Christmas Shopping Trip 2003

   After walking the train to take down car numbers, I had a chat with the train crew after we had passed through Collinwood Yard again. Our Assistant Conductor told me he has nearly 50 years of service on the railroad and started with the New York Central! He told me about the trains he used to be Conductor for during his days on the Central, was very informative and knowledgeable about the railroad then and how it compares to today. My conversation with the crew lasted a few minutes before I headed back to my coach for a bit since the café car was otherwise closed and I wanted to watch what limited action I could see from outside as well as listen to the scanner. At 6:31am, we left Erie, PA, running 2 hours and 45 minutes late. Looking out the window on the East side of the train, I could see the Norfolk Southern main paralleling the CSX main, which it does most of the way from Cleveland to Buffalo, I saw a few trains here and there, nothing spectacular.
   My friend Rich called me as we were somewhere near Brocton, NY, and the sun was starting to come up at that time. I was told the Café Car was set to open around 6:30am so I headed back there to get a “pre-breakfast” as I was planning to eat breakfast in the dining car but I was super hungry at this point as the only thing I had since 10:30pm last night was 1 can of Diet Pepsi in Cleveland! At about 6:45am, the car opened and I picked up a Cinnamon Roll and bottle of Orange Juice. At around 7:30am, I called my Mother as we were passing through an area near where I live, I thought it would be cool to say I was in town traveling at 75mph and be going through my hometown and be able to prove it!
   We slowed down a bit as we passed the Ford Stamping Plant in Woodlawn, NY which is served by the South Buffalo Railway. At CP-DRAW, we went over a draw-bridge over Buffalo Creek after the connecting tracks from The Buffalo Southern, Norfolk Southern, Buffalo & Pittsburgh, and South Buffalo Railway connected with the main line. Maximum Speed through here is 30mph. We passed by the old Buffalo Central Terminal, CP Rail’s SK Yard and turned East where we pass Frontier Yard on the left side of the train. There was the typical standard action in the yard with a couple of switcher locomotives moving cars around. The Conductor on the train who had been with us since Toledo was getting off in Depew and said goodbye to me and to "keep on riding" as he walked through my coach for the last time. At 7:59am, running 2 hours and 44 minutes late, we arrived into Buffalo-Depew Station.
   I knew there was 10 minutes in the schedule for a stop here but since we had been running so late, I wasn’t sure how long we’d be here. I saw a handful of passengers getting off to smoke so I figured I’d grab my camera and try to get a slide of the front of our train. I saw the new engineer walking down the platform so I figured I’d have time to get my slide then reboard quickly. I took a couple slides, then overheard on the scanner that the train was about to make its mail stop, so I flagged down the new Conductor who let me reboard quickly, whoosh! I reboarded and officially, we were out of Buffalo at 8:05am, making it only a 6 minute stop there, but wait, “Houston we have a problem!” The second unit in our train was now being reported as “dead since we left Chicago”, requiring the mechanical department to be called in and check the locomotive. We sat in Depew about 15 minutes and I think they may have gotten the unit restarted. It was said that the unit was running but providing no pulling power thus it was basically a freight car being pulled by the rest of the train. I never did hear if it was in fact fixed. We passed the Lancaster Hot Box Detector at 8:20am and I was now off to Breakfast in the Dining Car.
   I was seated with a Grandmother and her Granddaughter both on their way to Boston, they were in a sleeping car. I found it rather funny that the granddaughter was enjoying drinking the little cups of half & half at our table. I then asked her, which “half” do you like best, and wouldn’t you know it, she told me “this one”, how cute! I ordered the Pancakes with a side of Bacon, Home Fries and a Croissant with Orange Juice to drink. Breakfast was hot and delicious as it usually always is on Amtrak at least from my experience. The total cost for Breakfast was $8.75 and the service was excellent. While eating my breakfast, our new Assistant Conductor walked through the train. It turns out it was one I rode with 3 times in 2002 and we recognized each other right away and shook hands. After paying for breakfast and leaving my tip, we all said goodbye and headed back to our cars.
