Posted 13 July 2014 - 10:46 AM
So here's the deal with 49. We came with diminished expectations and some skepticism as to whether we would make our connection. As you know by now, we made it. But what started out as an on-time trip deteriorated quickly in Albany.
We got there on time, and the Boston section #449 had also arrived prior to us and was sitting in the yard north of the station. But on the platform next to us was #48/448 which had just arrived and was running several hours late. Crews began to go through the process of detaching the Boston section, moving it to another track, attaching a dual mode engine for the New York section, and they even changed out the P-42 engines on the Boston section for another one. So the three station tracks were taken up with our 49, plus 48, and 448.
After 48 and 448 left, an Empire Service train came into the station and terminated. Then 64, the eastbound Maple Leaf, also came in and required an engine change. Still, nothing being done with our train. The Empire train was taken out to the yard, and yet another one showed up behind it and also terminated there. Finally they began working on our train. We ended up leaving Albany over an hour late, a deficit that was never recovered. And as we know, a late train usually gets later.
To my dismay, my 5:40 AM alarm woke me up in the great city of Cleveland. We should have been closer to Toledo by then, so we had lost more time. We had a nice crew, especially Rob and Coco, the sleeper car attendants.
Kevin Korell
OTOL Board Leader
Lakewood, NJ