u/TWRFK

So in early August I stayed at the Residence Inn New York Queens, which is located in the Long Island City area of Queens, NYC. The Residence Inn has come to be my favourite hotel from the various brands that I have stayed at and it worked well. Being NYC, the rooms were small and housekeeping was limited and it was crowded but can't complain, it was by modern NYC standards quite affordable

Anyway this is not a review, but rather confusion as to the branding. We have all heard for example of dual branded hotels in that they share a lobby, gym, pool, and reservation desk but each hotel has its own set of rooms.

This though was something else. The Hotel was simultaneously both a Residence Inn and a SpringHill Suites. I did not find out untill I arrived but the same rooms are part of both hotels and can be assigned to either or. It really confused me. TBH I am not familliar with the Springhill brand or how similliar they are but it literally being the same hotel, under two names I found extremely confusing. Anyone have any insight?

[removed]

setting are there to share changes with network so so idea what is going on…

Companion review of the Maple Leaf can be found here: https://www.reddit.com/r/ViaRail/comments/1vd7pll/review_of_the_maple_leaf/

So on my way back home I took the Adirondack from NYC to Montréal.  I have ridden the corridor many times, as well as the Canadian (once), and the Ocean (twice), but this is my second time on an Amtrak Train (after the Maple Leaf on the way in).

Overview

Unlike the Maple Leaf, which is a jointish operation between VIA and Amtrak, the Adirondack is a 100% American endeavor, VIA has absolutely nothing to do with it. VIA doesn't sell tickets, display it on its map, or even acknowledges its existence. It is an Amtrak train that operates into Canada. VIA's role is limited to placing the mini ramps / planks between the platform and the train and Gare Centrale.

As we will see below, VIA's lack of involvement is a key reason why the journey takes as long as it does

Ticketing

As stated above, you cannot purchase this ticket from VIA. Even in Montréal Gare Centrale, there is an Amtrak employee who sells tickets and provides other services related to this train. You have to buy from Amtrak in USD

NY Penn Station

So while the old grand Pennsylvania Station was inexcusably demolished in 1963 and replaced with a tacky arena, and the station moved to a grimy basement, there is good news. In 2021 the Old Post office building across the street was repurposed to serve as an annex to Penn Station and Amtrak trains now all stop there. Do not go into the main Penn Station, follow signs for Moynihan Train Hall. This hall is closer to A, C, and E trains on the 8th Av 34th Street–Penn Station subway station rather than the 1, 2, and 3 trains on the Broadway--7th Av 34th Street–Penn Station subway Station.

The Station has limited seating area unfortunately but lot of options to purchase coffee etc

Travelers to Canada will be asked to check in at a desk but this is more theatre / a pre-check than anything substantial. You can skip it if running late and just board the train when you see the platform called. At the check-in you will be told that you need a paper ticket if you are going to Canada. I had already printed mine out so they simply stamped it with the word "CANADA" written in large red letters. If you didn't have a paper ticket, you get sent to another desk where you will receive a cool boarding pass style ticket for them to stamp. You will also recieve luggage tags to attach to your bags, once again not needed no is checking them.

Train

The most shocking part for me is the lack of assigned seats. Apparently this is standard in the US. Instead, depending on your destination, you are assigned a coach and then you are asked to pick a seat. Economy is 2x2 and well you will likely end up with a seatmate at some point. Major downside, no arm rests acting as a dividing line so you likely end up rubbing elbows with a stranger

The train is an Amtrak train throughout. It is an old train so it is comfortable. This was a nice touch since VIA unfortunately, replaced all of their corridor fleet E of Toronto (where I ride the rails normally) with new plastic ones that aren't nearly as comfortable.

