Getting to the Gathering

[MARC Rider]

Part 1 -- Baltimore to Albany

Northeast Regional 114 was scheduled to leave Baltimore at 10:53 AM, so I ordered a Lyft for 9:50 to make sure I got to the station on time. As happened the driver came early, so I got to Penn Station before 10. When I got in the station, I saw there was a Northeast Regional leaving at 10:19. I thought, Hmmm, might as well take the earlier train, as the connection Amtrak gave me was only 40 minutes. So I took out my phone, fired up the Amtrak app to modify the rez, and low and behold, it told me my 30-day login was over and I needed to log in again. Of course I didn't have the password anywhere on my phone (I do now), so I had to haul out my laptop and find it on my web browser. When I went to modify the reservation, though, it didn't show the 10:19 train available as a valid connection. Anyway, it was getting to the point that I was going to miss the 10:19 anyway, so I just bagged it and waited for 114.

When They announced 114, I went down to the platform and waited at where the end of the train is, as that's where business class has been for years. Well, not now, as I found out, business class is at the front of the train, and I didn't have time to walk up the platform to get there. So I boarded, and had to work my way through the masses of people who think there are going to be empty coach seats at the rear of a train that boarded in Washington, where everybody boards from the rear of the train. They really need to have assigned seating for coach as well as business class. That was really the only unpleasantness of the trip. When I found my seat, it had a lousy window view, so I took out the app and changed my seat to one a few rows back that I could see had a decent window, and that was that. We were about 5 minutes late into New York, not sure why, and, of course, with my car at the front of the train, I had a long walk on the platform to get to the Moynihan escalator. I went up to the Metropolitan Lounge and got my free lunch, a caprese baguette and soda and had barely finished it when the lounge attendant came by and told me that 291 was boarding at track 6.

I wasn't too far back in the line and was able to snag a single seat in the Ethan Allen Business class car. We left on time and got into Albany on time. A pretty routine ride, except that the cafe car attendant was having problem with his POS table. (POS means "point of sale," it can also mean something else not suitable for a family-oriented discussion group.) For a little while, has was having to operate the cafe on a cash-only basis. This was not the last time I encountered this on my trip. Upon arriving in Albany, I called a Lyft, and I was taken to my hotel on State St. in the sleepy downtown. My dinner was a local craft beer and very good hamburger at a nearby brewpub, and then off to sleep, ready to catch my ride to Montreal the next day.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

114 is one of several trains that have bookend motors. They do not turn those trains therefore the BC cars may be at the front or the back of the train. In this case the southbound trains have the BC cars at the back.
181 -> 114 -> 129 -> 198

There are other trains that run like this

 

[MARC Rider]

Part 2 -- Albany to Montreal

Woke up early, went down and had breakfast, pretty decent for one of those free hotel breakfasts. Then I went ou and walked around Empire State Plaza and over by the old Albany station on Broadway. The Adirondack doesn't leave until 11:40, so I had plenty of time to get into the station. When I got there, I checked out the to-go stuff in the cafe, but I didn't see anything that interested me, and things weren't much cheaper than what they charge in the cafe, so all I bought was a bottle of Sarato9ga Spring Water. Nobody asked me to show my passport and get the silly mtrak stickers for crossing the border, though some people who boarded with me had them. The gate attendants just waved me though on the basis of my e-ticket, and the conductor scanned it without asking to see my passport, or anything. A good thing for Amtrak that CBSA let me into Canada.

The Adirondack had 4 Amfleet 2 coaches and a full cafe. The Amfleet 2 coaches were great. In fact, when they switch to Airos for this train, the experience will be a bit downgraded, except that I suppose they will be offering business class.

We left Albany on time and had some fun 100 mph running to Schenectady, but between Saratoga and Fort Edward, we crawled to a creep for a good while and lost a lot of time. The conductor said something about track inspectors find something wrong with the tracks that needed to be fixed, so they couldn't let us go a regular speed. A bit later, north of Westport, we were held up in a siding for a good long while waiting for the southbound Adirondack to mass us. Then, we had to stop for a signal on that scenic stretch right before Port Kent. We ended up getting into Gare Central at more or less the scheduled time, but this train had been arriving an hour or more early during the previous few days, so it was a bit of a disappointment. And I never like sitting in a train that's stopped and not moving.

Had a bit of problem in the cafe car, with the POS tablet not working, the same problem we had the previous day on the Ethan Allen Express. As a result, the cafe could only take cash for most of the trip. I got an Amtrak stromboli and a coke for lunch and didn't bother with supper until after I got into Montreal. In defense of the POS, I will say that cell service along the route is very spotty. I wish I had brought a book to read.

