Prologue:
����������� After the Canada-U.S.
border reopened following the COVID 19 pandemic and the Maple Leaf returned to
Toronto, I began contemplating going back to the United States to �test the
waters� to see how easy crossing the border will be prior to planning
additional trips to the States. I eventually settled on taking the Maple Leaf
to
����������� I decided to wait until early/mid March 2023 for this trip once I had three days off in a row from work. Unfortunately for this trip, my job gave me multiple shifts in a row and no more than two days off constantly pushing the trip back.
����������� In the first full week of June, I initially had Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday off. After looking around, I eventually swapped shifts with a coworker to allow this trip to finally happen. I was now going from Tuesday to Thursday. The trip unfolded as follows.
����������� I got a ride to Finch. I noticed a woman ranting about stuff including homosexuals. I watched for a few seconds before boarding a subway train.
����������� When the subway got to Davisville, we waited as a work train crossed in front of us. I saw it was RT-38 and RT-39. RT-38 is a former H-4 passenger car. I attempted to photograph it.
����������� The subway
departed and we soon got to
����������� I saw VIA trains 62 and 52 boarding a few tracks over. Train #52 has HEP2 coaches. I saw passengers boarding the last car of the train.
����������� Prior to this trip, VIA found potential problems with the stainless steel Budd built coaches resulting in VIA running buffer cars in the event of a collision. This even affected the Canadian with the Park cars observation end being blocked by a coach ruining the view out back. However, things were starting to look up. Plus with passengers boarding the rear coach of #52 gave hope unless the HEP2 coaches weren�t part of this.
����������� The train
left on time. I filmed VIA�s
����������� The train
stopped at
����������� A few minutes later, I photographed CN switcher #7304.
����������� The train
didn�t stop at
����������� We stopped
at
����������� We were made to get off the train and get processed in the station. I put my bags through an X-ray scanner. My inspection went okay though as I was leaving, I was called back because they forgot to ask me a few questions. After they asked me what they forgot the first time, I was allowed to go. I went up to the waiting room to wait reboarding of my train.
����������� I bought a
Pepsi from the vending machine in the station. It was eventually time to get on
the train. I was now seated in Amfleet 1 coach #82642. I logged onto Amtrak�s
Wi-Fi on my Ipod as it has limited internet capabilities. I was hoping I could
find somewhere in
����������� Soon, we
were approaching downtown
����������� After
leaving
����������� I used my
Ipod to listen to a podcast on the 1999 crash of Eygptair flight #990. The
train stopped at
����������� East of Rochester, train #63 passed, but I caught the last couple coaches.
����������� A little
while later, we were approaching
����������� Train #64
arrived into
����������� When train #64 departed, I filmed it pulling out. I took one last photo.
����������� I noticed
the sky looked a sickly shade of orange. This was the result of forest fires in
����������� I went to catch a bus to my hotel. I waited as five buses came by; all heading away from my hotel! I attempted to photograph some CSX freights as I waited.
����������� I
eventually took a taxi to my hotel. I was staying at the hotel I stayed at on
my 2008
����������� After
awhile, I decided to go to Destiny
����������� I eventually waited at a stop. At one point I saw a newer Dodge Charger done up like the General Lee from the Dukes of Hazzard.
����������� The bus
came and I rode to Destiny
����������� I had a massage in a coin operated massage chair. I ate dinner before I looked around the mall.
����������� I went by
the west end of the mall and found they had many things of interest including
an elevated obstacle course, a trampoline park, a go-kart track, and a Dave and
Busters. I never knew all these were here. I eventually went to the Dave and
Busters where I got a card as the card I have from Canadian locations doesn�t
work in American locations. I had previously decided after my trips to
����������� I played the arcade games and won a jackpot on one. I eventually left and photographed the storefront.
����������� I then decided to make my way back to my hotel. As luck would have it, a bus arrived that was heading my way. I got on and rode back to my hotel.
����������� A few minutes later I went out to a gas station across the street and bought some milk. I saw the charging pumps were lit up and would go to photograph them the next day. I returned to my room and set the alarm on my phone and called it a night.
