Vermonter CT River Line Reroute set for December 29

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My videos from today are currently uploading (including a passenger who forgot to get off at AMM, causing the southbound train to make a second stop). I'll be out tomorrow to take a video of the train passing through Roxbury, VT, potentially the last time the Vermonter will run with locos on each end.
 
Yes. I just boarded the Southbiund in Windsor, the first thing I noticed were the crews were at work flipping the seats in St. Albans last night, and some NHT seat checks.
 
Today's northbound consists of the normal four Amfleet I's, the BC/Cafe car, as well as 10001 Beech Grove, 10021 Pacific Cape, and 10004 American View with Boardman and other executives on board. I will be taking video of it tonight as it arrives in WAB, and again tomorrow in the daylight either in Waterbury or Roxbury.

Via: https://www.facebook.com/AmtrakVermonterand Northeast Corridor Railfans group on FB
 
Ah so the northbound is the special. Well hopefully it will be early into Springfield so I can get some photos of it. During our stop there.
 
I meant to write a few more updates to this post and just didn't get to it. Too busy enjoying the southbound inaugural and then trying to process all my photos.

I just got my blog posts up of the last Vermonter Train via Palmer and Amherst.

The goodbye sign in Palmer:



After reading I decided to bail on the southbound Vermonter in Springfield (becoming $22 poorer by buying a ticket on the Shuttle leaving Springfield just over an hour later). First I got photos of my train heading down the Connecticut, the last Vermonter I assume that will operate with two locomotives:

springfield205.jpg


Then the money shot photos of the first northbound train to making the back-up move out of Springfield (link to full sequence of 19 photos) with American View in the back (and the only time the conductor will get a comfortable seat for the back-up move, instead of spotting the train from the rear door)

springfield225.jpg
 
Fantastic pictures SubwayNut!! I took videos of the SB Vermonter and NB Vermonter w/ Beech Grove/Pacific Cape/American View yesterday, and videos of the southbound Vermonter with the three special cars this morning at Waterbury and Roxbury.

Entire playlist of videos from Amherst, MA, Randolph, Roxbury and Waterbury, VT from Sunday through today:

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8PByIfQR028PQwLHYDZwDasDNBHbJzjn

Southbound Vermonter #55 (12/29) at Roxbury, VT (first train to travel the new route further south):

 
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Southbound Vermonter #55 (12/30) at Waterbury-Stowe, VT with 10001/10021/10004:

Video is a tad shaky since it was a chilly 7° and I left my gloves in my car on the other side of the tracks :(



I was very surprised that I wasn't the only one crazy enough to film at both Waterbury and Roxbury today, especially since the spot I filmed at is rather tough to access especially with the snow. I beat the train with under two minutes to spare.
 
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Nice videos and pics, thanks for sharing! Since Vermont is the only State I haven't been in I look forward to riding, In the Summer!!! LOL
 
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jimhudson said:
Nice videos and pics, thanks for sharing! Since Vermont is the only State I haven't been in I look forward to riding, In the Summer!!! LOL
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Personally I think the views from the Vermonter are most beautiful in the winter when a snowpack is blanketing the landscape. After a thaw it's nothing all that special.

In the summer you do get the benefit of being able to see the views on the northbound train as far up as Essex (if it's running on time of course!)
 
I love looking @ a snowy landscape from a warm train too, just don't want to have to get out in it!! I have a plan to ride the Adirondack, catch the ferry across the Lake, spend the night and then ride the train back to NYP! ( in the Summer of course!)
 
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FreeskierInVT said:
Fantastic pictures SubwayNut!! I took videos of the SB Vermonter and NB Vermonter w/ Beech Grove/Pacific Cape/American View yesterday, and videos of the southbound Vermonter with the three special cars this morning at Waterbury and Roxbury.

Entire playlist of videos from Amherst, MA, Randolph, Roxbury and Waterbury, VT from Sunday through today:

Click to expand...
Great shots
 
With the reroute happening that made thinking

It is about time to make some other changes to the schedule and add another train from VT to Springfield,Ma

With add the add train give people of Vermont more options and could get better ridership numbers.

Vermonter/Vermonter EXPRESS

Daily 55. 56. 57. 54.

St. Albans,VT. 7:28a12:59p 3:28p 8:58p

Burlington - Essex Jct,VT. 7:57a 12:23p 3:57p 8:23p

Waterbury - Stowe,VT. 8:22a 12:00p 4:22p 8:00p

Montpelier - Barre,VT. 8:35a 11:42a 4:35p 7:42p

Randolph,VT. 9:08a 11:10a 5:08p 7:10p

White River Jct,VT. 9:45a.10:39a 5:45p 6:39p

Windsor - Mt. Ascutney,VT.10:14a 10:10a 6:14p 6:10p

Claremont,NH. 10:24a 10:00a 6:24p 6:00p

Bellows Falls,VT. 10:45a 9:29a 6:45p 5:29p

Brattleboro,VT. 11:16a 8:58a 7:16p 4:58p

Greenfield,MA. 11:48a 8:22a 7:48p 4:22p

Northampton,Ma 12:10p 8:00a 8:10p 4:00p

(Holyoke) MA. 12:40p 7:30a 8:40p 3:30p

Springfield,MA 1:15/1:30p 7:00a 9:15p 2:47/3:00p

Windsor Locks,CT. 1:52p ------- -------- 2:25p

Hartford,CT. 2:12p ------- -------- 2:05p

Berlin,CT. 2:27p ------- -------- 1:50p

Meriden,CT. 2:38p ------- -------- 1:31p

Wallingford,CT. 2:47p ------- -------- 1:20p

New Haven,CT. 3:07/3:25p ------- -------- 12:40/1:00p

Bridgeport,CT. 4:07p ------- -------- 12:16p

Stamford,CT. 4:35p ------ -------- 11:48a

New York,NY. 5:35/5:50p ------- -------- 10:43/11:00a

Newark,NJ. 6:13p ------- -------- 10:25a

Trenton,NJ. 6:50p ------- -------- 9:48a

Philadelphia,PA 7:10p ------- -------- 9:20a

Wilmington,DE. 7:32p ------- -------- 8:56a

Baltimore,MD. 8:20p ------- -------- 8:12a

New Carrollton,DC. 8:43p ------- -------- 7:39a

Washington,DC. 8:59p ------- -------- 7:30a
 
A new station also means new problems.