There is no business class on this train, it is economy only. For 12 hour journey this can get much. There is a café car. Unlike in Canada, where outside long distance economy trains, service involves staff periodically going up and down the aisles with a food cart; here there is a café car everyone can go to to purchase coffee, snacks, and meals

Also unlike Canadian trains, American trains seem to lack water. Canadian trains all have taps from which we can refill our water bottles while American trains don't. They also tend to use blue porta-potty liquid rather than water to flush their toilets. The upshot is that while Via provides people free water, Amtrak only provides bottles for crew, passengers are forced by overpriced waterbottles.

On the other hand, American trains have garbage cans unlike Canadian trains; so you can dispose of your trash as soon as possible

NYC - Albany

The Train operates out of NYC through a tunnel so there is no real view till Upper Manhattan. At that point the W side starts getting a view of the Hudson River as it runs on the same tracks as the Metro North Railroad's Hudson line. The part shared with Metro North is quite slow, presumably due to track congestion but after that it runs quite quickly to Albany. Wifi tends to work quite well here.

Albany--Rensselaer Station

NB Trains have a 45 minute scheduled smoke stop at Albany and since we were on time we got to have the full stop. We can exit the train, wander on the platform and even enter the station building. I did not see anyone exit onto the street but I am sure that it is theoretically possible. At the station you can stock up on food of a higher quality than the ultra-processed stuff sold on the train. You also get to use real washroom and fill up your water bottle for free a the fountain

Albany - Rousses Point

As we continue on towards Montréal, things start to change at Schenectady as we live the Central NY Mainline and head to the former Delaware & Hudson Railway trackage, now owned by CP Rail. The tracks run through the Adirondack mountains and hugs lake Champlain to the East (for a significant portion of the run). It was scenic, but unfortunately most people are phone addicts and failed to appreciate the view. Tour guides on board would make this section a lot better, and I figure that the view would be a lot better in the Winter.

Reception and wi-fi is spottier here and train moves considerably slower.

Canada-US Border

Crossing the border works differently on this train compared to the Maple Leaf in that we do not exit the train.

We were given Canadian customs declaration forms along the route (or at NY Penn if you checked in) so everyone should have had those prepared to hand over to the Canadian border patrol when they arrived. The whole process took 2hrs 45 mins and people were really starting to get restless especially the since Washrooms ran out of flushing liquid and the café car closed as we approached the border.

We slowly inched our train towards and across the border into Québec, Canada. The tracks cross the border right where US Route 11 turns into Québec route 223, right next to the Rouses Point–Lacolle 223 Border Crossing. About 6 officers from the inspection station began their rounds and I persume that there were officers outside inspecting the train. They split into groups, I was interviewed by a gorup of two. I also assume that the entire train was being X-rayed or something on the way in. Anyways they did not inspect / scan bags en masse but each person was intereviewed. For non-Canadians (which appeared to be the majority of the passengers) they focused on determining travel plans in Canada. For Canadians, such as myself, their focus was ensuring that people are not avoiding custom duties / import taxes.

During the 2 hours 45 mins we would leave our seat absent an emergency and needed to seek the permission to use the washroom though after the 2 hour mark people really stopped caring. I was shocked that how many people used the train to cross the border, unlike the Maple Leaf where a lot fewer people crossed the border via train. Considering that the train journeys are the same length or so, but Montréal is closer / quicker drive, I'd expect it to be the reverse.

Majority of the people who crossed the border were American, very few Canadians. Which checks out considering that VIA pretends that this train does not exist; Canadians do not know about it while Americans very much do. Maybe that is why customs took a long time, a disproportionate percentage of people are not citizens of the country. A few people were asked to come with their bags to what appeared to be a detailed screening and unlike a flight, the entire train gets delayed as a result. Unlike on The Cascades, where border patrol is in Vancouver so it operates like a flight, they do not have that in Montréal but since VIA has nothing to do with this train, they probably should cause right now we get the worst of all words. Border works like it is an international train but everything else about it works like it is an American train operating in Canada rather than a true international train (see more below)

Once we left, and non-Canadians got a very negative first impression of the country, the worsening continued thanks to VIA's non-involvement and Canada's freight rail prioritization

Rouses Point - Montréal

Oh boy do things get bad here. So at the border the track splits into two. The CP tracks go directly into Montréal while the CN tracks head over to Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu and then hook back towards Montréal. Now logic dictates taking the CP tracks but within Canada CP essentially forbids passenger rail from operating on its tracks absent certain cases; when it does it does so very begrudgingly and is worse actor than CN. And if you know CN, that is saying something; and it can be seen from how the train operates while in Canada.

