1999 Summer Vacation Railfanning Trip

Amsterdam, New York: July 21st, 1999

Wednesday, July 21st, 1999:

It was 2:45 am when I left Sandusky, on my way to Syracuse. This time, the train was powered by P42DC #86 and F40PH #313. Our train left Sandusky about 45 minutes late, so I settled into my Amfleet II Coach seat and tried to get some sleep. Having slept for about 3 and a half hours, I for some crazy reason (I guess I'm on vacation) thought I was fully rested, so I got up, outta my coach seat and headed for the Dining Car for Breakfast. I found myself being seated just as we were passing through Angola, then Derby. The passenger seated at my table was a railfan from Chicago, who had told me some interesting stories about railfanning in the Chicago area, I think she was heading to New York for some sort of business trip. Anyways, by the time we got into Buffalo and headed into Frontier Yard, I had finished breakfast (Pancakes and Sausage!!) and headed for the Cafe Car for an overpriced Danish and Juice. At that point, we were just leaving the Buffalo-Depew Amtrak Station. I got to take a sneak peak out of an open window on one of the coaches and found a group of CSX units sitting at CP-431 waiting to get into the yard, after that, it was back to my coach seat to listen to some music and try to get some more rest before getting off in Syracuse.
We arrived in Syracuse about an hour and a half late, around 10:35am. I got off the train and snapped the photo below of my coach, Amfleet II #25052:

Syracuse is a great place to go trainwatching at, and I have taken a couple trips there before. But today, I was only there to catch a connecting train to Amsterdam. I got off my train and found 3 Railfans sitting on the platform with all their gear (scanners, cameras, lawn chairs, etc.), I introduced myself to them, and they told me they were from Lyons, west of Syracuse. One of them even gave me a brochure about The Station Inn in Cresson, Pennsylvania, one of the only Bed & Breakfasts in the country that specializes in lodging for railfans. Anyways, after chatting with the railfans, I headed down into the Transit Center in Syracuse to check on the status of Amtrak Train #286, the Empire State Express, which I found out was running on time.
About 11:10am, my train to Amsterdam arrived in Syracuse, as shown in the photo below. Today, The Empire State Express was powered by P32AC-DM #701 and had its typical 4-Coach 1-Cafe Car consist.

For this part of my trip, I sat in my Amfleet I Coach and headed for the Cafe Car after my ticket was taken and we had past East Syracuse, where the old, unused Amtrak Station is located. It just so happened, that I planned my trip around the same time that Woodstock '99 was to be held in Rome, NY, so this train was filled with many "hippies" heading to Rome to go to Woodstock. Anyways, after a quick snack in the Cafe Car, I headed back to my Coach and listened to some radio stations in the cities we were passing through. I got a little more sleep before we had past through Rome, (where all the hippies got off to go to Woodstock). We then arrived in Utica, and from the view of my Coach seat, I took this slide of some kind of Railroad display in Utica near the Amtrak Station, any info on exactly what this is would be very appreciated...

We left Utica, and began to ride along the scenic Mohawk River on the way to Amsterdam. The train arrived in Amsterdam about 10 minutes late, and in the photo below is the coach I rode in to get to Amsterdam, Amfleet I #21654...

The next photo is the the train, just before it left Amsterdam on its way to Albany and then New York City, as seen in Amsterdam, I guess Amtrak must have washed this locomotive recently as it shined brightly in the afternoon sunlight...

Amsterdam would prove to be an excellent place to trainwatch, as you'll see in the next few pages, I got the opportunity to meet up with some members of the Greater Capital District Railfan Association while I was there. Before they arrived, and before I left for my hotel in Amsterdam, I did get in some Trainwatching, to see those photos, click in the table below. Also, I should add, the radio frequency used in Amsterdam is 160.800Mhz, and you can pick up the Guy Park HBD/DED which is located just east of the station with no problems...