Newark International to Brookly by train

[Steve4031]

First, to all of you who posted and helped me out, I want to thank you, and my girlfriend would like to thank you. So Thank you.

On other trips to NYC, we had flown into Laguardia, and rented cars for the duration of the trip. After my mini apple fest in February with Alan, in which we used the airtrain at JFK, I saw how efficient the NYC subway system was.

So when we decided to fly to New York on short notice from Chicago, I chose Newark to fly into to take advantage of the airtrain connection. I know JFK has a connection too, but to fly from Chicago to JFK on American (the airline where I had frequent flyer miles to use for this trip) one must change planes. I also booked at the Newark airport Marriott, planning to use public transportation too and from my girl-friends uncle's house in Brooklyn. We would only be staying one night.

We arrived on time on Saturday at about 9:30 a.m. By 10:15 we were in the hotel room, taking a quick nap and recovering from our early departure from Chicago. We had lunch at 11:30, with plans to catch the !:07 P.M. NJT train to Penn Station. The exact times are as follows:

1230 wait for shuttle

1235 -shuttle arrives

1245 lv hotel

1247 drp off at continental

1250 ar airtrain

1255 dpairtrain

100 ar newark ap

107 dp newark ap

130 ar penn

200 dp penn 7th ave on #2 train

230 ar president street

We could have cut the time at Penn to about 15 minutes, except that we needed a bathroom break, and my girl friend stopped to get flowers in Penn Station. We reversed the itinerary to return back to the hotel, but we stopped and had dinner at the Stage door Delicatessan which was at 33rd and 8th ave. Excellent restaurant, excellent fool.

The total cost round trip was $54 dollars for the 2 of us.

I had a rental car reserved at Hertz, and that was for $65 at one point, but canceled that when I deciced to take the train. In addition, had a rented the car, we would have had to pay 20 dollars to park it overnight at the hotel, plus about $15 dollars in tolls each way IIRC, and then pay for a half tank of guas. So you can see that we saved closed to 60 dollars on by using the train. The car may have been faster, but I have expereinced a New York traffic Jam, and don't care to again if possible. Also, with the car we would not have had that wonderful dinner at the stage door Deli.

My girlfriend, (who is not a railfan) appreciated the cost saving. We were on a tight budget, and since I was getting the plane ticket, and hotel, she agreed to get the tickets. She appreciated the opportunity to get flowers at Penn Station (her aunt really appreciated them), and we spent our time on the subway reflecting on our experiences with her family. Had I been driving, I might not have been able to enjoy the conversation as well as I did. She is planning to return to New York, and she was asking me to explain to her the routing that we took so she could do this on her own. The fact that she was willing to do this shows her confidence in the transportation system in New York City.

Again, thanks for the help. Even though this post does not have much technical jargon or detail, it does show that the airport to new york connection is viable. Even with suitcases, the trip would be manageable becuse of hi-level platforms and working escalators and elevators int he station.

 

[Superliner Diner]

Next time, Steve, talk your girlfriend into a "land cruise" on the Lake Shore Limited. It will leave her that much closer to Brooklyn, erasing the New Jersey portion of the trip you just took.

 

[Steve4031]

Actually, we did do a land cruise on the Capitol Limited back in 1997 when we first met. We had a standard room, which is much smaller with two people, I found out. After dinner, we returned to the room, I had Barry White going on my Boombox, and the train was rolling along at 79MPH. Moments later, we were stopped. About 15 minutes later, we found out that a storm had blown a tree onto a Freight train, and that the signals were out. We sat at this spot for 6 hours. My girl friend, thought game, did not appreciate the daylght ride from Cleveland to Washington as much as I had.

A few years later, we road the zephyr to Glenwood springs, which went well until 6 was 5 hours late on the return trip.

Recently, we had a return from St. Louis aborted due to the 4 hour late Texas Eagle. So I have had some bad luck each time I took the train with her.

But this time, she saw how efficient the trains were in New York, and I think she was really making an effort to show an interest in railroading. She learned the difference between the Monorail, and NJT, which was a big step. Also, she noted how smooth the ride was on the NEC into Penn Station. So . . . there may be some hope yet to convert her into a rail fan.

Ultimately, she respect my desire to ride the rails, and encourages me to do so as I need it. So I am pretty lucy to have her in my life.

 

[Steve4031]

An additional response to above, we had to be back in school on Monday, thus the flying. We may use reward points to travel on the Lakeshore this summer to get to New York. We will see.