Amtrak Lake Shore Limited Rail Travelogue - Dan Chazin's Trip on the Amtrak Lake Shore Limited.
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Dan Chazin's Trip on the Amtrak Lake Shore Limited
Chicago-Albany
TrainWeb.com/travelogues/dchazin/1998g30a/1998h06a.html
It's 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, August 6, 1998, and we've just
arrived at Chicago Union Station where we will soon be boarding
the Lake Shore Limited, which we will be taking to Albany. We
have just finished participating in the National Order of the
Arrow Conference held in Ames, Iowa, and the Man-A-Hattin Lodge
#82 was kind enough to give the four of us a ride from Ames to
Chicago. (Although there were four Scouts who accompanied me
last week from Albany to Chicago, one of those Scouts chose to
fly home this morning, so only three Scouts are now accompanying
me on the train to Albany.) We gathered together our various
packages and luggage and brought them to the waiting area
adjacent to the boarding platform. On the way, I observed the
arrivals board, which showed that the California Zephyr,
scheduled to arrive at 4:10 p.m., will not arrive until 7:45
p.m., and that the Texas Eagle, scheduled to arrive at 1:35 p.m.,
will not arrive until 9:15 p.m.! I checked with the Passenger
Service Office, where the representative indicated that our train
would not be held for the Texas Eagle, and should depart on time.
Soon I noticed that the estimated arrival time for the California
Zephyr had been changed to 8:00 p.m.
A couple sitting in the waiting room noticed my Scout
uniform, and asked if we were returning from Philmont. I replied
that we were instead coming from NOAC, but that I had been to
Philmont quite a few times previously. They then informed me
that their son had worked in Philmont for several years, and that
in 1996, he was on staff in Cypher's Mine. I replied that I had
been to Philmont in 1996, and that we stopped in Cypher's Mine on
that trek, and might possibly have a picture of their son, whose
name was Rusty. They gave me their address, and I promised to
look for my pictures when I had a chance and send them copies of
any pictures that might include their son.
I then made a few phone calls. At about 7:50 p.m., the
boarding of our train on Track 28 began to be announced, with
elderly and handicapped people, and those with young children,
being afforded the opportunity to board first. About 8:00 p.m.,
we were able to board the train, and were assigned to the front
Boston coach. I located a row of four seats, with one pair of
seats two rows in front of an electric outlet, so I could plug in
my computer (using the extension cord that I had brought along).
Then I stepped outside and walked down the platform to record the
numbers of the consist. As I was doing so, at 8:07 p.m., the
California Zephyr pulled in on Track 24. This seemed a little
strange to me, since if the train had arrived instead on the
adjacent Track 26, there could have been an across-the-platform
transfer of passengers from one train to the other. Now, the
passengers will have to go all the way into the station and then
come back out to board our train. And, indeed, that procedure
resulted in a delayed departure for our train. At 8:15 p.m. --
our scheduled departure time -- passengers from the Zephyr were
just beginning to board our train, and the boarding process took
some time. On the scanner, I heard how one passenger attempted
to board a coach with more baggage than could be accommodated
there, and he was directed to check some of that baggage in the
baggage car.
In the meantime, I plugged in my computer and started
entering the consist on my computer list. I discovered that the
cars on the Boston section of the train (two coaches, sleeper,
and even the baggage car), were identical to those on last
Thursday's train which we took from Albany to Chicago (although
the order of the two coaches was reversed). The New York
section, though, consisted of entirely different equipment.
Finally, at 8:41 p.m., we got the highball signal and pulled
out of the station. I expected that we would stop somewhere in
the yards outside the station to add some RoadRailer cars, but
that did not happen. Instead, we proceeded straight on our way
to Hammond-Whiting. The schedule allows nearly an hour to cover
the 16 miles between Hammond-Whiting and Chicago, but if no long
stop is made outside the Chicago station, this distance can be
covered in about half an hour. So it looks like we should be
able to make up most of our lost time by the time we depart the
Hammond-Whiting station.
And, indeed, we arrived at Hammond-Whiting at 9:14 p.m. It
had taken only 33 minutes to cover this distance, instead of the
scheduled time of 57 minutes (coming in last Friday, we had taken
37 minutes for this trip). We stopped here for eight minutes,
and left at 9:22 p.m. So we were now only ten minutes late.
