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Well it was one of those nights last night when you don't actually sleep that well as you know that you have got an alarm call in the morning. We were both out of bed on the button of 07:00 and out of the hotel and in a cab to the station by 08:00, ahead of the schedule that we had set ourselves. We were second in line for the train and queued for the best part of an hour before boarding. It was not too bad as one of us kept nipping off to get supplies for the epic train journey and some much needed caffeine. There was no checked in luggage for this train, you literally carried your bags on and put them n the racks above your head. |
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It's just as well that these racks were generous as our suitcases are hardly what you would call small. The train itself (Amtrak 68) was not as good as the Canadian VIA trains that we had been travelling on but leg room was not bad and they have free wifi once you get into America so no real complaints at all. We were actually travelling in the very front carriage on the left hand side as the ticket man had told us to do yesterday (this side is apparently the best for the views) So here we are seated for the next 11 hours or so (depending on how long it takes the train to clear American customs.) 09:30 - 10:30 So we pulled out of Montreal and made one last stop in Canada before heading for the border. To be honest the first hour of the journey consisted of us sorting our bits out, eating some breakfast and passing through small towns and field after field of either sugar cane or corn. The landscape was very flat and we were not exactly speeding through it .....no wonder it takes 11 hours! 10:30 - 11:30 Our journey continued through more farmland and small towns until eventually after two hours on the train we arrived at the US boarder town of Rouses Point in New York State. The boarder guards all boarded the train and set about going around all the passengers one by one asking where they where going and why and how long would they be staying in the US etc. For us it was quite a painless process to be honest as they just looked for our entry stamp from when we had arrived in Alaska and then left us to it. For the Canadians on the train it seemed a completely different process. They were asked all the same questions but they also had to go down to the Buffett Car to have their passports stamped by border control. The guard looked like they boarded the train with a mobile customs computer that they were going to scan the passports through. Trevor and I had spent the last hour planning our lives (in the way that we like to). It's all ideas at the moment so we will see where that all goes but it was a positive way to spend time whilst you are held prisoner by the US customs dept on a train in the middle of nowhere. Rouses Point looked like a town with not much going on (well from what we could see form the station platform anyway). Just streets of wooden clad houses and patchy lawns certainly nothing to visit for. 11:30 - 12:30 Well we sat at the station of Rouses Point for around and hour and a quarter. Only one guy was taken off in handcuffs. I have to say that the whole process did seem a little heavy handed at points with border patrol guards tearing through the carriage with their gun belts on. Still I'm not going to argue with them. One guy got told off for trying to get off the train even though this is where he wanted to leave. They made him wait until the whole train had been cleared to move on and escorted him away to the buffet car presumably to keep an eye on him and make sure he did not run for the door again. 12:30 - 13:30 Underway again, we were back to farmland and the odd industrial town for a time but that soon passed and we seemed to be travelling through lush swamp lands until we finally made it out to the coastal front or at least the coast of a lake and river system. The shoreline was littered with log cabins and what I would describe as posh lakeside weekend homes for those escaping the hustle and bustle of the city. For the most part though we were travelling in between trees that meant that the views were a little limiting and brief when you did get them.The landscape here though is definitely lush and green and I would imagine that in the fall (Autumn to you and I ) it would be rather spectacular with all the colours. We have also made our first official stop in the U.S.A.......forty five minites until the next one. 13:30 - 14:30 Five hours in....not even half way yet! Well we spent the first half an hour hugging the waterline getting fleeting glimpses as we rode through. This all changed back into more rural farm land with small holdings dotted here and there along the way. We dared to visit the buffet car as we needed a hot drink. The climate in our carriage is set to COLD and apparently there is no way of heating it up as there is no thermostat. Its either too hot or too cold. Personally we would go for the too hot option but had to settle for a mug of filter coffee and a twix bar.......come on views we need you to appear to make this journey worth while ! 