A favorite Amtrak train

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Twin Star Rocket

Twin Star Rocket

Service Attendant
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Oct 14, 2012
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189
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Texas
My 1976 cross-country trip left a memorable impression. I was traveling on a 15-day USA RAILPASS. I had already reached Montreal on the MONTREALER and had spent some time in the city. For the return to NYC I chose the ADIRONDACK. It was a cold, cloudy October day. The diffuse light made the fall colors even more deep. Departure was from CP's Windsor Station. Next to CP's CANADIAN was the ADIRONDACK resplendent in all D&H passenger equipment. Beautiful train! The ride was comfortable, the crew hospitable. Great scenery too!

The dining car stands out because it was D&H equipment not a AMTRAK refurbished diner in 70s colors. Each table had a small lamp.

I wrote the D&H about the ride and received a nice letter back. I still have it.

It really was a D&H train under Amtrak contract more than an actual Amtrak-operated train.

P.S. No dome on my train though domes did operate on the ADIRONDACK back then.
 
I agree with you!

I grew up in upstate NY, and the Adirondack was my "home" train in the 70's, and I rode it from FED to PLB and ALB many times with D&H colors led by PA #16, 18 or 19! And during the late 70's, it had the old bubble top domes!

Ah, memories!
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Twin Star Rocket said:
My 1976 cross-country trip left a memorable impression. I was traveling on a 15-day USA RAILPASS. I had already reached Montreal on the MONTREALER and had spent some time in the city. For the return to NYC I chose the ADIRONDACK. It was a cold, cloudy October day. The diffuse light made the fall colors even more deep. Departure was from CP's Windsor Station. Next to CP's CANADIAN was the ADIRONDACK resplendent in all D&H passenger equipment. Beautiful train! The ride was comfortable, the crew hospitable. Great scenery too!

The dining car stands out because it was D&H equipment not a AMTRAK refurbished diner in 70s colors. Each table had a small lamp.
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I was in Montreal the previous October (1975) and also enjoyed a trip on the Adirondack. Here's the D&H equipment at Windsor Station including the diner "Adirondack Lodge"

 

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I was just setting out on a trip that would also take me across Canada on the Super Continental then back through the US on Amtrak…….arriving back in Montreal two weeks later. Here's a link to that Trip Report:

1975 Trip Around The US & Canada
 
The Adirondack is one of my favorites too. I rode the present day Adirondack this past weekend. These days it appears to be running with 6 cars, and was sold out through the weekend and on Monday too. Of course going out to Montreal Saturday and coming back Sunday it had a 7th car, the Great Dome Ocean View. On Sunday the northbound was carrying a PV in addition to the 6 car consist. On Sunday on the southbound I was told that there were 180 passengers boarding in Montreal alone! There was also a large group reservation out of Plattsburgh.
 
I've only been on a few different routes, but so far my favorite is the Southwest Chief. It's typically had the best scenery, best crew & best performance of all the Amtrak trains I've been on.

Capitol Limited is the next best as far as scenery goes on the trains I've been on. I love the windy passage through Pennsylvania, Maryland & West Virginia. I also enjoy the industrial areas of South Chicago and the South Shore.

Texas Eagle has been pretty good, but always super crowded. I've not liked the fact that the most picturesque portion of the trip is at night, though St. Louis is really cool travelling through and UNDER the Arch.

The Silvers are a no-nonsense transit system. They really feel like an extension of the regionals but with sleeper service and a Diner. Felt the same about the Crescent.

The Carolinian and the Piedmont are friendly.

NS VIA Fan: That's one awesome shot of a beautiful ALCO unit. You should submit to Railpictures.net. It looks like it could have been taken yesterday.
 
VentureForth said:
NS VIA Fan: That's one awesome shot of a beautiful ALCO unit. You should submit to Railpictures.net. It looks like it could have been taken yesterday.
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Thanks!........I've been scanning old slides and amazed at the quality of those old Kodachromes after all these years (……..and the camera wasn't top-of-the-line either!)
 
Of the current crop, my favorite is still the Coast Starlight, even though it is the LD I ride the most by quite a margin. It has a great combination of scenery, the "Parlour" car, and generally good service (although on that topic, as always, YMMV applies for any given Amtrak trip).