   We arrived, and then left Rochester, our next stop, at 9:14am, running 2 hours and 40 minutes late. I then started to hear the passenger sitting behind me complain about the poor service she was given in the dining car. I joined into the conversation and she explained the whole situation to me. My first general thought was that there is no excuse for poor service, I can say this because I work with the public every day at my job. The poor service stemmed from the fact that this passenger ordered oatmeal for breakfast that she felt was too cold. She asked a member of the dining car crew to warm it up for her and she was allegedly told “take it or leave it!” The passenger then left the Dining Car in disgust. She told us that she complained to the Conductor who got off in Buffalo as well as the Conductor and Assistant Conductor who were on the train now. To try to remedy the situation, the Assistant Conductor brought the Lead Service Attendant from the car into our coach who formally apologized to the passenger and explained that the comment made wasn’t directed towards her but at another member of the crew. She also explained to the passenger that the oatmeal was likely cold because she put milk on it and made it cold. I wasn’t in the car when all of this happened, but I can say that I was served by the same crew and was given very good service. I think it was a stupid little situation that someone tried to blow way out of proportion and make it sound like it was the end of the world as we know it! The passenger in question would be getting off in Syracuse, our next stop. We had a few slow orders near Savannah where lots of trackwork was happening. We ended up arriving at Syracuse where a good number of people left my coach.
   After a 10 minute stop, we left Syracuse at 10:46am, 2 hours and 52 minutes late. We lost some time due to the various slow orders we encountered on the way. I went back to the Dining Car to see if lunch would be served on today’s train. I was curious to know if they in fact had brought back lunch since it was gone from this train all last summer. As luck would have it, they would be serving lunch though it would be a “modified” menu. I was told to come back at 11:15am or when the announcement would be made. The announcement was made just before arriving at Utica. I was seated in the Dining Car this time with a passenger from Portland, Oregon and another one from Boston. The passenger from Portland told us about all the different places he’s lived in his life all over the world (he was in his early 60’s), everywhere from Europe to Japan. Lunch today was a selection of either the Angus Beef Burger, the Grilled Chicken Sandwich, the Gardenburger and the Chili with beans. I opted for the Chicken Sandwich, and I had a Diet Pepsi to drink. The total cost was $8.50 and the meal was decent. After lunch, the three of us chatted a bit more on a variety of topics, all nice conversation. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about eating in the diner, it’s that you’ll always meet very interesting people and the conversations only enhance the overall train ride experience!
   After lunch, and a freak leg cramp that seemed to have come out of nowhere, I walked back to my coach and watched as we paralleled the Mohawk River, with all the snow on the ground that fell in the big nor-easter that hit the Eastern end of New York the previous week. The funny thing was, back in Buffalo, we had no snow, very weird as it’s usually Buffalo who gets the snow! I went back and had another quick chat with the train crew as well as our bartender who had just graduated from Amtrak’s Culinary School the previous week in Boston. This was one of his first trips and he did an excellent job taking care of the passengers. My stop in Schenectady was coming up soon. I get a call from my friend right about when we passed through CP-169 where the freight mainline goes up and flies over the mainline we were on. The Freight Mainline is the CSX Selkirk Subdivision (Formerly Conrail Selkirk Branch) and the line we would be going on was now the CSX Hudson Subdivision (Formerly Conrail Hudson Line) which takes this train all the way to New York. I never thought very much of CSX renaming all their former Conrail lines “subdivisions”, but I’m still forever a Conrail fan, oh well! The train can now go as fast as 100mph in some spots between here and Schenectady just 10 miles away. When we get up to that speed, you can feel it, as everything just flies by your window! We passed the Dragging Equipment Detector in Scotia when I got my things together and put on my coat to get ready to get off the train in Schenectady. Our Assistant Conductor asked me where I was headed and I told him I was going Christmas Shopping at the Crossgates Mall. He told me the exact bus routes to use to get there which was very helpful of him as the routing he gave me must have saved me about a half hour or more of bus riding than the one I came up with on my own!
