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u/KilroyWagner69

r/Amtrak r/nycrail r/NJTransit r/Clannad r/Higurashinonakakoroni
That one time I used a luggage rack as a seat on the Keystone
▲ 0 r/Amtrak

That one time I used a luggage rack as a seat on the Keystone

No, I am not making that up. The picture is living proof. I said in one of my previous posts and on a comment that I really couldn't stand having to rely on Newark Penn Station, and this trip was a big factor in why that came to be the case. I become Captain Obvious when I say that for trains operating out of or through New York Penn Station, the majority of the train will board at New York, which means once it gets to the inferior Penn Station 20 minutes away, you may be left with not great seats depending on your preference. In this egregious case, there wasn't a seat at all. It was even more annoying because of the fact that I had picked up my uniforms earlier that same morning after having alterations done on them, so I was carrying them around college and on the train, where I decided that for seating and keeping my uniforms nearby, this luggage rack was the next best option. It's always something new on the Northeast Corridor.

u/KilroyWagner69 — 14 hours ago
▲ 105 r/Amtrak

Early boarding on the Pennsylvanian is a thing, apparently

I was walking down the corridor above the LIRR platforms to get to the Moynihan waiting area when I get a text from Amtrak saying the Pennsylvanian is now boarding on Track 15, which is quite possibly the earliest I have ever seen a train start boarding at New York at 27 minutes from when I got the text to scheduled departure. That's honestly a far cry from having to do the NJ Transit dash like I did earlier this week.

u/KilroyWagner69 — 2 days ago
▲ 19 r/Amtrak

Sunnyside Yard spotted from IRT Flushing, with some extra pics of Amtrak and LIRR trains heading to and from Penn Station

u/KilroyWagner69 — 4 days ago
▲ 2 r/Amtrak

Late 1 year review of my experiences with Amtrak so far

I should have done this in May, which was one year since my first ever trip, a roundtrip from New Haven Union Station to Boston South Station for PAX East. After that, I took a few trips between New Jersey and Philadelphia, but I still had been making all my trips on NJ Transit with the occasional SEPTA. Then I transferred to Essex CC, which isn't far from Newark Penn Station, and that's when I really started taking Amtrak on a regular basis. So far, it's been a split where I would go there on NJT and then head back on either Amtrak or NJT (something that allowed me to see the best and worst of both worlds). I did also make some trips to Harrisburg, Boston, and Washington, DC. So far, good and bad from what I've seen:

-Much better riding experience. I don't have to worry about not getting a seat, but if I'm leaving out of NWK instead of NYP, I may not get the best seat, and apparently it was possible to not get a seat at all and ride inside a luggage rack. Yes, that happened. My legs committed oof when I went to stand up. But the actual seats are a lot comfier and roomier than I thought they would be, especially on the Amfleet IIs. Out of all the other cars I've been on, only the Arrow IIIs and M8s are up there on that.

-Tickets can be surprisingly dirt cheap. For reference, I get the discounted rate of $6.70 on TRE->NWK trips using NJT, or $9 to NYP. Those same trips can be as cheap as $5.40 or $9.90 if I buy a flex ticket.

-Trains actually run decently on time or close to it. Though I am actually surprised the amount of times I have looked at the timetables at NWK and seen NJ Transit outperforming Amtrak in on-time performance, which I didn't even know was possible since it's NJ Transit. I also can't forget when we were held at NWK at midnight for half an hour because apparently no one made a boarding call at NYP until after the Regional had already left the station, so those passengers had to get shuttled on an NJT.

-I used to hate taking New York Penn Station (back when I was exclusively entering using NJT), but it really is a place that becomes bearable to amazing once you unlock all the cheat codes. Likewise, I have grown to not like having to take Newark Penn Station or go to Newark itself, even if it is a decent place to spot a whole lot of trains.

-I can also see why this subreddit says NYP's lounge is the best one. So far, I've only been to NYP and BOS lounges, but I have found a reason to use the one at PHL in the future, and I will definitely use CHI the next time I go there.

-Getting the Rewards Card was definitely worth it. I now use it for basically all my transportation expenses, and it even got me an upgrade coupon, which I took advantage of by switching out an NYP->WAS ticket I had on a Regional to get first class on the Acela.

These are just some of the ones I can think about or fit in here without dragging this on, but overall, Amtrak is definitely the mood for commuting to school, and so is NJ Transit (at least the early morning train I take). Newark Light Rail can suck my Big Boy, though.

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u/KilroyWagner69 — 8 days ago
▲ 188 r/Amtrak

As much as I don't like having to rely on Newark Penn Station, it is a good place to spot plenty of trains

u/KilroyWagner69 — 12 days ago
▲ 229 r/Amtrak

What is up with the Acela on the tracks here at almost 10PM?

The last one to arrive here terminated about an hour ago, and unless there is a secret midnight run to Boston for vampires and ghouls (which I am somehow not finding out about), I would have thought it would go to Sunnyside for the night.

u/KilroyWagner69 — 16 days ago
▲ 92 r/Amtrak

What I spotted at Trenton on the way to class today, including what I assume is a geometry car.

u/KilroyWagner69 — 17 days ago
▲ 76 r/Amtrak

Arrow III right across the platform from an Avelia Liberty at New York Penn Station, Tracks 7 and 8

u/KilroyWagner69 — 20 days ago
▲ 17 r/Amtrak

Yesterday's trip on #140, going from Trenton to New York

There weren't as many people at Trenton as I thought there would be. For reference, I've seen a lot more people boarding my regular departures of either NEC 3910 leaving at 5:06AM or NER 190 at 6:27AM. Of course, NJ Transit still had embassadors on both sides of the platform for passengers looking to go to either MetLife or Lincoln Financial. Normally, I would leave through the NJ Transit concourse at New York, but for obvious reasons, that would have been problematic, so I used Moynihan for the first time ever to get on or off. It was actually decently empty. I cannot say the same about the rest of Penn Station, what with the people going to the World Cup, the Knicks game, or the concert at MSG that was apparently going on. Good thing I was able to use the 34th Street exit.

u/KilroyWagner69 — 22 days ago
▲ 32 r/Amtrak

I went out on a run and happened across this opening into the Empire Corridor on 38th Street.

u/KilroyWagner69 — 23 days ago