Like in the US, the Canadian tracks are owned primarily by the freight companies. However, Canada remains the only country in the world to not have a law requiring freight companies to yield ROW to passenger trains. In fact in 2024 Transport Canada deemed that impacts on corporate profits would make this law a non-starter. I know that there are issues with enforcement in the US but things are worse north of the border and passenger trains many times have to sit and wait for freight. This happened on the Canadian section of the trip.

Even outside of delays, the train has a scheduled run time of 2 hrs 10 mins for the ~75 km of track (recall the track first heads to Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu) between the border and Montréal. The reason it takes so long is because the CN has let the tracks fall into disrepair. Freight doesn't require much speed, especially if it is not a congested mainline. So as long as they are technically driveable, lot of tracks are in very poor condition.

Now in a typical capitalize the profits, socialize the losses, passenger rail authorities simply pay freight companies to fix the tracks. Instead of just buying them back (or never having privatized them in the case of CN rail), the public authority pays a profit bearing company to fix the tracks to standards.

But, Amtrak has (rightfully IMO) argued that it is not responsible for fixing the Adriondack tracks in Canada, and since VIA has nothing to do with the train, well they are not paying to fix it. Thus the tracks continue to detirioate.

Since Amtrak and not VIA is running the train, it doesn't serve Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu despite passing right through it as Amtrak is not going to provide intra-Canada services. But if it were a joint VIA-Amtrak train, the route would provide a crucial link between this city of 98,000 and Montréal, located 45 km to the North-East.

Since VIA does not run the train, services in Québec are also provided wholly in English, which is a violation of Québec language laws. Now railways are under federal jurisdiction, and thus language laws potentially do not apply, despite Québec claiming otherwise and federally regulated industries generally following the law anyways. VIA as a federal government agency does provide mandated bilingual services but Amtrak doesn't seem to bother, which is problematic for a train running in Québec.

Further, Amtrak continues to charge in USD in the café car, which is well illegal as they are in Canada. But Amtrak pretends that the train is in the US. In which case, they should be like The Cascades, and simply do clearance on the border. OR run it jointly with VIA allowing for Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu to get service, tracks to get maintained, prices to be in CAD, and French language laws to be respected. Honestly, as a Canadian and a Québécois I am appalled that neither VIA Rail nor the Québec government is interested in a train running between America's largest city and Québec's largest (and Canada's second largest) city. It makes no sense, and this acting in bad faith is not winning us any favors.

So I took the Maple Leaf from Toronto into NYC. I have ridden the corridor many times, as well as the Canadian (once), and the Ocean (twice), but this is my first time on an Amtrack Train.

Overview

So the train while physically one train is better thought of as two interlining services / runs with the same vehicle. One between Toronto and Niagara Falls, ON, and one between Niagara Falls, ON and NYC.

Ticketing

In light of the above, the best way to purchase a ticket is to do split ticketing. This works, a VIA employee even complimented me for doing it this way, pointing out how it is cheaper. The principle is simple, for the VIA Rail part book with VIA, for the Amtrak part, book with Amtrak. If you book the whole thing with VIA, VIA will charge a built-in convenience fee for booking the Amtrak part on your behalf and vice-verça.

Union Station

A VIA rail staff will ask those riding to a Canadian station to queue up first for boarding. The cross-border passengers then are asked to show their passports and tickets. We then get to board.

