Buffalo To Syracuse, New York |
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For this trip, I needed yet another excuse to ride Amtrak once again before the end of 2001. I originally planned on doing my Christmas shopping at the Walden Galleria Mall in Cheektowaga, NY as I have been doing for a few years now, but being the railfan that I am, and knowing that Syracuse had the Carousel Center, a mall about as enormous as the Galleria, I figured that Christmas shopping would be a good enough excuse to ride Amtrak one last time in 2001!!! To plan things out for this trip, I made a phone call to Amtrak's Reservations Line at 1-800-USA-RAIL and made reservations to ride Acela Regional Trains #286 to Syracuse and #281 back home to Buffalo. With no less than 18 hours before my trip would begin, I would make the reservations and end up paying $52.00 for the tickets. A quick note on the two trains I rode, they formerly were known as Amtrak's Empire Service trains, and each also had a name. #286 was the "Empire State Express" and #281 was the "Mohawk". According to the current Amtrak Northeast Timetable, both of these trains now fall under the "Acela Regional" Branding and no longer carry names, just numbers. I arrived at the Buffalo-Exchange Street Station around 8:30am and picked up my tickets from the agent that morning after paying for them over the phone the night before. I was one of maybe half a dozen passengers getting on at this station. I hung out in the station until about 10 minutes before the train was scheduled to depart, at 8:45am. The table below shows the consist of both trains today, the coaches I rode in are italicized.. |
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The train left Buffalo-Exchange Station on time at 8:45am. Things ran relatively smoothly as we stopped at Buffalo-Depew, Rochester and then Syracuse where I got off. I enjoyed an Apple Danish and Diet Pepsi and listened to a MiniDisc of Smooth Jazz Music I brought from home as we passed through the small towns along the way. I have noticed many more of the Amfleet I Coaches now have the electrical outlets at each seat, the seats themselves are now in a blue upholstery and there are digital reader boards on each end of the cars denoting where the cafe car and bathrooms are. These reader boards also pass along information such as reminders to be quiet when using cell phones so as to not disturb other passengers... |
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Seen above is Train #286 having just arrived in Syracuse with P32AC-DM #716 on the lead at 11:04am. I would end up staying on the platform just long enough to photograph Train #63, the Maple Leaf which was to arrive around 12:30pm. My purpose, as I said at the beginning of this travelogue was to be here to Christmas Shop which is what would occupy the bulk of my time while here. |
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Now arriving is Amtrak Train #63, the Toronto-Bound "Maple Leaf" (This train still has a name) arriving in Syracuse at 12:33pm. This slide is a "first" of this train for me, as this is the first time I've ever ever photographed this train without an F40 for power! Yes, Amtrak for the most part has eliminated the F40 for power on this train as now Via Rail Canada's crews are trained in the operation of the P32AC-DM (Via has since purchased some of these units). I say, for the most part, the F40 is gone because Train #64, the New York City-Bound "Maple Leaf" had F40 #316 for power but there is no photo of it here because it was way too dark by the time it arrived in Syracuse.
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Passing through just after Train #63 arrived was CSX Freight Train Q112 with C40-8W #7765 leading on Track #1 heading East. This was the last train I photographed before heading over to the Carousel Center to do my shopping. By the time I arrived back at the station, it was getting near sunset and with it being cloudy, my Kodak Elite Chrome "Extra Color" 100 Speed Slide Film just wasn't gonna work in that kind of light. My trip back home on Train #281 had another P32AC-DM #702 for power, the trip went well, very quiet and calm. Only bad thing I can really say, was that I found out I don't like Samuel Adams Beer but that's not Amtrak's fault! I arrived back in Downtown Buffalo on time with no problems. The weather really worked out for this trip with the high temperature that day reaching nearly 60 degrees! This would end up being my 6th Amtrak trip this year and my second trip to Syracuse this year alone. I went here back in May just before I moved to Ohio, but due to a bad roll of film, there is no travelogue from that trip. I hope to head back here in 2002 sometime to check out the other railfanning hot spots in the area. Until next time, Happy Railfanning!!! |
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