The route gets scenic north of Whitehall, as you're running along the southern extremity of Lake Champlain, which looks more like a river here. You get a glimpse of Fort Ticonderoga before the train turns inland for a while, and then really good expensive view of the Lake around Port Henry as the lake widens north of Crown Point. The most scenic part is north of Westport, where the train hugs a cliff maybe 50 to 100 feet above the lake with views of the widest part of the Lake and the Green Mountains of Vermont in the background. After port kent, the hills disappear, and the route isn't as scenic. Finally, we left Rouses Point, but before we could cross into Canada, the crew had to hand-throw the switch that led us from CPKC to CN. We rolled across the border; as we crossed the highway, we could see come of the border markers. The railroad was right next to the CBSA crossing station, and we stopped for our border inspection.

I though getting checked on the train was great. We didn't have to stand in line, we just stayed in our seats and let the CBSA border person and her two henchmen deal with us in place. They were pretty efficient, we had already filled out our customs declarations, so she didn't have to ask ambiguous questions about what we were bringing in. Just a few questions about the purpose of my trip ("tourism" as accepted without further questions) and had I visited Canada before. They did the whole train in under an hour. I don't know why the border agencies don't like inspecting people on the train. Seems like it was more efficient than making everyone get off with their luggage and stand in line. Of course, it's easy for CBSA, the train is right at their port of entry. The tracks aren't near the port of entry into the USA, so the CBP folks must have to get into a car and drive down to Rouses Point to do their thing.

We moved on, but soon stopped again when we got to Cantic, as the switch is set for the tracks coming in from Vermont, and again, the switches have to be hand operated. After that we started moving along pretty well at about 50 mph (or maybe that should be 80 km/hr.) The track was rough, not sure what CN did with all that money they were given to fix the line. I must have been really bad. Then we got to St. Jean sur Richelieu, where there was a really sharp curve and running right through town that slowed us down some more. Finally, a zig-zag approach into Montreal and then back on the main line with smoother and faster running, and before we knew it, we were crossing the bridge and entering the city. As I said, we got in around the scheduled time of 8:15 PM. We went up the escalators and then had to figure out how to get of the Gare Centrale, which is sort of embedded in other buildings in the area. I made my way to Rene Levesque Blvd for the short walk down the street to my hotel and poutine dinner. Another ride done -- about 9 hours on the train. And then on for a day in Montreal!

 

[Steve4031]

Enjoyed the trip report.

 

[MARC Rider]

Part 3 - A day in Montreal

My late arrival made me hungry, but my internet research had located a pub that kept relatively late hours and was only a block up the street from my hotel. That's where I went, and enjoyed the first item on my list of local cuisine that needed to be sampled: poutine. In this case, a bit of gentrified poutine with a "foie gras gravy" and merguez sausages. This was accompanied by a full (imperial) pint of Quebec cider. That hit the spot, and thus, back to the hotel for some much-needed sleep.

The next morning was grey and looking like rain. I packed a fleece and a rain jacket and headed for the Place d'Armes Metro station, nearly getting run down by all the commuters pouring out. I was going to buy a farecard for my collection, plus a day pass and was a little concerned that I couldn't see any buttons for English directions. These Quebecois are really serious about their French language. I figured I knew enough written French to wing it and tapped my credit card. Voila! All of a sudden, the screen lit up with complete English instructions! I can only surmise that the card was identified as a US card, and so the machine was programmed to give me the English I needed. The same thing happened to me at an ATM later in the day.

I should point out at this point that at no time during my stay in Montreal did I have any problems with language. This is in contrast to some of my drive in rural Quebec, even very close to the US border, where nobody could speak English. In Montreal, everyone greeted me with a "bonjour," and I replied with my own "bonjour," after which everyone started talking to me in good English. As for information plaques and signs, Google Translate is your friend. Use the camera to scan the text and give a reasonable translation.

I vaguely remember riding the shiny new Montreal Metro when I visited in 1967 for the Expo, and it's still there, not quite as new and shiny, but still with the trains that have both flanged wheels/steel rails and rubber tires. Nothing special about the ride, except that some guy offered me his seat. I didn't think that I looked that old!