Train

The most shocking part for me is the lack of assigned seats. I wonder if this is standard in the US and hence why there are no assigned seats on the train. Instead, depending on your destination, you are assigned a coach and then you are asked to pick a seat. Economy is 2x2 and well you will likely end up with a seatmate at some point. Major downside, no arm rests acting as a dividing line so you likely end up rubbing elbows with a stranger

The train is an Amtrak train throughout. It is an old train so it is comfortable. This was a nice touch since VIA unfortunately, replaced all of their corridor fleet E of Toronto (where I ride the rails normally) with new plastic ones that aren't nearly as comfortable.

While I would have preferred to book Business, it was sold out. And well I can see why, business class only appeared to be half a car. The other half was the café car, which seems to be the standard in the US. Unlike in Canada, where outside long distance economy trains, service involves staff periodically going up and down the aisles with a food cart; here there is a café car everyone can go to to purchase coffee, snacks, and meals

Also unlike Canadian trains, American trains seem to lack water. Canadian trains all have taps from which we can refill our water bottles while American trains don't. They also tend to use blue porta-potty liquid rather than water to flush their toilets. The upshot is that while Via provides people free water, Amtrak only provides bottles for crew, passengers are forced by overpriced waterbottles.

On the other hand, American trains have garbage cans unlike Canadian trains; so you can dispose of your trash as soon as possible

Canadian Section

While downtown is nice, train runs through boring suburbia for most of the first stretch. Nobody really gets on or off at the Canadian stops absent Toronto or Niagara Falls. The stretch till just before Aldershot Station runs fine as Metrolinx (The Regional Rail & Bus Authority for the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area) own the tracks but afterwards, since it is owned by CN, the tracks are poorly maintained and thus the train travels slowly through Hamilton and the Niagara Region.

The café car here serves your typical corridor economy menu. Prices are in CAD and the train is cashless. I'm pretty sure I would have gotten water for free.

Note that there is no Wi-Fi on this section of the train.

Announcements are bilingual but train signage, being an American train, is only in English

Border

So here is how it works:

1. At Niagara Falls, ON, the Canadian crew detrains and the American crew takes over

2. Passengers who wish to board or disembark at Niagara Falls, ON can do so

3. We physically cross into the US at the Whirlpool rapids Bridge

4. We arrive at Niagara Falls, NY Station and wait for US CBP to allow us permission to detrain. Our train only waited two minutes

5. EVERYONE gets off the train with all our luggage etc and forms one long line. Except crew. Border police inspect the train for what I presume are stowaways

6. We pass our luggage through the scanner. The agent manning the scanner is an Agricultural specialist as since it is a train, people bring food on board and applicable rules apply

7. We then go to customs agents to be questioned, have passports / visa checked etc as well you normally do at a bordr

8. We then reboard the train, and are assigned possibly different compartments based on our destination (NYC or other)

American Section

The NY section is noticeably faster and busier than the ON section. LOT of passengers at intermediate stops, unlike Canadian Corridor trains which mostly serve end to end passengers.

From speaking with passengers, it appears that Amtrack tickets are relatively cheap and hence the high ridership. Unlike VIA, which is more of an intercity system, Amtrak seems to be more a public transit system and hence is priced to be more affordable.

Since most people take the train to NYC, this section fills up quicker than the other sections but eventually that section seems to be filling up as well and everyone gets a seat mate.

Being public transit, public behaviour matches. More people not using headphones, feet on seats and other anti-social behaviour, etc.

The US law requiring that passenger trains have priority over freight, well the effect is clear. Even though it isn't always enforced, we clearly move a lot faster and more reliably south of the border than north of it. Though things did seem to be better west of Syracuse.

The US having more generous luggage policy allows people to use to train for practical transportation.