Tonight, the extra time built into the schedule for adding
RoadRailers has permitted us to make up most of the time we lost
due to the late arrival of the California Zephyr.
I now decided to take some food down to the lounge car and
eat it for dinner. Dinner is no longer served on the Lake Shore
Limited leaving Chicago (although snacks, consisting of fruit,
cheese and crackers, are provided in the dining car for first
class passengers). When I arrived at the lounge car, I found
that the line for service extended all the way back into the
first coach. This was reminiscent of the scene we experienced
last year, when we were seated in this part of the first coach.
The lounge car is simply not designed to serve meals to so many
passengers, and even though there were two people behind the
counter, the attendants could not keep up with the demand for
food. I had planned to get a cup of tea, but I did not feel like
standing on such a long line, so for now I had my sardines and
crackers with a can of soda that I had brought with me. At least
no one objected to my consuming my own personal food in the
lounge car! I purposely sat in the area of the car with the
small tables, rather than the other area of the car, where the
conductors normally sit. But conductors and attendants did walk
through the car several times, and no one said a word about my
food. I also noticed that the rule against smoking in any part
of the lounge car except at designated times was apparently being
enforced, since I did not observe anyone smoking at this time in
either portion of the lounge car (posted regulations proscribed
smoking in the lounge car from 8:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.)
After finishing my meal, I decided to return to my seat.
Although the line for service was somewhat shorter than it had
been previously, it still stretched halfway back in the lounge
car. While walking through the coaches, I noted -- somewhat to
my surprise -- that a movie was being shown in the first two
coaches, the only two on the train equipped with video monitors.
I have seen such cars on the Lake Shore previously, but to the
best of my recollection, this is the first time that I have seen
the video screens on this train used to show a movie. I also
noticed how passengers were assigned to cars by destination: the
first coach was reserved for passengers going all the way to New
York, the second coach accommodated those going to Albany, Toledo
and Croton-Harmon, the third coach was used for passengers
traveling to Cleveland, Syracuse and Utica, while the fourth
coach (the rear coach going to New York) housed those going to
Rochester and Buffalo. My car (the first Boston coach) was used
primarily to accommodate passengers getting off at stops west of
Buffalo (except Cleveland), and also held some Albany passengers
(including our group), while the last car was reserved for
passengers traveling to stations between Albany and Boston.
Although there were some empty seats (including some empty pairs
of seats), all the cars seemed to be pretty full.
We stopped at South Bend, Indiana at 10:24 p.m. Our stop
lasted for four minutes, and when we departed at 10:28 p.m., we
were 13 minutes late. I was getting a little tired, so I sat
down in my seat, and tried to go to sleep. I did in fact sleep
to some extent, and was asleep when we arrived at Elkhart, but
did wake up when we left Elkhart at 10:53 p.m., still 13 minutes
late. Then I fell asleep again. The next thing I remember is
that I awoke as we came to a stop at Waterloo at 11:59 p.m., and
then we left at 12:07 a.m. Now, we were 38 minutes late.
I was puzzled by our additional delay, and by this time I
was no longer very tired. I also wanted to finally get my cup of
tea. So I took my computer (which by this time was fully
charged), and walked down to the lounge car. All of the coaches
were quite full, although there were still a few pairs of empty
seats. While walking through the second coach, I noticed that a
movie was still being shown on the video monitors, even though
almost everyone in the car was already asleep, and no one was
paying any attention to the movie. When I arrived at the lounge
car, I was confronted with a "closed" sign on the door. I walked
in anyway, and found the non-smoking end of the car almost empty
(although there were a number of passengers in the other section,
where smoking was now permitted). I was assured by the conductor
that the "closed" sign only indicated the fact that the food
service counter was no longer open for service, but that I was
welcome to remain in the car. Well, it looks like I won't be
able to get my cup of tea after all, but at least I can spend
some time in the lounge car. (I thought that the "closed" sign
was quite misleading, and should not have been posted, but at
least no attempt was made to clear the car of all passengers.)
I sat down at the table in front of the conductors, who were
busy calculating how many seats were left in each car, so that
they could determine in which cars passengers for each stop
should be boarded. It seemed to me that there was ample space on
the train for additional boarding passengers, but the conductor
indicated to me that at some point, all coach seats will be full.
I was also informed that the sleepers are completely full, too.
