# Acela BOS to NYP and back same day



## Long Train Runnin' (Dec 29, 2008)

Getting to boston a unique perspective from Long Train Runnin'

The following is the unedited and untampered with trip report and thoughts written as they happened on NJT as well as an Acela Express.

NJT North Jersey Coast Line to New York Penn Station

Well my morning started with a predawn awaking this morning at 4:10 A.M. EDT even though my alarm was set for 4:30. I eagerly prepared and dressed for my 5:50 A.M. EDT train. So I was a little early, no matter. Its an all day railfan day so the lack of sleep, and early morning are well worth this.

The morning commuter train was filling as up as we get closer and closer to NYP when I check my pockets I realized I forgot my Amtrak tickets...Luckily I had my moms credit card was able to rebook on the same trains but with the price difference I was unable to go first class. Kind of sucks but hey I'll make it work at least I fixed it and I early enough to cancel the tickets. Okay so now my day just got a little dimmer but still I don't care were going to Boston!

Back to the regular commuter babble. The train ended up being half full with no one choosing to sit next to me. Thats fine well its really dark out still so I have nothing to really write about. I know that this train is made up of different Comet cars. Not sure how to tell them apart, but they are all single level. OTP into New York was perfect right on time or a few seconds early depending on how you look at it. So quickly now to pick up my new tickets and get on my way.

Acela From NYP to BOS

With tickets now in hand, well pocket,I proceeded to the Amtrak Waiting area where I was waved in with out showing a ticket. I think it has something to do with the Amtrak hat I'm wearing but who knows. The waiting room is pretty empty. Having a small breakfast consisting of a dunkin doughnuts bagel and a large light and sweet coffee. I am leaving the waiting room now as they should be making a track announcement in two minutes.

My early action paid off as I was the second person down the escalator and first person into the car of my choosing. This train originated in NYP today because of the holidays so it is empty right now.

We left 3 minutes late even though the doors closed on time and everyone was seated. Unreal, sitting on the right side as recommend by you guys. Lots of Metro North action outside. Were not going very fast and its making me sad lol. I couldn't locate the grocery store Alan told me to look out for... although I did look.

Oh great we get to Stamford and who sits in front of me?? A freaking Amtrak Cop... Time to put the camera away. What are the odds of this. He better get off soon or I'm switching seats. Just my luck. Okay I walked up to the cafe for some OJ and checked his name tag. Lt. Somebody so that means he's a big shot great. No ticket was collected for him and he is off duty... Is that legal? Ah, what a bother...

Phew, he got off in New Heaven with no ticket collected. Well that makes me feel somewhat better. Had a seatmate for all 30 seconds. Group of 3 wanting to sit at one of those 4 with table set ups. None left in my car but then the Conductor said they could sit in an any car they choose and poof... there gone.

This train is like the Zombie train I mean really its totally quiet no one is even coughing. No cell phones buzzing. The guy two rows up is literally sitting in the aisle seat alone with his curtain closed staring at the head rest in front oh him! Checking for signs of life on this train and it looks bad. Another walk to the Cafe I wanna talk to somebody! The Cafe is empty to and the Attendant is busy inventorying or something. Wow this is odd. What can you do? Nothing lol I bought a soda and headed back to my seat. I am hesitating to pop it open God for bid I make a sound lol.

I can feel that we are booking it pretty well about 45 minutes to Providence Rhode Island. Were on time at the moment. I wish I knew how to time the miles or had GPS but Idk how you count the mile markers. Plus were moving to fast to see them and I don't think the cantenary supports are evenly spaced. Oh well just keeping to my self since everyone else is.

I walked the rest of the coach cars the conductor wasn't kidding this train has a light load today. Everyone is spaced out as they please and everyone is just staring at stuff inside the train. I know that these people are business travelers, but come on look out the window! Whatever, back to my seat I'm enjoying the scenery.

Great stuff the train runs right along a beach for a time. Plenty of water to be seen. Providence comes and then I find out Boston South Station is 35 minutes away. Thats kind of good and bad news. This train is as dead as the morgue so I kind of want to get off for that reason. At the same time I want to ride on since I'm enjoying myself regardless of the other folks.

Well here we are at South Station sorry its kind of short but there is really nothing to write lol. I sat watched the scenery and went to the bathroom lol. Which caused me to have the only issue of the trip. The bathroom was out of paper towels lol. Not something to get bent out of shape about.

Okay we hit the bumper at South Station (not really but i like the phrase) one minute early. I guess its better then being late but not early by much. So here I am at south station at 11:41 A.M. EDT

Killing time in South Station

I walked the entire station which takes oh all of 2 minutes. For the record its better then an Amshack somewhere but for a major metropolitan area this is a small station. Walked to the food court to access how I would be feeding myself. Went with McDonalds not exactly the best but hey it worked. Had to fight for a table to eat my lunch at. There really isn't enough seating here for this volume of traffic. I got a table and offered to someone who also had trobule finding a spot to have the other seat at my table. They were actually I'd say offended, so much for courtesy. I thought I was being nice oh, well looks like its lunch alone. Finished lunch still have a good half hour until boarding. I want to get up and walk a little but I know I'll loose my seat so I'll just say here I guess.

