How does the Adirondack enter New York City

[S Unger]

I rode the Adirondack from Montreal to New York's Penn Station last week (one week before the leaves changed they say). Can someone tell me the route the train follows once it reaches Manhattan? If you can refer to a map that would be appreciated. By the time we reached Yonkers it was dark so I could not see much.

Thanks

 

[Heading North]

Going by memory here as someone who lived in upper Manhattan and would spot Empire Service trains in the neighborhood...

The Adirondack (and all Empire Service trains) crosses into Manhattan from the Bronx on the Spuytin Duyvil bridge, and stays on the west side of the island near the Hudson River for most of the trip. Heading south, the train passes the lights of the Columbia University football field (as it crosses the bridge), and runs at or near the water's edge (sometimes separated by a park or highway) past the Dyckman soccer fields, under the George Washington Bridge, and along Riverside Drive. From about 125th Street south, the train operates in a tunnel under Riverside Park, roughly level with the West Side Highway--there's occasionally some light through grates on the highway side. South of 59th/72nd? there are some tunnels and open cut sections to reach Penn Station.

A good map will show the NYC/Amtrak tracks along the Hudson River. It's an unusual stretch since it was originally built for freight trains and is not double-tracked the whole way.

 

[Shawn Ryu]

Its the same way the Lake Shore Limited leaves the Penn Station?

 

[Ryan]

Yes.

 

[S Unger]

Going by memory here as someone who lived in upper Manhattan and would spot Empire Service trains in the neighborhood...

The Adirondack (and all Empire Service trains) crosses into Manhattan from the Bronx on the Spuytin Duyvil bridge, and stays on the west side of the island near the Hudson River for most of the trip. Heading south, the train passes the lights of the Columbia University football field (as it crosses the bridge), and runs at or near the water's edge (sometimes separated by a park or highway) past the Dyckman soccer fields, under the George Washington Bridge, and along Riverside Drive. From about 125th Street south, the train operates in a tunnel under Riverside Park, roughly level with the West Side Highway--there's occasionally some light through grates on the highway side. South of 59th/72nd? there are some tunnels and open cut sections to reach Penn Station.

A good map will show the NYC/Amtrak tracks along the Hudson River. It's an unusual stretch since it was originally built for freight trains and is not double-tracked the whole way.

Thanks I have a better idea now!

 

[the_traveler]

I'm late to the party (as usual - but I had "a few" trains to ride

), but for a explanation of the route, see the article in the November 2010 issue of Trains magazine of the West Side connector!

 

[jis]

A good map will show the NYC/Amtrak tracks along the Hudson River. It's an unusual stretch since it was originally built for freight trains and is not double-tracked the whole way.

The only two short single track sections on the Empire Connection are:

1. Penn Station A Interlocking to CP Empire just outside the tunnel mouth coming out of Penn Station

2. From CP Inwood across the Spuyten Duyvil Bridge to the junction with MNRR. The rest is double track all the way.

 

[Heading North]

Thanks for the clarification, jis. Since I lived in Inwood for a while, I'd see the train on the single-track section there and just assumed it was like that in more places. It is really impressive how the line is tucked away with the parks, West Side Highway, etc. right nearby... and lucky that it was still around. (Of course, I wish I'd seen Amtrak at GCT, too, but that's the breaks.)

 

[the_traveler]

Of course, I wish I'd seen Amtrak at GCT, too, but that's the breaks.

That's all I saw for many years, as all Empire Service and the LSL ONLY could go to NYC via GCT until (IIRC) 1994. This resulted in the need for a subway connection to NYP - where ALL OTHER Amtrak trains departed from and arrived to. (I lived in upstate NY and went to GCT and did the subway switch - with baggage

- for many years!)

 

[railiner]

For several years leading up to the opening of the Empire Connection, Amtrak ran a chartered bus between the two stations for through ticketed travelers that were making the connection. Although the stations are only about a mile apart, it took a while to negotiate between the two at times due to heavy traffic. Taking the subway was inconvenient, as you had to take two trains to connect, not to mention negotiating stairs and/or elevators with baggage. The station redcaps would assist you to and from the buses, and at Penn, the bus utilized the now closed roadway between MSG and 2 Penn Plaza. Very convenient.

 

[jis]

Thanks for the clarification, jis. Since I lived in Inwood for a while, I'd see the train on the single-track section there and just assumed it was like that in more places. It is really impressive how the line is tucked away with the parks, West Side Highway, etc. right nearby... and lucky that it was still around. (Of course, I wish I'd seen Amtrak at GCT, too, but that's the breaks.)

My memory is a little fuzzy on this, but I seem to recall that as originally built, the section between CP Inwood and CP Martha was also single track. This was double tracked within a year or two of the initial inauguration of the Empire Connection I believe. So if you lived in Inwood in mid-90s you may have indeed seen only single track running into the tunnel under Riverside Park.