I questioned the conductor as to the reason for our additional
delay, and he explained that between Elkhart and Waterloo, we
were stuck behind a TV (Trailer Van) freight train, which we
finally passed around Waterloo. I continued writing these
memoirs. We arrived at Bryan, Ohio at 1:35 a.m. (Eastern
Daylight Time) and when we departed three minutes later, we were
45 minutes late. Hopefully, we should be able to make up at
least some of this time by our arrival at Toledo, since there
appears to be about 10 minutes make-up time built into our
schedule between Bryan and Toledo.
I continued writing my description of our trip to the
Adirondacks last week in the lounge car. Other than the
conductors, I was the only person sitting in the part of the car
with the large tables. At about 2:20 a.m., the conductor used
his cell phone to call the Toledo station, where the agent
informed him that there were about 63 passengers who would be
boarding the train in Toledo. A strategy was devised to load the
passengers in stages, so that space could be found to accommodate
all boarding passengers in cars which had vacant seats.
We pulled into the Toledo station at 2:39 a.m. I got off
the train and walked into the station, leaving my laptop computer
under the conductor's bag in an adjacent seat. (I had previously
spoken to him, and he indicated that he did not have a problem
with this.) On the way towards the station, I noticed about 20
express cars being stored on the two tracks between the main
running track and the station. These cars were painted in an
assortment of color schemes -- green, silver, and silver with a
blue stripe. None was to be attached to our train tonight,
however. When I came back outside about ten minutes later, many
passengers were still waiting to board the train. I started
talking with a young man named Adam Bennett who was traveling
from Grand Junction, Colorado to Syracuse, where he would be
spending some time with his family in Cortland. He told me that
he had climbed all of the Adirondack 46 peaks when he was
younger, so when we reboarded the train, I took out my map and
pointed out to him the hike that we had taken last week. He had
originally gone out to Colorado on an Outward Bound program, and
we spent a while talking about our respective hiking experiences.
We finally departed Toledo at 3:04 a.m., having spent 25
minutes at the station. Instead of making up time, we lost some
additional time, primarily due to delays in loading passengers,
and we now were 54 minutes late. I remained in the smoking
section of the lounge car for some time, talking to Adam and
doing some work on my computer. (Adam had run out of cigarettes,
and was complaining that none are sold on the train.) After
about 45 minutes, Adam returned to his seat, and I moved back to
the non-smoking section of the lounge car. By this time, the
smoking section of the car was almost completely empty, but there
were four other passengers in the non-smoking section of the car.
We proceeded toward Sandusky, crossing Sandusky Bay, which
was visible even in the darkness. At 4:00 a.m., we came to a
stop just short of the Sandusky station, with the conductor
explaining that we had to stop to flag a crossing. (As one might
imagine, it is very unlikely that any cars were actually using
this crossing at this hour of the night.) Finally, at 4:05 a.m.,
we stopped at the Sandusky station. The first stop permitted
some passengers to board one of the New York sleepers, and then,
after two minutes, the train was pulled forward to permit three
passengers for Rochester to board a coach. When we left Sandusky
at 4:09 a.m., we were one hour and nine minutes late, having lost
some additional time since Toledo.
Soon after we left Sandusky, the conductor announced that
the lounge car was now closed, and that all passengers must
return to their seats. I then heard him say "get the washrags
out," so it is apparent that the purpose of the closing of the
car is to facilitate its cleaning. Actually, I was planning to
return to my seat rather soon anyway, since my computer's
batteries were running rather low. I closed up my computer and
walked back to my seat. On the way, I noticed that all cars were
quite full, but there were still some empty seats, including a
few pairs of seats.
I think I actually fell asleep for a while, and apparently
slept through our stop in Elyria. At about 5:20 a.m., I woke up,
and noticed that we were stopped at the Cleveland station. A
number of passengers boarded our car, and we started moving again
at 5:29 a.m. We were now one hour and 13 minutes late. Again, I
fell asleep for some period of time, but awoke as we were
approaching Erie, Pa. at 6:53 a.m. At one time, there were about
ten tracks and five platforms at this station, but now only one
is used. The deteriorated remains of station canopies and
elevator shafts are still visible on the abandoned platforms to
the right of the train. All passengers to Erie had been assigned
to our car, so our car was the one that was opened, and all
boarding passengers boarded our car, including those who were
going to New York. These passengers were told that there were no
seats at present in the New York cars, and that they would be
moved to these cars after passengers got off in Rochester and
Buffalo. Our stop in Erie lasted for only three minutes, and we
soon resumed our journey.