   At 1:02pm, running 2 hours and 55 minutes late, we arrived into Schenectady where I got off and took a few roster photos of the train before I said goodbye to the train crew and headed inside the station. My overall impressions with this trip were quite good. The service I was given by both train crews was excellent and the service given to me in the Dining Car was good as well. My only complaint would likely have been that the coach I was in must have been 85 degrees inside as it was very warm. Thankfully, a member of the crew shut off the heat for us and the car cooled down nicely, and quickly. One unfortunate thing about Amfleet Cars is that the heat can only be turned on or shut off, there’s no thermostat. This train’s lateness was something I was able to use to my advantage as I said earlier, as I was only planning to pick up the train in Erie but because it actually ran late enough, I bought the extra tickets and rode it from Cleveland. This is something I wouldn’t recommend someone else do only because “you never know” what might happen, if per say, the train you’re riding on in the beginning gets delayed and your connection flies past you! In this case though, I got very lucky.

   I rode the CDTA #55 Bus from underneath the Railroad Overpass on State Street (NY Rte. 5) down the road to the Econo Lodge where I would be staying. I checked into the hotel and was told that the hotel’s credit card system was down and was asked to pay for the room in cash! I then walked two doors down to a deli/grocery store that had an ATM. After paying the tab for the hotel, I took my luggage and went to the room. It had a Double Bed with a red carpet and a bathroom with shower. The room overall was clean but the bathroom looked like it had not had a refurb in quite some time. As I had anticipated, the room also had no shampoo, (An Econo-Lodge I stayed in once in Sandusky, OH also had no shampoo as well, must be something with that hotel chain. On an unrelated note, Motel 6 also doesn’t provide shampoo either). After trying to take a 1 hour nap, I got a call from my friend who would pick me up from the hotel and we along with another friend would meet at the Crossgates Mall for dinner. The three of us walked around the mall, grabbed some ice cream and checked out the “As Seen On TV” store to see all the junk you can buy on TV, everything from OxyClean to the Ding King! I then decided that I was way too tired to try shopping any further so my friend drove me back to the hotel where I got a shower and did otherwise nothing for a few hours. I ordered some Cinna-Sticks from a local Domino’s Pizza and then crashed for the night as I was now not super tired but ULTRA tired! So ends an interesting day.
   I had set my wake up call for 9:00am but by 8:15am, I couldn’t sleep any longer as I had been asleep now for about 9 hours! I got up, and took a bus to a nearby McDonald’s for breakfast. I bought a copy of USA Today and enjoyed a quick breakfast before going back to the hotel and packing up as I had to check out of the hotel before going shopping. When I checked out, I asked the front desk clerk about the little white dog that seemed to have permanent residence on a couch in the office there. It was a little 4 year old Maltese, I guess it was the “security guard” of the hotel, he actually “inspected” my luggage for me before I left, the clerk said he was “checking my luggage for me to make sure it’s safe”, how funny!    I waited for a bus back to the Amtrak Station outside the hotel. After getting back to the station, I stored my bags inside and took another bus back to Colonie Center where I waited for almost 40 minutes for a connecting bus. Out of boredom, I walked to the nearby Target Store and grabbed a Hot Dog and Diet Coke to waste time. I planned on using Public Transit on this trip as I use it at home all the time and I figured, it’s there so I might as well us it, even if it means waiting a bit, a dollar bus ride sure beats a $30.00 cab fare or something like that! I took the connecting #90 bus to the mall where I did my shopping in about 3 and a half hours, had some bad Chinese food for lunch then met up with my friend who drove me back to the Amtrak Station in time for me to catch Train #49 back home. We went inside the station where I retrieved my luggage and headed up to the platform. I put on my new scanner antenna as I somehow broke my old one on the way to Cleveland! Thankfully, Radio Shack still had the right antenna in stock!
   A quick call to Julie said Train #49 would be in to Schenectady on time at 6:40pm, but it hadn’t arrived into Albany by 6:10pm so something wasn’t right. So we waited, waited, and waited some more. At 7:28pm, Train #49 arrived. My friend had left the station just before it arrived as he was gonna watch the train pass through Amsterdam. I boarded Amfleet II Coach #25118. The consist for tonight’s train is listed at the bottom of this page...