I left the Metro at Ave. Mt. Royal. Interesting, we have a Mt. Royal Ave, in Baltimore, but in Montreal, they have Mt. Royal, a real (if small) mountain, which was one of the destinations of my day's tour. But first, some breakfast. I was looking for my second item of local cuisine, the Montreal bagel. These are not like New York bagels. They're thinner, have a bigger hole, have a dough that includes egg and honey and are poached in water that has a little honey added before baking in a wood-fired oven. Ground zero for these treats is in the Mile End neighborhood, which is sort of the Lower East Side of Montreal, where the immigrants came in the early 20th century. This was a bit of a walk from the Metro. I had to walk up Mt. Royal to St. Laurent (known as "the Main" by the old-time residents), and then walk up St. Laurent to Fairmount, and then a few blocks over to Fairmount Bagels, one of the oldest in the city. I caught a whiff of the smoke from the wood-fired oven, but when I went in, I found that they only sold bagels and rather large packages of lox and cream cheese to take home. This was not suitable for a traveler's breakfast, so I wandered around a bit before I found a cafe that had a bagel and lox sandwich made up. It was pretty good, not as good as a freshly baked bagel. The best thing was that these Montreal Bagels don't stuff you up until you're bloated the way the New York variety does.

Now, on to Mont Royal, the mountain that, is with its panoramic view of the city. Google Maps informed me that the 11 bus runs along Ave. Mt. Royal right up to the top of Mont Royal the mountain. Unfortunately, nobody told Google maps that Ave. Mont Royal has been blocked off for pedestrian use until sometime in the middle of October. Unfortunately, the signs on the spot didn't provide clear information about the reroute and just said that you could catch it 6 blocks up at Park Ave. (or Ave. Parc.) The local transit operator's website had a bit more information, including a map with the reroute and a real-time bus locator. Anyway, I walked up to Ave. Parc and found the bus stop and caught the bus up the mountain. One thing to note is that the 11 bus runs every 30 minutes, so one should keep an eye on the clock, or you'll be standing for a long time at the bus stop.

The bus drops you off by the Mt. Royal Cemetery. On the other side is a parking lot and the paths that take you to the Kondiaronk Belvedere, the scenic overlook. (Kondiaronk was a Huron Indian statesman who negotiated with the early French settlers here.) The park itself was designed by Frederick Law Olmstead, the man who designed Central Park in New York and looked very inviting, except that most of the trails and footpaths were being renovated and were thus closed. After getting my view of the city I went back to the bus stop and, fortunately, I didn't have to wait too long before the bus came by and took me back to St. Laurent.

Next stop - a Montreal lunch! Stay tuned .

 

[MARC Rider]

Part 3 continued. My day in Montreal.

My Goal for lunch -- Schwartz's Deli on the Main. The local cuisine item, Montreal smoked meat. This is a little like pastrami, but the seasonings are slightly different. Schwartz's is a bit of a tourist trap, but the food is the real deal. They do rush you through pretty quickly, but that keeps the line in front moving. The quality of the sandwich was excellent. I had a sandwich, 2 well-done pickles and a can of Cott's black cherry soda. Surprisingly, while I was full from this, I wasn't too bloated. I continued my walk down St. Laurent, and then back to Sherbrooke where I was heading to the Metro station. As I was stepping across the street to approach the station, I got some of the worst leg cramps I've ever had. In both my legs. I still wonder how I managed to remain standing. Somehow, I managed to shuffle over the two or three feet to a sign pole that I could grab and start doing leg stretches. After a while, my legs started working, but that was a bit of scare.

Montreal Metro stations are a little weird. they have an escalator that takes you down to the mezzanine, but then it's all steps to the platform. One of the stations (Bonaventure) had an elevator, but I don't think they win any awards for accessibility. This was also true, by the way, in Toronto. I don't know whether Canada has a law similar to the ADA, but I did see a look of disabled people out and about in both Montreal and Toronto, so I imagine there's some sentiment in favor of accessibility.

I got off at Bonaventure and followed the rat's maze of tunnels that connect the Metro station to Gare Central. There I sat down and called home and found that a family emergency that had been brewing earlier had been successfully resolved. After that, I wandered about in some of the underground concourses, got turned around, and found out that malls in Canada aren't dying like they are in a lot of the States, but are pretty busy in downtown Montreal. At this point, I was getting tired and decided it was time to return to my room to rest up for dinner. I had a 7:30 dinner reservation at a fancy French restaurant in Old Montreal.

Back in 1992 when I came to town for a conference, I had a really good dinner at this French restaurant in Old Montreal. Looking through Google maps, I found that it was still in business! So I made a reservation and prepared myself for some fine dining. This time, I decided to splurge and get the 5-course tasting menu with wine pairings. (Don't ask what it cost, but I think it was cheaper than similar offerings down our way.) My dinner started with a lobster bisque enhanced with ginger, then duck foie gras done "creme brulee" style, then shrimps and scallops flavored with vanilla, a pear and tarragon sorbet to clear the palate followed by roasted rack of land and port wine jus, finished up by a selection of pastries. Unfortunately, I don't remember all of the wines that accompanied each course, but they were all good and complemented the food very well. Clearly a first-class operation, but you're not going to find anything like this on Amtrak, or even VIA.

