dan72
Lead Service Attendant
- Joined
- Apr 30, 2006
- Messages
- 418
After my trip and full day in Portland, the next morning came way too early. I was scheduled to take the 7:15 a.m. Acela Express to New York City which meant getting up early to finish packing and to catch a cab to South Station.
When I arrived at South Station a Red Cap greeted me and I decided to try the service for my first time. I’m sure glad I did. I headed up to the Club Acela lounge to check on email and after about 20 minutes, he came up and got me along with two other people who were boarding first class. He took us to our car almost 30 minutes early where I had pretty much my choice of seat in the First Class car. I got a single seat on the left side with a full window. Our train was one of the refurbished ones, so I also got to enjoy the faux leather seating as well. We departed right on time and after we got underway, I fired up my GPS where I got to witness it hitting 150 mph. The weather was beautiful, although the sun was pretty low which made taking some picture difficult – that’s what happens when you take an early train.
We ended up stopping for about 10 minutes just prior to the Hell Gate bridge due to some track work going on. Once the northbound Acela passed us we crossed the bridge and headed into Manhattan. Once alighted, I headed upstairs towards the Club Acela Lounge where I met Amtrak Unlimited’s own AlanB. He had generously offered to take me around to several sights I was inquiring about see some sights around Manhattan and with his help, I was able to see what was on my wishlist – and then some. Some places I was able to see included Times Square, Rockefeller Plaza, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Grand Central Terminal, the New York Public Library, and the subway. It was great to put a name with a face and I am very grateful for the generosity of his time. Thank you again, Alan!
We got back to Penn Station about ½ before my departure on the Empire Service where I was heading to Rochester for a couple of days to visit a college roommate. Having the good luck I did with a Redcap, I requested one, but he did not show and after waiting about ten minutes, Alan walked me to the escalator for my track and I headed down to my train lugging my suitcases. When I go to the business class car, all of the single seats were taken which were on the left side of the train – where I wanted to see the Hudson River again. After the conductor took my ticket, I headed to the lounge car and scored a booth for the first hour or so. A gentleman across from me was alighting in Poughkeepsie so as we neared the station, I grabbed my seating ticket and slid into his seat where I enjoyed the Hudson River in the bc car for the rest of the way. Even though it was my second trip along this river, it was great to see it again and still find it to be a scenic highlight of this whole trip. As we headed west towards Rochester I got some great views of the Erie canal – something that eluded me on the last several trips heading east as I was on the left side and missed out on it. In 2007, it was dark as I took the LSL and with an hour delay, missed it then as well.
The staff on the Empire Service were great. The snack car attendant had a great sense of humor and we chatted for awhile as I spent some time in the lounge car and the conductors were all very friendly and very helpful as well. I was glad I decided to take this train instead of the LSL since I was able to get into Rochester about 3 hours earlier. We arrived about 10 minutes late where my old roommate Dave picked me up and I stayed for two nights in Rochester before heading west.
After my weekend in Rochester, I boarded an hour-late LSL at the Rochester station. It was quite full and boarding took a little while before we left. I was in the Boston sleeper again which was interestingly the ‘Scenic View’ sleeper which I had ridden out the previous week to Boston. I did not catch the name of my attendant, but he seemed to be Russian and in his 50’s. He had my roomette all set to go and I got ready for bed before we pulled out. There was no baggage car in front of us so I go to hear the P42’s in all of their glory. After waking at about 6:30 I headed to the dining car 6 cars back and had breakfast. I had the omelet which was okay, but a bit watery. The car was not busy at all and for the first time on an Amtrak trip, I had a booth to myself. I headed back and grabbed a shower. We arrived into Chicago about an hour late. I mainly stuck close to the Metropolitan lounge and ran upstairs to grab some lunch in the food court. When I checked in to the lounge I told the attended that would be traveling out in coach and in a diplomatic way asked if I would be able to board right away. She said she would make sure I was able to board right away. She was good to her word and I was one of the first ones the St. Paul coach. I sat in the back to have quick access to the railfan window in the back. The coach was about ¾ full when we left Chicago, but it did fill up in Milwaukee. I ended up sharing my seat with a dad who was taking his two young daughters (they sat across the aisle) to St. Paul where they were going to spend time at the Mall of America. We were in a Superliner I coach - mostly refurbished with the exception on the bathrooms which retained their beautiful lime green walls. Although we were about 5-10 minutes behind, we ended up on St. Paul 30 minutes early. The crew was great and with it being a packed train, they did their jobs very well.
