So I’m thinking of going to Montreal this summer in August by train; does anyone have any experience or advice either with the Adirondack or Amtrak in general?
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I’ve taken Amtrak from Chicago to Detroit and then my friend picked me up to take me across the border. I quite enjoy Amtrak, but just don’t expect European type trains or speed.
I don’t know if this is still true but you should probably check.
There was a section of the route which only had a single rail line. That meant that when a train was traveling southbound on the line, no trains could travel northbound until it had reached a point where there was a double line. (The reverse was, obviously, also true.) The result was that sometimes you could end up sitting in a non-moving train for a couple of hours.
They’re much more comfortable to ride than commercial airplanes. (Good thing, since you’ll be on them considerably longer). Far less security bullshit (a train can be hijacked but you can’t then aim it at a target that the train tracks don’t already go to, and it would be a lot harder to weaponize).
It may not be an issue between NYC and Montreal, but in general freight trains will sometimes commandeer the track and the passenger train is stuck on a siding to wait. This effect can snowball: if your train is running late, your train’s claim to the track is more attenuated than if it were running on-time. (I think; that’s the impression I get)
The food in the dining car is decent, not "fancy restaurant"calibre but “family restaurant” quality, with a fair depth of choice for each meal including vegetarian and low-fat options. They’ve long since switched to plastic plates and the entire experience isn’t as elegant as it once was. It’s pricey compared to similar food in a shopping mall but the markup is not as egregious as food in a lot of other places where they know you can’t really take your business elsewhere.
People on the train interact more, get into conversations, etc; there’s a lounge car where you can get a beer and some snacks, and people will often be playing cards or chess or reading in there instead of staying planted in their seats; if you like being social on trips the lounge car is a good place for it.
There’s often some pretty scenery, although there are also stretches where the train tracks go through the armpit parts of small towns or urban-industrial wastelands.
I recommend taking a book, a pillow, and a lightweight blanket.
Funny timing: I was just looking at the Adirondack route today for other reasons (meeting some folks in northern VT and one of them needs to get to Montreal afterward). It looks like it would be a lovely route during the autumn.
You’ll need the usual paperwork to get across the border; I assume a passport card would suffice but check on that; otherwise you’d need a regular passport. And there might be delays due to customs - the Amtrak page specifically says that.
EmilyG has taken this route, I believe; if she notices this, she might have some advice.
I have taken this train many times, at least one RT a year since whenever it started (maybe around 2000–before that there was the Montrealer that went from DC to Montreal through New England).
Well, I continue to take it. It is painfully slow, since the track is old. Above Albany it is single track and you do sometimes have to wait for the train in the other direction of for a freight train, but I don’t think I ever waited more than about 15 minutes (except one time when the engine mysteriously stopped and would not restart. They were about to send buses to take us to Albany when the Albany controller suggested rebooting their computer. The engine started right up.) There is no dining car, just a snack bar. You can get drinks and sandwiches or the like. I always bring food to eat. Part of the snack car is also a club car. I’ve never used it, but it looks comfortable. The trip is scheduled for 11 hours and is usually within a few minutes of the scheduled time. They used to schedule it for 10 hours and it was always about an hour late. The stop at the border is usually an hour and anyone but an American or Canadian needs a visa and has to go to the club car to get it. They keep talking about putting a US customs booth in the Montreal train station (Central Station) but have make no move to actually do so. I’m not sure it would help. They have such a thing in Vancouver on the train to Seattle and still insist on stopping at the border and getting on the train and questioning everybody one more time.
When I take a train in Europe, Japan, some other places, it’s for transportation.
When I take Amtrak it’s for a land cruise. I find that looking at it that way–like it’s a long, relaxing cruise at sea–makes thing more bearable.
Many years ago we rented a cottage on a beautiful shore of Lake Champlain. Occasionally a train would run on the track halfway up an adjacent mountain. Every time it did, I said to myself “Damn, I got to take the train to Montreal sometime.”
It would be worth it just for that lake view.
The view is great once you get out of NYC.
The delay at the border is anywhere from 1 to 3 hours, depending on how many clueless people are on the train.
If you’re only coming up for a weekend it’s not worth it: fly and you’ll spend about half as much time dealing with travel.
Well that’s annoying. Sounds like on the Vancouver train, they don’t have what they consider satisfactory controls on who actually gets on the train itself once they’ve passed Customs.
There are customs facilities in a number of airports, where you clear US customs on the Canadian side, and I gather those work well enough; we’ve picked up students from Quebec, at local airports, and they don’t have anything to do at this end except fetch their luggage from a carousel.
I wonder if the train delays are part of the same “keeping us Murricans SAFE” program that has bus travellers being hassled hundreds of miles from a coast (google “bus customs passengers” or the like).
In Vancouver you cannot get on the train without passing through the customs area. It does not stop again until the border stop. But apparently, you see only customs, not immigration, although they certainly do scrutinize your passport closely. At the border you see border control officials, not customs. Although once I was asked if I had any drugs with me. I lied because he had told the previous seat that NO drugs at all were allowed to cross the border. He was an idiot, but an idiot with power.
I’ve gone through the airport border control many times and that works smoothly; you land at the domestic arrivals terminal and that’s it. But when they implemented the preclearance in the Vancouver train station, they really messed it up.
