3 replies to this topic

[KevinKorell]

Detail your travels home from the Fest, whether completing it with the group in New York City, or having left us early.

[bratkinson]

I'm the first one home!  Due to other commitments this week and lack of a current passport of drivers' license with a star, I couldn't go to Toronto.  I haven't been there since 1974 or '75 when I was living in Detroit and a friend and I went there for a couple days to ride the subways and street cars.  We covered all the routes end to end in a day and a half before we took the CN train back to Windsor where my car was.

 

As I was going the opposite direction from Utica than the rest of the gang, and my train was scheduled a little more than an hour earlier than theirs, I got to make the 8-9 block walk back to the station alone.  After walking 3-4 blocks on one side of a main street yesterday that the sidewalk had been trenched and was mostly hard packed dirt for a walking surface, I tried the other side today.  It was worse!  So much for that idea. 

 

Arriving at the beautifully restored HUGE Utica station, I was surprised to see a line of perhaps 40-50 people waiting for access at a ticket counter just a few feet from where I had entered.  Turned out that was the NY RMV.  I chuckled that they aren't any better than the MA RMV...long lines no matter what!

 

Train #284 was running about 20 minutes late.  Normal for Amtrak.  I'm a frequent user of  https://asm.transitdocs.com/map, so I knew where the train was as well as all other Amtrak trains currently running.  It looked like everything in New York State was running 10-90 minutes late.  The Lakeshore Ltd was the 90 minute one. 

 

Like #283 yesterday, #284 was full.  At least business class was.  I don't know about coach.  Maybe 15 minutes after leaving UCA, the curtain to BC was open and I spotted the conductor coming from coach and taking a seat at a table in the cafe half of the car.  I immediately figured 'Here we go again....no BC tickets getting scanned on this train, either!'  So I walked up to him, told him what happened yesterday and requested my ticket be scanned, which he did.  He then walked back to scan the ticket of the other BC passenger that boarded with me.  The trip to NYP was uneventful and we arrived 5 minutes early.  As it turned out, the Lakeshore Ltd was on the other side of the platform and had waited for us to clear the single track west side connection tunnel and approach tracks, so I watched it leave about 5 minutes down.  

 

As yesterdays' trip on #95 to NYP was standing room only, and my 2-3 previous experiences on #94 in the past 2 years or so were also packed, I decided I'd check to see what were my options getting home from NYP maybe 20 minutes before I arrived on #284.  As expected, #95 showed SOLD OUT, as did Acela #2168 at 5:00.  #2170 showed both BC & FC available, as did #2172.  But I decided to save the $100+ upgrade cost and go with #94, which allowed for a leisurely meal at Red Rose Pizza on the LIRR level.

 

As it turned out, #94 had been running on time until shortly before reaching Newark.  It must have lost even more time getting from there to NYP, and finally arrived about 25 minutes late.  For the first time that I've ever encountered it, the lady in the Club Acela announced the track number before the train arrived!  I was closely watching its status with the Amtrak App.  Expecting a fully packed train, I decided this would be the day of my first-ever try at 'beat the pack' boarding at NYP by hustling down to the LIRR level and getting to the platform long before everyone else.  Worked like a charm.  But when the expected arrival time had come and gone by 5 minutes and still no train, I was getting nervous.  It finally showed up on the heels of an NJT train that arrived 2 tracks over.  I even boarded before the new conductor got on board!  He never asked how I knew which track.  I know the practice is commonplace as I've witnessed it a good number of times...people waiting to board before we come to a stop.  It turned out the train was only half full!!  Go figure!  Apparently Amtraks' ticket computer was a bit screwy today.

 

Train #94 lost a bit more time between NYP and NHV, where I did the cross-platform switch to Springfield shuttle #494, arriving at Windsor Locks about 30 minutes late.

 

All in all, it was an uneventful, if a bit late, Amtrak trip.  Like the Holiday Inn commercial of maybe 20 years ago said: "The best surprise is NO surprise".  Amtrak didn't surprise me at all this trip.  A bit late is no surprise.  A couple hours late isn't a surprise either.

 

And for those wondering why I didn't simply wait until this afternoon and take the Lakeshore Ltd #48/448 from Utica to Springfield?  Because train #448 from Albany is BUS #3448 Sunday through Thursday until the end of August due to CSX trackwork in Massachusetts.   Much to my chagrin, I'm on BUS #3449 next Wednesday starting a trip to Milwaukee to ride the new HOP streetcar line.  I rode the last day of the last streetcar line in Milwaukee in 1958 when I was 10 years old.  I HAVE to ride the new streetcar there!

Edited by bratkinson, 16 July 2019 - 11:10 PM.

[pennyk]

I am on my way home from NYC on train 97.  The train is having mechanical difficulties.  The condenser in one coach is frozen and the AC never worked.  Apparently, Sunnyside thought it was working and released the train.  We were about 20 minutes late leaving NYP.

 

However, the first coach has no AC and a few of the others have mininmal AC.  It is close to 100 degrees outside on the NEC.  Coach passengers are miserable.  I have shared some of my extra water, but did not have enough to share with everyone who needed water.

 

I thought they were going to replace the coach in WAS, but apparently not.  They attempted to un-freeze the condenser.  We are still in WAS and I have not been down to coach to check on them.  I know the coach attendant and she is doing her best but there is only so much she can do.

 

My ride in the sleeper will be comfortable but I am very concerned about the coach passengers who are absolutely miserable.

 

(sorry for my long winded vent - basically, I am heading home from the fest)

[KevinKorell]

How was my trip home?   Better than the trip to the Fest 5 days earlier.  I took Regional #161 out of New York down to Philadelphia, and then NJ TRANSIT to Cherry Hill.  The train made it, at least to Cherry Hill. But it was delayed at Pennsauken (site of Monday's breakdown) for a late running train in the opposite direction. After the long drive through the pine forest, I was home just before 7 PM.