The timing of this trip was somewhat inadvertent, as the ferry schedule only went through September 3 and I didn't realize they considered the next two weeks of September as not part of the Summer. Based on tour reports and other comments I've seen, most folks seem to do this loop clockwise, but perhaps there's a benefit when coming from NYC or points south. Starting in Boston, I thought it worked better counter-clockwise, giving me only a half-hour wait at Port Kent for the Adirondack - but it meant making the ultimate sacrifice of taking a bus to Springfield. As discussed elsewhere, in Amtrak's infinite wisdom it makes sense to them for the northbound Vermonter to pass through seven minutes before the westbound LSL.
Even though I was conscious of it being built in 1995 and had cycled and driven by it, I was never inside the South Station Bus Terminal, and was pleasantly surprised. Two escalators bring you to the actual bus level, the second in a wide round and brightly lit atrium, complete with food court on the third floor, and not looking dissimilar to a contemporary mall. Think of it as a union station for busses, with multiple stations and Chinatown curbside pickup (for NYC) replaced by this large and well-planned facility. While now a quarter century old, to my eyes it didn't seem aged, although the bus loading waiting areas are not as brightly lit or as pleasant looking.
The view from the bus of the backside of South Station and the trainshed (of sorts) from the ramp spiraling down made me think I should return with my camera and more time to photograph. I read and slept during the ride and we made good time to Springfield, despite a slow moving backup on the Mass Pike for a goodly number of miles.
Before entering the Springfield station building I took a walk around the block and a bit beyond, thinking that like many cities with a manufacturing past, much of it was quite sad even though there was a concentrated modern business district. As Wikipedia says, " Springfield endured a protracted decline, accelerated by the decommission of the Springfield Armory in 1969. Springfield became increasingly like the declining, second tier Northeastern U.S. cities from which it had long been set apart."
My only previous encounter with Amtrak here was when the station consisted of a smallish ticket office and waiting room off Lyman Street and under track level. In June 2017 Union Station was fully restored as a regional intermodal transit hub. While not a particularly handsome waiting room, it is much more spacious and welcoming than the previous facility, and I was able to buy a sandwich for my journey.
The schedule board listed Track 8 for the Vermonter, so I joined perhaps a couple dozen other passengers there. However, some 15 minutes before the listed departure time we saw a suspiciously similar train pull in from the west on track 4 - which is why I have no arrival photo of the Vermonter. After a few minutes of confusion, a member of the Amtrak station personnel escorted us across the intervening tracks continuously looking in both directions for any train activity. As this is a crew change point, I asked one of the boarding conductors standing nearby what had happened, and he responded "someone screwed up".
I hadn't been on the Vermonter for some two decades, when it still had a baggage car and another fellow and I led an annual bicycle tour using it to bring the group from B-boro to St. Albans for our ride back over four days. The first year we stayed in Burlington, Montpelier (via App Gap!) and WRJ, but a number of the riders found the longish last day too challenging. In later years we moved the start to WRJ and everyone had a free day in Burlington, with many choosing to take the ferry across the lake for some scenic Adirondack riding.
I generally enjoy Vermont landscape, but had forgotten how much of the route along the Connecticut was in a tunnel of trees, with only a few teasing openings. It might be attractive in late November, as I did a Northeast Kingdom scouting trip over Thanksgiving weekend once, and enjoyed the views of the White Mountains I had while driving along the Connecticut north of St. Johnsbury - without any intervening leaves.
After passing the Green Mountain RR facilities and crossing their main in Bellows Falls,
the track crosses the river on a three span truss bridge just below a dam, with a rocky riverbed below, to Walpole, NH. The brief stretch in NH features perhaps the smoothest track of the sections I rode, with corresponding high speeds. While never in view, there are occasional glimpses of the sun glinting off the river through the trees.
Later, the train crosses the Connecticut for the last time at Windsor, VT just below what had long been the longest covered bridge in the US - until 2008, when a rather ugly affair with concrete piers was built in Ashtabula, OH. The longest covered bridge in the world is located some four hundred miles to the northeast, over the Saint John River in Hartland, New Brunswick. For those with access to a car in this area, nearby across the river is the Saint-Gaudens NHS - https://www.nps.gov/saga/index.htm well worth half a day. Woodstock, VT, and Hanover , NH -Dartmouth, are nearby if you might wish to make it a weekend trip or interruption of a rail journey; WRJ has a couple of rental agencies.
After passing through downtown WRJ and just before the high I-91 bridge, you pass the New England Central RR yard on the left and might spot the repurposed roundhouse, while the turntable pit has long been filled in. The next stop is Randolph, which has a few older distinctive buildings, including the brick depot, in its otherwise rather ordinary downtown.
