Long Train Runnin'
Engineer
A late night more to follow. For now chew on 2500 words.
Well I’m not sure what to write today was so crazy. We had showed up about 30 minutes early for our train to New York City. Well that sounds all well and good, Amtrak however would have different plans for us today. At first they delayed boarding by one hour. Okay we can all live with that, an hour late start. We went and got some food since we had extra time. Then another delay, Piotr (NJCoastExp) then noticed look at the delay instead of saying a track number it said “Autobus/Bus Service” departing at 11:00 AM. I was STUNNED! A Bustitution! I had sort of mixed feelings about what I heard. The reason I was on the train was for the Dome car now I was going on a bus. That meant there was no dome. I was sadden by this, but I wasn’t going to ruin my trip.
This simply meant more of an adventure! I have to admit I was kind of excited by the sudden change in plans. Although I was heart broken that I wouldn’t be in the dome car just a few feet below me. My parents didn’t handle it quite as well as I did. They were getting a crash course in what countless AU trip reports have prepared me for. Expect the unexpected, and be flexible. A major hats off to VIA rail is required there was one gentlemen who from VIA rail that relayed all the information he had from Amtrak as soon as he knew. At first of course there wasn’t a lot of information to share since Amtrak didn’t even know what to do. It was 10 AM and the busses were scheduled to depart at 11:30.
The VIA rail employee kept us as update as he could from where he was sitting. At first it was there would be 2 buses one bus making an express trip to New York City, and one bus running local and all stops to New York City. As time progressed it was clear there wasn’t any passengers needing service to intermediate stops between Montreal and Albany. The plan then became 2 buses both running non-stop to Albany. With this new I went ahead and went Subway to get lunch.
I wasn’t sure what to expect with the bus trip, so I figured if I had lunch at least I wouldn’t go hungry. The 2 buses pulled up, it looked like we would be placed on the second bus with less people, however they filled every seat on the first bus, and ran the second bus with 20 people. A lot of people waiting for the train gave up on Amtrak, and began renting cars, going to the bus station, or calling airlines. Meaning there were about 90 to 100 of us left. My family was some of the last shoved on the first bus, meaning we are sitting in various locations. The bus its self was a Coach Canada (Coach USA) suburban charter buses. After taking a seat on that bus I shuddered at the thought of what a greyhound bus is like.
I got settled in my seat although settled might be the wrong word. On Amtrak I tend to leave my sweatshirt in the seat with me, I found out instantly that the bus seat is much to small for me, and my sweatshirt to share the seat. I was a little impressed that a seat was just big enough for 1 human being and nothing, and I mean nothing else. I smiled and said hello to my seat mate for what would be the 6 hour and 10 minute intercity bus adventure that was going to take place.
We then pulled out with no final confirmation about the destination. Everyone onboard was heading to New York City that much was certain. Many questions remained: Would we just run straight through to New York? How does the border crossing work on a bus? What happens when we get to Albany?
I have to admit thanks to a very good book the bus trip was pretty doable. I had brought along the latest Tom Clancy novel, which I had read on the early morning run into New York, and after it got dark yesterday on the way to Montreal. I was about 60 pages in, and hoped that the remaining 200 or so pages would hold out to Albany. The time was at least passing while I was reading.
When we arrived at the border 2 hours later, I learned the border crossing was going to be far from painless. Everyone was pulled off the bus, where the agents checked our passports and customs forms. Then we were placed in a waiting area while the rest of the bus finished with the agents. Then we all were lined up, and 1 by 1 sent outside to identify our bags, and get back on the bus. Everything went relatively smoothly until one gentlemen was taken back from the bus with 3 agents around him. Shortly after it was our turn to claim our bags where the agent was suspect of our 2 duffel bags and 1 backpack for 3 people. We had to explain we were only in the country for 16 hours, and were only there for the now canceled train ride. The agent was nice about it, saying for the short time it made sense, and allowed us to take a few items from our bags. We thanked him and climbed aboard.
Upon getting back on the bus we realized that the man who was puled off the bus was my dad’s seat mate. Making it the only empty seat on the bus. My dad swapped it with Piotr to sit closer to my mom. We then sat, and sat, and sat, and sat, then 2 agents boarded the bus, and asked various questions, about how are bags were handled, and where he sat. The 2 agents were off the bus once they had the answers they were looking for. The bus was then started and hope was restored that we were going to move on. Sadly, we ended up in the border crossing area for another 30+ minutes. Then we finally got the all clear. We were finally done with customs after 2+ hours. The man they took off the bus never came back.
I went back to reading, and soon realized that the 1 book I had packed was not going to last the remaining 3+ hours of the trip. I finished the book around 60 miles from Albany. I t was at this point the reality of why intercity bus travel rates on the absolute bottom of travel options set in. At that point I would have rather been stuffed in a 767 on an overnight international flight in coach. It was a dismal reality, yesterday I had spent 7 hours in Amtrak’s only dome car, today I was onboard a short distance charter bus.
