New map of Amtrak routes and local connections in the Northeast

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firstcultural

Train Attendant
Joined
Jul 13, 2013
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45
Location
Berkeley, CA
Hi folks,

I've put together a map showing all Amtrak train and Thruway stops in the Northeast. Connection stations to local commuter and tourist trains are also highlighted. This free PDF map may be downloaded from the link below.

The PDF is fully editable and is Creative Commons so feel free to use it for your own map making adventures. Enjoy!

Alfred

Northeast_Rail_Map_2013-07-11.pdf
 

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This topic is a few days old and we had some technical details to work out, but it is ready for you to view, now.

Nice map!
 
Just a nitpicking correction.. the line between Greensboro, NC and Raleigh, NC should be marked both Carolinian and Piedmont. Also, the connecting bus to/from Winston-Salem, NC operates from High Point, NC not Greensboro.
 
Alfred,

Great start!

  • I'm seeing a couple of minor typos, like Fort Edward-Glenn Falls should be Fort Edward-Glens Falls.
  • Spacing on the station names is inconsistent, like Montpelier- Barre and Stony Creek / 1000 Acre Ranch vs. Hadley/Luzerne.
  • A lot of the multi-word station names seem to run together, like WhiteFlint. (These may be formatting issues that don't show properly in Preview on a Mac.)
Also, you might want to add the new steam excursion train from New Freedom to Hanover Junction, PA:

http://steamintohistory.com/home

Charlie
 
firstcultural said:
Hi folks,
I've put together a map showing all Amtrak train and Thruway stops in the Northeast. Connection stations to local commuter and tourist trains are also highlighted. This free PDF map may be downloaded from the link below.

The PDF is fully editable and is Creative Commons so feel free to use it for your own map making adventures. Enjoy!

Alfred
Click to expand...
Sweet. Thanks for taking the time to create such, and posting it. Much appreciated. :)
 
CHamilton said:
Alfred,
Great start!
Click to expand...
Great start? The map is obviously the end result of a lot of work. There are likely a few typos, but it looks remarkably comprehensive. I saw the map last week when a link to the website was posted elsewhere and I'm impressed that it has the DC Metro Silver Line Phase 1 as "opens 2014". Until a couple of days ago, the Silver Line was still officially on schedule for a December 2013 start of revenue service, although the rumors were indicating otherwise. This week, MWAA admitted that the completion date had slipped up to 8 weeks, so the Silver Line won't start until probably February 2014. Quite prescient on the map creators part.

Useful map to show people the extent of the intercity, commuter, transit rail in the Northeast. Also shows the gaps with no passenger rail service to Roanoke, Scranton. Reading, and other cities in Northeast. Hope the creators will be able release map updates over the years to include CT river reroute of the Vermonter, VA Regional to Roanoke, Ethan Allen to Burlington, and the rail commuter and transit projects as they enter service.
 
firstcultural said:
Hi folks,
I've put together a map showing all Amtrak train and Thruway stops in the Northeast. Connection stations to local commuter and tourist trains are also highlighted. This free PDF map may be downloaded from the link below.

The PDF is fully editable and is Creative Commons so feel free to use it for your own map making adventures. Enjoy!

Alfred
Click to expand...
Great stuff.

On suggestion... move Greenport LI to the south shore of the north fork of LI, from the middle of the north fork where it is shown currently. It is on the shore and a few hundred yards from the public and car ferry to Shelter Island.

BTW, there is a ferry from Oakdale to Fire island if you want to include that.

There is also a ferry these days from South Amboy to NYC.

Another minor nit. Port Jervis Line trains may travel on the Main or Bergen County Lines in NJ.

Change "Catham" to "Chatham" on the Morristown Line in NJ.

Strictly speaking the Meadowland NJT Line branches off from the Pascack Valley Line, and not from Secaucus Jct. Also the Midtown Direct Connection jins the line coming from Hoboken right adjacent to the NEC, not at Newark Broad Street. Of course in a schematic map these may not be important considerations. but I mention these just in case.

Again, the map is fantastic as is. I am just trying to give feedback to make improvements in accuracy.
 
Great map! I was going to suggest the new steam excursion in York County, PA. I am not sure it will be there that long.

Also, there are probably some trolley museums that have rail operation as well.

Maybe the person that said great start is thinking you will eventually create the entire country.
 
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firstcultural said:
Hi folks,
I've put together a map showing all Amtrak train and Thruway stops in the Northeast. Connection stations to local commuter and tourist trains are also highlighted. This free PDF map may be downloaded from the link below.

The PDF is fully editable and is Creative Commons so feel free to use it for your own map making adventures. Enjoy!

Alfred
Click to expand...
Wowie zowie -- I've spent an hour or so scrolling and remembering and planning --

Great work - thanks.
 
firstcultural said:
Hi folks,
I've put together a map showing all Amtrak train and Thruway stops in the Northeast. Connection stations to local commuter and tourist trains are also highlighted. This free PDF map may be downloaded from the link below.

The PDF is fully editable and is Creative Commons so feel free to use it for your own map making adventures. Enjoy!

Alfred
Click to expand...
I am a bit confused....is this the heroic effort of one person, or a large team as indicated by the legend showing on the map?