We arrived at Essex Junction on the advertised and I waited with perhaps a dozen others for the Blue Line CCTA bus scheduled to arrive some 15 minutes later. After getting off at the Downtown Transportation Center a bumpy half hour later, I altered my planned walking route to go to the Farmhouse Tap & Grill for a very light supper.
I had been attracted to the Cheddar Ale soup on their online menu, but it turned out to be so gravy-like and dense that I found it inedible, so asked the manager if I could replace it with the gazpacho and he agreed. It was a tad better, but a lazy man's version with everything pulverized in a blender, while I prefer mine chunky. I was seated in the rear outdoor area, and this place and the whole city were really hopping with the UVM students back in town.
Due to three criteria I had booked a lower bunk at the unofficial but friendly and well run hostel, conveniently situated at the foot of Main Street.
- Only in town ~15 hours
- Couldn't see any justification for spending several hundred dollars to get fancier digs
- Easy walk from the DTC, and a block plus from the ferry pier
As with most hostels, the bunks consisted of a rather thin but sturdy mattress mounted on lateral zigzig coils, which don't protrude but do tend to sag - some hostels lay a piece of plywood on top of them to prevent this. It was OK for a night.
I got up early (for me) and headed around the corner to August First - a month late. However, this well-reviewed spot is also obviously extraordinarily popular, and after the line hadn't moved in a minute or so decided to exit.
I'm fine with walking, but have little tolerance for standing still - especially in a line. However, an excellent alternative was only blocks away, the century old, far less hip, and largely traditional Henry's Diner.
While the original railroad car is long gone, this institution is now owned by a couple with a Greek heritage, and they had an additional menu with Labor Day Weekend specials. While I sort of had an omelet in mind, the Plaka Skillet of home fries, feta, lamb gyro, fresh spinach, kalamata olives and onions got my attention. One of the bread choices was a sesame Greek bread, which was delightfully airy so less dense than any other bread I've previously eaten. This turned out to be an excellent choice and so filling that I was never tempted by the thought of lunch this day.
Deciding I needed to walk off this meal, I headed west and somewhat uphill to Battery Park, which has a break in the trees for a view of the lake and the Adirondacks across it - which were still in profile at this hour.
For those with no knowledge of its history, Lake Champlain and the entire St. Lawrence River valley were once part of the ocean. A whale skeleton was discovered near Burlington in 1849 during railway construction. Chazy Reef, the world's oldest, is found on Isle la Motte in the Lake Champlain Islands: https://tinyurl.com/y47o47tq
Even though I was conscious of it being built in 1995 and had cycled and driven by it, I was never inside the South Station Bus Terminal, and was pleasantly surprised. Two escalators bring you to the actual bus level, the second in a wide round and brightly lit atrium, complete with food court on the third floor, and not looking dissimilar to a contemporary mall. Think of it as a union station for busses, with multiple stations and Chinatown curbside pickup (for NYC) replaced by this large and well-planned facility. While now a quarter century old, to my eyes it didn't seem aged, although the bus loading waiting areas are not as brightly lit or as pleasant looking.
The view from the bus of the backside of South Station and the trainshed (of sorts) from the ramp spiraling down made me think I should return with my camera and more time to photograph. I read and slept during the ride and we made good time to Springfield, despite a slow moving backup on the Mass Pike for a goodly number of miles.
Before entering the Springfield station building I took a walk around the block and a bit beyond, thinking that like many cities with a manufacturing past, much of it was quite sad even though there was a concentrated modern business district. As Wikipedia says, " Springfield endured a protracted decline, accelerated by the decommission of the Springfield Armory in 1969. Springfield became increasingly like the declining, second tier Northeastern U.S. cities from which it had long been set apart."
My only previous encounter with Amtrak here was when the station consisted of a smallish ticket office and waiting room off Lyman Street and under track level. In June 2017 Union Station was fully restored as a regional intermodal transit hub. While not a particularly handsome waiting room, it is much more spacious and welcoming than the previous facility, and I was able to buy a sandwich for my journey.
The schedule board listed Track 8 for the Vermonter, so I joined perhaps a couple dozen other passengers there. However, some 15 minutes before the listed departure time we saw a suspiciously similar train pull in from the west on track 4 - which is why I have no arrival photo of the Vermonter. After a few minutes of confusion, a member of the Amtrak station personnel escorted us across the intervening tracks continuously looking in both directions for any train activity. As this is a crew change point, I asked one of the boarding conductors standing nearby what had happened, and he responded "someone screwed up".