Part of me remained positive, after all most of the regulars on AU have there own bus horror story to tell, now I had mine. I tried to remember some trip reports that involved bustitions. 2 came to mind off hand, The_Travler on the Cardinal, and Whoozon1st on the surfliner. I then asked Piotr if he could think of any more examples turns out just about everyone has a bus story, even our fearless leader AlanB. My dad didn’t really like my spin on it though :lol: He said, “Well that doesn’t make this any less uncomfortable.” I had no comeback for that one.
Me and Piotr then dug out the Amtrak System Timetable and began speculating about what could happen at Albany. We texted Kevin (Superliner Diner) about train status, and booking options. It appeared that the maple leaf was our best bet at 6:05, sadly it was showing sold out. We had hoped this meant Amtrak blocked out the seats for the refugees traveling down I-87 (us).
Albany was about 20 minutes away, but as you may know the Albany Amtrak Station is way outside of downtown Albany. In fact its across the river in a town called Rensselaer. We got on I-787 and followed the signs to the train station. Thats when I noticed onboard were 2 Amtrak employees. One would have been our Engineer, and the other was our Lead Service Attendant. The engineer obviously from the area guided the bus into the train station. We arrived in a strange places marked for employees only. No matter 2 elevators were there and we all shuttled up to the main concourse. This was my first time in the station, I only got a quick look around, but it looked very nice. From there we noticed something train 68 the train from Montreal was going to depart Albany for New York.
They obviously have extra sets in Albany, and some one in Amtrak decided train 68 was going to run from Albany to New York Penn Station with a spare set that usually runs NYP-ALB. There were no Amfleet 2s but who cared we wouldn’t have to get on an already full train, or have to wait for a later train. We boarded Train 68 and had our choice of seats. Now here is where Amtrak went above and beyond. After we pulled out they said they would open the cafe car. I was instantly curious, since I had read on the boards on several occasions that there was no commissary in Albany anymore, so there was no way to stock Cafe Cars. Me and Piotr speculated about what that meant, and what choices would be back there.
Needless to say as soon as the cafe opened a very long line formed. For those us coming from Montreal on the bus this was our first crack at any kind of Food Service in nearly 7 hours. When we got to the Cafe we found our LSA from the bus serving a pretty full menu. I was amazed since I couldn’t figure where the food items came from. While the LSA was serving us I asked and she confirmed they can’t stock trains in Albany. Amtrak had shuttled all the food from New York! That meant Amtrak though ahead, and realized there was going to be a lot of hungry folks aboard. They sent a lot of food up, as she had plenty of everything except sugar and veggie burgers. I really was impressed by the shipment of food from New York. I really really was impressed by this, in fact I was floored.I was very happy to have a nice hot dinner on the train. Major Kudos to Amtrak.
After I finished eating I began of course writing this trip report. Jumping to the present since the report has now caught up to me. Were exactly one hour behind the timetable. Which is absolutely amazing. The train is supposed to leave at 9:30 AM from Montreal. We left of buses at noon, and got held up at the border. We then had to wait in Albany, as the second bus broke down, and they were switched to another bus. I feel bad for those folks, as if a bustitiution wasn’t enough they had their bus break as well. With all of those factors to think we are only 1 hour behind is truly better then I could have ever fathomed when I looked up this morning and saw our train get replaced by Bus Service.
I do want to use this report to ask for some advice. The reason for the bustitution was engine failure in Montreal. They couldn’t get the engine to start. The way I see it that is a the fault of Amtrak correct? Should I call customer service? I mean the reason I took the trip was to ride the train and enjoy the dome car. Would this be worthy of a voucher? I am obviously not giving up on Amtrak. I just don’t know how I feel. I mean this trip is my christmas present in fact this experience while uncomfortable and disappointing only made me appreciate Amtrak more. They took care of us even though we were in a far from ideal situation, not to mention in Canada. They had food service onboard. All of this craziness and I’m only going to be an hour late. Its hard to describe I know some people here onboard are irate about today, but honestly how much better could Amtrak have handled it? This is getting winded. I guess I answered my own question why would Amtrak give me a voucher for service that worked better then I could have possibly imagined after reading so many horror stories?
Thats it from onboard. Honestly, right now I can say I enjoyed today’s trip. Even if most of it was on a bus, and I will probably never be in another dome car in my life. I am proud of Amtrak taking such good care of us, and can’t wait for my next trip.
We arrived in New York Penn Station 1 hour 12 minutes late.
There are no pictures from today.
Thanks for reading
I’m Stephen Montero and I actually all things considered enjoyed my bustitution. Call me crazy if you must.