����������� I got up and got dressed. I went downstairs for breakfast. I saw that instead of the continental breakfast the hotel served in years past, they only had muffins! Nowhere near good enough for me!
����������� I ended up
having breakfast at a Denny�s nearby my hotel. After breakfast, I went to catch
a bus. I was planning on going by the
����������� The fair was not happening at the time of this trip, but I�ve seen railway equipment on display at the fair from various Amtrak trains. I knew there was a GG1 electric locomotive but couldn�t see it from the Amtrak because it was on the far track.
����������� I had two buses to pick to get me downtown. Either way I would have to transfer. I photographed a bus on its outbound trip then moved to get to catch it on its way back downtown.
����������� The sky was
again a sickly shade as a result of forest fires burning in
����������� Train #284
departed while the bus was at the station. The bus arrived at the downtown Hub.
I had passed through the hub when I was returning home from Streamliners at
Spencer back in 2014; the last time I was in
����������� I saw my connecting bus was nearby so I got on. I noticed at least Centro�s Gillig buses have Wi-Fi which I connected to.
����������� The bus made several turns and at one point went past a zoo. At one point, we stopped at a stop sign. Below the stop sign was another sign that read �Stop means stop�!
����������� I ended up riding past where I wanted to get off and rode to the end of the route. I rode back to my intended stop. I got off and photographed an ex Conrail locomotive belonging to the Finger Lakes RR.
����������� I then walked to an overpass near the fairgrounds. I stopped to photograph the GG1 which has been painted into its Amtrak livery.
����������� I have now photographed seven of the 16 surviving GG1 locomotives. The GG1 was originally #4933 for the PRR. When it was acquired by Amtrak, it was renumbered first to #926 then to #4926 as to leave #926 for the new (at the time) AEM7 electric locomotives which replaced them.
����������� Only a handful of GG1s were painted in that livery. Other GG1s Amtrak acquired were simply left in Penn Central black and lettered for Amtrak. I had read an article in a magazine that showed that Amtrak had considered a different livery for the GG1s but none were ever painted.
����������� One other
GG1 that did receive the Amtrak livery survives; #4903 which I saw on my 2009
����������� I was unable to get closer to the equipment due to a fence and I didn�t feel like taking a long walk. I walked back to the bus stop and photographed other equipment on display.
����������� At one point a CSX freight reversed into the area. I chose not to photograph it.
����������� I figured
the best time to get a closer shot would be when the New York State Fair is
open. Amtrak actually has a stop at the fairgrounds when the State Fair is
operating. However the state fair occurs when the Canadian National Exhibition
is open back in
����������� I then
walked to the bus stop to wait for a bus back into
����������� My bus
eventually came and I rode downtown to the hub. I then transferred to route
#68. This bus passed by the old New York Central station. Amtrak began serving
the current station in
����������� I had lunch a block away. I saw former Vice President Mike Pence was announcing running for president in 2024. I saw that the next bus to downtown was leaving a several blocks away instead of across the main street. I went there and just missed it. A couple express buses passed. It took more than two hours for the next bus to come. If I had known, I probably would have simply waited across the street from the McDonald�s I had lunch at.
����������� I rode this
bus to the Hub and transferred to a bus going to Destiny
����������� I went to the west end of the mall. The first thing I did was a rope course which went above the main shopping area. I slipped on one obstacle but the safety rope did its job. I later went back over the same obstacle without incident. Once I was done, I photographed where I had been.
����������� Another
thing in this mall was a trampoline park! This was the third trip in three
years I had been to one! I paid for one hour and made use of it. This park was
bigger than the one in
����������� After the trampoline park, I went to an indoor Go-Kart track called �RPM Racing� and did a race. I took a photo of the track after.
����������� Destiny
����������� By now most of the stores had closed. I was able to get dinner at the food court. After dinner I went out front to the former Commuter Rail station. It had used RDCs and had been abandoned for 15+ years as of the time of this trip. However it was still there.
����������� A little while later, I photographed an eastbound CSX freight with a mid-train helper locomotive.
You can make out the old commuter rail station a few freight cars
behind the locomotives.
