Boston-Chicago LSL Westbound
After seeing an “Extreme Trains” episode earlier this year, my 5 year old son was fascinated to know there were trains you can ride that actually have little bedrooms on them (Empire Builder). He’d been on trains before (scenic trains, Downeaster, MBTA commuter rail) but never a long distance Amtrak. Around the same time I read that sleeper service was being reinstated on the Boston section of the Lake Shore Limited. Sounded like perfect timing for experiencing what hopefully is a yearly tradition with my son, a long distance train trip.
June 11, 2009
We start the trip by taking the MBTA commuter rail from our hometown (Haverhill, Massachusetts) inbound to Boston’s North Station. Once arriving at North Station, we took the “T” Green and Red lines to reach South Station which services Amtrak Northeast Corridor service as well as the LSL.
After arriving in South Station we found the Club Acela. Took in some coffee, juice and pastries while killing some time. An MBTA policeman had his K-9 dog resting in the Club. Before boardin, we walked around the platforms to see the other trains at South Station, including an Acela and numerous commuter rail trains.
Some kind of commotion was going on shortly before boarding. Police were present along with Amtrak officials near one of the LSL’s coaches. They finally escorted a lady off the train along with her luggage. Not sure what that was all about, since boarding had not started and she was already onboard.
We boarded our sleeper car (4920 in the consist) and took our room (Roomette #1 on the right side of the train). Met our attendant for the trip, Ralph, who told us how his son is about my son’s age and loves trains too. Being an employee of Amtrak his son and wife can travel free. Luckily my son has not asked me yet to quit my job in IT and transfer to the railroad just yet.
We got settled in the room which doesn’t feel as small as I figured it might be. The double window setup in the Viewliner sleeper is a nice design. Gives the room a lot of daylight.
At 1PM, Ralph invited us to proceed to the Dining car. The attendant there had a cold lunch prepared for us. We sat with a 10 year old girl and her mom who are on a similar trip to Chicago for her birthday. Lunch was fine. Not exactly a kid’s friendly meal for lunch, but I appreciated having a decent salad rather than a choice from the snack bar. Dessert was a hit though. Chocolate Moose brownie and Strawberry Shortcake.
After lunch, the conductors who were in the dining car doing paperwork opened up the back door on the train and let the kids watch the scenery as we zoomed along at 65mph on the rails (according to the conductor).
After reaching Albany, our train hooked up with additional cars that came up from New York City. At 7pm we went down to the dining car (Diner Lite) for Dinner. I choose a flat iron steak and my son had chicken strips. The steak was not bad at all and being Diner-Lite I had my expectations low. It at least was better than anything you’d get on an airline!
A table mate at dinner kept having his hot coffee spill all over the table. The rocking of the train was pretty evident during dinner and caused the coffee to spill from the cup while it was just sitting on the table. Made me wonder, why don’t they provide covers for the coffee cups? Seems like it should be a standard thing considering how much movement there is on the rails.
When we returned to our room, it was made up for sleeping with the top bunk in place and the seats turned into the lower bunk. The Viewliner Roomette doesn’t leave much floor space once the beds are made up, but sure beats sleeping in coach. My son took the upper bunk and was very excited about having a window to look out as we rode the rails. Again, the design of Viewliner sleeper is pretty nice in my opinion. Plenty of luggage space too.
Comfort wise, the bunks weren’t too bad, but the train’s horn was constantly sounding and very evident! It didn’t wake me up, but makes it difficult to fall to sleep initially. I can see the value of moving the sleeper in some consists to the rear of the train. I’m sure those in the New York sleepers didn’t notice the horn as much.
June 12, 2009
We passed through Buffalo NY at about midnight. A rainy dreary night in Buffalo. Around 2AM my son woke me up. Wanted to know what the “sound” was, even though I had no idea what he was talking about. We appeared to be stopped in Erie PA at the time taking on more passengers. I tried my best to convince him to get back to sleep but it took him a while. He was just so excited about the whole trip.
Woke up around 5:30. Around 6, we decided to check out the shower in our sleeper car. My son thought that was fun and had to be tried to get the full experience of the trip. Taking a shower while rocking back and forth on the rails. It did feel nice to freshen up with a warm shower before heading down to the dining car for breakfast.
We joined up with the same girl and her mom again who were also up early. They slept together in the lower bunk which I imagine could not have been too comfortable. The bunks are fairly narrow, and I was glad my son wanted to sleep alone in his bunk. We had French Toast and bacon which was too was not all that bad. A little dry, but I’ve had worst. Again, definitely better than airline food!
Our train was on-time and once we got into Indiana got ahead of schedule. We arrived into Chicago Union Station about 30 minutes early. My son loved pulling into the station as there were various Amtrak trains everywhere. Superliners, observation cars, etc.
We found the LSL from Boston to be a nice route. Timing wise it couldn’t have been better. Leaving around Noon from Boston and getting into Chicago (if on-time) the next morning gives plenty of time for a full day in the windy city.
