A round trip on the Vermonter. A scenic gem

[BalmyZephyr]

Awesome, it mentions a railway! Didn't realize that before. Thank you.

Ah, you fixed it.

 

[GAT]

Awesome, it mentions a railway! Didn't realize that before. Thank you.

Well, I confess I cheated a little bit. Blackburn wrote "highway." That's why I offered my apologies. I trust he won't mind, wherever he is. I think Margaret Whiting's 1945 recording beats all others.

 

[GAT]

Ah, you fixed it.

Kudos for catching me out. I thought I might get away with it.

 

[BlackDiamond]

Thanks for the report. I need to do this trip again. I was on it back in the 1990s when I rode from New London to Waterbury VT. At that time they were still using the New England Central route out of New London since the Conn River Line from Springfield was not useable. Got some "rare mileage" on the former CV. I recall the heritage fleet coach I was in was a former Santa Fe car. My parents were staying in Sugarbush and Waterbury was the closest Amtrak stop.

 

[Rambling Robert]

This looks like a great trip. I’d start in Meridian or Hartford and go up north near the end. St Alban’s sounds overpriced.

Maybe with snow. Full moon. I’d like an old fashioned bed & breakfast for a low rate. $65 - .$85. On the return ride in BC class would be nice to assure a good view. Eggs over - two strips of bacon - toast - and coffee and not too fancy a room.

Willy Nelson (et. al.) did nice work:

 

[BalmyZephyr]

Update to St. Albans Hampton Inn cost: Just wait a few days.

A few days ago, it was $197 for two queen beds 2 people, includes breakfast. Today I checked again and it was $167. I paid $12 extra to make it completely refundable. Looking forward to this overnight trip two weeks from now!

 

[Rambling Robert]

Since I live in Massachusetts a variant would be to drive to Quebec Provence - spend two days over the border - maybe Sutton which is English speaking - then depart around 6AM for the Vermonter in St Alban VT.

Here are the details:
St Albans VT dep 9:15AM
Northampton MA arr 2:01PM
Northampton MA dep 3:57PM
St. Albans VT arr 8:50PM

DRIVE TIME
Home to Sutton 4:30
Sutton to St Albans 0:50
St Albans to Home. 4:00

Sutton Qc CA is in an English speaking area of the Provence. In my times in Montreal - Quebec City and the countryside not knowing the language was sometimes a problem. I’d need “French Canadian” translate on my iPhone.

 

[BalmyZephyr]

This looks like a great trip. I’d start in Meridian or Hartford and go up north near the end. St Alban’s sounds overpriced.

Maybe with snow. Full moon. I’d like an old fashioned bed & breakfast for a low rate. $65 - .$85. On the return ride in BC class would be nice to assure a good view.

I checked the only B&B (luxury) near the station in St. Albans, and it would be $270 mid-week early December and you only get one bed. Hampton Inn it is! Please tell me about the BC though. They put seats into the rear half of a cafe car? Is that the half with the highest windows, is that why you say it has a better view than coach? Did they save a row of booths or is it all seats in that half? Maybe we should upgrade for the SB ride. Thanks.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

I checked the only B&B (luxury) near the station in St. Albans, and it would be $270 mid-week early December and you only get one bed. Hampton Inn it is! Please tell me about the BC though. They put seats into the rear half of a cafe car? Is that the half with the highest windows, is that why you say it has a better view than coach? Did they save a row of booths or is it all seats in that half? Maybe we should upgrade for the SB ride. Thanks.

Here is a picture that shows the BC car on the Vermonter. As you look forward you see the cafe counter. Beyond that is the booth table area. This is the last car on the train, so you have the rail fan window to look out too.
https://amtrakguide.com/2021/02/12/coach-vs-business-seats-on-amtrak/

 

[BalmyZephyr]

Here is a picture that shows the BC car on the Vermonter. As you look forward you see the cafe counter. Beyond that is the booth table area. This is the last car on the train, so you have the rail fan window to look out too.
https://amtrakguide.com/2021/02/12/coach-vs-business-seats-on-amtrak/
View attachment 30492

THANK YOU! Huge help. If we can figure out how to upgrade only the SAB-NHV segment, we'll probably do it. Those don't look like the best cafe windows because of the luggage rack, but I like the single seats so it's easier to look over from a double seat to the other side.