����������� I eventually caught a bus back to my hotel. When I got off the bus, I didn�t go straight to my hotel, but I photographed the charging stations behind the gas station across the street that I thought looked cool lit up at night.
����������� I then went back up to my room, but found my room key wasn�t working. I then went back to the lobby and got it fixed. I then returned to my room.
����������� I used my Ipod to go online before I packed up. I set the alarm on my phone and called it a night.
����������� I got up and got dressed. I finished packing and went downstairs. I checked out of my hotel and walked over to the Denny�s for breakfast.
����������� After breakfast I walked to the bus stop near my hotel. The bus eventually came. I got on and rode to the Amtrak station.
����������� Just like the day before, Amtrak #284 was in the station but departed. I got off and photographed the bus.
����������� I then went inside the station to wait. I had hours before my train was to depart. I had come because I was hoping to see Amtrak train #48, the eastbound Lakeshore Limited.
����������� I went online and found train #48 was running 30-40 minutes late. I also noticed a Centro departure board that I hadn�t seen when I arrived two days ago. I�m not sure what I would have done if I had seen it then.
����������� I was planning
to go to Subway for lunch at the time, but the employees were on break. I
decided to try after #48 departed
����������� I made my way up to the platform to wait for train #48. It had been raining earlier, but the rain had stopped. I could see train #48 in the distance and got myself ready to film it. When the train pulled in, I filmed it.
����������� I saw train #48/448 had three locomotives. The third unit was Connecticut Department of Transportation P40 #6702. The unit was originally an Amtrak unit on long term lease. Presumably the unit had been refurbished at Beech Grove shops and was deadheading home. I took some photos.
����������� The crew wondered if I was getting on the train. I told them I wasn�t I filmed the train departing and noticed an Amfleet 2 coach deadheading on the rear of the train. I took one last photo.
����������� I then went back into the station and had lunch at Subway. I made my way back onto the platform to wait for train #63.
����������� I had missed the head end power of an eastbound CSX Intermodel. I did photograph the train as it had a mid-train unit.
����������� Train #63 arrived 10 minutes late. I filmed the train pulling in.
����������� I was seated in Amfleet 2 coach #25094. The train left 14 minutes late.
����������� Shortly
after leaving, I filmed the equipment at the
����������� I listened to a podcast from Black Box Down�s Youtube Channel about the crash of Lionair flight #610 which was the first of two Boeing 737 MAX flights to crash which led to all such planes being grounded worldwide.
����������� Train #64 passed, but I was unable to film it. South of Rochester, I saw a former Conrail bay window caboose next to the tracks.
����������� The train
stopped at
����������� The train
stopped at Buffalo Depew station. Shortly after leaving
����������� The train
stopped at
����������� We passed
by the
����������� I
photographed the old
����������� I believe
that Amtrak stores the two trainsets of Empire
Service trains that terminal at
����������� We stopped
at the current
����������� My dad
called me and I let him know I was just across the border. I got back on the
train. The train soon departed. I photographed the bridge that until the early
21st century was used by CP freights to cross into the
����������� The train
stopped at
����������� After I was done at customs, I walked up to the front of the train and photographed it.
����������� I then went back into the station to wait to get back on the train. There was a piano in the station for people to play. At one point some kids started playing it badly.
����������� We were
soon allowed to get back on the train. I was now seated in Amfleet 1 coach #82709.
The train left
����������� I phoned
home and let my parents know I was back in
����������� The bridge
over the
����������� As we
passed through
����������� As we
passed through the CN yard in
����������� I saw the vintage planes again and attempted to photograph them.
����������� The train
stopped at
����������� As we
passed VIA�s
����������� We were soon getting close to Toronto Union Station. I readied my stuff in preparation to get off.
����������� VIA #98 arrived four minutes late. I got off and walked to the front of the train and photographed it.
����������� I then went
downstairs. I phoned home and let my parents know I was back in
Conclusions:
����������� My laptop
screen breaking was an unfortunate problem for my trip. Despite that I am
pleased to get back into the
����������� I have a
few trips planned into the