Boarding 69 from lower level at NYP

[MARC Rider]

Would love to go to Montreal one of these days. I just wish the Adirondack had a better departure time from NYP.

Eh, 8:15 AM isn't too bad. The Cardinal is the holy grail of terrible LD train departure times - 6:45 AM!

If you're connecting from a northeast regional from Washinton or a Keystone from Harrisburg, it's a bit early. You'd need to take NER 190, which leaves Washington at 0310 and Baltimore at 0350.
When I did this trip, I did an overnight layover in New York.

 

[Acela150]

I'm now wondering, how far before departure do LDs train usually come into the station?

Anywhere from 20-30 minutes before they leave says a hunch. I once took the LSL out of NYP and was escorted to the platform from the lounge about 20 minutes before departure and it was there along with the crew.

 

[Seaboard92]

The LSL's scheduled departure is 3:40. They leave NYS at 3:00

 

[cpotisch]

The LSL's scheduled departure is 3:40. They leave NYS at 3:00

How long does it take to get to Sunnyside, though?

(Sorry to derail this thread)

 

[Seaboard92]

Depends on the traffic load. Normally about twenty minutes is what I would allot.

 

[bratkinson]

Depends on the traffic load. Normally about twenty minutes is what I would allot.

Actually, once you're rolling from the platform, it's more like 5-7 minutes, at least when heading out on the LIRR at 9:30 or on Amtrak about 7-9 PM. Getting FROM Sunnyside is about the same amount of time on train #141 at 9:15 from Springfield MA once we are permitted to enter the right of way shared with the LIRR. We often get held 'out' for 2-5 minutes before we run non-stop to the NYP platforms.

 

[daybeers]

Depends on the traffic load. Normally about twenty minutes is what I would allot.

Actually, once you're rolling from the platform, it's more like 5-7 minutes, at least when heading out on the LIRR at 9:30 or on Amtrak about 7-9 PM. Getting FROM Sunnyside is about the same amount of time on train #141 at 9:15 from Springfield MA once we are permitted to enter the right of way shared with the LIRR. We often get held 'out' for 2-5 minutes before we run non-stop to the NYP platforms.

I believe Seaboard is talking about coming from the yard, when crews may have to wait for revenue trains to clear. That's why they said they would allot 20 minutes.

 

[Triley]

Depends on the traffic load. Normally about twenty minutes is what I would allot.

Actually, once you're rolling from the platform, it's more like 5-7 minutes, at least when heading out on the LIRR at 9:30 or on Amtrak about 7-9 PM. Getting FROM Sunnyside is about the same amount of time on train #141 at 9:15 from Springfield MA once we are permitted to enter the right of way shared with the LIRR. We often get held 'out' for 2-5 minutes before we run non-stop to the NYP platforms.

I believe Seaboard is talking about coming from the yard, when crews may have to wait for revenue trains to clear. That's why they said they would allot 20 minutes.

And to further clarify, revenue trains have priority over deadhead trains.

 

[cpotisch]

As I've mentioned quite a few times in some other threads, I will be on #97 next Wednesday and am planning on boarding early from the lower level. For the past couple weeks, I've been keeping track of the different tracks the Meteor has been departing from, through Amtrak's "Find Your Way App" for NYP. Here is what I found, color coded based on the platform serving each track:

1. Meteor 11/22 13W
   
2. Meteor 11/23 12W
   
3. Meteor 11/24 12W
   
4. Meteor 11/25 12W
   
5. Meteor 11/26 12W
   
6. Meteor 11/27 10W
   
7. Meteor 11/28 14W
   
8. Meteor 11/29 13W
   
9. Meteor 11/30
   
10. Meteor 12/1 13W
    
11. Meteor 12/2 12W
    
12. Meteor 12/3 13W
    
13. Meteor 12/4 12W
    
14. Meteor 12/5 10W
    
15. Meteor 12/6 9W
    
16. Meteor 12/7 12W
    
17. Meteor 12/8 12W
    
18. Meteor 12/9
    
19. Meteor 12/10 (22 min late) 13W
    

11/30 and 12/9 are greyed out and lacking a track because with the former, I forgot to check that day, and with the latter the Meteor was cancelled. But out of the 17 days that I did successfully record it, the Meteor departed from tracks 9 or 10 (which share a platform) three times, tracks 13 or 14 six times (also share a platform), and track 12 eight times. I did also confirm (both by watching the trains arrive and by asking an SCA) that the LD trains typically arrive from the yard about 30 minutes before departure, so I should be able to head down and hop on by 2:45 PM. So yeah, I recommend anyone who plans on heading down and boarding early at Penn, to get the Find Your Way app, record the tracks typically used by your train, and to try to get a sense of the time it typically arrives at the station.

 

[cpotisch]

Tracks 14 & beyond are, primarily, for LIRR.

The Meteor actually uses 14 pretty often. Do you know if any other Amtrak trains use 14 or above routinely?

 

[Thirdrail7]

Your last two posts actually mean little in the grand scheme of things. The reason the Meteor has been pushed high is there is construction related to the Moynihan station in NYP. Right now, there are large swaths of the western ends of the platforms out of service. When an Amtrak LD train exceeds nine (I believe)  cars (which the Meteor routinely does),  it is pushed over to 6 or 11-14.  This is so they can perform baggage work without obstructions. Any other tracks will cause a double spot to occur.

They try to keep those tracks for the Meteor, but if you have two of them at the same time (and 97 already competes with the LSL) you will see 97 shift furthest.

Track 14 is routinely used for Amtrak and NJT trains. It is a matter of station congestion.

It took you two months to quote that post and respond to it?

 

[cpotisch]

It took you two months to quote that post and respond to it?

Since the SM has used track 14 three times in the past five days, upon noticing his post again today, I got curious. Seemed to me like that was a reasonably sane progression of events.

 

[Acela150]

I can’t count how many times I’ve been on trains from Boston that have been put on Track 14. It’s to the point where when I take a certain train it’s on Track 14 every time I ride that train.

 

[AutoTrDvr]

The Meteor actually uses 14 pretty often. Do you know if any other Amtrak trains use 14 or above routinely?

Perhaps, because 13 & 14 are on the same platform. But I rarely saw Amtrak trains on 14. They're usually on 5-12 because those are the stairs with access from the upper level , etc.  The LIRR "owns" the mezzanine level beyond Track 14. 

I've only seen NJT trains on 14. It was the 6:13p Midtown Direct to Dover. Most NJT consists are 8 cars + the engine (back in those days, a single ALP-44).  But this train would have 9 cars to accommodate the extra people on that train. And, sometimes, the ALP-44 would struggle a bit. In the Autum, they had to put two ALP-44s on.  Now, with the ALP-46's it's not a huge deal at all. They could pull a twelve car train (but that would be way too big for the platforms enroute). Now that they have the double decker cars, it's a lot easier to put 8 of those + an ALP-46 and get a lot of people moving.