A couple sitting in the pair of seats in front of us had
detrained in Erie, and the boarding passengers had not taken
these seats. So I decided temporarily to move up to these seats,
so that I would have a pair of seats to myself. We were now
proceeding parallel to the old Nickel Plate line (now Norfolk
Southern), which was visible for most of the way only about 100
feet to our right. It was interesting to see how the grade
crossing protection for both railroads interacted. At some of
the crossings, the lights and gates for each railroad operated
totally independently, while in other instances, the outer gate
(but not the inner gate) on the NS track came down when our train
approached on the parallel Conrail track. At one point, we
passed an NS freight train proceeding in the opposite direction.
Soon an announcement was made that although the dining car
was open for breakfast, it was now full, and that names were
being put on a waiting list. I wanted to eat one meal in this
trip in the diner (even though, this time, I had brought along a
box of cereal for the Scouts), so I went to the diner and had my
name put on the waiting list. I was rather surprised to see that
the diner was more than half empty, with some tables occupied by
only one or two people, yet there were about 30 people on the
waiting list. The steward said that there would be about a 20-
minute wait to be seated, so I returned to my car in the
meantime.
About 8:00 a.m., my name was called on the loudspeaker, so I
proceeded down to the dining car. I was seated opposite a woman
and her daughter who were traveling in an economy bedroom from
Chicago to New York. They were just coming for the weekend to
see the sights of the city and experience the train ride back and
forth. This was the daughter's first trip on a train, and she
was very excited about the experience. I ordered the same
American breakfast that I had on the trip from Albany to Chicago,
with juice, fresh fruit, cereal and coffee.
Before my meal was served, we passed the ruins of the
abandoned Buffalo Central Terminal, and we came to a stop at the
Buffalo/Depew station at 8:17 a.m. I decided to step off the
train here for a few minutes. I noticed that a small addition
was being constructed on the east side of the station. The agent
explained that this addition would provide needed space for
baggage storage. He also pointed out that another addition had
recently been constructed on the west side of the station in
order to enlarge the waiting room. I stepped into the station
and noticed that a large number of people were still sitting in
the waiting room. They were apparently waiting for the Empire
State Express, the next train to New York, which was scheduled to
arrive in about another half hour. After about seven minutes, an
"all aboard" call was made, so I returned to the dining car,
where my meal had been served. The train then pulled up to
permit the unloading of mail, and we departed the Buffalo station
at 8:32 a.m. We were now precisely one hour late, having made up
a few minutes since the last stop.
After eating breakfast, I returned to my car. The pair of
seats that I had occupied temporarily was now taken by other
passengers who had boarded in Buffalo, so I returned to my
original seat and continued working on these memoirs. A man who
had boarded in Buffalo, and was seated directly behind us,
inquired regarding my Boy Scout affiliation. It turned out that
he was an Eagle Scout whose 11-year-old son would soon be joining
a Scout troop in Fort Collins, Colorado, where they now lived.
He had grown up in Massachusetts, where he was a member of the
Tisquantum Lodge #164, and he was now on his way, along with his
family, to Boston, where they would be visiting relatives.
We pulled into the Rochester station at 9:30 a.m. I stepped
off the train here, since there were about 40 passengers waiting
to board. The boarding took place quite efficiently, though, and
even though we had to make a second stop to let off people from
the Boston sleeper, we departed at 9:38 a.m. I returned to my
seat and fell asleep for a while. When I finally awoke, we were
approaching Syracuse. I watched as we passed by the Solvay
plant, where we had briefly joined the Conrail line on the NRHS
excursion I took last month to Auburn. Then, at 10:58 a.m., we
passed by the Carousel Mall and the new Syracuse Transportation
Center, which I immediately recognized from the picture that I
had seen of it in the Syracuse newspaper on the day of the Auburn
excursion. The bus terminal part of the building has already
opened, and work was underway on the construction of a new high-
level platform in preparation for the opening of the rail portion
of the station, scheduled for sometime in the fall. It appears
that only a single high-level platform is being constructed,
which raises the question as to whether Amtrak could run
Superliners over this line in the future. (Although Superliners
do not regularly use this route, they have appeared here on
occasion in the past, and Amtrak might want to run them to Albany
and Boston if, as has been considered, the Boston section of the
Lake Shore is run as a train separate and apart from the New York
section.)
