Lake Shore Limited tips

[HoosierStater]

In early August I'll be taking the Lake Shore Limited for the first time from New York to Chicago. (The whole trip is a bit odd; I'm going Northeast Regional from DC to NYC, then the LSL to Chicago, then driving with friends to Indy for several days before driving back and taking the Capitol Limited back: the asymmetrical routing is because it was actually the cheap way, probably due to buckets; the travelling via Chicago is because the Cardinal doesn't run on the right dates, and the driving is because the friends would be driving anyway, so there's no point in taking my namesake route and getting in to Indy so late at night.)

I'll be in coach. Does anyone have any tips for the route?

 

[Shanghai]

My last westbound trip on the Lake Shore Limited was when a building

next to the railroad tracks in Albany was on fire!! We were stopped

for one hour at Hudson, NY, the proceeded to Albany only to reverse

back to Hudson then switched to an alternate route. We were due into

Chicago at 9:45am and actually arrived at 4:30pm.

I hope you do better on your trip!! I was in the sleeper and it was

a good trip as the crew did their best to make us comfortable.

Fortunately, I was not connecting to another train in Chicago.

 

[HoosierStater]

Do you know which stations have longer stops? It looks like (from the schedule) there's some time built in at Albany and a little at Buffalo. Any chance to get off, look around a bit?

 

[bkylnkenny]

I took the LSL WB from NYP to TOL a few weeks ago. Albany was a long stop for the engine change but none of the other stops were particularly long because we were running late.

 

[OlympianHiawatha]

Syracuse is often an extended stop as well, at least long enough to step off for a few minutes. If you're lucky you can enjoy Brook Trout in the Diner as you glide along the Hudson - just don't play hide and seek with the Pullman Conductor

 

[HoosierStater]

Syracuse is often an extended stop as well, at least long enough to step off for a few minutes. If you're lucky you can enjoy Brook Trout in the Diner as you glide along the Hudson - just don't play hide and seek with the Pullman Conductor

LOL. Well, I *was* hoping to find an attractive young woman in a bedroom alone.... <JK>

 

[A.J.]

go to sleep early (if you can! good luck!) and enjoy the scenery in the morning. waking up in the farmlands of ohio or indiana is a fun, pretty experience and there is just something special about the early morning on a train. get some breakfast, relax and enjoy the view.

 

[the_traveler]

On the trip from NYP to Albany, there will only be one stop (IIRC Yonkers, just outside of NYP) then it runs non stop up to ALB. During this portion, the LSL runs right in the east shore of the Hudson River for most of the run. (The River will be on the left side of the train.) ALB is a long stop where they remove the locomotives from the NYP section and also connect the Boston section of the LSL to the train. You should have time to go into the station, since it usually takes over 30 minutes. From Albany west, for much of the way, you will be on the north side of the Mohawk River. (The River will again be on the left side of the train.) However at some point of this segment it will get dark.

 

[AlanB]

The Lake Shore never stops at Yonkers, only the Empire Service trains stop at Yonkers.

The LSL does stop at Croton Harmon, a partial throw back to when they used to run into Grand Central and needed to change engines. Although it is not uncommon to see several people get on at CRO.

 

[the_traveler]

I almost said CRO, but had second thoughts. Guess I should have hone with my 8th thought!

(My mind wanders a lot!

)

 

[user 683]

My first/only experience with the LSL was this past May (NYP-CHI). Everything was going well until we stopped in Albany to hook up with the Boston segment and to change engines. We were told there was a bridge problem (not Amtrak's fault) and that we would be delayed. Well, long story short, we stayed in Albany until early morning, were eventually re-routed and experienced a cascading delays for the remainder of the trip. In the end we were about 13+ hours late into Chicago. I typically plan for a 2 hour delay on LD trips, with the realization that delays could be longer. But, I did not expect anything along the lines of what we experienced. On the positive side I enjoyed the ride, thought the food was Ok and realize the delays in question are not normal!

As for stops - check the schedule or stop durations, however, Albany is a long stop as previously described.

At NYP - we boarded at track 5 (don't recall if it was east or west gate). If you're traveling in sleeper - recommend taking advantage of the Club Acela hospitality and advance boarding process.