Taken the Adirondack a few times. It’s fine. It’s long. You stop a while at the border. The train moves pretty slow in upstate NY. In southern Quebec, it goes through some residential areas so again you’re not moving at 70 mph which just adds to travel time. Cell phone service is pretty weak long parts of the trip, you may want to have your movies or whatever already downloaded.
Last time I took it, which was a return, there was pretty limited food in the cafe car. Not like a limited menu, but they ran out of almost everything. So I was glad that I packed some snacks and booze in Montreal.
I was on this train back in 2014. As it was nearing Plattsburgh, NY, the train hit a tree that had fallen onto the tracks, which fucked up the locomotive and required that the train be stopped until they could fix the problem. We waited SIX HOURS. Finally they said, “sorry, people, we’re not gonna be able to fix this tonight, so we’ve called a bus to come pick you up and take you the rest of the way to Montreal.” The other passengers were incensed and a wave of angry imprecations filled the car. We waited two more hours before the conductor informed us that THE BUS HAD BROKEN DOWN. At that point I thought there was going to be a fucking riot in that train. Passengers were yelling, hectoring the conductor as if there was anything he, personally, could do about it…I felt sorry for the guy, he was soldiering on admirably despite the admittedly outrageous conditions.
They let us get off the train and walk around the Plattsburgh station to smoke, stretch, and generally bitch about the situation, until the bus arrived. The conductor, exhausted and demoralized, sat down on a bench in another room. I had my Nikon with me and I grabbed this shot of him which to this day is one of my most memorable pictures from my considerable travels around North America.
All told - a frustrating experience, but a great story.
Update; I’m plan on taking the train up on 8/11 and returning on 8/19. Spending a night in NYC is unavoidable so I need to find someplace cheap, but clean as close to Penn Station as I can. Also it looks like unless the Adirondack somehow arrives early in Montreal I’ll miss the last train of the day to Quebec City, but could take an Orleans Express bus and arrive really late. I want to spend about a day or 2 in Quebec City; I was going to do that at the end of my trip, but the Montreal Pride parade is on 8/18. Thanks everyone!
I once woke up in downtown Montreal, walked outside and found myself quite unexpectedly in the middle of that Pride parade. I hung around for a few hours, just observing. It looks like a blast - enjoy it. You should also hit up the Rue de Ste. Catherine area at night.
I’m not sure what you consider cheap, but generally “cheap” and “Midtown Manhattan” aren’t two things that go together. Even staying at the YMCA (you can actually still do that in New York) runs over $100 per night, and that’s a bit farther away from Penn Station. Although looking around Google Maps, the Hotel Pennsylvania is actually surprisingly cheap, as low as $86 some nights, and is right across the street from Penn Station. But their rating on TripAdvisor isn’t so good, so they’re probably cheap for a reason. (Actually that price might be some sort of last minute Priceline type deal, it looks like their rates are more typically in the $160-200 range). I once stayed a place called The Wolcott, which was good but not fancy, about two blocks from Penn Station, which was somewhere in the $180/night range, which is not too bad for a place like that in that area. I suppose that would be my recommendation since it’s the only place there where I’ve actually stayed.
If you’re willing to do Priceline’s “name your own price” you can sometimes get a last-minute deal on a decent place not too far. The closest neighborhoods are Chelsea and Times Square, on the Priceline pages.
AVOID THE “HOTEL PENNSYLVANIA”. It’s huge, right near Penn Station, cheap, and has a horrible reputation for cleanliness. Seriously, do NOT get a room there. I’ve stayed at a Fairfield Inn on 28th, a Courtyard by Marriott on 30th, and a Cambria (also on 28th I think), all are fine; there are quite a few new hotels near there, actually.
Chelsea will be closer than Times Square, walking-wise. It’s possible you might wind up with something further south than the immediate Penn Station neighborhood, that would still qualify as Chelsea. If you wind up near Times Square, much experience has shown me that once I pick my luggage up at the hotel in the afternoon (after spending the day tramping around the city), it is faster to walk to Penn Station than attempt a cab.
AirBNB is always an option, ditto hostels, though I don’t know of any in that neighborhood. If you get a place, make sure you’re in the right borough… my son went to NYC and booked a room in a hostel… went to that address in Manhattan, and found out that he should have gone to a similar address in Brooklyn or something :D.
But bear in mind, anything in NYC is not going to be “cheap” by any reasonable standards. If you get by for less than 150 a night you’re getting a steal.
Thanks, a hostel to doable for a night. I’m wondering if I should just give up on getting from NYC to Quebec City in one day and just spend the night in Montreal, go to Quebec City the next morning, and then return to Montreal after 2 day for the rest of my trip. And I plan on Airbnb for most or all of my accommodation.
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Update; I’m staying in a Yotel in Manhattan Friday night to get the train Saturday morning, taking an Orleans Express bus to Quebec City Saturday night (since the Adirondack arrives after the last Via Rail train to Quebec City), spending Sunday & Monday in Quebec City, taking the evening train to Montreal on Monday, and taking the train back to NYC the following Monday. That gives me six full days in Montreal. I booked an actual bed & breakfast on Airbnb in Old Quebec near Gare du Palais and a studio apartment near Papineau in Ville-Marie.
My wife and I stayed in a Yotel at London’s Heathrow airport. Tiny, but quite pleasant. Basically it’s about the same size as a deluxe train roomette, with a much more roomy shower and bathroom. How much is it running you?