Need advice on NJ to Rhinecliff/Rhinebeck

[PVD]

Funny, I was just looking at the overhead picture of the station I found on line that shows exactly what you said. With 987 words to spare.

 

[cpotisch]

If the train only operates between NYP and ALB, it does not offer cafe service. However, if the train continues beyond ALB (Montreal, Rutland, NFL or Toronto) then it does.

Except for the LSL, as PVD said. Since the Boston section gets the cafe car, there is no food whatsoever between NYP and ALB (with the slight exception of the dinner sleeper passengers get on the westbound, which of course doesn’t apply here).

 

[Mystic River Dragon]

Funny, I was just looking at the overhead picture of the station I found on line that shows exactly what you said. With 987 words to spare.

Thanks, AG1 and PVD....

I found a picture, too, but the train is there and is in the way, so you can't tell how to get on the platform. Do you need to use the stairs? Or walk right from the parking lot onto the platform? If the stairs, is there an elevator?

PVD--I don't understand the 987 words? (If you mean I was wordy, I know, and am sorry--I am only wordy when I don't know what I'm doing :unsure: .)

 

[PVD]

Sorry, off beat humor  Old saying:  "a picture is worth a thousand words" I was going to post the picture, but someone else answered the question with 13 words before I did. 987 saved.....

 

[AG1]

Rinecliff station is listed as accessible.

 

[Mystic River Dragon]

Sorry, off beat humor  Old saying:  "a picture is worth a thousand words" I was going to post the picture, but someone else answered the question with 13 words before I did. 987 saved.....

Oh I see--thanks!  (Math never was my best subject .)

Rinecliff station is listed as accessible.

View attachment 11181

Wonderful--thanks, AG1!  I should have thought of going into the station listings.

 

[Mystic River Dragon]

And one last thing--I just talked to my friend and told her I have booked her ticket. She is thrilled, and she asked me to thank all of you from her.

 

[the_traveler]

Except for the LSL, as PVD said. Since the Boston section gets the cafe car, there is no food whatsoever between NYP and ALB (with the slight exception of the dinner sleeper passengers get on the westbound, which of course doesn’t apply here).

That is why of the 4 cities listed, Chicago is not one of them.

 

[Mystic River Dragon]

Just wanted to report back to all of you, with many thanks again for all the advice, and tell you what a wonderful trip my friend had coming home.

I had gotten her Amtrak and NJT tickets, and she loved having tickets in advance and not worrying about them on the day she traveled.

Her son drove her to Rhinecliff, and they checked with the person in the station to see if the train was on time, and they said it was running early. She went down in the elevator. The only difficult part of the whole trip was next--when the train came in, she couldn't get on easily (I couldn't quite understand what she meant--if the gap was too wide or the steps too high up, having never boarded from there). So she went up on that platform thing that lifts you up and/or over--she said it was already there for another passenger, but she will know in the future to call ahead and tell them she will need it.

The conductor took her bag through and put it in the baggage area, and she had a seat to herself. She said the business class was lovely, with leather seats you could sink into, and the seat next to her was empty the whole time, because the coach was half empty the whole trip. She said the seats were burgundy and 2x2, but that can't be right? There's only the 2x1 that are burgundy/brown and then the regular stuff like on the Regionals, right? Is there a third type with seats like in 2x1 but that are 2x2?

She said the conductor was wonderful, and he helped her with her luggage at Penn Station and told her how to get up to the main station.

She had enough time between trains to make a comfortable transition without having to rush, and she went to the NJT agent and asked what platform the train was leaving from, and she said the agent was polite and very nice and helpful. Then she went down to the platform and boarded the train, which was a double-decker. She said it was spotlessly clean. She decided to go downstairs, at which point a young man said "Let me carry your suitcase" and took it down the stairs for her. 

Uneventful trip to Hamilton, where the train came in on time, and another, older man said "Let me carry your suitcase up the stairs for you."

She had figured out the parking herself, and that worked quite well, she said, so she paid the garage fee and got home while it was still light.

She said everyone was so nice and helpful, the trains were spotless, and she would do this again.

