u/SoilNo9760

Towards the end of last decade, at a time when I didn't have a ton of money, I splurged on these. I'm sure many of y'all have seen them, but not sure how many of you bought them. I was just into the novelty at the time, but I can't say enough about how well these things have held up. They've been so good for so long that I sometimes forget that these are upcycled Acela seats.

These have been my regular backpack and dopp kit for a very long time and outside of some extremely minor cosmetic dings, they're running strong. I'm a bit afraid I'll jinx it with this post but had to share.

It's too bad the bag is out of stock, but I'm very happy I had the chance to buy.

Hope others have had the same experience!!!

Having a blast checking out utica, very underrated and fun weekend trip.

For some reason 98% of my trips along the Empire corridor end up being on named trains, so I'm curious about the Empire Service runs to Niagara Falls. Specifically, how do they end up with P42s as they did here? Are these typically taken all the way into Penn, or swapped out at Albany due to availability? Have we seen more of this lately with the overall state of the fleet?

Regardless of era or prominence or critical acclaim, is there one title chase that had you glued to the screen and viscerally praying the belt flipped?

For me, strange as it is, it was Orton/Triple H in 2004-05. Triple H was such a deeply natural heel and it truly felt, justifiably so, that Orton was inches away but just couldn't pull it off. From the awesome winner-becomes-GM match at Survivor Series to the Elimination Chamber to the grudge match at the Royal Rumble, I don't think I ever quite got over Orton not ending up on top here.

How about you?

Really fantastic event. Short runtime, very fun segments, high quality wrestling. It felt like what SNME should be - solid wrestling mixed with a pinch more entertainment. I've been to a lot of very good big shows but this was a fun change of pace.

I've long been curious why the outside tracks at Princeton Junction - on the highest leverage high speed rail line in the country - are limited to 110. This is in contrast to Mansfield and Kingston, where Acela has long passed the platform at 150. I've been on multiple trains, particularly Acelas, that have been forced to the outside tracks and seen brief delays due to this limit. It's pretty standard on this stretch of the NEC.

Any idea what the difference is? Does it have to do with platform safety measures or proximity to other hazards? Catenary? Or something else?

Walked straight from outside Penn onto a train that left within 3 minutes with a bit of space to spare. After the match, waited under 5 minutes and walked straight onto a perfectly-loaded train that left within a few minutes.

Staff was organized, efficient, and helpful. I know the fares were controversial, but this is the best sports transit service I've ever experienced by a mile. They really put the resources to good use, overcame a lot of past issues, and made it feel like a borderline luxury experience.

That being said, I can't speak for what happened to the folks behind me when I got this EAS alert as my train pulled out 😬

All trains are terminating in Secaucus - adorably, all maintaining individual line designation - except a train to Bay Head?

I'm assuming this has something to do with the dual modes ending up in Sunnyside in the morning and needing to be back in Bay Head at night? Are they just not repositioning locos to Hoboken and using the yard fleets as-is?

Keystone 643 broke down and terminated at SEPTA's Thorndale terminus, just a few miles past 643's last stop in Downingtown. Pennsylvanian 43 (which I was on) stopped on the inbound side platform and took on 643's passengers (which you may know is a bit of a hike!). 43 will now make 643's stops to Harrisburg.

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Very well-coordinated by Amtrak on all fronts - passengers only waited about half an hour and got to level board the new train, boarding was quick, and standees were accommodated thoughtfully. As a born and raised Philadelphian, truly bizarre seeing two Amtraks stopped at Thorndale and hearing that station stop announced.

There is a practiced complaining among us New Yorkers and visitors that Moynihan Train Hall is a hostile station with no seating. I'm here to put down my foot as a frequent traveler and say that this narrative is unbelievably ridiculous and it needs to end. It's a very special station.

First off, the seating. There is this myth that has been perpetuated continuously that Moynihan does not have seating, and is thus hostile, uneuropean, or whatever. This has been one of the most silly and petulant arguments I've heard about what is really a very special station. There is tons of seating - there's a sizeable waiting area, a food hall with tables, another waiting room downstairs in the West End Concourse, and another waiting room in old Penn if those are truly overflowing. For all the talk about "European" stations, I can think of numerous I've been to with appreciably less seating.

Furthermore, the station is just fantastic. It's clean, stunning, much more orderly than across the street, filled with useful retail, and a common choice for grabbing a bite or hanging out even if you're not catching a train.

It's so funny to me the people are pushing all these narratives about MSG and rebuilding of the classic station when we got almost exactly what we wanted. Sure, it's a block further than it should be, but you always have old Penn if you're in a rush.

Can we please stop complaining about everything with this station and learn to celebrate it? This is pretty much the only truly great train station we've seen built on this continent in this era. Can we stop kvetching aimlessly and inaccurately and just enjoy what is a very special gem in the system?

(Pic: Irish Exit bar with its fun flippy board - another thing I love about Moynihan!)