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Today I'm going for a ride on a Finger Lakes Railway excursion. The train leaves Geneva, NY at 10:00AM. It will travel roundtrip to Shortsville, NY. I'm bring my DSLR. Hoping to get some nice pictures!
The Finger Lakes Railway operates on former NYCRR trackage.
dns8560 Member # 15184
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The Finger Lakes Scenic Railway operates excursions out of Geneva, NY. The trackage is mostly ex-NYCRR. The trains are made up of three or four ex-CNR 1950's coaches with a locomotive on either end.
I arrived at Geneva Station at 9:45 AM. The train was just pulling up to the boarding area. It was a brilliantly sunny morning. I looked forward to the ride. We were going 23 miles west to Canandaigua. We departed promptly at 10:00 AM.
The train was very comfortable. The restrooms were clean and fully operational. There was a concession stand in one coach. Prices were very reasonable. In another car there was a small area for musical performers. Hi-quality speakers were mounted on the walls of each coach. There was no live entertainment on our run.
The train never travelled more than 10 or 15 mph. It took two hours to reach our destination. We made a stop at Phelps to pick up a few more riders.
I noticed "Ride at your own risk" was printed on my boarding pass. I guess if the railroad had to pay insurance it would not be able to run the excursion trains. The railroad disclaimed any liability for anything that might happen.
The train moved along through thick woods and tidy villages. I went to the vestibule for awhile. The dutch doors were open. It was fun to lean out and feel the breeze as the wheels squealed beneath the train. We arrived at Canandaigua on time at 12:00 Noon.
There was a two hour layover at Canandaigua. Unfortunately, none of the many shops along the main drag interested me. I ended up having a long lunch at a restaurant. I had french onion soup and a house salad. The soup tasted great!
At two o'clock the train departed for Geneva. I enjoyed a conversation with two ladies from Fulton, NY. They were on their way to Niagara Falls. The train arrived at Geneva on time at 4:00 PM. I'd had a pretty good day.
amtrak92 Member # 14343
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Nice
whistler Member # 2620
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Nice report.
Finger Lakes Railway actually has excursions out of Solvay, Camillus, Geneva, and other points along with their short line freight operation.
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Back in May, Barton Jennings ran several trips that covered all currently active FGLK trackage. We started on Sunday with a trip from Geneva to Solvay (just west of Syracuse), following that with a trip from Geneva to both Victor (on the former LV) and Canandaigua (former NYC). On Tuesday, using another set of equipment, we traveled from Himrod Junction (don't miss stopping for lunch at the Eagle Hotel!) to Watkins Glen and back, a spectacular ride down a long grade along Geneva Lake into the Glen, over a couple of major trestles.
FGLK is a nice operation. I can only hope they can convince NS to spin off the Lyons -- Corning line, which would connect the pieces of their operation and enable them to run through trips from Geneva to Watkins Glen, stopping at the many wineries en route.
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