Today September 6 my son Chris and I embarked on a rail trip from the Lehigh Valley of PA to Lewiston ME to attend Chris's older brother Nathan's bachelor party as he is getting married next month.
We started out very early around 5 AM to drive to the nearest SEPTA rail station Lansdale which is about an hour and 15 min from our houses. I tend to be obsessive about being early. We were aiming for train #6591 leaving at 6:56 AM but actually got there early enough for the prior train. However I wanted to get a SEPTA Key card and that took a while so we waited for 6591 which arrived on time. It was an express that made stops as far as Fort Washington then ran express to Temple U.
View of Center City from the SEPTA train
30th St. Station upper level
We got to 30th St. Station in plenty of time for our train to Boston, Acela 2154 due out at 8:36 AM. While waiting we got some breakfast at Dunkin Donuts. Our train was running 4 min late so left at 8:40.
The train got into Penn Station more or less on time. We exited the East River tunnels and headed over the Hell Gate Bridge for nice views of NY.
After the bridge things slowed down a bit from there to New Rochelle, I suspect due to construction for MNR East Side access. We lost about 10 minutes here although we arrived in New Haven on time, even though we had the usual pokey ride on Metro North.
After New Haven things picked up considerably. We decided to get lunch at the cafe rather than waiting until we got to Boston. Chris got a hot dog and I indulged my weakness for cheeseburgers.
We just entered Rhode Island and our speed is picking up. I'll report more when we get to Boston and transfer to North Station for the Downeaster segment of the trip.
We started out very early around 5 AM to drive to the nearest SEPTA rail station Lansdale which is about an hour and 15 min from our houses. I tend to be obsessive about being early. We were aiming for train #6591 leaving at 6:56 AM but actually got there early enough for the prior train. However I wanted to get a SEPTA Key card and that took a while so we waited for 6591 which arrived on time. It was an express that made stops as far as Fort Washington then ran express to Temple U.
View of Center City from the SEPTA train
30th St. Station upper level
We got to 30th St. Station in plenty of time for our train to Boston, Acela 2154 due out at 8:36 AM. While waiting we got some breakfast at Dunkin Donuts. Our train was running 4 min late so left at 8:40.
The train got into Penn Station more or less on time. We exited the East River tunnels and headed over the Hell Gate Bridge for nice views of NY.
After the bridge things slowed down a bit from there to New Rochelle, I suspect due to construction for MNR East Side access. We lost about 10 minutes here although we arrived in New Haven on time, even though we had the usual pokey ride on Metro North.
After New Haven things picked up considerably. We decided to get lunch at the cafe rather than waiting until we got to Boston. Chris got a hot dog and I indulged my weakness for cheeseburgers.
We just entered Rhode Island and our speed is picking up. I'll report more when we get to Boston and transfer to North Station for the Downeaster segment of the trip.