First Time to NYP - Advice?

[Shanghai]

Perhaps he was 'upgrading' the subway to 'railway' staus?

Which one, 8th ave or 7th ave??

 

[railiner]

Perhaps he was 'upgrading' the subway to 'railway' staus?

Which one, 8th ave or 7th ave??

Both are of the same ownership...MTA NYC Subway (former NYCTA). Of course if you go back to late 1930's they would have been two separate....the municipal IND or Eigth Avenue and the privately operated IRT. But then, there was no NJT, nor Amtrak. There was however the landlord PRR and the tenant LIRR and NYNH&H. Oh, I almost forgot there was the tenant LVRR for a brief while at some time.

 

[RandyJay]

Wow - for the second time, thanks for the many responses! I'm sure we'll do fine - all part of the Amtrak "adventure", right? Will be in sleeper and will have my scanner handy, also plan to make some time to explore NYP a bit prior to departure day. Who knows, I may get hooked on the Big City after all. Trip report to follow.

One more quick question - IF I should end up with a free half day, is there an easy "out and back" on the Acela from NYP? Would like to say I had ridden an Acela and experienced more than 79MPH . . . . but not sure if it's a realistic possibility to do within a few hours. Was thinking of either New Haven or Philly - which direction from New York provides the best opportunity for speed in that short of distance?

Thanks,

RJ

 

[AlanB]

Well your best chance for speed is to go west/south, however that will be more expensive to do. Going east/north, you'll never get over 90 MPH, but it would be cheaper.

The problem with south is that you really need to go to Philly to hit 135 MPH and a round trip will take 3 hours and cost quite a bit. Going to Metropark will get you faster than 79 MPH, but I'm not sure if you'll get over 110 in that area.

Going north you could go to Stamford and probably get back in two hours, but you can't go to New Haven as that's close to a 3 hour round trip too.

Of course if you can get 4 or more hours to do a run, then either Philly or New Haven become possible. AT that point you'll have to decide which is most important, speed or money.

 

[jis]

Well your best chance for speed is to go west/south, however that will be more expensive to do. Going east/north, you'll never get over 90 MPH, but it would be cheaper.
The problem with south is that you really need to go to Philly to hit 135 MPH and a round trip will take 3 hours and cost quite a bit. Going to Metropark will get you faster than 79 MPH, but I'm not sure if you'll get over 110 in that area.

With a little bit of luck you will get upto 125mph, unless for some reason they stick the Acela on tracks 4 going out and 1 coming back.

Going north you could go to Stamford and probably get back in two hours, but you can't go to New Haven as that's close to a 3 hour round trip too.

Besides going to New Haven you won't go any faster, since all of the 90mph running is in New York state on that segment, which is covered on the trip Stamford.

Of course if you can get 4 or more hours to do a run, then either Philly or New Haven become possible. At that point you'll have to decide which is most important, speed or money.

A compromise could be to take the Acela out to Philly and then take the SEPTA/NJT combo back to New York, which will work out cheaper than doing an Acela round trip or even an Acela out Regional back round trip, and if you are lucky enough to get an NJT MLV consist out of Trenton you will still experience 100mph in multi-level car on the way back.

 

[cnyrider]

The main thing to realize about NYP imho, is to realize its very complex. There are 2 floors, lots of narrow hallways, and 4 different railways serving this station, each with there own concourse. Also, since the station is below street level, its sometimes hard to tell which escalators take you to additional levels, or to the exit.
As long as you know all this, it's really pretty simple, and my guess is that you will find it easy once your there.

Last time I rode a LD in sleeper (this last Feb.) the Conductors did board Sleeper passengers first, so sometimes it does happen but if not no need to worry, if you've got a sleeper there will be no rush to get a good seat!

The fact that at least one person considers Penn Station “very complex” (someone else in this thread said “it will appear to be complete chaos”, though that was in reference to going upstairs at the station, something I’m not sure I’ll have to do) is making me a little nervous. With narrow hallways and likely being crowded all the time (I doubt there are many times where it’s quiet at the station) it seems like it might be difficult to maneuver there. And I’ve been reading on another website that the maintenance at Penn Station isn’t all that great, not that that’s so important, but the idea that the place might not be too clean isn’t making me feel much better. If anyone has any thoughts about whether these are or aren’t legitimate concerns for someone whose never been to Penn Station, I’d appreciate it.

FWIW regarding my trip, I’m going from Syracuse to NYC and NYC to Philadelphia next month, so I’ll be in the station for a while waiting for the train to Philly. Making my connection is something else I’m a little worried about; I have plenty of time if the train from Syracuse arrives on time or close to it; it’s something like 3½ hours between trains, according to my itinerary, so I’m more worried about figuring out where I’m supposed to go when the train to Philly arrives and how easy it will be to get where I need to be. As I mentioned above, it’s my first trip to Penn Station. Thanks.