I hadn't been on the Vermonter for some two decades, when it still had a baggage car and another fellow and I led an annual bicycle tour using it to bring the group from B-boro to St. Albans for our ride back over four days. The first year we stayed in Burlington, Montpelier (via App Gap!) and WRJ, but a number of the riders found the longish last day too challenging. In later years we moved the start to WRJ and everyone had a free day in Burlington, with many choosing to take the ferry across the lake for some scenic Adirondack riding.
I generally enjoy Vermont landscape, but had forgotten how much of the route along the Connecticut was in a tunnel of trees, with only a few teasing openings. It might be attractive in late November, as I did a Northeast Kingdom scouting trip over Thanksgiving weekend once, and enjoyed the views of the White Mountains I had while driving along the Connecticut north of St. Johnsbury - without any intervening leaves.
After passing the Green Mountain RR facilities and crossing their main in Bellows Falls,
the track crosses the river on a three span truss bridge just below a dam, with a rocky riverbed below, to Walpole, NH. The brief stretch in NH features perhaps the smoothest track of the sections I rode, with corresponding high speeds. While never in view, there are occasional glimpses of the sun glinting off the river through the trees.
Later, the train crosses the Connecticut for the last time at Windsor, VT just below what had long been the longest covered bridge in the US - until 2008, when a rather ugly affair with concrete piers was built in Ashtabula, OH. The longest covered bridge in the world is located some four hundred miles to the northeast, over the Saint John River in Hartland, New Brunswick. For those with access to a car in this area, nearby across the river is the Saint-Gaudens NHS - https://www.nps.gov/saga/index.htm well worth half a day. Woodstock, VT, and Hanover , NH -Dartmouth, are nearby if you might wish to make it a weekend trip or interruption of a rail journey; WRJ has a couple of rental agencies.
After passing through downtown WRJ and just before the high I-91 bridge, you pass the New England Central RR yard on the left and might spot the repurposed roundhouse, while the turntable pit has long been filled in. The next stop is Randolph, which has a few older distinctive buildings, including the brick depot, in its otherwise rather ordinary downtown.
We arrived at Essex Junction on the advertised and I waited with perhaps a dozen others for the Blue Line CCTA bus scheduled to arrive some 15 minutes later. After getting off at the Downtown Transportation Center a bumpy half hour later, I altered my planned walking route to go to the Farmhouse Tap & Grill for a very light supper.
I had been attracted to the Cheddar Ale soup on their online menu, but it turned out to be so gravy-like and dense that I found it inedible, so asked the manager if I could replace it with the gazpacho and he agreed. It was a tad better, but a lazy man's version with everything pulverized in a blender, while I prefer mine chunky. I was seated in the rear outdoor area, and this place and the whole city were really hopping with the UVM students back in town.
Due to three criteria I had booked a lower bunk at the unofficial but friendly and well run hostel, conveniently situated at the foot of Main Street.
- Only in town ~15 hours
- Couldn't see any justification for spending several hundred dollars to get fancier digs
- Easy walk from the DTC, and a block plus from the ferry pier
As with most hostels, the bunks consisted of a rather thin but sturdy mattress mounted on lateral zigzig coils, which don't protrude but do tend to sag - some hostels lay a piece of plywood on top of them to prevent this. It was OK for a night.
I got up early (for me) and headed around the corner to August First - a month late. However, this well-reviewed spot is also obviously extraordinarily popular, and after the line hadn't moved in a minute or so decided to exit.
I'm fine with walking, but have little tolerance for standing still - especially in a line. However, an excellent alternative was only blocks away, the century old, far less hip, and largely traditional Henry's Diner.
While the original railroad car is long gone, this institution is now owned by a couple with a Greek heritage, and they had an additional menu with Labor Day Weekend specials. While I sort of had an omelet in mind, the Plaka Skillet of home fries, feta, lamb gyro, fresh spinach, kalamata olives and onions got my attention. One of the bread choices was a sesame Greek bread, which was delightfully airy so less dense than any other bread I've previously eaten. This turned out to be an excellent choice and so filling that I was never tempted by the thought of lunch this day.
Deciding I needed to walk off this meal, I headed west and somewhat uphill to Battery Park, which has a break in the trees for a view of the lake and the Adirondacks across it - which were still in profile at this hour.
For those with no knowledge of its history, Lake Champlain and the entire St. Lawrence River valley were once part of the ocean. A whale skeleton was discovered near Burlington in 1849 during railway construction. Chazy Reef, the world's oldest, is found on Isle la Motte in the Lake Champlain Islands: https://tinyurl.com/y47o47tq