gathering day 3

[amtrakwolverine]

got up around 6AM. left around 6:55Am to catch the orange line to downtown crossing. Caught the red line to Andrew. once again ended up being on the same train as 2 other shop tour members but in a different car. went to street level and found a few others already there. after a while alanB and the rest of the group showed up. after waiting some more a van pulled up to give those with mobility issues a lift to the shop while the rest of us walked. once at the shop the guy(forgot his name) told us about the train and explained safety. Once in the shop he showed us the inside of the control car and the engine room and we walked through out the whole train. he told how while the max speed is 150MPH due to track conditions the acela under favorable conditions can get up to 200MPH.he told us about all the safety features the train has and all the sensors etc.

After the tour he gave us a little bag with some goodies( a magazine a deck of cards with the acea on it a amtrak pen etc). after we left the shop we went to south station for lunch. I had egg drop soup and a large coke. After lunch we went and took the MBTA to middlebrow and back but got off early to catch a ride on a trolley.Alice had trouble getting into the trolley as the attendant could not get the portable wheel char left to work. so she stayed behind with a couple other members for the next trolley while the attendant fought with the lift. after we got off we waited for alice then boarded the trolley back to the station. after we got off we took the red line too ashmont then took it to alewife then we started getting off at different stops to go back to our hotels. thats it for the gathering. it was a blast hope to do it next year.

pictures to follow.

 

[amtrakwolverine]

a few members of the group waiting for the others

the locomotives

switcher

the AEM-7

the acela

the inside

 

[acelafan]

Hey nice pics, thanks for sharing!

 

[amtrakwolverine]

something funny. i went to sleep around 7:30PM when i woke up the alarm clock i had with me said 10:40PM i thought i had messed up the time on the clock as the alarm never went off and i thought it was really 10:40AM. im panicking thinking im going to miss my train. i toss everything into my suitcase and rush downstairs and check out.i leave and its still dark out. after walking a bit it dawns on me i messed up. i rush back to the hotel and they re-activate my revvy were it left off. i never checked the alarm clock the hotel had i was just panicking.

 

[the_traveler]

Last year, I took the Cardinal and had a "slight" delay. I arrived at CVS as scheduled at 2:47. The only thing was it was 2:47 AM - not 2:47 PM!