Cleveland to Utica to Poughkeepsie to Albany to Cleveland
June 3-7, 2016
Lake Shore Limited and Empire Service in New York
Decided to attend the Key Lock & Lantern Convention in Utica NY last week and thus an Amtrak ride was in order.
Friday June 3
Left Cleveland at 5:30am after a nice drive up I-71. The westbound 49 was running very late and thus the station was full of unhappy campers who had been waiting nearly two hours for the train. But 48 arrived nearly on time and after stepping around a wayward o'possum who had wondered onto the platform, I boarded my coach, the last of five coaches on the train now pulled by only one P-42 locomotive #78. I was able to get a window seat on the north side of the train as there were a number of empty seats in my car. With the Boston stub train still running, three sleepers are up front, then diner, then cafe, and five coaches.
I asked my coach attendant what time breakfast would be served and he said 6am. I thought that to be a bit strange since most of my trips, breakfast was at 6:30.
So at 6, I decided to make the trek from the end of the train to the dining car. Lots of sleeping passengers sprawled in the aisles and glad they usually put us Clevelanders in another car.
When I arrived at the entrance to the dining car I was informed that breakfast did indeed start at 6:30. My coach attendant, who was really a good guy (kept restrooms clean and very friendly) had followed me and apologized profusely for his mistake. No big deal, but not going to walk all the way back to my coach so decided to sit in the cafe car to wait.
It turned out to be a good move since I met a nice Amish man named Elias who asked if he could use my phone. He was the leader of a large group of Amish traveling to Utica where a van was to pick them up and bring them to their farms out in the New York countryside. We had a great talk about the Amish in my area in Ohio, and of course, he had once lived there, but now Amish were moving to upstate NY where land was more available and cheaper. Elias operated a workshop that made toys and sold them back in Holmes Co. Ohio. He gave me his card and I hope to visit him someday on a driving trip to NY. Yes, Amtrak trips can lead to some interesting conversations and new friendships.
So the call for breakfast came at 6:30 and the LSA placed me beside a man who obviously did not want to have a conversation. He sat reading his laptop computer and did not say a word. Of course those of you who know me, know that I cannot resist meeting new people so I introduced myself and asked where he was heading. "MAINE". and that was his final word. O.k. i will just have some eggs and move on..
A few minutes later I was joined by a man from Boston and his wife. He was mostly friendly but she spent the entire time criticizing Amtrak, belittling the dining car staff and being very loud. Obviously not one of my better dining experiences on Amtrak but hey, the eggs were very good. I left a nice tip for the server who had to endure these rather obnoxious travelers.I decided it was time to return to my seat as we were getting close to Erie,Pa. A beautiful sunny morning and lots of freight activity via CSX on the other track. We were running on time and left Erie around 7:30am. Arrived in Buffalo Depew also on time and lots of people boarding here. But most everyone went to the NYP cars and thus I continued to have my seat without a guest.
As we moved closer to Rochester, track work and traffic increased and we started losing time. Then there is the long boarding process with all the new construction and the double spotting for the train. We spent nearly a half hour here as many passengers exchanging.
Saw some foreign power in the form of Genesee Valley RR switchers and some Susquehanna locos as we moved toward Syracuse. The dining car was not going to open until almost noon so I figured I would not have enough time to catch a bite before I arrived in Utica. But as life would have it, we lost more time and did not arrive in Utica until 1pm.
I left the train and took some photos of the numerous rolling stock of the Adirondack Scenic RR that I would be riding on Sunday. A beautiful station at Utica built in 1914 and maintained in immaculate condition. Spent a little time on the overhead walk bridge and then into the station. A nice restaurant, a DMV station full of people wanting their driver's licenses renewed, a Greyhound bus terminal and architecture that left one wanting to just sit and enjoy the surroundings.
But I had a walk into town to reach the Hotel Utica where I would be staying for three days. Another nice old hotel with chandeliers and an ambiance from the past. The hotel was recently sold and the new owners will hopefully put some money into the place to maintain its beauty. My room was on the 7th floor and the tiny elevators were quite a novelty to ride. My room was a very large king with a nice three window view to the west, including the railroad yards from a distance.
