Interesting short rides from Boston North station?

[Texan Eagle]

I will be in Boston next week and have half a Sunday free at hand. I will be staying very close to Boston North station and am wondering what would be a good short ride out of North station? I do not have any specific destination in mind, anywhere where I can reach in an hour or two of train ride and get a connecting train to get me back to Boston by evening would be fine. Amtrak preferred, commuter rail is also okay.

Suggestions?

 

[AlanB]

Ride the Downeaster. It's the only Amtrak choice out of North Station.

If you can't get the schedule to work just right for a round trip on the Downeaster to some station along the way, you can also consider trying to match up the Downeaster 1 way to Haverhill with the MBTA service to the same station.

 

[Texan Eagle]

I just realized Downeaster is the only choice from North Station. So I guess I will expand my reach a bit and consider if I can ride out from South Station too if there is any nice short ride to be done. Suggest, suggest please

 

[Eric S]

Out of South Station, Providence is an option. Between Amtrak and MBTA, it would offer the most choices both from and back to Boston.

 

[AlanB]

I'd still recommend the Downeaster; it's the nicest ride & the cheapest ride.

Out of South Station all you can do would be to ride either an Acela or a Regional, perhaps in conjunction with the T commuter service out of Providence.

Unless you've never done 150 MPH on an Acela, I'd stay stick with the Downeaster.

 

[Texan Eagle]

Unless you've never done 150 MPH on an Acela, I'd stay stick with the Downeaster.

Does the Acela hit 150 between Boston and Providence? I see the running time is only 34 minutes so I am apprehensive if that gives it enough time to hit max speed. I have never done Acela ride and don't see any reason coming up for one, so if I can get to see 150 mph run, I am actually thinking spending for Acela once to see it might be a good idea. I see one Sunday evening Acela at $34 BOS to Providence. Is that the lowest bucket?

 

[TCRT]

I live in the Boston area, and you're essentially trying to choose between two of the trips I have used for points runs in the past.

Leaving from North Station, the Downeaster is a more scenic ride than the NEC and has a sort of unique charm to it - the crews are very nearly always the same (and very friendly) and the cafe has a bunch of unique items from Maine. If you want to go further than Haverhill, you might look to Exeter, NH, which is a small town with a very preppy boarding school and some New England-ish shops downtown. I am not sure that one afternoon is enough time to get all the way to Portland and back unless you don't actually want to get off the train at all.

Leaving from South Station to PVD offers more departure times and the trip is quicker, leaving more time to explore Providence if that is what you are looking to do (and the train station is sufficiently central to the city to allow this). South Station is also, in my experience, a somewhat nicer place to spend time than North Station and is much, much busier. The Acela does indeed hit 150mph between BOS and PVD - one of the 150mph zones is near Mansfield, MA, and I believe that $34 is the low bucket Acela price (I have taken the exact same trip for the exact same reason). The Northeast Regional hits 125mph here if you're looking for a cheaper trip.

 

[amamba]

I live in PVD, but I say do the downeaster! I love that service. I am not sure that either going to Haverhill or Providence is necessarily scenic, but they are both short jaunts that will give you lots of options for returning between amtrak and commuter rail service. I thnk there is a lower bucket than $34,though, on the acela between PVD and BOS. I thought it was $27ish, but the prices have gone up twice this year so it is possible that low bucket is now $34.

the PVD train station is right in the center of the city, across from the state house and a downtown mall. You can walk to "downcity" which is another little shopping area. In the summer there is a market in Kennedy Plaza, which is two blocks away and across from city hall.

 

[the_traveler]

Unless you've never done 150 MPH on an Acela, I'd stay stick with the Downeaster.

Does the Acela hit 150 between Boston and Providence? I see the running time is only 34 minutes so I am apprehensive if that gives it enough time to hit max speed. I have never done Acela ride and don't see any reason coming up for one, so if I can get to see 150 mph run, I am actually thinking spending for Acela once to see it might be a good idea.

Before they expanded the 150 MPH areas for AE, one was a 3 mile section within a mile or so of the PVD station stop! So the answer is YES! AE has a very quick acceleration rate. And the 150 MPH limit extends from PVD to almost RTE, with 1 short exception!
And maybe by the time you ride it, it may be increased to 165 MPH!

 

[Paul_1]

As p&sr said in this forum on August 9, 2010,

"Another fine one-day excursion from Boston would be the Commuter Train to Rockport, Mass. (just past Gloucester), which also leaves from North Station. Very scenic and very pleasant. Rockport is a small, quiet resort town, with an historic harbour just a few blocks from the Station. And the Lobsters they serve there are at least as good as those in Maine!

 

Also, when in Boston, don't forget to ride the "Mattapan High-Speed Line" (PCC Cars in regular service, from the Ashmont Station on the Red Line). And the Green Line (D) to Riverside is also pleasant... a survival from the old "Inter-Urban" Lines."

A one way trip to Rockport is 68 minutes. The Sunday schedule isn't as good as the weekday schedule, but it looks doable.

I haven't taken this trip myself, but I have a motivation for suggesting it. Next March, I'll be taking the day trip to Rockport myself before getting on the Downeaster to BRK, and I'd love to know if it's a worthwhile use of time.

 

[TCRT]

The Mattapan line is a very good use of one's time - it's the home of the oldest transit vehicles in regular service in the US ("pre war"-bodied Air-Electric PCC cars, which were built in 1945-1946) and the only place where PCCs have been in use continuously since they were introduced. It's also actually fairly scenic. It's accessible by the Red Line from South Station, so conceivably one could work it in before or after a South Station-based Amtrak excursion.

[Off topic]

One minor correction to the above quote - the D line is actually not an ex-interurban, but rather a former branch of the Boston and Albany that was converted to transit use in 1959 (and should have been a rapid transit line, had the MTA at the time had the money).

[/Off topic]

 

[ScottRu]

TCRT, according to the Waterworks Museum (on Beacon Street before Cleveland Circle), the D-line was originally built to bring coal from Pennsylvania to fuel the massive steam engines that pumped water up to serve Boston.

http://waterworksmuseum.org/historystories/architecture

 

[JackieTakestheTrain]

I live in southern suburbs of Boston and my vote would be either the Newburyport/Rockport Commuter Rail to Salem or Gloucester or the Amtrak Downeaster. No offense to my friends here on the South Shore or in RI, but I really think other than the thrill of going at a high speed, the rest of the trip on the Acela is pretty boring scenery between South Station and RI, but that is just me.

I have been on the Newburyport/Rockport commuter rail as far north as Lynn and Revere, and by car to Gloucester and Rockport which are very quaint towns.

I don't know how far the commuter rail station is from downtown Gloucester or near the water. I do see that there the city of Gloucester has a website for tourism

Also,on the same commuter rail line, is the town of Salem, known for the infamous witch trials and other history. Again, kinda touristy but fun. If art is more your thing, Salem is home to the Peabody Essex Museum, which is very popular.

Hope this helps.

-- jg

 

[PaulM]

Also, when in Boston, don't forget to ride the "Mattapan High-Speed Line" (PCC Cars in regular service, from the Ashmont Station on the Red Line). And the Green Line (D) to Riverside is also pleasant... a survival from the old "Inter-Urban" Lines."

These can't be the same PCC cars that were already rust buckets in 1976-1980 when I regularly rode the "Mattapan Trolley" to Milton Lower Mills. But a fun ride nevertheless.