 

[user 5784]

St Albans overpriced? Maybe. but so is much/all of Vermont. Doubt youll find much better deals in Burlington, Waterbury etc. Maybe way down south in Brattleboro. Besides, if going to take the trip, do it the whole way. Stay a couple nights if possible so you can spend a day in St Albans. If you do it between spring and fall you can visit the downtown historical museum, which has a great exhibit on railroading.

 

[Shanson]

We rode the Vermonter in late September this year. A bit too early for leaf season, but a pleasant trip regardless.





Only disappointment was the closeness of the coach seats. I am spoiled by the seating in Superliner coaches.

 

[BalmyZephyr]

We rode the Vermonter in late September this year. A bit too early for leaf season, but a pleasant trip regardless.





Only disappointment was the closeness of the coach seats. I am spoiled by the seating in Superliner coaches.

You wrote that at the exact time I was upgrading to Business Class.

So, just now I got through a very helpful agent by yelling "Agent" "Person" at the robot on the 800 number, and only had to wait one minute till someone picked up. It seemed to be the only way to get the upgrade for just one segment.

 

[Shanson]

Our tickets were a group tour, or I would have upgraded to Business.

 

[user 5784]

We rode the Vermonter in late September this year. A bit too early for leaf season, but a pleasant trip regardless.





Only disappointment was the closeness of the coach seats. I am spoiled by the seating in Superliner coaches.

Yeah the Vermonter, like other non-long distance Amtrak trains (non-long distance in Amtrak terms at least) use Amfleet 1's, def not the legroom in coach like Amfleet 2's (used on long-distance trains like Lake Shore Limited). Oh well, the room is spacious compared to the economy seat i had to put up with on my plane flight across the country this week. Also, yes generally late september is slightly early for peak leaf season in vermont. I always tell people to shoot for the first week-to 10 days of October, thats when it usually peaks.

 

[Rambling Robert]

Another variant for me is to walk to the MBTA commuter rail eventslly get to South Station - the trip along the south coast of RINand CT is verify nice then maybe do something interesting in New Haven before boarding the Vermonter.

But I’d love to take the via Ocean... Greyhound has (3 hour) runs from Burlington VT to Montreal. Then take the via Ocean to Halifax NS. Prolly lots of over nites!

 

[BalmyZephyr]

We are on the Vermonter now. I’m glad we didn’t pay for BC on this NB leg, as the coaches up front are practically empty, and BC is practically full. We are dining in the cafe car now, the only non-crew in here, very peaceful. Kudos to crew member who found my iPad on a random seat (I didn’t know I’d left it there), found my name by going to my Facebook profile, and checking his passenger list to discover that I was still on the train. He must have looked for the St. Albans long-hauler seat checks and found me. Thank you, most excellent detective! And that’ll teach me to constantly jump from seat to seat trying for the best views.

 

[user 5784]

Hello from St Albans...great to hear you are enjoying the ride. And yes the Vermonter crews are FANTASTIC.

 

[Rambling Robert]

I don’t know if you’re doing photography but it looks like fresh snow in the morning -clouds might be in the way for 7:52am moonrise though.

Here’s a great tool for natural light photography Photo Ephemeris

 

[user 5784]

I don’t know if you’re doing photography but it looks like fresh snow in the morning -clouds might be in the way for 7:52am moonrise though.

Here’s a great tool for natural light photography Photo Ephemeris

we may get some but i dont think will get much. I love snow and yes makes for good pics, including of the departure of the SB Vermonter at 9:15 am.

 

[BalmyZephyr]

Hello from St Albans...great to hear you are enjoying the ride. And yes the Vermonter crews are FANTASTIC.

Steve on Train 56 FTW!

 

[BalmyZephyr]

we may get some but i dont think will get much. I love snow and yes makes for good pics, including of the departure of the SB Vermonter at 9:15 am.

We will wave at anyone with a camera!
Very excited to wake up in a town I photographed exactly 20 years ago. There was plenty of snow on the ground then and as I recall it was freaking cold.
Thanks for Ephemeris, that looks awesome. I am a natural light photographer so it’s possibly very useful.

 

[BalmyZephyr]

Between Burlington and St. Albans, we are the only passengers on a five-car train. This is great!

 

[Steve4031]

Glad you are enjoying the trip. It gets dark early this time of year so the north bound run is mostly in darkness.

 

[BalmyZephyr]

Glad you are enjoying the trip. It gets dark early this time of year so the north bound run is mostly in darkness.

We saw it all today on the 55! Beautiful light, and the railfan window is worth the extra BC fare. In Springfield now, golden light.