The US café car sells Starbucks coffee which in my experience is burnt along with food that is more processed than what Via sells. No meal service anywhere on board. The café car in theory provides a place to hang out that isn't your seat but well there is not enough seats to meet demand AND Amtrack crews have decided that two of their tables are their offices. In the US, the train takes USD cash or card. No CAD. And the clerk running it also has a tip jar...

Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse are worthy sights but the rest of the train is pretty bland untill we get to Utica. Some of the old railway bridge we run over are pretty cool though. Past Utica though things get a lot better and the route is scenic

Approaching Albany the train switched its direction of operation. So if you started facing backwards, you will be facing forwards and vice-verça. Also the left side will become the right so if you sat on the right side (like I did), hoping to catch a view of the Hudson, well the train got flipped.

Albany is a smoke stop but due to the train late we only got 10 minutes and were not allowed to leave the platform. It was interesting to see them attach the new locomotive to the rear of the train. Online research tells me that is a dual mode locomotive, being able of both diesel and electric operation. It also seems like another crew change took place

Post Albany the train reached much higher speeds, including upwards of 170 km/h, something I have never experienced in a Canadian train (where speeds cap out at below 140, if it is reached). However it started slowing down agian once it commence running on track owned by the Metro North Railroad

Just like in The Corridor in Canada, Wi-Fi on the train is spotty and dependent on cellular tower coverage.

Final Thoughts

Like most intercity rail in North America, the route is that of strong potential but full of problems. It doesn't operate like a true international route but more akin to two national routes handing the train off to each other. The fact that there isn't even integrated ticketing speaks to the problem

Trains are good but need: 1. Water AND 2. Armrests. Café car needs seating and more business seats are needed. Food needs to better, less ultra processed garbage but good luck having North America take on Big Food.

Really though, this route would be perfect for a Night Train. Leave Toronto at 20:00, go through customs at 22:00-23:00 and continue overnight to arrive at NYC in the morning. Of course I imagine that freight using the trains overnight make this option a no-go

We are alone; we get more bored in line. let us have our singles’ queue to fill the space. Groupes in the queue slow it down and ruin it.

Fast lane has already ruined wonderland. We don’t need groups in the singles queue to ruin it as well

So I have my hotmail.com account as essentially my main account. It has a password, and a backup / recovery e-mail at a junk hotmail.com account, as well as phone number for texting. I have access on my home and work laptops as well as my iPhone via the mail app

Last week my iphone randomly prompted me to enter my password. Since what I had though I had saved did not work, I simply reset at on my work computer by sending a code to my recovery e-mail along side my telephone. I then promptly signed in to my e-mail at my work laptop, as well as my personal laptop when I got home, updating my password

Today when I tried signing in from my PC it prompted me for the password. My broswer normally has it saved, but my browser seemed to have the old one. Odd... Anyways I clicekd reset. I got a code to my reocevery e-mail but step two involves receiving a text to my phone but Outlook refused to send it citing an error of some kind. Nor would it let me send a code to the same recovery e-mail.

Now it says that I have requested too many codes and wait till tomorrow

So I though I'd enter my work e-mail but evern there, were the broswer had my new password, I could not log in and same issue if attempting to password reset. My iphone has e-mail access for now but who knows how long

I filled out the recovery form but the e-mail I got said "you have two-factor authenticaiton so we ignore these requests". Essentially it seems like I am screwed

EDIT: Resolved. Here is what I did thanks to a good friend and his ideas

1. Downloaded the Outlook app on my phone
2. Signed in using the outlook app on my phone with the password, along with a code to my recovery e-mail
3. Using that logic, I tried downloading the Outlook app for windows.
4. I also set up a windows PIN
5. With my password and PIN I was able to link my outlook windows app (downloaded from the Microsoft app store) to my Outlook.com e-mail
6. It worked!
7. Then using my password, PIN, and existence of the App I was able ot log into outlook.com on my home laptop. But Outlook.com now looks like the app...
8. The next day (i.e. today May 4) i was able to access Outlook.com on my work laptop! Just with a password!