   We left Schenectady at 7:30pm, running 50 minutes late. We shot up to nearly 100mph again as we were on some more High-Speed Rail as we left Schenectady. Tonight’s train had no sleeper in the Boston Section, something that has been seen before. I’m not sure why the equipment isn’t always on the train but I do know that Viewliners are supposed to be going through an overhaul during the Winter 2004 and thus will be in short supply. By the time we passed through Amsterdam, I noticed my friend standing outside Russo’s Grille watching the train pass by at 74mph. I decided to head to the Dining Car for dinner. Upon arrival in the car, I was asked to come back as a 4th seating would be announced but they first had to clean up some tables. I told the server, “It looks like there’s a serious demand for the product!”, to which he agreed. About 20 minutes later, an announcement was made and I walked back to the car. I had nobody sitting with me this time likely because it was the last seating and most everyone else who wanted to eat already did so. I had the Turkey Tenderloins which were 2 turkey medallions wrapped with bacon. I had Rice Pilaf, Mashed Potatoes with some kind of Balsamic Vinaigrette sauce on them, along with mixed veggies and a Diet Pepsi to drink. Dinner was delicious as everything was hot and fresh. I had the Chocolate Bundt Cake for dessert which as also delicious. Total cost for dinner was $22.00 and I left a nice tip since service in the car was top notch!
   We had a couple slow orders in St. Johnsville and Little Falls due to trackwork. We left Utica at 8:50pm now running 53 minutes late. I started to chat with the passenger sitting across from me who was getting off in Syracuse about Amtrak as well as Real Estate as he was a Real Estate Broker, was a very interesting conversation. At Syracuse, some people tried to get off to have a quick cigarette but were nicely told to reboard the train as the smoking break would come in Buffalo. I tried to plug in my cell phone which really needed to be recharged only to find out that all the AC outlets on my side of the coach were dead. I ended up swapping seats so I could charge the phone, and I spent the time mostly just relaxing. Near Savannah, we ran into another slow order near the Seneca River Bridge. Just before we got to Rochester, I went back into the café car to get a Diet Pepsi and started talking to the Assistant Conductor about a variety of topics involving Amtrak. Our conversations lasted until about when we passed through Batavia when I went back to my seat. I had found that my original seat was taken by some other passenger (even though it was clearly marked as taken!) but my stop was coming soon so I didn’t really care. At CP-429, we stopped to let CSX Train Q-386 pass us. We sat there for almost 10 minutes as the train had over 140 cars and took awhile to clear the interlocking.
We switched tracks over to Track #2 which is closest to the station platform. At 12:27am, running 47 minutes late, we arrived into Buffalo-Depew Station. I immediately got off the train along with several other people who were getting off to smoke. Several people noted that we had no snow on the ground as opposed to Albany that had over a foot and a half. I walked down to the end of the platform to get the rest of my car numbers, and so ends my 29th trip on Amtrak.
   In Conclusion, I made this trip a bit longer than originally planned as I was able to capitalize on the lateness of a train. Being able to extend my ride from Erie to Cleveland and connect with the Eastbound Lake Shore Limited there was fun, but something that is otherwise not possible, due to the schedules dictating that the Eastbound train should be out of Cleveland about 1 hour before the Westbound train is scheduled to arrive. It would only take a railfan to want to do this. Let me say this, I wouldn’t recommend that you try doing this yourself unless you’re 100% certain that your connecting train will run late enough that you’ll definitely not miss it. Amtrak only guarantees connections if there’s 1 hour of time between connections on most long-distance trains based on the current schedules. The rules are different on the Northeast Corridor where they would prefer you have 90 minutes between connecting Long-Distance trains and Northeast Corridor Trains. In other words, what I did wasn’t a guaranteed connection, I just got lucky and it worked.