I got up and walked around for a time. Got a really good M&M Cookie at on of the shops there. Just pacing through the station waiting for boarding. This place is a drag lol. I am not a fan of this place I'd hate to see it when its busy it must be a zoo. Although finding people at the gathering will be simple you can't miss a group of 3 in this place. CHOWDA!!! lol.

This is the first part I'll post the rest after I get some food and take a shower

Pictures

http://picasaweb.google.com/stephenmontero/AcelaTripPhotos#


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## PRR 60 (Dec 29, 2008)

Glad NJT cooperated and got you to Penn on-time. And your ticket snafu stinks. With your short connect time at NYP, I don't blame you for getting your tickets early, but losing that First Class seat is a shame.

I kind of thought the trip would be light today. Acela is a business travel train, and there is virtually no business travel this week.

Hope you have (had) a good trip back.


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## WhoozOn1st (Dec 29, 2008)

Long Train Runnin said:


> I realized I forgot my Amtrak tickets


You're a sad dude. After all that planning and anticipation you leave the tickets behind. Unreal. Or maybe the Glo-Fish ate 'em? HAHA!! Thanks for the report, Stephen.


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## Long Train Runnin' (Dec 29, 2008)

Bos to NYP

Boarding started at 1:05 P.M. EST. Not the same train or crew which I think is a plus don't wanna look weird. Same BC class seat sitting on the left as recommend.

We are pulling in to Back Bay Station and we have a Boston based crew for this run because there is a cAAAfe cAAAr on board. The conductor has his own set of rules about the quiet car. He is saying you must turn your cell phone completely off to remain in the quiet car. Can't Amtrak make a standard about the QC it would make things easier assuming people followed the standard.

Well according to this conductor we have a sold out train today today so looks like I might finally be able to strike up a conversation while on board. I am hoping I can find a rail fan to sit with even though I know the odds are unfortunately slim. It would be interesting considering everyone else isn't interested in talking. Well thats all I can think of right now so if something happens I'll write it.

Well nothing interesting really happened from Providence to Stanford I took some photos which I will upload after this goes up. Saw something out the window that caught my eye in Stanford. Amtrak p42 832 was pulling CT commuter line cars. So that leaves me asking the experts why Amtrak's P42 is pulling CT commuter cars and what does a series 800 p42 mean I know the 700s can use the third rail power.

Went to the cafe to try and find someone interested in chatting sadly everyone there was with a traveling companion so why talk to me  . Well New York Penn Station is next sadly so that means this trip is coming to a close much faster then I would have hoped for. They just never last long enough.

Well I can say this. I did literally squeeze every minute of daylight into this trip. When my morning train left the sun had just finished going up and now as I am minutes away from Penn Station the sun is setting quickly. So I guess I couldn't have done much better in terms of using up all the day light we have here during the winter. Even though it means both direction on the NJT trains will be in the dark I've done that route enough that its not an issue for me. Well at the time of doors open we arrived in NYP exactly 5 minutes early!   how can you complain about that!

NJT train back home (interesting)

Well I thought that would have been the end of my TR there followed by a short conclusion but things got better for me. The five minutes of extra time turned into good things for me. First I could catch an earlier express train so my ride home in the dark would be shorter. It also meant I was on a train leaving at 5 o clock so it was running the bilevel equipment. I have never ridden it so I was excited to try a new kind of equipment on the way home. Now its not superliner like stuff its the same height as the viewliners I think well yeah its not very tall since it fits in the tunnels at NYP but anyway its bilevel none the less. So it was good to try this new stuff. When I sat down my first though was gee not as much room as on the Acela but thats kind of a given lol. Ran into an issue at Newark Penn. A 5:01 train that left 2 minutes before us was supposed to load and unload on the same track we were. Some dispatcher didn't think that through well at all. So we crawled from Harrision at less then 10 MPH for a time before coming to a complete stop letting a Northbound Amtrak Regional pass us before proceeding to enter Newark Penn and continue our trip. We made good time and I was only 2 minutes late into my station.

Conclusion

This part I am making up as I type it right now so expect mistakes galore.

Overall, did I have fun? Hell YES!

Would I do it again? Not tomorrow but surely I would do it next week.

Im sorry if the report seemed negative but i had a great time and thank you all for your advice the pics will be uploaded in a few moments as well as some video footage. Please leave any thoughts below!


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## Long Train Runnin' (Dec 29, 2008)

WhoozOn1st said:


> Long Train Runnin said:
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> 
> > I realized I forgot my Amtrak tickets
> ...


