Trip Report: September 22 to October 19, 2003
by Ted & Sylvia Blishak
Fall Colors Coast to Coast - by Land and Sea
THE LAKESHORE LIMITED:
CHICAGO TO NEW YORK CITY
September 26, 2003 Our Viewliner Handicapped Bedroom was still an uncomfortable 75 F. after dinner, but eventually cooled down to 73 F. as we proceeded eastbound with the cool evening air rushing past us at great speed. We were rolling along the New York Central System's Water-Level Route in the "Cradle that Never Rocks." We have a copy of a 1940s LIFE magazine with a vintage NYC ad using that slogan. Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint were never jostled aboard the 20th Century Limited in the movie "North by Northwest." But the Lakeshore was swaying and bouncing as it rocked us to sleep.
Arising at 8 am, we expected to be approaching Syracuse, but upon raising the left window shade, saw the huge, derelict Buffalo Station. I'd seen photos in TRAINS MAGAZINE, and have studied the station's website (operated by optimistic preservationists who've received a small amount of funds from the city), but nothing prepared me for the crumbling grandeur of this long-abandoned edifice. The tower soars above all surrounding buildings. Multiple platforms, now used for stored miscellaneous paraphernalia, fill the foreground. The work of the preservationists could be seen in vaulted windows that were protected by boards, and the clocks at about the tenth-floor level had been restored. This scene reminded Sylvia of the ruins of the Coliseum of Rome. It is a remnant of a lost civilization. I could almost see the Great Steel Fleet of Commodore Vanderbilt's New York Central System, as they once paused here, powerful Hudson 4-8-4 steam locomotives chuffing, impatient to be on the move.
Soon we stopped at the Amtrak Buffalo Depew suburban station, closer to the airport than downtown. We were two-and-a-half hours behind schedule. We made our way two cars forward to the diner, which was nicely cooled, but the floor heating was operating for some reason. I gave my usual request for breakfast. "Scrambled eggs, crisp bacon, no potatoes, no bread, no fruit cup and pancakes, please."
"You can't have two breakfasts," responded the waitress.
"If this order means two breakfasts, I'll pay for the extra one," I replied, "but I don't want an argument about what I can or cannot have."
She coldly served me the "two" breakfasts, setting each item I had specified I didn't want briefly on the table, the remarking, "You don't want the potatoes, Sir?" and whisking them away. The other patrons were addressed as "Honey", "Sugar", "Sweetie", or "Dearie".
As we stood up to leave the waitress bodily blocked the aisle and presented me with a bill for $6.50. I paid the dining car stewardess, who pointed out, with attitude, that she'd once been furloughed for 45 days for "giving it away" and serving two breakfasts to a sleeping car passenger. When my response was unsympathetic, she lowered my bill by 50 cents.
Back in our sleeping car, we realized that our scheduled 1:50pm arrival in New York City would be more like 5pm. Fortunately, Sylvia had packed some nuts and power bars as lunch aboard wasn't scheduled and the lounge car would be taken off at Albany to accompany the Boston section of the train. But Amtrak didn't let us go hungry, and produced a quick emergency meal of hamburgers, which we asked our car attendant to serve in our room.
The Lakeshore's stop in Albany involves splitting the train into New York and Boston sections, and is scheduled to take place within 20 minutes. I was skeptical in fact, it took over an hour.There are three tracks that run through the station. We were on the right-hand Track 1. Train 260 Albany to New York with intermediate stops, scheduled to depart at 2pm, was spotted on Track 2. Two Genesis locomotives idled on Track 3.
While our locomotive pulled the Boston sleeper, lounge, and three Boston coaches down the northbound main line, the locomotive on Track 3 backed about mile into the yards and repositioned itself on Track 2, behind Train 260. Then our locomotive backed into Track 3 with the Boston section, at which time Train 260 left for New York. We should have transferred to it, as we had no idea when our train would depart. Then our locomotive left the Boston section on Track 3 and proceeded south on the northbound main. The light Genesis locomotives then moved south onto the northbound main line, blocking our locomotive, then backed in to Track 3 to couple onto the Boston section.
In the meantime, an Amtrak switch engine moved in, picked up the material handling cars from the rear of our train, and pulled them back into the yards. While this was happening, Train 251 arrived from New York on the center main and stopped on Track 2, blocking our locomotive from crossing over to Track 1 where our train had been without air conditioning and heating up for nearly an hour. After unloading, Train 251 then moved north into the yards. Then, from the north, Train 262, which had been waiting, entered the station on Track 2 for its 3:15pm departure to New York.
Finally our engine was free to back into our train and provide us with head end power. During this interminable procedure, the temperature in our room soared to 80 F., while we were out on the platform getting some walking in. Our car attendant, just wanting to get to his home in New York, was practically apoplectic at this delay, and complaining about how they always hold up his train at Albany for over an hour to do what used to be accomplished in about ten minutes. It would be interesting to perform a computer simulation of this process to see if there could be a quicker way to accomplish these results. Better yet, with model trains on a model pike.
We were finally called to reboard and were out of town at about 3:15pm, just ahead of Train 262. The Late For Sure Limited runs non stop into New York Penn Station, 141 miles to the south, and with continuous high speed running down the Hudson River, we averaged close to 70 mph, arriving into Penn Station just after 5pm, but still over three hours behind schedule. We were all happy to off this train, passengers and crew alike.
