My first experience on Amtrak was a positive one. I arrived YNY (Yonkers) very early, because John had to drop me off on his way to work. I sat behind the station on the steps and enjoyed the breeze off the Hudson River and read until my students arrived from Tarrytown. We departed from track 2 (of four tracks total). The departure track changed three times, from 2 to 4, then back to 2. The train arrived five minutes late, but the friendly and funny conductor hustled us aboard and took our tickets after we were on our way. The train was so full we could not sit together, but were able to sit in the same car. Later on we were able to move about and sit with someone in our group. I was very pleased to see that there were two power outlets at every seat. The train reminded me of flying in many ways–with similar reclining seats, seatback pockets with an Amtrak magazine and Travel Mall catalog, and overhead storage–except there was more legroom, more overhead storage, and the lav was larger and cleaner! And the price I could not beat–$109 roundtrip–with the AAA discount!
The conductor during the morning realized we were from the South and told us a very lame joke as we boarded:
Question: What is the difference between Yankees and Damn Yankees?
Answer: The Damn Yankees stayed!
Somehow en route, we got behind by 30 minutes. We had a scheduled stop in Albany to change crews and the engine (I did not know they changed out diesel engines!) and I noticed that we arrived and departed there 15 minutes late (one of my students had picked up a route schedule.) The ride to Albany was very quick from Yonkers, about two hours 15 minutes. However, the ride/pace slowed considerably after Albany (after all the politicos were dropped off?) Each stop was 30-40 minutes apart and the customs stop was TWO hours. However, even after this stop and being 30 minutes behind, we still arrived only one hour late, at 8:05 pm.
Snack Car/Bar:
I had coffee and pita chips in the morning as I had eaten breakfast at John’s. The coffee was Green Mountain and was very good. The items cost $1.50 each for a total of $3.00. The coffee was a 12 oz. cup. For lunch, I had a corned beef and Swiss sandwich, today’s special, and a Sam Adams that were $5.00 each for a total of $10.00. And towards the end of the trip, I had a small cheese pizza and ginger ale for $5.00. The snack bar took both cash and credit and the lady working was very nice. Both times I took the food back to my seat, but the dining area was clean and spacious and there were two power outlets for each table as well.
