# LIRR to Maple Leaf and Adirondack to Vermont on 8/31



## FreeskierInVT (Sep 2, 2013)

Hi all,

My trip home to Vermont for Labor Day became one of the best Amtrak trips to date this past Saturday, 8/31. I just started my freshman year at Stony Brook University on Long Island, which has a very convenient LIRR station right on campus. Originally I had reservations to take the Ethan Allen train to Rutland on Friday 8/30, but I couldn't get picked up that late at night since there would still be a 2+ hour drive home, so I changed my reservation to grab the last seat on the sold out Maple Leaf train from New York to Albany the next morning. The Adirondack was already sold out between NYP and Albany, so I connected to the Adirondack at Albany and continued to Port Kent where I took a ferry over to Burlington, Vermont, getting in about 3 hours earlier than I would have had I taken the sold out Vermonter.

I hopped on the LIRR early Saturday morning at 4:53am, and was surprised that nearly 30 other students were taking the same early train into Penn. I thought I'd be the only one. I changed trains at Jamaica, which was as easy as it could be (especially since it was my first time on the LIRR) with the connecting train waiting across the platform. I arrived in New York on time and waited about 15 minutes for the boarding call for the Maple Leaf, which took off on time and arrived in Albany about 10 minutes early.

I grabbed some lunch in Albany and waited about an hour for the Adirondack to arrive. The boarding process seemed a lot more confusing than it had to be, with a late Empire Service train boarding at the same time as the Adirondack. Passengers for the Empire train were in the line for the Adirondack and vice versa, with only one Amtrak employee managing the crowd. Everyone getting on in Albany had to pile into the last two cars on the Adirondack (which were both Amfleet II's, with the rest of the train Amfleet I's), which was tricky because there were just enough seats to go around. The train sat in the station for about 20 minutes after boarding while the dome car was attached to the front of the train, which was the part of my trip I was most excited about.

A few minutes after departing Albany I starting making my way to the dome car, but came upon a locked sliding door in the next car. Someone sitting in the first seat of the car said the conductor had locked it and an announcement would be made when the cafe car was reopened. I went back to my seat and asked the conductor after departing Schenectady if the dome car was open yet. He said it had been open the entire time since departing Albany, so I went up to finally check it out.

Since there was no announcement about the dome car, there were only two others in the car when I arrived. I sat down in the front corner directly behind the engine, but realized the view was better in the rear of the car where I could actually see out of the end windows (the top of the engine blocks the view out of the front windows). The weather wasn't all that great, but the views were absolutely spectacular as the train hugged the western coast of Lake Champlain. The Adirondack was following behind a slow moving freight train, so we were constantly losing time as the trip moved along, but that allowed more time in the dome car! The lake slowly got wider as the train progressed north, and a few trees had even begun to change color. More and more people filled into the dome car, filling up the booths in the middle of the car and a good chunk of the seats in the front and rear. The dome car had no PA system, and the conductor never came into the car to announce station stops. so anyone not paying attention to where the train was could have easily missed their stop.

As the train got closer to Port Kent, it was estimated to arrive at 3:45pm, which would give me enough time to get to the ferry which would depart at 4:10. I moved back to my seat a few miles before the station, at which point the train completely stopped for about 15 minutes. We finally began to move again, but the train was crawling along at a speed where most people could probably run faster. We passed the southbound Adirondack sitting on a siding (running about 3 hours late), followed by a long freight car parked right behind. After passing both trains, we stopped again to let a second freight train heading south go by. At this point it was now 4:05, making it unlikely that I'd make the 4:10 ferry. We remained parked for another 10 minutes and finally stopped at Port Kent at 4:20, but the ferry was still in view at the dock. I was the only passenger getting off at Port Kent, so after a quick stop the train took off and I sprinted down the hill to the ferry (which was about 75 yards from the train station). I paid the fare at the bursars booth, and the woman working there said the ferry was all set to take off right as she saw the train approaching the station. She told the crew to wait because someone might be getting off the train to take the ferry. Sure enough she was right, and immediately after boarding the ferry it took off towards Burlington. Another thing that made this trip special was that I officially turned 20 years old just before arriving in Burlington, so I spend a nice chunk of my birthday finally experiencing the dome car, something I've wanted to do for years.

Here's a few pictures from my trip:

Early train to Penn:




Departure board at NYP:




Walking into the dome car:




Stairs going up to the dome- downstairs was an unused food preparation area with limited seating




Inside the car:




View out the back of the car:




View of Lake Champlain:




Southbound Adirondack waiting:




View of the dome car from the last car:




-Josh


----------



## FreeskierInVT (Sep 2, 2013)

Apologies about the size of the pictures. I resized them but they're still pretty big.


----------



## bobnjulie (Sep 2, 2013)

Looks great! Thanks for sharing!


----------



## Bob Dylan (Sep 2, 2013)

Happy Late Birthday! Great trip and Pics!  And those folks that run the Ferry must not be from New York, they sound Too Friendly! :giggle: It constantly amazes me how Amtrak will put the Ocean View in a Consist and then do Everything they can to kep it Secret or even Closed! h34r: Those of us that are Rail Fans tend to know about Dome Cars, Procedures etc. but the Average Rider and/or Newbie probably never even considers trying to snag a seat in this Jewel! Amtrak can do a Lot Better Job of Communicating with it's Passengers!


----------



## Misty. (Sep 2, 2013)

OK, that's one thing I haven't done - had a Dome ride on my birthday, so yeah, I'm a little jealous.  I have had three days out that have involved Dome rides so far, though - 11/25/11 was the first time, when the Dome was on the Lincoln Service. That day, I did a 304/307 turn to Joliet. The next time was about four and a half months later (4/10/12), when it was on the Missouri River Runner. Since it originated in Kansas City (at least, when I was able to ride), I did an overnight bus to Kansas City and rode 314 back home. The most recent time, it was on the Hiawatha service, last Thanksgiving day.. I ended up taking the bus both ways (Megabus to Chicago, Greyhound home), just to make all four Amtrak segments Dome runs :3 (335/338, 339/342)


----------



## AmtrakBlue (Sep 2, 2013)

Misty, if it makes you feel better, your first ride in the Dome car was on MY birthday.


----------



## FreeskierInVT (Sep 3, 2013)

I'm on the southbound Vermonter on my way back to Long Island, and it's really been an "average" Amtrak experience in terms of crew and scenery. I'm expected to arrive on time and have about an hour layover in Penn Station before my LIRR train back to Stony Brook.

Two unusual things happened on this train though. First, someone in my car was smoking a cigarette twice, prompting the conductor to go on the PA system and announce that smoking is indeed prohibited on board. Secondly, the conductors had locked all the sliding doors between cars in the open position, so you can see one end of the train from the other. I've never seen that before on an Amtrak train.


----------