The "Southwest Chief" is second. Partly it is because I rode the Super Chief just prior to Amtrak and being on it always reminds me of that trip. Also, it has good scenery through New Mexico on the current route, some really fast running and interesting railroad ops on the Transcon, and again, generally good crews.

The CZ is always a standout for scenery, but my experience with the crews on the CZ has been mostly poor, particularly in the diner. So it doesn't make my favorites cut.

Of past Amtrak services, I miss the Desert Wind and Pioneer, both of which were quite useful to me, but they weren't standout trains.

One last thing. If we extend the criteria to Amtrak-era rather than Amtrak itself, the top of the list would always be D&RGW's Rio Grande Zephyr. I was lucky enough to ride it twice.
 
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My favorite train so far is the Crescent. It was my first time in a sleeper, and that will always be a memorable trip for me. The farther north you get on the Crescent, the more beautiful it gets.

I havent gotten to ride the Builder, SWC, or CS yet, but hopefully I will soon.
 
I will agree with the Coast Starlight as the best. I found the on-board service crew to be outstanding. Food was good, Scenery is exceptional and the entire trip was a kick back experience, which is why I took it. A flight between JFK to LAX is 6 hours and becomes tedious. I will do the Starlight again as it is worth all I payed. I felt the parlor car really enhanced the trip so much. Frankly, for the amount of persons that blast Amtrak when the car is in the shop, it was never packed or full.
 
Anderson said:
I'm just wondering...how long did Amtrak keep the Adirondack in D&H colors?
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Not long at all!......The D&H equipment made its last run on March 1, 1977 when the Rohr Turboliners entered service.

But until then the D&H considered the Adirondack their train.......When Amtrak supplied a Dome Car the D&H went so far as to replace the red in the red & blue window band with yellow paint to blend in better with the rest of the equipment. This only lasted until Amtrak officials spotted it at Rensselaer and ordered it repainted!

 

When the Adirondack was first inaugrated in 1974, "Skyline" Dome cars were leased from Canadian Pacific for several months and these were also painted in D&H colours. (These domes are still in service today on VIA)

 

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NS: I'm racking the little bit of brain that I have left to place the station in your post. Could it be the old Saratoga station? (BTW: those extra tracks are where they stored the Circus train dorm cars when they played in Glens Falls, NY.)
 
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the_traveler said:
NS: I'm racking the little bit of brain that I have left to place the station in your post. Could it be the old Saratoga station? (BTW: those extra tracks are where they stored the Circus train dorm cars when they played in Glens Falls, NY.)
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It's Whitehall......here's a couple of other shots taken there in 1974:

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I can't help but wonder who thought it was a brilliant idea to put Turboliners on a route that consists of gobs of heavily speed-restricted curves since, IIRC, (let me know if I'm wrong here) those trains don't even tilt and there's no advantage to running them on that line.
 
Maine Rider said:
Is it possible that those Budd cars were used on the NYC line between Ossining and Grand Central in around 1954?
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I don't believe Domes operated into Grand Central due to clearance restrictions in the tunnels leading to the terminal. The Budd Domes were built in 1954/55 and were probably originally delivered to CP in Montreal via the D&H.

 

(and Maine Rider........these same domes ran across Maine on CP and later VIA until December 1994)
 
Anderson said:
I can't help but wonder who thought it was a brilliant idea to put Turboliners on a route that consists of gobs of heavily speed-restricted curves since, IIRC, (let me know if I'm wrong here) those trains don't even tilt and there's no advantage to running them on that line.
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Yes…..the Turboliners certainly didn't get to show their full potential for speed on the D&H but they were new and modern and the image Amtrak wanted to project. They lacked the dome view but those windows were huge compared to the Amfleet equipment.

Here's a Turboliner at Westmount, Quebec in January 1979.

 

 

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Maine Rider said:
1350435747[/url]' post='399719']Is it possible that those Budd cars were used on the NYC line between Ossining and Grand Central in around 1954?
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As said, those domes could not get into NYG, they possibly could fit inside NYG but the problem was the height restrictions of the Park Avenue tunnel entrance. That's why the domes only ran from ALB to MTR!
 
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