Bunny Takes the Train from Montreal to New York
Bunny doesn’t like flying. If there is a sensible alternative to flying, she’ll do that instead. And even when there is no sensible reason not to fly, Bunny is quite capable of manufacturing a rationale to keep her on the ground.
Last summer, when Bunny needed to make her way from Montreal to New York, she didn’t have to resort to any manipulation. One-way flight tickets were quite expensive and she was not in a hurry, so the idea of train travel started to swiftly develop in Bunny’s fluffy little head.
Once Bunny had studied the possible transportation options and presented her case to Mr. Bunny, even he had to agree that taking the train was, indeed, the best solution.
The Adirondack
Amtrak operates one train per day between Montreal and New York - the Adirondack (as Amtrak 68 to New York and Amtrak 69 to Montreal). The distance between the cities is a little over 600 kilometres and the journey takes about 11 hours. Yeah, it is not one of those bullet trains…
The Adirondack travels through the Adirondack Mountains and the Hudson Valley. Bunny had not explored that area before so she was quite curious about the scenery as well as train travel in North America in general.
Montreal Train Station
Arriving at the Central Train Station in Montreal after 9am, Bunny first headed to a little information booth for Amtrak travellers. A nice fellow there informed her of the correct platform and the boarding time of the train.
Suitcases weighing 50 pounds or less are included in the Amtrak ticket price. Bunny is not known as a light packer so her suitcase turned out to be grossly overweight. Thankfully, this was not a problem as there was plenty of space on the train.
As the Bunnies were early, there was time for a little Starbucks breakfast (and Wi-Fi) at the station before departure.
Off We Go
The boarding took place at 10am sharp. The Bunnies had to show their tickets but there were no passport checks on the Canadian side. Then it was stairs down to platform 15 and onto the train. Bunny was advised that the last two cars would go to New York and that there was free seating.
Inside, Bunny was pleasantly surprised by how spacious the train was. The seats were big and there was a lot of legroom. Each seat had an electrical outlet so Bunny didn’t have to worry about losing power on her laptop either.
The train left on time and there were some service announcements but Bunny didn't make out what they said. She understood that it would be approximately an hour’s journey to the Canadian-US border.
For the first hour, the scenery was mostly rural. The Wi-Fi didn't work and this, apparently, was Canada’s fault. The train staff assured Bunny that the connection would appear once the train crossed over onto US soil.
Border Formalities
The train arrived at the border just before noon. As promised, the Amtrak Wi-Fi started working immediately. Bunny was ecstatic and happily plunged into her iPhone. Then a border official appeared. The poor chap must have missed his breakfast because he seemed to be in a foul mood.
The official did not appreciate the fact that Bunny could easily concentrate on her phone and talking to him at the same time. Oh well. There were some bad vibes exchanged between a little Bunny and the big (bad) border official.
Mr. Bunny, who believes in being overly friendly to assholes, tried to diffuse the situation. Bunny herself would rather be removed from the train than bow and scrape before unfriendly people who think themselves powerful.
After some questioning, Bunny was let into the country and Mr. Bunny sighed with relief. You don't mess with the border officials in this country, Mr. Bunny lectured Bunny afterwards. Whatever.
Bunny was not the only one having trouble with the border officials though. They seemed to quite enjoy giving passengers the third degree about their travel plans. Luckily, despite the questioning, no-one was denied access to the promised land in the end.
Customs officials then followed. They were more polite and Bunny had no trouble handing over her completed customs form (one per family that shares the same address) or answering their questions.
The border formalities took exactly an hour. Bunny was told that this was actually quite fast for Amtrak 68…
Onwards
After the train was on the move again, Bunny sent Mr. Bunny to check out the restaurant car. He came back with two vegan burgers and some soft drinks. The Bunnies enjoyed their lunch while the train made a stop at Plattsburgh.
After Plattsburgh, the tracks started following the shoreline of Lake Champlain. The scenery was very pretty. The sun was glistering on the lake and there were plenty of sailboats around. Bunny was glued to the window with her camera for the next hour, shooting away.
There were seven more hours to go until New York.
Top Tip
If you go to the last car, there is a small space between it and the end of the train where you have an unrestricted view of the scenery behind the train. It was a nice place to take pictures!
Then the train suddenly stopped in the middle of the woods for seemingly no reason. Nothing happened for the longest time and Bunny was getting a bit restless. Finally, there was an announcement that the train was waiting for its sister train, Amtrak 69, to pass before the journey could continue.
To calm her nerves, Bunny listened to some heavy metal on her headphones. For some reason, she has some issues about sitting still. As long as the train/bus/car/metro moves, she is fine. Otherwise, not so much.
Nice Scenery Continues
The next stop Bunny noticed was at Westport at 3:10pm. At that point, Bunny was starting to hate the air-con that had been blasting at full volume for more than five hours. It was, in fact, freezing cold inside the train. Outside, the scenery was getting more forest-y.
Bunny went to the restaurant car to get some coffee and chocolate chip cookies to warm up. There were no seats or tables available in the restaurant, so Bunny had to return to her seat and share the bounty with Mr. Bunny. Damn.
Stops soon followed each other: Port Henry, Ticonderoga, Whitehall… Bunny noticed that the scenery turned into a bit of marshland at this point. She also wondered about how fast all the stops were. Did anyone actually have time to jump out of the train during such short stops?
More places Bunny had never heard of followed: Fort Edward, Saratoga Springs, Schenectady, Albany-Rensselaer…
She did enjoy the scenery along the Hudson River, which had now appeared on the right-hand side of the train. The sun was starting the go down, creating a beautiful golden light, and the train passed under a number of scenic bridges.
Then there was Poughkeepsie (whoever came up with that name!) and Croton-on-Hudson, after which Bunny got to admire a full sunset over the River Hudson. Simply beautiful.
Top Tip
Dress warmly or bring layers. It is freezing cold inside the train because of the blasting air-con - just how Americans seem to like it.
Bunny also had plenty of time to study US-style train travel. In this sphere, the US has a lot to learn, she thought. A study tour to Germany or Japan might not be a bad idea… Things such as seat reservations or electronic boards displaying upcoming stations should be staples but are mysteriously missing in the US trains.
Arriving in NYC Grand Central
The Adirondack normally operates to and from the Penn Station in New York. During Bunny’s journey, there was some ongoing construction work and the train was directed to the Grand Central Station instead. Bunny had no complaints!
Arriving in New York’s iconic railway station at 9pm (an hour later than scheduled), quite fresh and relaxed, and just in time for the evening’s entertainment, Bunny was quite pleased with her train journey.
Conclusions
Bunny’s train ride from Montreal to New York was a bit slow, but comfortable. The price was right, the train was very spacious and it was an effortless way to travel. Quite surprisingly, even the scenery was very nice.
She would definitely go again if for no other reason than just to avoid the awful airports in New York.
