Amtrak NortheastDirect (The Senator) Rail Travelogue - Dan Chazin's Trip on Amtrak NortheastDirect (The Senator).
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Dan Chazin's Trip on Amtrak NortheastDirect (The Senator)
Boston-New York
TrainWeb.com/travelogues/dchazin/1998i23a/1998124a.html
It's 4:15 p.m on Thursday, September 24, 1998, and I've just
arrived at South Station in Boston, where I am about to board
Train #177, the Senator, on my way back to New York, after
spending two productive days working with a professor at Harvard
Law School and visiting my cousin, with whom I spent the night.
My ride on the "T" train from Harvard Square took only 15
minutes, and I have about 20 minutes before the scheduled 4:35
p.m. departure of my train. I went to the ticket office to
purchase my ticket. This time, I took advantage of my AAA
discount, and the one-way ticket to New York cost me only $40.00,
representing a 10% discount off the full fare of $44.00. (Coming
up from New York on the Twilight Shoreliner, the regular coach
fare would have been $50.00 because a $6.00 charge is added for
travel on a reserved train. Train #177 is an unreserved train.)
It is interesting to note that the ticket office in South Station
is located in a portion of the station which has the original,
ornate ceiling intact. The ceiling in the main waiting room is
composed of steel and concrete and clearly is not the original
one; indeed, the appearance of that room must be radically
different from the way it looked when it was originally built.
I went out to Track 9 and boarded the train, then walked
down the platform to record the consist. Today's Train #177
consists of two F-40 engines (#411 and #228), three 84-seat (non-
handicapped-modified) Amfleet I coaches, and a food service car
with tables on one side and coach seats on the other (this car
had been handicapped-modified, although no handicapped passengers
were on board). The first coach and the cafe car are closed off,
so everyone must find seats in the two middle cars. I found a
seat on the left side of the first open coach right in front of
an electric outlet. Repeated announcements were made that this
is an Amtrak train and only Amtrak tickets will be honored. I
discovered that the reason for these announcements was that an
MBTA commuter train to Providence is also scheduled to depart
South Station at 4:35 p.m., arriving in Providence at 5:43 p.m.
(20 minutes after our train is scheduled to arrive in
Providence). Some people might be tempted to take the Amtrak
train instead, so the conductor must warn them that their MBTA
tickets will not be honored on this train.
We departed South Station at 4:34 p.m., about 30 seconds
early. A number of passengers boarded at Back Bay and Route 128,
although most of the people standing on the platform at these
stations were commuters waiting to board MBTA trains. I counted
over 80 passengers on board when we left South Station. After we
departed from Route 128, I walked through the two open coaches
and found that there were 71 passengers in the rear coach and 56
passengers in the front coach in which I was sitting. Obviously,
the train was quite full. I watched as we crossed the historic
Canton Viaduct, which still has only one track operational, due
to construction. This time, I noticed that a small concrete
wall, resembling a "Jersey barrier," has been constructed on the
top of the east side of the viaduct. I wonder how this will
affect the appearance of the viaduct from below.
A few minutes later, south of Attleboro, the conductor made
an announcement that we would soon be coming to a stop, since
only one track is presently operational north of Providence, and
we have to wait for a northbound train to pass. He explained
that, as a result, we would be arriving Providence about eight
minutes late, but we should make up the time prior to our arrival
at Kingston, the next station. Sure enough, at 5:17 p.m., we
came to a stop. A northbound MBTA train passed us at 5:23 p.m.,
and we started moving again one minute later. (The MBTA train
was #820, scheduled to depart South Attleboro at 5:18 p.m.)
We arrived at Providence at 5:34 p.m. and departed three
minutes later. A number of passengers boarded the train here,
and almost all seats were now taken (although I did succeed in
keeping two seats for myself). Repeated announcements were made
that passengers must be "friendly" and remove their belongings
from adjacent seats so that others might sit there. I had
previously inquired of the conductor why the front car could not
be opened; she told me that that was the responsibility of the
New Haven crew. Given the very crowded condition of the train,
this made no sense to me, but at least no one was standing, and
since I was able to keep two seats for myself, I was hardly the
one to complain.
Now I walked to the back of the train, where I noticed that
both tracks had concrete ties, and much of the catenary had
already been installed. I clocked the train as covering a mile
in 40 seconds, which translates into 90 miles an hour. Then I
purchased a cup of tea and a bag of potato chips, and sat down at
an unoccupied table. Instead of using the hot water to make tea,
I took out a packet of split pea soup and used the water to make
the soup. (Later, I asked for a refill, which is now offered
free of charge, but was given a cup of coffee rather than hot
water for tea. I drank it anyway.) I went back to my seat and
retrieved my computer, since I expected to be spending most of
the remainder of the trip in the lounge car, with its attractive
tables (which featured electric plugs at each seat).
We pulled into Kingston at 5:59 p.m. and left one minute
later. (As the conductor had indicated, there appears to be a
large schedule pad between Providence and Kingston for this
train, and we have succeeded in making up virtually all of our
lost time.) The old wooden station, located on the south side of
the tracks, has been beautifully restored, and appears to have
been raised to accommodate a high-level platform (although, at
present, the platform at the station is a low-level one). There
is only one platform at the station, so passengers must cross the
northbound track to board our train.
Our next station was Westerly, where we made a brief stop at
6:15 p.m. Here, the large brick-and-stucco station on the south
side of the tracks was being restored, as was a similar, smaller
facility on the north side. Ten minutes later, we stopped at
Mystic, where the relatively small wooden station on the north
side of the tracks has already been restored. Beginning at
Westerly, there were many scenic views of Long Island Sound on
the left side of the train.