Well I’m not sure what to write today was so crazy. We had showed up about 30 minutes early for our train to New York City. Well that sounds all well and good, Amtrak however would have different plans for us today. At first they delayed boarding by one hour. Okay we can all live with that, an hour late start. We went and got some food since we had extra time. Then another delay, Piotr (NJCoastExp) then noticed look at the delay instead of saying a track number it said “Autobus/Bus Service” departing at 11:00 AM. I was STUNNED! A Bustitution! I had sort of mixed feelings about what I heard. The reason I was on the train was for the Dome car now I was going on a bus. That meant there was no dome. I was sadden by this, but I wasn’t going to ruin my trip.
This simply meant more of an adventure! I have to admit I was kind of excited by the sudden change in plans. Although I was heart broken that I wouldn’t be in the dome car just a few feet below me. My parents didn’t handle it quite as well as I did. They were getting a crash course in what countless AU trip reports have prepared me for. Expect the unexpected, and be flexible. A major hats off to VIA rail is required there was one gentlemen who from VIA rail that relayed all the information he had from Amtrak as soon as he knew. At first of course there wasn’t a lot of information to share since Amtrak didn’t even know what to do. It was 10 AM and the busses were scheduled to depart at 11:30.
The VIA rail employee kept us as update as he could from where he was sitting. At first it was there would be 2 buses one bus making an express trip to New York City, and one bus running local and all stops to New York City. As time progressed it was clear there wasn’t any passengers needing service to intermediate stops between Montreal and Albany. The plan then became 2 buses both running non-stop to Albany. With this new I went ahead and went Subway to get lunch.
I wasn’t sure what to expect with the bus trip, so I figured if I had lunch at least I wouldn’t go hungry. The 2 buses pulled up, it looked like we would be placed on the second bus with less people, however they filled every seat on the first bus, and ran the second bus with 20 people. A lot of people waiting for the train gave up on Amtrak, and began renting cars, going to the bus station, or calling airlines. Meaning there were about 90 to 100 of us left. My family was some of the last shoved on the first bus, meaning we are sitting in various locations. The bus its self was a Coach Canada (Coach USA) suburban charter buses. After taking a seat on that bus I shuddered at the thought of what a greyhound bus is like.
I got settled in my seat although settled might be the wrong word. On Amtrak I tend to leave my sweatshirt in the seat with me, I found out instantly that the bus seat is much to small for me, and my sweatshirt to share the seat. I was a little impressed that a seat was just big enough for 1 human being and nothing, and I mean nothing else. I smiled and said hello to my seat mate for what would be the 6 hour and 10 minute intercity bus adventure that was going to take place.
We then pulled out with no final confirmation about the destination. Everyone onboard was heading to New York City that much was certain. Many questions remained: Would we just run straight through to New York? How does the border crossing work on a bus? What happens when we get to Albany?
I have to admit thanks to a very good book the bus trip was pretty doable. I had brought along the latest Tom Clancy novel, which I had read on the early morning run into New York, and after it got dark yesterday on the way to Montreal. I was about 60 pages in, and hoped that the remaining 200 or so pages would hold out to Albany. The time was at least passing while I was reading.
When we arrived at the border 2 hours later, I learned the border crossing was going to be far from painless. Everyone was pulled off the bus, where the agents checked our passports and customs forms. Then we were placed in a waiting area while the rest of the bus finished with the agents. Then we all were lined up, and 1 by 1 sent outside to identify our bags, and get back on the bus. Everything went relatively smoothly until one gentlemen was taken back from the bus with 3 agents around him. Shortly after it was our turn to claim our bags where the agent was suspect of our 2 duffel bags and 1 backpack for 3 people. We had to explain we were only in the country for 16 hours, and were only there for the now canceled train ride. The agent was nice about it, saying for the short time it made sense, and allowed us to take a few items from our bags. We thanked him and climbed aboard.
Upon getting back on the bus we realized that the man who was puled off the bus was my dad’s seat mate. Making it the only empty seat on the bus. My dad swapped it with Piotr to sit closer to my mom. We then sat, and sat, and sat, and sat, then 2 agents boarded the bus, and asked various questions, about how are bags were handled, and where he sat. The 2 agents were off the bus once they had the answers they were looking for. The bus was then started and hope was restored that we were going to move on. Sadly, we ended up in the border crossing area for another 30+ minutes. Then we finally got the all clear. We were finally done with customs after 2+ hours. The man they took off the bus never came back.
I went back to reading, and soon realized that the 1 book I had packed was not going to last the remaining 3+ hours of the trip. I finished the book around 60 miles from Albany. I t was at this point the reality of why intercity bus travel rates on the absolute bottom of travel options set in. At that point I would have rather been stuffed in a 767 on an overnight international flight in coach. It was a dismal reality, yesterday I had spent 7 hours in Amtrak’s only dome car, today I was onboard a short distance charter bus.