Some pictures below.
After seeing an “Extreme Trains” episode earlier this year, my 5 year old son was fascinated to know there were trains you can ride that actually have little bedrooms on them (Empire Builder). He’d been on trains before (scenic trains, Downeaster, MBTA commuter rail) but never a long distance Amtrak. Around the same time I read that sleeper service was being reinstated on the Boston section of the Lake Shore Limited. Sounded like perfect timing for experiencing what hopefully is a yearly tradition with my son, a long distance train trip.
June 11, 2009
We start the trip by taking the MBTA commuter rail from our hometown (Haverhill, Massachusetts) inbound to Boston’s North Station. Once arriving at North Station, we took the “T” Green and Red lines to reach South Station which services Amtrak Northeast Corridor service as well as the LSL.
After arriving in South Station we found the Club Acela. Took in some coffee, juice and pastries while killing some time. An MBTA policeman had his K-9 dog resting in the Club. Before boardin, we walked around the platforms to see the other trains at South Station, including an Acela and numerous commuter rail trains.
Some kind of commotion was going on shortly before boarding. Police were present along with Amtrak officials near one of the LSL’s coaches. They finally escorted a lady off the train along with her luggage. Not sure what that was all about, since boarding had not started and she was already onboard.
We boarded our sleeper car (4920 in the consist) and took our room (Roomette #1 on the right side of the train). Met our attendant for the trip, Ralph, who told us how his son is about my son’s age and loves trains too. Being an employee of Amtrak his son and wife can travel free. Luckily my son has not asked me yet to quit my job in IT and transfer to the railroad just yet.
We got settled in the room which doesn’t feel as small as I figured it might be. The double window setup in the Viewliner sleeper is a nice design. Gives the room a lot of daylight.
At 1PM, Ralph invited us to proceed to the Dining car. The attendant there had a cold lunch prepared for us. We sat with a 10 year old girl and her mom who are on a similar trip to Chicago for her birthday. Lunch was fine. Not exactly a kid’s friendly meal for lunch, but I appreciated having a decent salad rather than a choice from the snack bar. Dessert was a hit though. Chocolate Moose brownie and Strawberry Shortcake.
After lunch, the conductors who were in the dining car doing paperwork opened up the back door on the train and let the kids watch the scenery as we zoomed along at 65mph on the rails (according to the conductor).
After reaching Albany, our train hooked up with additional cars that came up from New York City. At 7pm we went down to the dining car (Diner Lite) for Dinner. I choose a flat iron steak and my son had chicken strips. The steak was not bad at all and being Diner-Lite I had my expectations low. It at least was better than anything you’d get on an airline!
A table mate at dinner kept having his hot coffee spill all over the table. The rocking of the train was pretty evident during dinner and caused the coffee to spill from the cup while it was just sitting on the table. Made me wonder, why don’t they provide covers for the coffee cups? Seems like it should be a standard thing considering how much movement there is on the rails.
When we returned to our room, it was made up for sleeping with the top bunk in place and the seats turned into the lower bunk. The Viewliner Roomette doesn’t leave much floor space once the beds are made up, but sure beats sleeping in coach. My son took the upper bunk and was very excited about having a window to look out as we rode the rails. Again, the design of Viewliner sleeper is pretty nice in my opinion. Plenty of luggage space too.
Comfort wise, the bunks weren’t too bad, but the train’s horn was constantly sounding and very evident! It didn’t wake me up, but makes it difficult to fall to sleep initially. I can see the value of moving the sleeper in some consists to the rear of the train. I’m sure those in the New York sleepers didn’t notice the horn as much.
June 12, 2009
We passed through Buffalo NY at about midnight. A rainy dreary night in Buffalo. Around 2AM my son woke me up. Wanted to know what the “sound” was, even though I had no idea what he was talking about. We appeared to be stopped in Erie PA at the time taking on more passengers. I tried my best to convince him to get back to sleep but it took him a while. He was just so excited about the whole trip.
Woke up around 5:30. Around 6, we decided to check out the shower in our sleeper car. My son thought that was fun and had to be tried to get the full experience of the trip. Taking a shower while rocking back and forth on the rails. It did feel nice to freshen up with a warm shower before heading down to the dining car for breakfast.
We joined up with the same girl and her mom again who were also up early. They slept together in the lower bunk which I imagine could not have been too comfortable. The bunks are fairly narrow, and I was glad my son wanted to sleep alone in his bunk. We had French Toast and bacon which was too was not all that bad. A little dry, but I’ve had worst. Again, definitely better than airline food!
Our train was on-time and once we got into Indiana got ahead of schedule. We arrived into Chicago Union Station about 30 minutes early. My son loved pulling into the station as there were various Amtrak trains everywhere. Superliners, observation cars, etc.
We found the LSL from Boston to be a nice route. Timing wise it couldn’t have been better. Leaving around Noon from Boston and getting into Chicago (if on-time) the next morning gives plenty of time for a full day in the windy city.
Some pictures below.
