Day 1 - Providence to Chicago

Waiting to Board 161 in Providence

I arrived in Providence at about 10:00 am for my 10:20 AM train to New York City. I took #161, a regional.  Because I was traveling on an AGR ticket in a sleeper, my NEC regional ticket was automatically upgraded to business class.  The train pulled into the lower level platform right on time, and the business class car was at the front. I boarded, grabbed a New York Times Sunday edition, and sat back for the pleasant ride down to New York City. 

Business Class Car on #161

The car only had a handful of people on it, so I got my pick of seats on the left hand side of the train, which allowed me to be on the ocean side. The business class car I was on, like many on the NE corridor, didn’t really differ from the coach class cars. There were footrests, and that might have been the only difference. I don’t even think I was in one of the “low capacity” cars that have more legroom. Really, the only benefit to business class appears to be the free New York Times and the fact that the car was pretty much empty all the way into New York. I didn’t have to have a seat partner with me, and there were still empty seat pairs all the way into the city.

Ocean View in Rhode Island

I really enjoy this section of the train. As I sat back and relaxed in my reclined seat, I watched the trees, ocean, houses and old stone walls glide past. One of my favorite things about driving or taking the train in New England is to glance into the woods and see those characteristic stone walls that were such a fixture of the landscape 300 years ago. I always wonder if the wooded areas were at one point farmland, and just reflect on the amount of time and energy it took to create the walls. It is a shame that it is a dying art.

There was a little bit of excitement in the car after we made our last stop before New York City, New Rochelle. A college aged woman boarded the wrong train – she was trying to go to Boston. The poor thing. The conductor told her to ride for free to NYP and then get on another train going north. I hope she got where she needed to go.

We arrived in New York City just a few minutes late, and I decided to take some time to explore the station. I had at least 90 minutes until we would be boarded for the Lake Shore Limited, my train to Chicago. I wandered down to the LIRR level to see what sort of food was available as it was lunchtime. Not finding many good options, I made my way back upstairs to the Amtrak level and to the Club Acela.  The Club Acela is the first class waiting lounge for passengers traveling in either First Class on an Acela train or in sleeper class on a long distance train. There are free non-alcoholic drinks, some snacks, a business center and a clean bathroom available, as well as some comfortable chairs.

The lounge was quite full, but I managed to snag a seat. A little later, AlanB from the Amtrak Unlimited forum arrived with his Mom. He was coming in from Washington, DC and had about half an hour to wait with his Mom who was connecting. It was so nice to finally meet Alan, who had so nicely clued me in to the fact that the original Boston section of the train was cancelled today. It was due to his guidance that I was able to change my booking and board the train in NYC. Alan, thanks for saying hello!

The attendants in the lounge called us at about 3:20 to let us know what platform the train would be boarding on. I went out and got in line at the escalator for platform 7 West. A little bit of a line had already formed but I was towards the front of the line. After waiting in line for about five minutes, they reversed the escalator and we headed down to the platform. For those that don’t know, in New York Penn Station, the escalators are normally programmed to head up to the waiting area from the platforms. If you get a redcap, you can get escorted to your train ahead of time and avoid the giant line that forms at the escalator. Since it was easy enough for me to carry my bags, and since I had a room reserved for me and wasn’t worried about getting a prime seat, I opted to not get redcap assistance. Redcaps are free to use but you do need to tip them, about the same amount as one would tip a bellman at a hotel.

Viewliner Sleeping Car at NYP Platform

The sleepers were towards the rear of the train, and I saw my sleeping car attendant (SCA) standing at the door. Her name was Cocoa, and she directed me to my room, Bedroom B. I was in car 4912 on train 49, which was the second sleeper. The consist of the train was engine – coach – coach – coach – coach - café – dining car – sleeper – sleeper – sleeper – baggage car. This was very unusual, because generally there are only TWO sleepers on the New York section. However, my guess is that because the Boston section of the train was replaced with a bus to Albany, they added on a vacant sleeper in New York at the end. The Boston passengers would then board that sleeper in Albany, rather than riding on it from Boston and having it placed in front of the train.

We departed on time, and Cocoa came by to introduce herself and give me an orientation to the sleeper car. She showed me how to work all the lights and also some tips on how to use the shower above the toilet. The most important tip – take out the toilet paper before you take a shower, otherwise the toilet paper will get all wet!

I also met Lisa, who was traveling in bedroom A, right next to mine. She appeared to be a few years older than me and was also traveling alone. She invited me to have dinner with her and I accepted. We made dinner reservations for 5 PM in the dining car, and I relaxed in my compartment. I opened the curtains across the compartment door, however, so I could watch the Hudson River roll past on the left. Luckily the bedroom did not have another room across the hall, so I was able to watch the great scenery.

view of the Hudson River out the train

At 5 PM, Lisa and I headed to the dining car. We were the first people there, as they start service at 5 PM. The LSA told us we could sit anywhere we like, and we chose a table on the Hudson River side. The tables were set with paper table clothes, but we did get blue cloth napkins and metal utensils. We both started off with a salad and a piece of bread, and then I had the mushroom manicotti. It was actually really good! After we finished eating, the waiter came back to take our dessert order. I had the crème brulee cheesecake, and while it wasn’t the best cheesecake, it wasn’t that bad, either. As we dined, we watched the sun start setting over the Hudson and observed some great scenery.  We finished eating about 6:15 PM and headed back to the sleeper.

Switching Engines in Albany

We arrived in Albany about 20 minutes later, and Cocoa let us know that we could get out to stretch our legs. Generally, trains 49 and 449 are combined here and the engines are swapped out to a full diesel. However, they must have brought all the cars they were going to have with us from New York City, as I watched them switch the engine but I did not observe any cars added to the front or back of the train. I was also really glad that I had brought my scanner, because I was able to hear all of the cool radio chatter as they went about switching the engine. I could hear the dispatcher, conductor, engineers, etc. Very cool.

Now the sun has set and I am watching the countryside glide along in my sleeper while I write this report. Stay tuned for more later!