Passenger Trains > Amtrak Trip to Schenectady on 8/1/20

For the first time since the pandemic, I decided to take an Amtrak ride and went from New York City to Schenectady and back. I took 281 heading north and coming back, I took 64. It was a great trip. Here are the pictures from my trip up on 281.

-MNR 16 year old M7s and 30 something older M3s in Croton Yard.

-MNR Shoreliner Cab Cars in Poughkeepsie in the yard there. I think that the cab car on the left used to operate in West of Hudson service.

-Albany-Rennsalaer Station-looking north. The longer extensions of the high level plaforms are a benefit.

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-Amtrak Train # 281 at ALB with Phase 3 NYDOT P32AC-DM # 715 in the lead

-The NY State Seal on the 715 at ALB

-Another Amtrak train in Rensallaer Yard as viewed from Train # 281 with the Albany Skyline in the background

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-Renssalaer Yard as seen from Amtrak Train # 281

-rounding the very sharp curve on 281 as we are about to cross Livingston Avenue bridge

-crossing the Livingston Avenue Bridge over the Hudson River with Downtown Albany in the middle of the shot

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All pictures are of Amtrak Train # 281 departing Schenectady Station heading to Niagara Falls, NY

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-Pictures 1 and 2 show Amtrak's Lake Shore Limited Train # 48 crossing the Mohawk River just before arriving into Schenectady Station. Two P42s are on the head end and on the rear are two private cars-Northern Pacific and the Babbling Brook. I took these pictures from Riverside Park in Schenectady.

-Picture 3 shows the Ex-Water Level Route Mohawk River Bridge

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-View from along Rt. 5 at a park in Schenectady, we can see Amtrak Train # 283 crossing the Mohawk River after having just departed Schenectady Station

-The brand new station building in Schenectady-I was very pleased with what I saw here. It's a really nice building.

-View of the tracks at Schenectady Station-looking west

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-View from Schenectady Station platform-looking toward Albany and NYC

-Amtrak Train # 64 arriving into Schenectady Station behind P32AC-DM # 711

-Rear view of Amtrak Train # 64 stopped at Schenectady Station

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-Amtrak Train # 64 stopped at Schenectady Station-I took this back to NYC.

-Amtrak Train # 64 stopped at ALB and we were here for a while, thanks to padding in the schedule which caused us to run ahead of schedule.

-Amtrak Lake Shore Limited Train # 49 stopped at ALB.

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-Interestingly P42 # 145 is in the lashup of power, except that it's not leading 49.

-Amtrak Train # 64 at ALB

-Amtrak Train # 49 with P42 # 125 and 145 on the head end

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Lots of private cars at the Albany-Rensellaer Station

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Two NP dome cars in one city in 2020 has to be an unusual occurrence.  

sure is but will be normal now

What's the occasion for all the PV's in Albany?  The Convention train isn't until next month. But good to see that Amtrak is allowing interchange of cars there. The second NP dome looks to be a former dome coach. Perhaps formerly "The Observatory?" 

andersonb109 Wrote:
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> What's the occasion for all the PV's in Albany? 
> The Convention train isn't until next month. But
> good to see that Amtrak is allowing interchange of
> cars there. The second NP dome looks to be a
> former dome coach. Perhaps formerly "The
> Observatory?" 

Four of them are owned by one guy who lives "downriver" a piece, so they are not far from his home base.

The ex-NP dome coach is the former 549, ex-Amtrak 9476, the one "57 Chevy" of the NP dome coaches, having been built in1957 as a protection car for the NCL. Of note, this car was not part of Amtrak's Heritage Fleet conversions.

Great trip and photos....I miss the FL 9's.

Posted from Android

Erierail Wrote:
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> Great trip and photos....I miss the FL 9's.
>
> Posted from Android

Thanks! I miss the FL9s too. Sadly, I never got to ride behind an Amtrak FL9, even though I was born in 1984. I have ridden behind FL9s on MNR trains. Time flies too fast. Before we know it, the successors of the FL9s, the P32AC-DMs, will be retired. They have been around for a pretty long time.

Great trip and photos....I miss the FL 9's.

Posted from Android

Schenectady has come a long way since the terrible Penn Central days when the station was closed.
BTW did you walk to Riverside Park?

Posted from Android

Yes I did walk to Riverside Park and was greeted by Amtrak Train # 48 which I got a picture of. Schenectady has come back-I explored Downtown, the Stockade District, Riverfront Park, and this park along Rt. 5. Yes, there are still many questionable areas of Schenectady but I stayed away from them. The Amtrak Station building itself is very nice-brand new.