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Monday, September 30, 2013

Amtraking Home on the Empire Service

Amtrak Train 284
Morning folks. Some of you may remember that we are on another adventure. This time we are traveling by Amtrak trains. This is a picture of us heading home. In fact I'm writing this blog from the club car as we travel.
For the rail fans, this is train 284, Empire Service, a five coach train set pulled by a P-42 locomotive (4200 Hp) which will take us from Niagara Falls to Penn Station in NYC. We are traveling Bussiness Class which is what First Class is called now. Then onto a Northeast Regional train to Wilmington Delaware (our closest station).
While we were in Toronto we got to take more trains. As with most big cities (pop 750,000) folks use mass transit to get in and out and around the city. In our short stay we took the GO train which is a regional train, and the TTC, which is the Toronto Transit system.
Luckily the system is laid out in a logical order. We relied on day passes which let is get on and off all day long. BUT like all cities! rush hour is not the time to try this. Our second day in we got the the GO station early to get a parking space (didn't) and had to fight the commuter crowds. Coming back, even though we were a little later, we still had crowds.
At the moment we are in Syracuse, NY, and waiting for a freight train to clear so we can use that track to get around some track work ahead. More railing from me after we get home.
Grenville


13 comments:

MadSnapper said...

i would like to ride the green one.. beautiful trains

Country Gal said...

Sounds like fun though ! I would love to take the Via rail all across Canada one day that's on the bucket list for sure . Thanks for sharing and have safe trip home .

Anita Johnson said...

When I was a little girl, my family traveled from Chicago to California by train...I will never forget that wonderful experience. Sounds like you had a wonderful time too!

Tammy@Simple Southern Happiness said...

Have a safe trip home, I can imagine you will be tired if your coming home was like the day you left, not much sleep.

The Odd Essay said...

You brought back some memories.... I traveled on the Cardinal to Chicago.. boarded the Empire Builder to Seattle... the Coast Starlight to San Francisco, the California Zephyr back to Chicago and the Cardinal back to Ohio. I loved every minute of it... would do it again in a heartbeat. Your journey makes me think about travelling that way again.

Connie said...

Sounds like it has been quite an adventure! Wishing safe travels home to you.

Montanagirl said...

Sounds like you're enjoying your train travels! Happy railing.

NCmountainwoman said...

I love trains and wish there were more available. Train was our preferred way to get to Chicago when we lived in Milwaukee suburbs. They had "quiet" cars with no kids, no noise.

Unknown said...

I enjoy trains and wish they could really make a comeback. When we were in Alaska in August we had 2 train treks...I grew up going with my grandma from Pittsburgh, PA to Milwaukie, WI most summers.

Elaine said...

Getting to ride all those trains must make you feel like you've died and gone to heaven! You've had a great trip, but getting home is going to feel really good. I foresee a nap or two to help you recuperate from your vacation.

Cicero Sings said...

We road Amtrak down to NYC too and then home across the northern United States.

Out on the prairie said...

I used to travel a lot with Amtrak,it is always so laid back

Anvilcloud said...

I hope the rest of the trip home was good. I saw a GO bus way up north in Bancroft. I am not sure if it was there for some other reason or whether some people actually commute that far. It would be difficult for me to believe the latter as it would involve many hours of daily commute.