My quest for this day was to explore the downtown by attending an opening at the Munson, Wiliams Proctor Museum of Art just a half mile or so up Genesee Street of an exhibition on Adirondack photography and art by Seneca Ray Stoddard. As I walked up the street I noted many fine churches and older buildings that had been refurbed and some nicer restaurants with outside cafe seating.
The staff at the art museum were very helpful and I enjoyed the modern art and design of Terry Slade and then to the Stoddard exhibit with some interesting photos and artwork as well as other pieces from the turn of the 20th century.
This museum also contains some very excellent examples of famed artists including several Thomas Cole works, Fredrick Church, William Merritt Chase, Thomas Moran and a host of American artists of the period.
I then toured the Fountain Elms mansion, home of the benefactors of the museum and observed some local artists presenting their pieces for an upcoming show.
Back down Genesee St to the fabulous Stanley Theatre where I was able to get a tour by the director of this wonderful old palace. Thousands in restorations make this a real showplace for Utica's return to prominence.
Stopped by a Save The Rails rally involving a protest against the governor and legislature trying to pull up tracks along the Adirondack route near Lake Placid to make it a bike and snowmobile trail.
It was now time for supper and I dropped by a pizza establishment to try out the pies. An excellent NY style thin crust pizza with mushrooms and green/red peppers was my bill of fare and I even took some back to the room for some later snacking while watching some TV before retiring after a long day of training and exploring a new city.
Saturday June 4
The hotel served an excellent buffet breakfast as part of your room rental so I moved downstairs and conversed with some of our KL&L members about their collections before taking on the eggs, waffles, sausage and toast. At 8am the convention displays were open and I enjoyed many interesting exhibits of old station lamps, many fire and police lamps from the 19th century and of course a large selection of railroad lanterns, locks and keys by some prominent collectors in the northeastern states. I was able to find a couple of nice things for my collection and enjoyed the day talking shop with many new friends in this organization. A nice buffet sandwich bar highlighted lunch and then I decided to walk down to the station to do some railfanning on the platforms. Lots of Empire Service trains and CSX freights moving past the station.
I returned to the hotel to freshen up for the KL&L banquet to be held at the Trackside Restaurant at the station around 6pm. We had an excellent dinner and some interesting speakers about the history of the Adirondack rail lines and another talk on the railroads of Utica.
After the speakers I walked back to the hotel and found a rock band in the lobby playing for a wedding reception that was taking over the hotel for the evening. Some good music before retiring for the evening.
Sunday June 5
Went downstairs for breakfast and then walked to the station to prepare for our Adirondack Scenic RR excursion to Big Moose, NY. The prediction of rain soon came to fruition but I managed to stay dry until we boarded. I sat with a nice woman and her son who lived near Utica, and were joining our excursion for the day. The seventh grader was a real railfan and we compared notes on our train rides. Mom was very supportive of his interests and we had a great conversation as we started out into the countryside north of Utica. Our train was lead by Adirondack locos # 1502 an EMD F-10 built in 1947 and # 1835 an Alco RS18 built in 1958. We had several coaches, a cafe car and two private coaches on the rear.
The rain came down steadily but a few of our stalwart members took the opportunity to get off for a runby photo shoot about half way up the line. I opted to stay where it was dry and enjoy a pulled pork sandwich. When we arrived in Thendara, our engines took off an extra coach and the rain let up enough to get some good photos and a movie of the switching move.
We arrived in Big Moose about an hour late but spirits were high as some opted to have a buffet lunch in the station while others enjoyed the runaround move of the locos to the other end of the train. The rain continued for our return trip and we had to stop a few times to remove some trees that had come across our tracks from the storm. My seatmates deboarded at Big Moose since the father had driven there to pick them up for their quicker return trip home.
We arrived back in Utica to a partly cloudy sky and the rain stopped in time for me to walk back to the hotel without getting wet. I had anticipated a good NBA game with my Cavaliers but unfortunately, we lost..
But a great day of train riding through the Adirondack forest lands despite the rainy weather.Monday June 6
I had decided that instead of waiting in Utica until the Lake Shore #49 arrived at 8:30pm, that I needed to ride more trains. So I boarded Empire Service #282 after breakfast and headed east to go west. (I believe The Traveler can relate to this.. :giggle: ) Our 282 was nearly an hour late after being held on sidings for westbound CSX freights due to track closures and maintenance.