Yeah you have no idea I lost in on the train lol me and Julie were going at it lol I just wanted an agent she just didn't get it lol


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## the_traveler (Dec 29, 2008)

Long Train Runnin said:


> I realized I forgot my Amtrak tickets


I know exactly how you felt. I did the same thing in LA in October. The LAX-SAN-LAX tickets were the only ones on my entire trip that were pre-printed (because I used a voucher) - and those were the ones I forgot!


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## WhoozOn1st (Dec 29, 2008)

the_traveler said:


> Long Train Runnin said:
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> > I realized I forgot my Amtrak tickets
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*TWO* sad dudes!!

To be fair, in the Traveler's case at LAX I played a role as a lame-oh. Either one of us coulda thought of just buying a new ticket so he could ride south with the rest of the AU gang. But no. So I guess we're now up to THREE sad dudes, and counting.


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## AlanB (Dec 29, 2008)

Long Train Runnin said:


> Well nothing interesting really happened from Providence to Stanford I took some photos which I will upload after this goes up. Saw something out the window that caught my eye in Stanford. Amtrak p42 832 was pulling CT commuter line cars. So that leaves me asking the experts why Amtrak's P42 is pulling CT commuter cars and what does a series 800 p42 mean I know the 700s can use the third rail power.


The 800 series locomotives are P40's, not P42's. They're a bit older, a few less horses, but otherwise largely the same. CDOT has leased 8 of these locos from Amtrak, 2 of which see service on Shore Line East, the other 6 on Metro North branch trains that don't run into GCT.

And the 700 series are the P32 dual mode locos that can operate on LIRR third rail, as well as their own diesel engine.


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## Long Train Runnin' (Jan 4, 2009)

Pictures from my trip can be found here

http://picasaweb.google.com/stephenmontero/AcelaTripPhotos#

sorry there not to good


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## GG-1 (Jan 5, 2009)

Long Train Runnin said:


> sorry there not to good


But they are OK, and enough "Juice" for me. 

And If you have explored my picture Galleries you will see I include a lot of water in My pictures :huh:

Aloha

Eric


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## Long Train Runnin' (Jan 5, 2009)

GG-1 said:


> Long Train Runnin said:
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Well I'd Imagine you'd get tired of water living on an Island an all :lol:


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## GG-1 (Jan 5, 2009)

Long Train Runnin said:


> GG-1 said:
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Best reason for all the water is the style of swimsuit found in and around the water 

Aloha


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## Long Train Runnin' (Jan 5, 2009)

GG-1 said:


> Long Train Runnin said:
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:lol: :lol: :lol: well in your case you must be able to enjoy the water year round. I may live close to the beach but its all but empty 8 months of the year lol


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## ALC Rail Writer (Jan 5, 2009)

Nice upshot of yourself there-- but we didn't get to see the Amtrak logo!


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## Long Train Runnin' (Jan 5, 2009)

ALC_Rail_Writer said:


> Nice upshot of yourself there-- but we didn't get to see the Amtrak logo!


If you look really close you can most likely see the logo on my hat. Since it is an amtrak hat


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## ALC Rail Writer (Jan 5, 2009)

Long Train Runnin said:


> ALC_Rail_Writer said:
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> > Nice upshot of yourself there-- but we didn't get to see the Amtrak logo!
> ...


Still can't see it.. aw well, I trust you!


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## Long Train Runnin' (Jan 5, 2009)

The hat I'm wearing in the shot


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## ALC Rail Writer (Jan 6, 2009)

Always attempting to please, eh?


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## Long Train Runnin' (Jan 6, 2009)

ALC_Rail_Writer said:


> Always attempting to please, eh?


I guess, more like always has to much time on his hands lol. So I figured I'd go grab the link for the picture and post it. :lol: Plus since Amtrak (Staples Marketing Soultions [who they contracted out to] sells it) It helps Amtrak out in some tiny tiny way I'm sure. Plus, its a bargin I picked it for $6.80.


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## had8ley (Jan 6, 2009)

Glad to hear Pat was promoted to LT !!!


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## Long Train Runnin' (Jan 6, 2009)

had8ley said:


> Glad to hear Pat was promoted to LT !!!


Yeah, to bad he had to sit so close to me. I mean I guess I could have snapped the shots I wanted anyway I mean I doubt he would have said anything. Still, I wasn't going to invoke an issue, so my camera remained in my pocket until his departure.

If they promote that Pat guy Amtrak really needs to rethink there security :lol: :lol:. I can't wait for Pat to google search his name when he is bored and relize he is a star here on this Forums h34r: :lol: .


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## chuljin (Jan 7, 2009)

Long Train Runnin said:


> had8ley said:
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Google shows Pats all over the place, in all capacities including RI Attorney General, who is also the target of the funniest Google result. :lol:


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## Long Train Runnin' (Jan 7, 2009)

chuljin said:


> Long Train Runnin said:
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Well if you google search special agent Pat the second result is a thread here. I'm assuming someone one like him. Always uses his "special title" lol At first I expected Pat sucks .com to be run by whooz lol. But looks like RI DA isn't so great either lol.


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