This concluded my trip out east and overall was great. Very few problems with Amtrak, and encountered some great crew members. I head to Baltimore in three weeks and can’t wait to head out for another trip. I hope it goes as well as this one. The bar has been raised.
Thanks for reading!
Dan
When I arrived at South Station a Red Cap greeted me and I decided to try the service for my first time. I’m sure glad I did. I headed up to the Club Acela lounge to check on email and after about 20 minutes, he came up and got me along with two other people who were boarding first class. He took us to our car almost 30 minutes early where I had pretty much my choice of seat in the First Class car. I got a single seat on the left side with a full window. Our train was one of the refurbished ones, so I also got to enjoy the faux leather seating as well. We departed right on time and after we got underway, I fired up my GPS where I got to witness it hitting 150 mph. The weather was beautiful, although the sun was pretty low which made taking some picture difficult – that’s what happens when you take an early train.
We ended up stopping for about 10 minutes just prior to the Hell Gate bridge due to some track work going on. Once the northbound Acela passed us we crossed the bridge and headed into Manhattan. Once alighted, I headed upstairs towards the Club Acela Lounge where I met Amtrak Unlimited’s own AlanB. He had generously offered to take me around to several sights I was inquiring about see some sights around Manhattan and with his help, I was able to see what was on my wishlist – and then some. Some places I was able to see included Times Square, Rockefeller Plaza, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Grand Central Terminal, the New York Public Library, and the subway. It was great to put a name with a face and I am very grateful for the generosity of his time. Thank you again, Alan!
We got back to Penn Station about ½ before my departure on the Empire Service where I was heading to Rochester for a couple of days to visit a college roommate. Having the good luck I did with a Redcap, I requested one, but he did not show and after waiting about ten minutes, Alan walked me to the escalator for my track and I headed down to my train lugging my suitcases. When I go to the business class car, all of the single seats were taken which were on the left side of the train – where I wanted to see the Hudson River again. After the conductor took my ticket, I headed to the lounge car and scored a booth for the first hour or so. A gentleman across from me was alighting in Poughkeepsie so as we neared the station, I grabbed my seating ticket and slid into his seat where I enjoyed the Hudson River in the bc car for the rest of the way. Even though it was my second trip along this river, it was great to see it again and still find it to be a scenic highlight of this whole trip. As we headed west towards Rochester I got some great views of the Erie canal – something that eluded me on the last several trips heading east as I was on the left side and missed out on it. In 2007, it was dark as I took the LSL and with an hour delay, missed it then as well.
The staff on the Empire Service were great. The snack car attendant had a great sense of humor and we chatted for awhile as I spent some time in the lounge car and the conductors were all very friendly and very helpful as well. I was glad I decided to take this train instead of the LSL since I was able to get into Rochester about 3 hours earlier. We arrived about 10 minutes late where my old roommate Dave picked me up and I stayed for two nights in Rochester before heading west.
After my weekend in Rochester, I boarded an hour-late LSL at the Rochester station. It was quite full and boarding took a little while before we left. I was in the Boston sleeper again which was interestingly the ‘Scenic View’ sleeper which I had ridden out the previous week to Boston. I did not catch the name of my attendant, but he seemed to be Russian and in his 50’s. He had my roomette all set to go and I got ready for bed before we pulled out. There was no baggage car in front of us so I go to hear the P42’s in all of their glory. After waking at about 6:30 I headed to the dining car 6 cars back and had breakfast. I had the omelet which was okay, but a bit watery. The car was not busy at all and for the first time on an Amtrak trip, I had a booth to myself. I headed back and grabbed a shower. We arrived into Chicago about an hour late. I mainly stuck close to the Metropolitan lounge and ran upstairs to grab some lunch in the food court. When I checked in to the lounge I told the attended that would be traveling out in coach and in a diplomatic way asked if I would be able to board right away. She said she would make sure I was able to board right away. She was good to her word and I was one of the first ones the St. Paul coach. I sat in the back to have quick access to the railfan window in the back. The coach was about ¾ full when we left Chicago, but it did fill up in Milwaukee. I ended up sharing my seat with a dad who was taking his two young daughters (they sat across the aisle) to St. Paul where they were going to spend time at the Mall of America. We were in a Superliner I coach - mostly refurbished with the exception on the bathrooms which retained their beautiful lime green walls. Although we were about 5-10 minutes behind, we ended up on St. Paul 30 minutes early. The crew was great and with it being a packed train, they did their jobs very well.
This concluded my trip out east and overall was great. Very few problems with Amtrak, and encountered some great crew members. I head to Baltimore in three weeks and can’t wait to head out for another trip. I hope it goes as well as this one. The bar has been raised.
Thanks for reading!
Dan
