Green Maned Lion
Engineer
Ok, I don't see anywhere that the travelogue has to be Amtrak only, so... Here goes.
As I mentioned in my review of the Comet VI, I had to take someone to the airport at a god-awful time and adjusted my sleep schedule considerably (apprx. 12 hours) to be able to do it. Hey, I have no money and will do quite a few things for a dollar, quite a few more things for $100. However, I was stuck with the problem of how to get back on a sane schedule, so I came up with a plan that I used before- staying up more than 24 hours to solve the problem. In this case, the plan called for about 30 hours.
My experience, however, is that when doing that, one needs to keep busy or one falls asleep before the intended time. Combining that with the fact that I needed to go to an Amtrak station (not really, but ok) to pick up my May 10th tickets, and I decided we'd go to Newark Penn Station for the day and figure out things to do from there. I was looking at ways to cut down my expenses somewhat, and found out that Elberon, in contrast to Long Branch, has free parking, but is the same price fare wise. Also, its a bit closer.
So we left the house at about 4:00, stopped off for some coffee and a four pack of Red Bull and got to the station with plenty of time to catch the 4:50 Super Express. Seriously, I've never seen a NJCL train make so few stops. We skipped Little Silver, Hazlet, both Amboys, and all of the NEC stops to Newark Penn. Took under an hour- usually takes an hour and forty. In push mode, Comet III cab, Comet IIB, Comet IV, Comet III, GP40. The engineer never blew a single grade crossing right. He kept blowing Ss rather than Gs.
We got to Newark at 5:49. On time. We wondered around looking at trains for a while. We caught all of the morning name trains. We even saw the Cardinal. The Southbound Silver Star had an interesting consist. HHP-8 (Why do they use their fastest and most powerful locomotives on shortish trains with slow trucks?), Heritage Baggage, 3 Viewliners (One of them, 68032 River View had its name missing), a Heritage Diner*, an actual Amlounge with lounge seating and a name plaque but no name, 4 Amfleet coaches, and an ex-Louisville & Nashville business car PV.
*About that Heritage Diner. Someone needs to tell me more about this one. It looked completely refurbished. As in rebuilt. I forget the number. It had Amfleet II windows, rather than the normal windows. It had a Temoinsa interior. And it was painted a metallic silver very freshly, in very fresh Ph. V/IVb paint. Everything about it was clean, new, and pristine. Is it possible that Amtrak is actually rebuilding them like they said they were?
After the late Northbound Silver Meteor came in, we decided to take a neat little trip into the City. We took the PATH to the World Trade Center. I never understood why it fell into the Port Authority's jurisdiction before now. Its obvious now- it runs right through the Port. We walked to the World Financial Center and took the NY Waterway to Hoboken Terminal. I can't wait for the ferry slips to be rebuilt. We spent some time exploring that station and then took the PATH back to the World Trade Center. Then took the Newark Path back to Newark in time to catch the Crescents.
We then took the Light Rail to Grove St. and back. I don't get their ticketing procedures. I buy the ticket, right? Then I get it "validated" with a time stamp giving me an hour to use the train. Then I get to go and walk down the stairs and wait up to 45 minutes (off peak, and late) for a tram to come, board it, and get where I am going. Why can't I validate it at the door of the car when I board? Or have it need my pass to board? Or something that doesn't take into account how long I wait for how long I can be on the train!
Anyway, we got back, ate lunch, saw the Southbound Silver Meteor, and boarded the 4:05 Bi-Level train to Long Branch. We changed trains at Long Branch this time, and it seemed to be the same consist we rode in on, oddly enough. (That went to Hoboken) Drove back home half asleep and zonked.
As I mentioned in my review of the Comet VI, I had to take someone to the airport at a god-awful time and adjusted my sleep schedule considerably (apprx. 12 hours) to be able to do it. Hey, I have no money and will do quite a few things for a dollar, quite a few more things for $100. However, I was stuck with the problem of how to get back on a sane schedule, so I came up with a plan that I used before- staying up more than 24 hours to solve the problem. In this case, the plan called for about 30 hours.
My experience, however, is that when doing that, one needs to keep busy or one falls asleep before the intended time. Combining that with the fact that I needed to go to an Amtrak station (not really, but ok) to pick up my May 10th tickets, and I decided we'd go to Newark Penn Station for the day and figure out things to do from there. I was looking at ways to cut down my expenses somewhat, and found out that Elberon, in contrast to Long Branch, has free parking, but is the same price fare wise. Also, its a bit closer.
So we left the house at about 4:00, stopped off for some coffee and a four pack of Red Bull and got to the station with plenty of time to catch the 4:50 Super Express. Seriously, I've never seen a NJCL train make so few stops. We skipped Little Silver, Hazlet, both Amboys, and all of the NEC stops to Newark Penn. Took under an hour- usually takes an hour and forty. In push mode, Comet III cab, Comet IIB, Comet IV, Comet III, GP40. The engineer never blew a single grade crossing right. He kept blowing Ss rather than Gs.
We got to Newark at 5:49. On time. We wondered around looking at trains for a while. We caught all of the morning name trains. We even saw the Cardinal. The Southbound Silver Star had an interesting consist. HHP-8 (Why do they use their fastest and most powerful locomotives on shortish trains with slow trucks?), Heritage Baggage, 3 Viewliners (One of them, 68032 River View had its name missing), a Heritage Diner*, an actual Amlounge with lounge seating and a name plaque but no name, 4 Amfleet coaches, and an ex-Louisville & Nashville business car PV.
*About that Heritage Diner. Someone needs to tell me more about this one. It looked completely refurbished. As in rebuilt. I forget the number. It had Amfleet II windows, rather than the normal windows. It had a Temoinsa interior. And it was painted a metallic silver very freshly, in very fresh Ph. V/IVb paint. Everything about it was clean, new, and pristine. Is it possible that Amtrak is actually rebuilding them like they said they were?
After the late Northbound Silver Meteor came in, we decided to take a neat little trip into the City. We took the PATH to the World Trade Center. I never understood why it fell into the Port Authority's jurisdiction before now. Its obvious now- it runs right through the Port. We walked to the World Financial Center and took the NY Waterway to Hoboken Terminal. I can't wait for the ferry slips to be rebuilt. We spent some time exploring that station and then took the PATH back to the World Trade Center. Then took the Newark Path back to Newark in time to catch the Crescents.
We then took the Light Rail to Grove St. and back. I don't get their ticketing procedures. I buy the ticket, right? Then I get it "validated" with a time stamp giving me an hour to use the train. Then I get to go and walk down the stairs and wait up to 45 minutes (off peak, and late) for a tram to come, board it, and get where I am going. Why can't I validate it at the door of the car when I board? Or have it need my pass to board? Or something that doesn't take into account how long I wait for how long I can be on the train!
Anyway, we got back, ate lunch, saw the Southbound Silver Meteor, and boarded the 4:05 Bi-Level train to Long Branch. We changed trains at Long Branch this time, and it seemed to be the same consist we rode in on, oddly enough. (That went to Hoboken) Drove back home half asleep and zonked.
