Change at Albany instead of Schenectady?

I have a forthcoming trip with Amtreak from Montreal to Portland (PDX) next week. My itinerary currently shows a stopover at Schenectady, connecting from the Adirondack to Lake Shore Limited. However, I have some concerns about spending 3-4 hours at Schenectady, as a single woman traveller. I also understand that the station at Albany is far better in terms of facilities (e.g. enclosed, has WCs, somewhere to get food, etc.).

Would it be possible for me to simply travel another station on the Adirondack and disembark at Albany instead of Schenectady, then catch the Lake Shore Limited there? Can I simply travel another stop, or does my ticket needs to be reissued? The agent I called seemed very baffled by the situation, so I'm not sure if it's an agent issue or there's a more substantive thing here. I would be very grateful for any advice.

The tickets would have to be reissued, or you could just purchase a ticket for that one stop. While ALB is a bigger (larger) station and there is a snack bar inside the station, directly across the street from the SDY station is a Burger King. The main street and downtown is less than a block away. ALB (which is actually across the Hudson River in Rensselaer) has nothing within walking distance.

We took a trip on the Adirondack last fall with a planned return to Cleveland on the westbound LSL. Amtrak will not guarantee the connection at Albany and thus provides the connection at Schenectady. Although there should be time to get to Albany and make the LSL connection, you might guess wrong and be stuck in Albany without a train to ride. We stayed at the SDY station, went across the street and ate at Burger King (there is also a nice bar & grill next to the station that looked good as well. We took a walk a few blocks to get some exercise before it was dark.

The station agent let us keep our luggage behind his desk without a charge and was a very nice guy. Although the station is old there seemed to be a lot of passengers around, sitting in the lobby and appeared safe with no undesirables hanging around the station. There were several trains stopping there, including Empire Service and Ethan Allan so it was busy with people.

There are several restaurants within walking distance of Schenectady and as others have pointed out, nothing around Albany. Having walked around the area of the Schenectady station several times, I wouldn't say that the area felt unsafe. The Albany station is vastly superior - no question - but during layovers in Schenectady I have always spent much of the layover at a restaurant somewhere. Most of your layover should be in daylight, also. If I were you, I'd stick with Schenectady.

I've had layovers in both places and would take Schenectady over Albany-Reneslear any day. Your actually in a downtown area with a bunch of decent little restaurants and cafes. I've had decent meals there on a couple of layovers. I was amazed how much was going on during my two stopovers.

The Albany station in Rensselear is a boring modern station with nothing around, a generic modern waiting area with a boring overpriced cafe and convenience store. There is nothing around and no decent place to go for a walk.

Thank you all for your replies - this is immensely helpful! It does seem to make sense to stay with Schenectady, given all the useful information posted above.

As others said, the Albany station itself is nicer, but it's in an unwalkable nowhere location. The Schenectady station is well-situated in downtown Schenectady, safe and with things to see.

I would agree with the above recommendations of SDY over ALB.

As far as ticketing.....I don't know for sure how it is now, but a long time ago, when they sold those zonal railpasses, with limitations on how many times you could travel between any two stations; the segment between ALB and SDY was one of several exceptions, meaning if you were transfering trains you could do so at your discretion, and backtracking was permitted without additional count. You did have to obtain your tickets to match your choice, and was okay as long as the connection would be 'guaranteed' at either.....

Another of these exceptions was you could select any point between Sacramento and San Francisco to transfer between the Starlight and the Zephyr. I believe you could do similar at other points where two long distance routes duplicated for a few stations.....such as The Broadway and the Florida/New Orleans trains between NYP and PHL

Usually, over distances that far, the fares would be the same either way....

Plus, the whole trip sounds a lot more exotic if you can tell people you changed trains in Schenectady. It sounds like a throw-back to a different era,

in a way.

Many thanks to everyone for all the great tips and perspectives. Schenectady does seem better now as a stopover spot.

I had a layover in ALB, going from 449 to 49 (Sleeper sold out all the way on 449, so I had to vacate the first, and wait for 49 to arrive and attach to 449. We went across the street to June's Restaurant - a bar/grill located in an old fire house. It looked like a cute place, but June ran it herself - as the bartender, waitperson, and cook. Several people were in there waiting for the train, and it took us nearly an hour just to get a bowl of soup (thinking to get something quick to make it back for the train) It might be cute place for a drink, but if she would hire some staff, it could be a great little place - given the only place near the station.

When did you do this trip? Last time in ALB that old fire station was for Sale. It has been a year or so, that why I am asking.