My destination was Poughkeepsie, NY and as I boarded I was able to find a window seat on the north side of the train. We stopped and started and slowed down many time before finally reaching Albany about 45 minutes down. Since I was going to do a turn around move in POU, I asked the conductor if I still had time to do this. He assured me that we would be flying down the Hudson and would have no trouble boarding #283 northbound at POU. That was a relief!. So when several people left the train in Albany I was able to move to the west side seats so I could view the Hudson River. Plenty of seats left so that was no problem. (Always remember to move your seat check when you change seats.
)A nice sunny day along the river with many large barges, sailboats and the lighthouses in the middle of the river. We passed Hudson where many new passengers boarded but still had my seat alone. At Rhinecliff I was joined by an Australian lady who was traveling across the country. We had a brief conversation before we quickly reached Poughkeepsie station.
I took the elevator to the station level and enjoyed this nice station shared between Metro North trains and Amtrak. A good view of the trains as they passed under the station. Wish that I had time to go up to the high bridge over the Hudson but with luggage that would have been a task. I bought some pastries to tide me over before dinner and waited for my Empire train #283. The first call said we were to board on Track 1 so I moved downstairs and watched some Metro North trains arrive. Then there was another announcement that 283 would now arrive on Track 2 so back up the steps and down the elevator just in time. Didn't need that much exercise!!
Our locomotive #708 arrived about 20 minutes late and I was finally able to get a seat after the conductor forced some passengers to remove their luggage blocking seats. Seems to be a lot of that on these eastern trains. Had a seat on the east side of the train for some different scenery as we quickly moved back north to Albany.
Pulled into Albany around 4pm and I was able to shoot some photos of Amtrak 40th Anniversary Loco #184 and several other Amtrak units and new baggage cars before heading upstairs to the overhead waiting area.
I hung around there taking photos and movies of 448 heading to Boston, Ethan Allen, and some other Empire Service trains. I was wondering if the security would make me move back into the station area but after being sniffed by the Amtrak police dog, everything was o.k.
I eventually sat in the station watching some TV before the call came for our #49 and #449 to arrive. The Boston section arrived late and it entered one of the stub tracks being replaced and its passengers had to go upstairs and then down to get to LSL 49. The conductor came up to scan my ticket and I headed downstairs to my sleeper 4911 Room 9. I met my SCA Miles, who seemed friendly and said I could go up to the diner when the power was turned on after engine exchange. Our new P-42 was #13 and it was eventually backed up to our train.I went down to the diner and had almost the same crew that I had had on #48 coming to Utica. The LSA was a friendly guy as opposed to our server, an older gentleman who seemed tired and bored. I was seated with two women who were probably in their 40s but acted like they were 16. They spent most of the first fifteen minutes at the table taking selfies on their phones while I sat patiently wondering if we were going to have any conversation. I am still of the old school that you at least acknowledge the people around you before ignoring them. Anyway, we eventually talked a little but they were more engrossed in their own being and so I had my steak and enjoyed the ride. They had questions about riding Amtrak but when I offered some advice, they started talking among themselves again. Momma said that was really "bad manners".
The diner was having trouble serving the multitudes of people that decided to eat and we did not get our dinners until almost 8:30pm. I took my cheesecake back to my room for a late night snack and enjoyed the ride across NY until it got dark around Utica. A rainstorm came up and I was ready for bed. Miles had mentioned he would be up all night and so he could make up my bed anytime. I sought him out about 9:30 but could not find him in his room or anywhere in the car. I rang the bell but also no response. By 10 I decided to put my own bed down, grab the blanket and extra pillows and go to sleep.
As we passed Erie, PA about 2:30 am we were about an hour down and a thunderstorm was settling down outside. I fell back to sleep but awoke as we were entering the east side of Cleveland and Collinwood Yards. Neither the conductor or Miles had stopped by to see if I was awake and it is a good thing I was since we pulled into the station about 10 minutes later and Miles was now emerging from his room. I think he expected a tip as I left the car in Cleveland, but he was disappointed. I wished him well and headed to my car. The rain has stopped and I had a pleasurable drive back home only about 45 minutes later than normal.
It was a great four days of train riding and railfanning and, except for some of the service on the LSL, mostly a positive experience. Below are some photos of my trip including the station at Utica, our KL&L convention, and some Amtrak action around the Albany area.
Now its time to go plan another Amtrak adventure..
