Taking the Downeaster

[Guest_shanghaiamtrak]

Thinking of going Boston-Portland this summer. Is it a nice trip? What is there to do in Portland and the area? I love the ocean.

Also, what kind of equipment does the train use?

 

[gswager]

You mean Portland, Oregon?

:huh:

 

[IceColdMintJulep]

I would assume Maine since Portland Oregon is not by the ocean.

 

[PRR 60]

The Downeaster uses some former Metroliner cars that are Amfleet design but with greater spacing between the rows. Amtrak operates this service under contract to the The Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority (NNEPRA). One plus of this contract operation is the better than average on board food service supplied and serviced by a private caterer and not Amtrak.

The NNEPRA operates its own website for the Downeaster and that site has links to various tourist information resources for Portland ME and vicinity.

The Downeaster

 

[Amtrak Kid]

Make sure yopu get some photos of the F40 cabbages there used as Cab/Baggage cars!!

 

[Bill Haithcoat]

I took the Boston-Portland, ME trip about three years ago.and was quite pleased with it. The clean, attractive Portland station is an intermodel with buses. There is also good bus service to the downtown area. I found the downtown to be a lively, trendy place, great for walking around. Good seafood. Neat wharf. I could have stayed longer.

I went on a schedule like #681 up and #686 down, ( the same day) to follow the current timetable for an example. I found that to be adequate to get an introduction to the area. A longer stay would have been fine.

About 30 years ago I rode a bus from Boston to Portland and a drunk on the bus threw up. Good God--the things we remember. This last trip three years ago was much more pleasant.