By now, my computer's batteries were nearly exhausted, and I
plugged the computer into the outlet located next to my table.
But, to my surprise, the outlet was dead. Luckily, though, the
outlet on the opposite table, which was also unoccupied, did
work, so I plugged my computer in at that outlet and moved my
belongings over to that table.
We arrived in New London at 6:40 p.m. As we crossed the
Connecticut River and entered the city, I noticed how the Central
Vermont line crosses under us and then joins us from the left. I
have traveled on this line a number of times on the Montrealer,
but this is the first time that I can recall observing the exact
track layout in daylight. The southbound platform next to the
station was closed due to track work, so our train arrived on the
northbound platform, which can be accessed only by crossing the
southbound track at grade. Our train blocked the crossing, so
detraining passengers had to wait until we departed before they
could get over to the station. We stopped here for three
minutes, so I had a chance to step off the train briefly. (The
conductor even let one person get off the train here to smoke a
cigarette!)
After New London, it got dark pretty quickly, so I started
doing some work on my computer. I must say, though, that the
ride up to this point has been very quiet, scenic, relaxing and
enjoyable. This part of the Boston-New York route is far more
scenic than any portion of the ride from New York to Washington.
And the presence of the lounge car with tables on this train
significantly enhances the enjoyment of the ride.
At 7:06 p.m., we stopped at Old Saybrook. Here, again, the
station and the single low-level platform is located on the south
side of the tracks, and passengers must cross the northbound
track to board the train. I doubt whether this arrangement will
be continued once the high-speed "American Flyer" trains are put
into service.
We arrived on Track 10 in New Haven at 7:43 p.m. I
detrained and noticed -- somewhat to my surprise -- that two
coaches were sitting without an engine on the adjacent Track 8
(on the opposite side of the same platform). I immediately
recognized these cars as the Springfield section of our train,
which would be combining with us here (and this was confirmed by
a passenger aboard the rear car). There were about 30 passengers
in the rear car, and the front car was closed off (as was the
case the last time I took this very same train from Springfield
to New Haven). What surprised me was that the Springfield train
was supposed to have arrived at 7:30 p.m., thus allowing ample
time for its diesel engine to be removed and an electric engine
added before our train from Boston arrives. We were scheduled to
depart in only a few minutes, and no electric engine was in
sight.
Finally, at 7:50 p.m., AEM-7 engine #937 arrived and coupled
onto these two cars. (Interestingly, this was one of the two
engines that pulled Tuesday night's Twilight Shoreliner from Penn
Station to New Haven!) I decided to hop aboard the Springfield
section for the forward ride and back-up move to couple onto the
Boston section of the train. We coupled onto the Boston section
at 7:57 p.m., and departed at 8:01 p.m., eleven minutes late. I
wonder how the Springfield connection will be handled once the
New York-Boston line is electrified. Presumably, the Springfield
cars will no longer be coupled to the Boston trains in New Haven;
rather, I would guess that most trains to Springfield will be
short diesel shuttles, with passengers being required to transfer
at New Haven for points south.
I returned to my cafe car table, passing through what was
formerly the first car of the Boston section. Since this car now
served as the connection between the two sections of the train,
it had to be opened to passengers, but only a handful of people
were sitting in it. Very quickly, a long line of about 15 people
formed for food and beverage service in the cafe car.
Presumably, many of these customers were on the Springfield
section of the train, which has no food service, so this would be
their first opportunity to obtain refreshments. This long line
lasted for nearly half an hour. Finally, when the line eased up,
I went over to the counter, got another refill of hot water for a
cup of tea, and purchased a bag of pretzels.
At 8:53 p.m., as we approached the Stamford station, we came
to a halt. The conductor announced that we had to wait for a
Metro-North local (!), and immediately, a Metro-North train
passed us to the right. We started moving again (albeit very
slowly) in another three minutes. This marked the second time on
this trip that we had been delayed by a local commuter train.
The New Haven-New Rochelle portion of Amtrak's Boston-New York
route is dispatched by Metro-North, and they often give their own
trains precedence over Amtrak trains (especially since we are
late tonight -- our scheduled departure from Stamford is at 8:38
p.m.!) Finally, at 9:00 p.m., we pulled into the Stamford
station, and left a minute later. We were now 23 minutes late,
and although there is a schedule pad built into the arrival time
at Penn Station, New York, I doubt that we will arrive on time.
Indeed, the conductor soon announces that we will be arriving at
Penn Station in about 45 minutes, which would mean that we will
be about 15 minutes late.
We passed the New Rochelle station (where we do not stop) at
9:18 p.m., and crossed over the Hell Gate Bridge, with its view
of the New York skyline, at 9:34 p.m. I put away my computer and
returned to my seat, where I packed up my belongings and prepared
to detrain. At 9:48 p.m. -- 18 minutes late -- we arrived on
Track 15 at Penn Station. I walked to the front of the platform
for this track (which is used primarily by the Long Island Rail
Road), and ended up exiting onto the new western concourse
created by the LIRR for patrons who wish to proceed directly to
Eighth Avenue. This exit leads directly to the street,
completely bypassing the Amtrak concourse in Penn Station. I
walked up Eighth Avenue to the Port Authority Bus Terminal, where
I caught the 10:30 p.m. bus to Teaneck.
Again, I found the train trip between Boston and New York to
be a very pleasant and enjoyable way to travel.
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