14:30 - 15:30 Well the train has really been hugging the shoreline now for the past hour. For some of that time we have been travelling over tracks that have been built over swamps complete with a full coverage of Lilly pads and algae. This might not sound that pretty but I can assure you that it is, the views are definitely getting better than they were. Its kind of weird looking out of the window into New York State and seeing such green landscape.I suppose you have to remember that New York State is right next door to New England and that state is famous for its greenery and lushness. We have now been on the train for five hours and to be honest its not felt that bad but unless the views start to become a little more miraculous I can feel a movie coming on. 15:30 - 16:30 Well we have travelled in and out of the waters edge, back into dense farmland with the odd small township thrown in for good measure. The woodland around the track is once again quite thick so you only get fleeting glimpses and then they are gone. The rain does seem to be speeding up slightly though but then we are an hour behind schedule based on the time that we pulled into the last station. I'm afraid there is still nothing significant to report. 16:30 -17:30 We pulled into our firat significant-ish station of the trip so far called Saratoga Springs. All the others up until now have been sheds by the side of the track but this was a far more substantial brick built building. Trevor has been sat updating and labeling all the photographs from our time in Montreal specifically the Botanical Gardens. This hour we have not seen anything spectacular, mainly trees lining both sides of the track with the odd small holding. It's now 17:30 and we are just pulling into Schenectady, our 16:45 stop, so we must be running 45 minutes behind schedule now. Schenctady looks a fairly major town. 17:30 - 18:30 Very industrial - we have passed many industrial areas, lots of manufacturing sheds and storage yards for timber, stone etc. Definitely getting less rural and more signs of life about. The train has now wound it's way around several small towns that all seems industrial with huge buildings and large goods yards. We pulled into Albany Rensselaer station at 18:00. All of a sudden the carriage became busy with more people piling onto the train, and after having several empty seats on the train, people were now struggling to find seats and it became standing room only!.Clunk! The engine has been de-coupled from the train? Hopefully we will get another one soon? 18:30 - 19:30 All explained!, they were waiting for another carriage to be added to the front of the train, they are obviously regular travellers who know the system, breathing space restored and everyone has a seat! At 18:40 we were back on the move again.exactly one hour later than scheduled, ah well they do say the service rarely runs on time! 19:30 - 20:30 Hurtling through Hyde Park there have been some stunning big houses along the river banks in the hills. Stopping at Poughkeepsie all you could see was Mahoney's. an Irish bar at the side of the road! Looking at the map, it appears we are going to follow the banks of the Hudson River all the way into New York City. We saw a wild deer running alongside the train but unfortunately no chance to photograph it. Scenery most of this hour has consisted of the Hudson River to the right and forestry with the odd town to the left, with more amazing huge houses up in the hills.
You can certainly tell that we are getting ever closer to New York itself, now only two stops away. Every time we pass a station or stop the car parks get bigger and bigger, we are passing through the commuter belt and the towns that have sprung up along the Hudson River.Well the time is now 20:54 and all we can see out of the window is black so we will stop with the ongoing commentary. 21:30 - 23:59 Well the skyline never did appear to be honest as our approach into Penn Station was actually underground but we arrived on the same block as Macy's Dept. Store and virtually opposite our hotel The New Yorker. We wheeled our bags through the hot and humid packed streets of the city that never sleeps and checked into our room. Now like nearly all the hotel rooms in NYC ours is not particularly big to be honest but its fine and will do us for the three nights that we are here. We did not hang around and headed straight out for a small bite to eat and ended up in the Tic Toc Diner for a quick Burger and fries before walking up to Times Square.. As I have already said the temperature in NYC was high and the streets were packed as we headed down Broadway.New York never ceases to feel like coming home as we have been here so many times and in our short walk I could not help but reminisce about some fun times we have had here with my sisters, my mum, my dad and Trevor has had with Martin.....good times indeed. Feeling like we had at least stretched our legs from the best part of 12 hours on the train we headed back to the hotel with some much needed cold drink....its going to be a hot sleepless night me thinks.......but its good to be here. NYC, you are always so alive! |
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