An early Amtrak train, nice conductors, friendly and helpful passengers on NJT, and a spotless NJT train? I told her she either had beginner's luck or she has led a blameless life and had a trip like that as a reward :giggle: . But, seriously, I am glad it did go so well because now she will feel comfortable doing it again, perhaps even in both directions--we will see.

 

[Thirdrail7]

An early Amtrak train, nice conductors, friendly and helpful passengers on NJT, and a spotless NJT train? I told her she either had beginner's luck or she has led a blameless life and had a trip like that as a reward :giggle: .

See what happens when you don't bash Trenton? ^_^

PS: There are no 2x2 burgundy seats...to my knowledge.

 

[Mystic River Dragon]

See what happens when you don't bash Trenton? ^_^

PS: There are no 2x2 burgundy seats...to my knowledge.

 I will have to try to be nicer.

I'm sure she was in the 2x1 and just didn't look that closely and assumed it had been two seats there when I asked her about it.

 

[neroden]

Rhinecliff's a low-platform station.   She used the wheelchair lift.  FYI, anyone, even people not in wheelchairs, are allowed to request the lift -- it's helpful for people who can't handle the stairs on the Amfleets, which are quite awful.

 

[cpotisch]

The only difficult part of the whole trip was next--when the train came in, she couldn't get on easily (I couldn't quite understand what she meant--if the gap was too wide or the steps too high up, having never boarded from there). So she went up on that platform thing that lifts you up and/or over--she said it was already there for another passenger, but she will know in the future to call ahead and tell them she will need it.

Rhinecliff is a completely straight low level platform, so I guess the issue was just that the steps were too high up.

 

[cpotisch]

She said the business class was lovely, with leather seats you could sink into, and the seat next to her was empty the whole time, because the coach was half empty the whole trip. She said the seats were burgundy and 2x2, but that can't be right? There's only the 2x1 that are burgundy/brown and then the regular stuff like on the Regionals, right? Is there a third type with seats like in 2x1 but that are 2x2?

Can you ask her if she recalls if Business Class was part the Cafe car? Because the Empire Corridor trains pretty much always use the split Business/Cafe car with 2x1 (leather, burgundy) seating.

 

[the_traveler]

... she paid the garage fee ...

The attendant didn’t say 

Let me get that for you!

:giggle:

 

[Mystic River Dragon]

The attendant didn’t say 

:giggle:

Can you ask her if she recalls if Business Class was part the Cafe car? Because the Empire Corridor trains pretty much always use the split Business/Cafe car with 2x1 (leather, burgundy) seating.

She said the cafe part was there but not open, so I think you are right--she must certainly have been in the 2x1 and just not realized. (She does not travel by train often, so was probably concentrating on her ticket, luggage, etc., and not looking around at every detail like all of us would! )

(Sorry, I messed up quoting more than one quote--Dave, I replied to you at the end.)

Rhinecliff's a low-platform station.   She used the wheelchair lift.  FYI, anyone, even people not in wheelchairs, are allowed to request the lift -- it's helpful for people who can't handle the stairs on the Amfleets, which are quite awful.

Rhinecliff is a completely straight low level platform, so I guess the issue was just that the steps were too high up.

Thank you both, neroden and cpotisch. She said there was a huge gap, so she must have meant between the platform and the lowest step. (I have had that happen to me in a couple of other places--on my one and only PV trip (the day trip on the Dover Harbor), where two young guys in the crew simply picked me up like a sack of potatoes and delivered me into the train, and on CTrail at Springfield, where a tough old lady, at least 20 years older than me, just got hold of me and lifted me down .) Seriously, it is very frightening to see that gap, even if you take trains a lot.

The attendant didn’t say 

:giggle:

That's because she detrained at snarky corporate Hamilton, where there is no attendant and you have to figure out the machine by yourself.

Oopsie, I said I was going to try to be nicer about NJT and already blew it . New Year's tomorrow--maybe that will be a resolution starting then !

 

[cpotisch]

(Sorry, I messed up quoting more than one quote--Dave, I replied to you at the end.)

You can just click on the quote box and hit delete, and it will completely remove the quote.