Part of me remained positive, after all most of the regulars on AU have there own bus horror story to tell, now I had mine. I tried to remember some trip reports that involved bustitions. 2 came to mind off hand, The_Travler on the Cardinal, and Whoozon1st on the surfliner. I then asked Piotr if he could think of any more examples turns out just about everyone has a bus story, even our fearless leader AlanB. My dad didn’t really like my spin on it though :lol: He said, “Well that doesn’t make this any less uncomfortable.” I had no comeback for that one.
Me and Piotr then dug out the Amtrak System Timetable and began speculating about what could happen at Albany. We texted Kevin (Superliner Diner) about train status, and booking options. It appeared that the maple leaf was our best bet at 6:05, sadly it was showing sold out. We had hoped this meant Amtrak blocked out the seats for the refugees traveling down I-87 (us).
Albany was about 20 minutes away, but as you may know the Albany Amtrak Station is way outside of downtown Albany. In fact its across the river in a town called Rensselaer. We got on I-787 and followed the signs to the train station. Thats when I noticed onboard were 2 Amtrak employees. One would have been our Engineer, and the other was our Lead Service Attendant. The engineer obviously from the area guided the bus into the train station. We arrived in a strange places marked for employees only. No matter 2 elevators were there and we all shuttled up to the main concourse. This was my first time in the station, I only got a quick look around, but it looked very nice. From there we noticed something train 68 the train from Montreal was going to depart Albany for New York.
They obviously have extra sets in Albany, and some one in Amtrak decided train 68 was going to run from Albany to New York Penn Station with a spare set that usually runs NYP-ALB. There were no Amfleet 2s but who cared we wouldn’t have to get on an already full train, or have to wait for a later train. We boarded Train 68 and had our choice of seats. Now here is where Amtrak went above and beyond. After we pulled out they said they would open the cafe car. I was instantly curious, since I had read on the boards on several occasions that there was no commissary in Albany anymore, so there was no way to stock Cafe Cars. Me and Piotr speculated about what that meant, and what choices would be back there.
Needless to say as soon as the cafe opened a very long line formed. For those us coming from Montreal on the bus this was our first crack at any kind of Food Service in nearly 7 hours. When we got to the Cafe we found our LSA from the bus serving a pretty full menu. I was amazed since I couldn’t figure where the food items came from. While the LSA was serving us I asked and she confirmed they can’t stock trains in Albany. Amtrak had shuttled all the food from New York! That meant Amtrak though ahead, and realized there was going to be a lot of hungry folks aboard. They sent a lot of food up, as she had plenty of everything except sugar and veggie burgers. I really was impressed by the shipment of food from New York. I really really was impressed by this, in fact I was floored.I was very happy to have a nice hot dinner on the train. Major Kudos to Amtrak.
After I finished eating I began of course writing this trip report. Jumping to the present since the report has now caught up to me. Were exactly one hour behind the timetable. Which is absolutely amazing. The train is supposed to leave at 9:30 AM from Montreal. We left of buses at noon, and got held up at the border. We then had to wait in Albany, as the second bus broke down, and they were switched to another bus. I feel bad for those folks, as if a bustitiution wasn’t enough they had their bus break as well. With all of those factors to think we are only 1 hour behind is truly better then I could have ever fathomed when I looked up this morning and saw our train get replaced by Bus Service.
I do want to use this report to ask for some advice. The reason for the bustitution was engine failure in Montreal. They couldn’t get the engine to start. The way I see it that is a the fault of Amtrak correct? Should I call customer service? I mean the reason I took the trip was to ride the train and enjoy the dome car. Would this be worthy of a voucher? I am obviously not giving up on Amtrak. I just don’t know how I feel. I mean this trip is my christmas present in fact this experience while uncomfortable and disappointing only made me appreciate Amtrak more. They took care of us even though we were in a far from ideal situation, not to mention in Canada. They had food service onboard. All of this craziness and I’m only going to be an hour late. Its hard to describe I know some people here onboard are irate about today, but honestly how much better could Amtrak have handled it? This is getting winded. I guess I answered my own question why would Amtrak give me a voucher for service that worked better then I could have possibly imagined after reading so many horror stories?
Thats it from onboard. Honestly, right now I can say I enjoyed today’s trip. Even if most of it was on a bus, and I will probably never be in another dome car in my life. I am proud of Amtrak taking such good care of us, and can’t wait for my next trip.
We arrived in New York Penn Station 1 hour 12 minutes late.
There are no pictures from today.
Thanks for reading
I’m Stephen Montero and I actually all things considered enjoyed my bustitution. Call me crazy if you must.