At 11:10 a.m., we arrived at the "old" Syracuse station.
Again, I detrained, since I knew that the stop would last for a
few minutes. I said goodbye to Adam and walked into the station
(perhaps for the last time). As was the case at Buffalo, there
were quite a few passengers still waiting at the station for the
Empire State Express, scheduled to arrive Syracuse at 11:21 a.m.
It seems that that train has already caught up with us, and that
we might even be delaying it slightly, since it will be following
us. We left Syracuse at 11:19 a.m, and were now one hour and 14
minutes late, having lost some additional time since we left
Rochester. I went back to my seat and continued working with my
computer.
We passed the Rome station (where our train does not stop)
at 11:48 a.m., and then switched over to the north track (Track
1, which would normally be used by westbound trains). Then, at
12:00 noon, just before milepost 240, the westbound Maple Leaf
passed us to the right.
At 12:04 p.m., we arrived at the Utica station. Since we
were on Track 1, which is not adjacent to the station platform,
we had to make two stops. First, the baggage was unloaded at the
one walkway leading to the platform, then the train pulled up
several car-lengths so that passengers could detrain and board.
This second stop was very brief, but I did have a chance to step
off the train for a minute. Many passengers remained on the
platform waiting for the eastbound Empire State Express, which
would be arriving at the station on Track 2 right after we pulled
out. To the right, on a side track, I observed four cars of the
Adirondack Scenic Railroad, resplendent in their paint scheme
which resembles that used by the old New York Central Railroad.
It seems that these cars would be used this afternoon on an
excursion train. Right after we departed Utica at 12:09 p.m., I
heard on the scanner the conductor of our train informing the
conductor of the Empire State Express that we had departed the
station and, accordingly, their train could now pull in.
Subsequently, I heard on the scanner that our train would be
taking the siding at Little Falls to permit the Empire State
Express to pass us, but this did not happen, and we continued
eastward on Track 1 without pause.
It was now lunch time. Although there had been a call for
lunch in the diner, we had brought along our own food, so we ate
that instead. I took out jars of peanut butter and jelly,
together with some crackers, and the boys had this for lunch at
their seats. I took a can of tuna fish and crackers to the
lounge car, where I (finally!) purchased a cup of tea and sat
down at a table to eat. We were now going along the Mohawk
River/New York State Barge Canal, which provides some nice
scenery to the right of the train. About 1:15 p.m., shortly
before we arrived at Schenectady, an announcement was made that
the lounge car is now closed, so I returned to my seat in the
Boston coach.
We arrived at Schenectady at 1:23 p.m. As usual, only the
front of the train stopped here. We started moving again at 1:27
p.m., but soon came to a stop at 1:30 p.m. On the scanner, I
heard that the PCS light had gone on in the engine, and we would
have to stop to investigate what was wrong. The conductor
announced that we had stopped because of "mechanical
difficulties." Soon the lights went off, but whatever the
problem was, it was fixed quite soon, and we started moving again
at 1:35 p.m.
We crossed the Hudson River and came to a stop at the
Albany-Rensselaer station at 1:59 p.m. We were one hour and 19
minutes late. I had previously brought our luggage out to the
vestibule, and I now unloaded it onto the platform, where I found
a luggage cart. We loaded all our stuff onto the cart and rolled
it down the station. This took quite a while, since our car was
towards the rear of the train, and we had at least ten car-
lengths to walk back to reach the station. In the meantime, at
2:06 p.m. the Empire State Express pulled into the station on
Track 2. It should have arrived at 1:50 p.m., so it was 16
minutes late. Presumably, this delay was caused by the fact that
it had to follow our train all the way to Albany. I retrieved my
car, loaded all our luggage, and we were on our way.
Fortunately, the car started without a problem, even though it
had been sitting in the station parking lot for over a week.
After dropping off two of the boys, I arrived home at 5:00 p.m.
And so ended our return trip on Amtrak from Chicago. It was
pleasant, although not particularly special in any way. Although
the train was not on time, at least the delayed arrival did not
cause us any significant inconvenience. Once again, Amtrak
proved to be an efficient way for our Scout group to travel.
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