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[KevinKorell]

In this thread, post your impressions of our Saturday 4/22 activities as we ride the rails both within the Boston area and the Downeaster train to Maine (to Brunswick and back to Freeport).

[KevinKorell]

Saturday is in the books as we successfully completed our Fairmount Line round trip to Readville, and our trip to Brunswick, ME (and back to Freeport, ME) via a substitute bus on U.S. 1 and I-95 between Boston and Exeter, NH and the Downeaster train north of there.

 

The seven of us met in South Station under the departure board.  Our train to Readville was listed as "Delayed", but we started making our way out to the tracks and in that time it was displayed as Track 11.  We actually left at 9:51 AM, just a minute down.   The trip was slow going as the train passes through the rear of MBTA's and Amtrak's yards and also some construction.    Many got the impression that this line should be operated as a transit line rather than using commuter rail equipment, due to the closeness of the stations preventing the trains from getting up to speed.  Indeed this has been under study as a potential Indigo Line for a long time.   We arrived in Readville at 10:28 AM, and after checking with the conductor, we stayed put in our coach for the return trip scheduled to happen at 10:30 AM.    We departed inbound from Readville at 10:32 AM.  On the way back we formulated our game plan for getting ourselves from South Station to North Station and finding the Downeaster substitute buses.  (Remember the Red Line was out over the weekend.).  In the end, 4 of us shared an Uber ride, two took a taxi, and one walked to Downtown Crossing and rode the Orange Line.

 

We all made it on time to North Station, and were directed to a special bus boarding area on Nashua Street, where passengers for the Downeaster had already formed a line.  Having arrived at different times, we ended up on different parts of the line and thus different buses, but we all made it to Exeter, NH.

 

The downside of the bustitution is that upon arrival, the folks who had arrived on the first bus got the best seats on the train.  Obviously the bus is time consuming in that one has to retrieve their luggage from the compartment under the seating area.   Train 693 ended up being packed, with every seat in Business Class sold out between Exeter and Portland.    We had to continue to sit and wait on the train until the last bus arrived.  The train finally departed at 1:11 PM, just 12 minutes down.     Just after the station stop in Wells, ME we stopped for almost half an hour to allow a southbound train to pass -- which lost us some more time.   Our stop in Saco was 43 minutes late.   The run into Portland, with its off-the-main station went quickly, and soon we were headed north again to the final two station stops, and for some, new trackage.   We arrived in Brunswick at 3:44 PM, 34 minutes down but the good news was that it cut our dwell time by that much.

 

Most headed into the nearby pub attached to the train station.  I took a rather long walk (longer than I thought it would be) first to an Italian restaurant, and when I didn't think I'd be able to get out of there in a reasonable time, I opted for a nearby Subway instead.

 

Now as Downeaster 698, the train backed into the Brunswick station well ahead of its 5:45 PM departure time.   We boarded about 10 minutes before scheduled departure.   We left on time, and most of us settled for what would be a 13-minute journey to Freeport.   Steve W remained aboard 698 back to Exeter and made his way back to Boston and his hotel, while the rest of us alighted at Freeport and walked to our Hilton Garden Inn.

 

Six of us converging on the hotel's front desk created a sudden line, but the woman at the desk handled it very professionally.

 

No doubt we'll all retire early, as we have an early morning train to catch tomorrow.

Edited by KevinKorell, 24 April 2023 - 09:32 PM.
Changed Dartmouth St to Nashua St

[KevinKorell]

Small edit....  Error was that Downeaster buses were on Dartmouth Street -- Meant to say Nashua Street.