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I'm hitting the rails, coming up, and I was wondering if there were any good tips for me. I'm hitting Atlantic City for the weekend without a car. I was wondering if there were any good train watching spots in the city, and any good places to eat. 30th, What is there, I'll be there for about 3 hours between trains, so what is there to do, while I'm there. I'm checking out the ACE on this trip. I'll post the report when I get back. thanks
sojourner Member # 3134
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Last summer I went down to 30th St Station, had a layover of 3 or 4 hours, then took a regular NJ Transit train to Atlantic City and came back on ACES (and Empire Service upstate) a few days later. I cannot tell you about train spotting--I don't do it--but I can give some suggestions for your layover: You can take a taxi or SEPTA down to Independence Hall if you've never been there and get back in time, I think; even if you don't get to take the tour (because it's too full or something), you can walk around the area and see not only that building but Elfreth Alley (sp?), Betsy Ross house, maybe the Liberty Bell (don't know about lines in summer), Franklin's print shop, etc. OR you can go to the Philadelphia art museum, which is pretty close to the train station--be sure to see the statue of Rocky outside too. Or go down to the boathouses behind the museum and walk along the Schuylkill. Or you can just go down to Reading Terminal, now a market, and roam around--it's best on days other than Sunday & Monday, I believe? Have a Bassett's ice cream there--local, excellent. Both there and in 30th St Station itself is a southern restaurant called Delilahs--I had pulled pork, yams, and sweet tea for lunch last year and thought them pretty good for the North, and for a train station (I had at 30th St). And since I had already been to all the other things I mentioned, I took a taxi to and from the Poe House to see something different; I enjoyed it. It's a National Park site or something--kind of empty but seems suitably appropriate for writing The Raven.
amtrak92 Member # 14343
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Thank you so much. I'm definitely going to try to do one of those. Specially the ice cream place. How hard is it to get to Reading Terminal. Thank you again
a meyer Member # 4954
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Amtrak92, sojourner has some great recommendations. I've only been to Philadelphia a couple times, but last year I took the SEPTA over to Reading Terminal. The Market-Frankford station was just across the street from the 30th St. Station and only took10-15 minutes to get to Reading Terminal. I believe I got off at the 11th Street station which was an easy walk to Reading Terminal.
Someone with more knowledge of SEPTA may need to correct me if my memory is incorrect.
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Actually, if you come in to 30th Street and you want to go to Reading Terminal, just go upstairs to the SEPTA platform and take any eastbound train to the second stop. By longstanding tradition, your Amtrak ticket will be accepted by SEPTA conductors for a trip to Penn Center or Market East (the station for RDG Terminal). The terminal market is great fun (it's at street level, under the old trainshed), but if the "Grand Ballroom" of the Convention Center is open, go see it. It is the preserved Reading Terminal trainshed, with a lot of the railroad details still intact. You can get to it by going in through the front doors on Market Street and up the escalator.
amtrak92 Member # 14343
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Thank you so much. I will definitely try to. I'll defiantly take a ice cream cone. My train pulls into 30th at 9:19, and my departing train departs at 12:29. So I will defiantly check it out. I hope the grand ballroom is open, it sounds like a great place to check out. Thank you guys so much
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