   Overall service on all three trains was good, and the Dining Car Food was excellent at all three meals. I see now that Amtrak has brought the crew change point back to Buffalo so crews now operate Albany to Buffalo, then Buffalo to Toledo, then Toledo to Chicago. I can’t see where there is any cost savings in doing this as it adds a third crew to the train between Albany and Chicago. Originally, crews worked Albany to Cleveland and Cleveland to Chicago. Special thanks to my friend Rich who drove me around town in Albany while visiting. Until next time when I’ll take my first trip in 2004, which will also be my 30th Amtrak Trip, Happy Railfanning…

Amtrak's Lake Shore Limited - Train #49 - December 8th, 2003 - 80 Axles
Number:	Type:	Name:	Description:
70	P42DC		Power
93	P42DC		Power
1734	Heritage Baggage		Baggage Car (From Boston)
62048	Viewliner Sleeper	Wayside View	Sleeping Car (From Boston)
25119	Amfleet II Coach		Coach (From Boston) (My Car)
25117	Amfleet II Coach		Coach (From Boston)
48219	Amfleet I Cafe Car		Cafe Car - Metroliner Full Dinette (From Boston)
25045	Amfleet II Coach		Coach (From New York)
25008	Amfleet II Coach		Coach (From New York)
?????	Amfleet II Coach		Coach (From New York)
8521	Heritage Diner		Dining Car (From New York)
62042	Viewliner Sleeper	Sunrise View	Sleeping Car (From New York)
62004	Viewliner Sleeper	Beach View	Sleeping Car (From New York)
54518	Horizon Fleet Coach		Coach - Deadheading From New York
54501	Horizon Fleet Coach		Coach - Deadheading From New York
1230	Heritage Baggage		Baggage Car (From New York)
?????	Road Railers (7)		Road Railers

Amtrak's Lake Shore Limited - Train #48 - December 9th, 2003 - 84 Axles
Number:	Type:	Name:	Description:
135	P42DC		Power
75	P42DC		Power
1252	Heritage Baggage		Baggage Car (To Boston)
62014	Viewliner Sleeper	Imperial View	Sleeping Car (To Boston)
21681	Amfleet I Coach		Coach (ADA Compliant) (To Boston)
25027	Amfleet II Coach		Coach (To Boston)
28020	Amfleet II Cafe Car		Cafe Car - Original Setup (To Boston)
25118	Amfleet II Coach		Coach (To New York)
25086	Amfleet II Coach		Coach (To New York) (My Car)
25073	Amfleet II Coach		Coach (To New York)
8528	Heritage Diner		Dining Car (To New York)
62003	Viewliner Sleeper	Bay View	Sleeping Car (To New York)
62041	Viewliner Sleeper	Summit View	Sleeping Car (To New York)
2509	Heritage 10/6 Sleeper	Pacific Terrace	Crew Dorm/Lounge (To New York)
1720	Heritage Baggage		Baggage Car (To New York)
74090	Express-Trak Reefer		Reefer Car
74082	Express-Trak Reefer		Reefer Car
74072	Express-Trak Reefer		Reefer Car
?????	Road Railers (3)		Road Railers

Amtrak's Lake Shore Limited - Train #49 - December 10th, 2003 - 80 Axles
Number:	Type:	Name:	Description:
154	P42DC		Power
135	P42DC		Power
75	P42DC		Power
1252	Heritage Baggage		Baggage Car (From Boston)
21681	Amfleet I Coach		Coach (ADA Compliant) (From Boston)
25027	Amfleet II Coach		Coach (From Boston)
28020	Amfleet II Cafe Car		Cafe Car - Original Setup (From Boston)
25118	Amfleet II Coach		Coach (From New York) (My Car)
25086	Amfleet II Coach		Coach (From New York)
25073	Amfleet II Coach		Coach (From New York)
8528	Heritage Diner		Dining Car (From New York)
62003	Viewliner Sleeper	Bay View	Sleeping Car (From New York)
62041	Viewliner Sleeper	Summit View	Sleeping Car (From New York)
2509	Heritage 10/6 Sleeper	Pacific Terrace	Crew Dorm/Lounge (From New York)
1720	Heritage Baggage		Baggage Car (From New York)
44554	Amfleet I Coach		Ex-Metroliner Coach - Deadheading From New York
?????	Road Railers (8?)		Road Railers

Christmas Shopping Trip 2003 Buffalo To Cleveland, OH, Then Schenectady, NY December 8th-10th, 2003

Christmas Shopping Trip 2003
Buffalo To Cleveland, OH, Then Schenectady, NY
December 8th-10th, 2003