other Housatonic Valley prep schools along the New Haven Berkshire Line.
Posted by dns8560 (Member # 15184) on :
I'm all set to go to Montreal in the morning. I'm getting a ride from Ithaca to Syracuse Amtrak Station. I'm taking train 280 at 6:55 AM to Schenectady. I'm connecting to The Adirondack at Schenectady. I arrive in Montreal at 7:10 PM. Since I first made the reservations the fare has gone up from $97 r/t to $160 r/t. The Adirondack is now sold out too. My original $57 hotel in Montreal filled up also. I've got a confirmed reservation now at a $64 hotel. I had to wait until August 3rd to confirm evverything and it cost me. I feel lucky to be going to at all!
Posted by Stourbridge Lion (Member # 1796) on :
Have fun and take lots of photographs and share them with us when you get back. If you catch D&H stations, cars, etc. let me know too!
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)