http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2015/01/greenfield_celebration_of_amtr.html

GREENFIELD — Some people are so happy that Amtrak is once again running passenger trains through their towns that they're dancing. Some are mad about the lack of ticket availability. They're dancing too.

What was to have been a celebration of Amtrak service at the John W. Olver Transit Center has turned into a sort of war dance over the lack of a ticket kiosk at the facility. Last month, Amtrak started running its Vermonter passenger train, also known as the Knowledge Corridor line, through Northampton and Greenfield for the first time in decades. Formerly, it dog-legged through Amherst. Service will resume in Holyoke as soon as the city provides a platform for customers.

In this era of smartphones and the Internet, Amtrak is relying on customers to get their tickets online. This isn't going over well in Greenfield, according to Linda McInerny. McInerny, the artistic director at Old Deerfield Productions, has been planning a celebration of the passenger service, complete with music and dancing. Now it's more like a demonstration. She's calling it "Ticket to Ride."

According to McInerny, potential customers have come away from the Olver Center in dismay after learning that there's no ticket kiosk there. Tina Cote, who operates a booth there for the Franklin Regional Transit Authority and cannot sell train tickets, has been shouted and spit at, McInerney said.
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Did the regional leaders have any idea that there'd be no Quik Trak when they talked to Amtrak? I mean, it's one thing for the station to not have any Amtrak staff, but it's completely different that there's no kiosk, especially when the displaced station is home to FIVE colleges and universities and students from said displaced town are now using Northampton. As for the people taking it out on Ms. Cote, grow up and talk to your leaders for not guaranteeing more concessions from Amtrak.
 
IDK, people love to throw tantrums! I thought Amtrak was phasing Quiktraks out. Every who's used them knows their functionality is iffy at best, especially at a 'lightly used' station. At any rate, you can buy an Amtrak ticket with a credit or debit card and a phone call. So what they need is a pay phone, problem solved! Except nobody will use it because they all have cell phones.

Yes, the website is great but you can definitely call 1-800-USARAIL. Maybe they need a big sign printed and posted at the station. Perhaps the local municipal government could see to that?

You know what people did before Quiktrak? Are you kidding the world was created on July 7th, 1998. They bought tickets on the train with cash! Omg! (Note, do not attempt this now, you and the train crew will be very disappointed.)

Hmm, on rereading I suppose you could have a 'misunderstanding' if you buy travel from Amtrak over the phone but don't have a smart phone with a QR code to scan. The local govt could put in a web kiosk and a printer, of course. Kind of nuts to want all of this labor cost and capital cost for a low ridership station and then cry later that Amtrak is wasting so much money. You want all that investment realize that in Europe where they man rural stations it's done with tax funds transfers from richer EU countries to poorer ones. So do you want to pay up for that kind of service, or do you want Amtrak to tighten its belt? IOW, get a clue, lady.

PS: Olver was a great advocate for public transportation in the US House for many years.
 
krtraveler said:
Did the regional leaders have any idea that there'd be no Quik Trak when they talked to Amtrak? I mean, it's one thing for the station to not have any Amtrak staff, but it's completely different that there's no kiosk, especially when the displaced station is home to FIVE colleges and universities and students from said displaced town are now using Northampton. As for the people taking it out on Ms. Cote, grow up and talk to your leaders for not guaranteeing more concessions from Amtrak.
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But the said displaced station had neither Amtrak ticketing staff nor QuikTrak. So what made the folks think that the new station would be any different?
 
jis said:
krtraveler said:
Did the regional leaders have any idea that there'd be no Quik Trak when they talked to Amtrak? I mean, it's one thing for the station to not have any Amtrak staff, but it's completely different that there's no kiosk, especially when the displaced station is home to FIVE colleges and universities and students from said displaced town are now using Northampton. As for the people taking it out on Ms. Cote, grow up and talk to your leaders for not guaranteeing more concessions from Amtrak.
Click to expand...
But the said displaced station had neither Amtrak ticketing staff nor QuikTrak. So what made the folks think that the new station would be any different?
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Some seem to think they need something printed. When the station is unstaffed and without a Quiktrak the crew will take a reservation number for a ticket purchased online or purchased by calling USA Rail. The electronic version will be on the Conductor EMD and they will look it up. They can even look it up by name. A kiosk is not needed.
 
Amtrak doesn't make it clear that you don't really need a printed copy of an e-ticket. The website explains about Quik-Trak, and the email that is sent when a reservation is made says "Print the attached eTicket and carry during your trip." I think that Amtrak needs to update both the website and the email.
 
Any updates about the reroute? Is there anyway to see if ridership and OTP is better on the new routing? Last I heard they were still doing track work in Massachusetts. Has anyone been by there lately?
 
They still have track and station construction to do in Massachusetts, but we've had an really terrible winter, so I suspect it was mostly suspended until it thawed out. We should see work resuming soon.
 
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