New York State Fair

[JeffW]

Hello, all. I've been lurking for a while but haven't posted in a bit...

Three of the daily Empire Service trains (one each direction, so actually six) stop at the New York State Fair for the duration of the fair (late August through early September). Does anyone know when that stop gets posted? I think the symbol is something like NYF. Right now, ROC to SYR is listed at $22. It never seems to sell out, but I like to get my tickets early.

And out of curiosity, how much would it cost to ride from NYF to SYR (only a few miles)? Would they even issue the ticket?

My dad likes to travel out to stay with us for a few days, and we've made a routine of taking the train to the state fair each year to watch one of the dairy cattle shows (he's a dairy farmer in Indiana, and he knows some of the exhibitors).

On a completely different note, are there other cases of Amtrak making temporary stops at places like this? I know there's an excursion train in Indianapolis that stops at the Indiana State Fair.

Hope all are well!

 

[the_traveler]

I don't know the first answer, but there is (I think) a BBQ festival in NC where Amtrak stops only on that 1 day a year!

 

[CHamilton]

Do a search for "amtrak seasonal stations" and you'll find such listings as

North Carolina State Fair (NSF)

East Glacier and Browning, MT (the EB stops at East Glacier in the summer, and Browning in the winter)

Port Kent, NY (connects to the summer ferry across Lake Champlain to Burlington, VT)

Old Orchard Beach, ME

and so on. Johnny can tell you about the Surfliner service to the race track.

 

[the_traveler]

BTW - the code for the NYS Fairground is indeed NYF!

 

[Ocala Mike]

Interesting that the_traveler mentioned the NC State Fair as being served by Amtrak one day a year. I happened to catch a rerun of the 2008 show, "BBQ Paradise," on the Travel Channel last night, and it showed an Amtrak train stopping at the Fair in Lexington, NC.

 

[benjibear]

The state fair and BBQ festival are two different events.

It will not even find the station code when trying to book.

 

[Hotblack Desiato]

Do a search for "amtrak seasonal stations" and you'll find such listings as

North Carolina State Fair (NSF)

East Glacier and Browning, MT (the EB stops at East Glacier in the summer, and Browning in the winter)

Port Kent, NY (connects to the summer ferry across Lake Champlain to Burlington, VT)

Old Orchard Beach, ME

and so on. Johnny can tell you about the Surfliner service to the race track.

I wouldn't put those in the same cateogry (except for North Carolina State Fair). Seasonal stops tend to stretch for several months at a time. Special stops like the state fair are very short in duration, and usually don't even make it into a printed timetable.

The Surfliner doesn't have any special service to the Del Mar race track, they just add a bunch of capacity to existing trains, and the riders all use Solana Beach, which is a regular stop anyway. However, I'm told they will be doing a special San Clemente Pier stop for July 4 this year (normally, only two trains each way stop there, but on the 4th, everything is supposed to stop there).

 

[PaulM]

Back before Hermann, MO became a regular stop, the former Missouri Mule and Ann Rutledge stopped during October- and/ or Maifest,