Day 5: the Lake Shore Limited

I hopped into bed immediately following the wine reception. For some reason, sleep eluded me for a good portion of the night as we rolled along. After sleeping fitfully for a few hours, I decided to go have breakfast. It was around 7 am and I had slept through Indiana and Ohio.

For breakfast I opted for the quiche, which was not an option on the Western trains. It was a ton of food - as per normal. 

I tried to get some pictures of the sun rising. 

This is the Erie, PA stop. It is kind of hard to see but that is a crumbling platform above. It looks like it is no longer in use. Much of the scenery through this section of the train is just like this in that it hardens back to a time when this area had more people, more industry, more trains, etc. As we passed outside of Buffalo I saw an amazing yet crumbling train station. 

It was the old Buffalo Central Station which was completed in 1929 and was an Art Deco masterpiece. Now it sits vacant although it is owned by a nonprofit with the goal of restoring and redeveloping it. 

We also passed Lake Erie a few times. It was very icy. A light snow covered the ground for much of the day. Where is spring?!

We also passed by a snowy vineyard. 

At the Utica Station I saw these old train cars parked outside. 

At some point I had lunch with two other people traveling alone. One gentleman leads meditation retreats and he is heading to a center in Mass for two months. The woman was from Washington and was traveling to NYC to visit two of her grown children. 

I went back to my room and napped for a while. At some point Tim and I talked and we decided I should detrain in Worcester. I found the car attendant and let him know so that I could be sure to head to the right door at Worcester. 

We arrived in Albany about ten minutes late but since there is a long dwell time there, they completed the station work quickly and we left around 4 or 5 minutes late. Outside of Pittsfield we sat on a siding for about half an hour and then the westbound 449 passed us on the way to Albany. I think they were running late. 

At 4:30 I headed to the lounge car for "dinner". They have an abbreviated menu for sleeper pax. 

I saw with a couple from Martha's Vineyard. Their families have lived on the island for generations and she runs a liquor store on the island. A very interesting couple! I opted for the pasta and passed on dessert. 

I actually think I had this same dish in summer 2012 when I was last on this train. 

I headed back to my room to watch the countryside glide past. Western Mass has a familiar quality to the landscape and I felt happy to be close to home. We followed streams and went through the woods. There was snow on the ground and the trees were bare. I imagine this is a lovely ride when the foliage is changing colors in the fall.