A short walk through a misty and atmospheric Old Montreal, I was back at my hotel by 9:30 and ready for bed, as I had an 8:50 train to Toronto the next morning.

 

[MARC Rider]

Now for the photos.





All aboard for New York! Notice that they're finally painting the canopies at Baltimore Penn.


At the City Beer Hall in Albany, one of the better hamburgers I've eaten.



All aboard the Adirondack for Montreal!



Mmm yummy Am-stromboli from the cafe car for lunch.


Having my Saratoga Water...

While sitting at the Saratoga train station.


Lake Champlain

Lake Champlain with the Green Mountains of Vermont in the background

 

[MARC Rider]

Rouse's Point, last stop in the USA.


Crossing the border, the border monument is right in front of the RR crossing lights.


The bright lights of Montreal.




Despite the delays, an early arrival at Gare Central.


My first Candian dinner, fancy merguez poutine and Quebec cider at Nyks Bistro Pub.

 

[MARC Rider]

Montreal Metro -- look at the tires. Wonder what happens if they get a flat?


Avenue Mont Royal in Montreal. As I said, we have a Mt. Royal Avenue in Baltimore.






Firehouse on St. Laurent


View from Kondiaronk Belvedere on Mt. Royal


Leonard Cohen, the famous Candian singer-songwriter. Painting that must have been something.


I lucked out. When I walked up to eat, there was no line.


This is it. Authentic Montreal smoked meat sandwich.

Old Montreal at night

 

[MARC Rider]

Part 4 - Via Corridor to Toronto.

Up early, packed checked out, and off to the station, about a 10-minute walk. Because I was traveling business class, I got to use the lounge at Gare Central. It filled up pretty well, I think there were 2 trains leaving at the same time, and the lounge wasn't that large anyway. The attendant reminded us that the baggage weight limit was 50 pounds, and they had portable scales out to check some of the larger suitcases. Mine they told me was too small to bother with. I didn't get breakfast thinking they would serve it on the train, but all we got in the morning was a coffee service and a slice of pound cake, so I would recommend stopping at Tim Hortons or getting a Montreal bagel before boarding.

When the train was announced, they scanned our boarding passes at the gate, and they scanned them again once we were on the train. We went down the escalator and I saw our train consisted of LRC coaches. These looked familiar as the car shells of the Acelas were based on the LRC, and one can see the relationship inside and out. Most of the coaches looked pretty beat up, but the business class car was freshly painted. The train was being pulled by a P42. They have no dedicated food service cars, the business class car has an airline-style galley, the coach passengers are sold snacks and drinks from a cart. The overhead bins are not very large, maybe enough for a small suitcase or a day pack. There is a larger luggage area in the front of the car with shelves to hold larger suitcases. Coach passengers have to pay for all large suitcases, regular business class passengers get one large suitcase free and can pay for another, and Business Plus get 2 large suitcases.


Here's the inside of the LRC business class car. Plenty of leg room (also plenty of legroom in coach as I found out during the Gathering.) The seat cushions were a bit hard and the recline was affected by having the whole seat sort of rock into a reclining position. It was a bit weird, but OK once you got used to it.

We were delayed by about 30 minutes by freight traffic outside of Montreal, and then we speeded up. In general, we went about 135-140 km/hr (85-90 mph), but there was a lot of running at 160 km/hr (100 mph) as well. This was especially true west of Kingston.

They did a coffee service and a slice of pound cake after leaving in the morning (we left at 8:50). Then they had a drink service and then a lunch service around 12:30 or 1 PM. The meal service was airline style with a choice of a pasta in cheese sauce, grilled salmon or veal meat loaf. I got the meat loaf. It was pretty good.


I think it beats out the Acela first class meals because you get a fully balanced meal with veggies in the entree, a salad, and a dessert.

Aside from the early delay, we zipped right down the corridor. There aren't really any other big cities between Montreal and Toronto, and in most of the towns the rail line bypasses the downtowns. There are some nice views of Lake Ontario between Cobourg and Oshawa. The ride was a little rough and bears a family resemblance to the Acelas. But all in all, not bad, I'd rather ide this than drive the distance.


Safely in Toronto. Note that Gare Central had high platforms, whereas Toronto Union has low ones.

I got a little lost in Union Station trying to find the level for the subway, but I did, and found that I had over 9 bucks still on my Presto card from last year. A quick ride up the Yonge St. line to College, where I had to drag my bag up a set of stairs to get to the street, and I found my hotel right around the corner. After I got settled, I went around the corner to Fran's, a local diner chain where I got a nice plate of fish and chips, and prepared myself for the Gathering the next day.


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