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The Boston Traveler, Part I

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Even though I have been writing this column for a year, I have yet to write a column about Boston. Although I live in Maine, Boston is my city of departure whenever I take Amtrak, so I suppose I just take it for granted, and don't feel as if I'm visiting when I go there.

However, I recently had occasion to spend an extended period of time in the Amtrak Metropolitan Lounge at Boston's South Station (see next week's column) and was inspired to finally write the Boston column, three weeks worth.

In this week's column, I will write about some practical matters pertaining to traveling from Boston, next week's column will be about the Amtrak Service Guarantee (yes, it's for real), and in two weeks I will write about things to do in Boston and how to get around the city.

Boston, Massachusetts, is the origination point for the Lake Shore Limited, which terminates in Chicago, and for the Acela Express and Regional lines, which terminate in Washington D.C. I have already written about the Acela Express and will provide a fuller update soon. In short, Amtrak is now running five Expresses daily, up from one at the time I last wrote, the reviews are fabulous and ridership is apparently 50% more than predicted. Go Acela!

I recently took the Lake Shore Limited round-trip to Chicago, where I continued on to San Francisco, and would like to pass along a few pointers. The Lake Shore from Boston is a small train, with one sleeping car, usually two coach cars and a snack bar. At Albany, the train meets up with the Lake Shore Limited from New York City, and the Boston sleeping car and coach cars are detached from their engine and attached to the back of the New York train.

This results in certain disadvantages for the Boston travelers. First, those in the sleepers, as I was, are now in the last car of the train, and must walk through the two Boston coaches, and typically five New York coaches to get to the snack bar, and then one more car to get to the dining car. That is a very long walk.

Secondly, there is no dining car on the Boston to Albany leg of the trip, so even those in the sleepers must still purchase food in the snack bar if they are hungry. Lastly, on the return trip, the full train stops in Albany, and within 15 minutes, the New York train has left. The Boston train, however, which needs to be hooked up to a new engine, is typically delayed about 45 minutes.