Either way -- it is a remarkable achievement, and will indeed be very useful.

My congratulations to whomever produced it, and thanks for providing the link for us. :hi:
 
jis said:
firstcultural said:
Hi folks,
I've put together a map showing all Amtrak train and Thruway stops in the Northeast. Connection stations to local commuter and tourist trains are also highlighted. This free PDF map may be downloaded from the link below.

The PDF is fully editable and is Creative Commons so feel free to use it for your own map making adventures. Enjoy!

Alfred
Click to expand...
Great stuff.

On suggestion... move Greenport LI to the south shore of the north fork of LI, from the middle of the north fork where it is shown currently. It is on the shore and a few hundred yards from the public and car ferry to Shelter Island.

BTW, there is a ferry from Oakdale to Fire island if you want to include that.

There is also a ferry these days from South Amboy to NYC.

Another minor nit. Port Jervis Line trains may travel on the Main or Bergen County Lines in NJ.

Change "Catham" to "Chatham" on the Morristown Line in NJ.

Strictly speaking the Meadowland NJT Line branches off from the Pascack Valley Line, and not from Secaucus Jct. Also the Midtown Direct Connection jins the line coming from Hoboken right adjacent to the NEC, not at Newark Broad Street. Of course in a schematic map these may not be important considerations. but I mention these just in case.

Again, the map is fantastic as is. I am just trying to give feedback to make improvements in accuracy.
Click to expand...
No ferry from South Amboy has operated in few years, and restoration plan is deep in legal battle over access to "new" terminal.

As locals call it "$1M driveway".
 
Thanks for all the comments! This was made by several folks with me coordinating, and over 100 hours went into it total. Keep the comments and corrections coming, there'll be a version 1.01 out in August when the West Haven station opens.
 
Below is for one of California, showing Amtrak, local trains, and bus connections statewide. This one is not to scale.
PDF is attached.

I don't have much knowledge of other parts of the country, but if someone else wants to lead a project I may be able to help out.



California-Rail-Transit-Map-2013-01-14.pdf
 

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Wow - twice you come to the plate, and twice you knock it out of the ballpark... again, my hat's off to you, and again, many many thanks for sharing.
 
firstcultural said:
Thanks for all the comments! This was made by several folks with me coordinating, and over 100 hours went into it total. Keep the comments and corrections coming, there'll be a version 1.01 out in August when the West Haven station opens.
Click to expand...
V1.01? Cool.
VRE service will be expanding to a new Spotsylvania station about 5 miles south of Fredericksburg. The contract to build the station has been awarded with the service to the new station scheduled to start in December 2013. Guess that can go on a future version if you are willing to keep updating the map.

The DC Streetcar system is supposed to start operation on the H Street segment by the end of the year, but the streetcar line could be hard to fit on the DC zoomed in map.
 
Alferd, splendid maps! You've really put your work into these! Too bad a lot of the heritage railroads don't connect to Amtrak. I'd love to play around with the software too when I have some spare time. Can you share what software you used, or is it a secret? :)

Edit: I'm surprised to see just how much of a detour the Port Jervis Line takes. Somehow, I never realized that.
 
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Thank you again for making this map. I love it. It is so interesting to see how many heritage RR come close to Amtrak in the NE.

It is a little frustrating to see some are literately blocks away from an Amtrak station, but lack a direct connection. :angry: but such is life.

It begs another question though. Four RR stick out as good candidates for some kind of joint ticketing system with Amtrak. Adirondack, Maine Eastern, Green Mountain and of course Saratoga and North Creek.

Idealy, I should be able to book a ticket from NYP to North Creek, Rockland ME, or Thendara NY through Amtrak with notifications that part of the ride will be run by another RR.

Is anything like this in the works?
 
firstcultural said:
The software used was Adobe Illustrator CS2. The PDF attached at the top of the thread is fully editable.
Click to expand...
Thank you, I'll keep that in mind.

Gratt said:
Thank you again for making this map. I love it. It is so interesting to see how many heritage RR come close to Amtrak in the NE.
It is a little frustrating to see some are literately blocks away from an Amtrak station, but lack a direct connection. :angry: but such is life.

It begs another question though. Four RR stick out as good candidates for some kind of joint ticketing system with Amtrak. Adirondack, Maine Eastern, Green Mountain and of course Saratoga and North Creek.

Idealy, I should be able to book a ticket from NYP to North Creek, Rockland ME, or Thendara NY through Amtrak with notifications that part of the ride will be run by another RR.

Is anything like this in the works?
Click to expand...
Not that I know of, but you're talking about something very similar to Greyhound's NBTA through-ticketing system, and it works very well in the bus industry, so it should with trains as well.
 
Gratt said:
It begs another question though. Four RR stick out as good candidates for some kind of joint ticketing system with Amtrak. Adirondack, Maine Eastern, Green Mountain and of course Saratoga and North Creek.

Idealy, I should be able to book a ticket from NYP to North Creek, Rockland ME, or Thendara NY through Amtrak with notifications that part of the ride will be run by another RR.

Is anything like this in the works?
Click to expand...
S&NC boss has at times talked about it, and also talked about extending run to ALB. But so far nothing has come of it.
 
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