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Friday, September 20, 2013

We Took the Early Train

Yes, we DID take a (very) early train ride this week — one that started at 4:50 a.m. and ended at 4:35 p.m.

That was NOT a typo, folks — this ride lasted 11+ hours starting at Wilmington, Delaware, changing trains in NYC and arriving in Niagara Falls, NY.

And, there were not too many other folks at the station at that time, In fact, we got there BEFORE it even opened at 4 a.m.

Crazy, while maybe not so much as the ride we took BEFORE arriving at this Amtrak station — over 3 hours  which is the closest to our VA eastern shore home. 

Amtrak station

Train arriving

This was the longest train ride either of us have been on — and what's more we get to REPEAT it on the return trip, but that comes later. In between, we are definitely on a(mother) road trip and unlike most of the ones we've taken this year, this one does not include any family visits for holidays, birthdays, graduations. THIS trip is a belated anniversary vacation to ourselves.

IMG 1214IMG 1218

What's not to enjoy about a train ride when you can look out the window and see an early morning scene like these — fog rolling in over the Palisades Cliffs in our home state of NJ. IT sort of made us feel a bit sorry for all other folks, some of who were waiting at stations to get to jobs. Of course, others were traveling like ourselves.

Waiting for trains

Grenville and I were definitely on an adventure thanks to fellow blogger, Linda Gross (daysremembered.wordpress.com) who posted about several recent trips to Niagara Falls, a place we'd never visited. As for the train travels, in case you haven't been reading this blog, Grenville is a HUGE train fan. Once he found out we could ride the rails there, reservations were made.

Personally, I had a great time photographing so many sites along the way from rear window views of rail yards to trains and colorful freight cars . . .

Train rear windows

Trains trainyardsColorful cars

Fall colors were already on display in some upstate NY areas we passed . . .

Fall viewsIMG 1293

We passed farmlands  . . .

Farm views

As well as so many old buildings and newer ones too . . .

Old buildingsOld factoryCityscapes

The trip was long, but would have been an even longer drive. This trip was one in which we wanted to relax and enjoy ourselves — and we did. Over the next few days, we'll be seeing all the Niagara Falls sights, including a Maid of the Mist boat trip — of course, we'll be taking all of you along AND you won't get as wet.

And, there's even MORE travels to come after this part of our road trip is completed, eh (that was a hint) with apologies to some fellow bloggers who already know where we're going.

FYI — this post was created using MarsEdit (offline blog editor for Macs0 which doesn't allow photos to be enlarged when clicked, unlike posts created using Blogger or Live Writer (PCs only). Blogger is so erratic and quirky at times (an understatement) that any other editor is preferred when we're on the road.

These photos shown were taken with the pocket-sized Canon digital Elph, not the recently purchased Nikon P510. Photos with that camera will be highlighted in upcoming posts.

14 comments:

MadSnapper said...

for that long a ride i hope you had your own compartment to rest in and lay down once in a while. of course riding the train that long is not like in a car since you can walk around when you want to and shoot all these wonders out the windows.. looks like a fun trip

Anvilcloud said...

I'm happy for you that you got off to a good start.

Tammy@Simple Southern Happiness said...

dang, what time did you all have to get up in order to make it there by 4AM? Or have you even slept if you had a 3 hour ride before you arrived at the train station? Did you have a prviate compartment so you could kick your shoes off and relax? I read those compartments can be cozy and cute.

Looks like Fall has come to NY in style. Beautiful photos, that little cannon is still going strong.

HOPE your trip continues to be perfect, relaxing and fun.

Montanagirl said...

Wow, that's a long train ride! You took a lot of really nice photos! And thank you for sharing.

Anonymous said...

How exiting!
I'll make sure I won't miss a post during this trip!

There's nothing better than to travel by train and the longest trip I've taken continued for 23 hours. From my old home town Gothenburg to almost as nort as one can come in Sweden the town Boden. Well there is plenty of tracks after Boden to be honest :-)

Have a great trip!
Christer.

Connie said...

Oh my! That's a long ride on a train. I'm glad you had a great time. You got some wonderful photos.

Doris said...

Have a wonderful time! We loved the Niagara Falls when we took a bus trip there...oh my, it was more than 10 years ago, I do believe!

Going by train sounds nice...except for the early start. Lots of coffee would be a given, I would expect =)

Ginnie said...

Sounds like fun to me. I've always wanted to take a long train ride but I've always heard that Canada had much better train facilities than the U.S. Is that true, do you think?

Cicero Sings said...

Train rides are lovely! Hope you enjoy all the sights and sounds you encounter along the way. I was on a Maid of the Mist once myself - many moons ago.

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

Doris, it was an early start and as we selected to travel in "coach" section, coffee and other beverages were included in the fare as well as wi-fi access.
There's only 1 train per day that travels from NYC (we switched trains from our Wilmington, DE start) to Niagara Falls, NY.

Ginnie, we don't know about Canadian train service better better as we took the train to the NY side of Niagara Falls and will be returning home also from "the NY side" of Niagara Falls. It would have been more costly to travel home from using the Canadian rail system.

Rebecca said...

Great trip! I have a friend who went to the Grand Canyon on a train with a sleeper. You would pretty much HAVE to. I want to take the Coast Starlight from San Diego to Canada. And one through Banff. Guess I gotta get started on that whole bucket list thing.

Anonymous said...

Very nice photos from your trip. So glad you were able to do this.

Elaine said...

Oh, how fun!! You got some wonderful photos from the train. Grenville must have been in heaven!

Linda G. said...

I took long train rides when I lived in Europe. Your train ride, though, is longer than any I ever took! Thank you for the mention of my blog!