Amtrak's ADIRONDACK

Done the trip for 12 plus years. Rode in heritage coaches AM1s AM2s F40s P40s P32ACDM P42s. One thing stays the same the quality of the ride, it sucks. Not the equipments fault its the DH/CP railroad. CN isnt that bad once you cross the boarder. As an old timer once told me about the D&H ice and snow holds the road together in the summer its smooth as a dirt road.

Jishnu wrote:The Great Dome will run as follows this year during fall:

Adirondack:
Northbound Mo Th Sa 15SEP-22OCT
Southbound Tu Fr Su 16SEP-23OCT

If you are a trackside observer on Saturday October 8, the northbound Adirondack (train 69) will provide a "triple bonus" between Rensellaer and Montreal - the great dome lounge car on the head end and private cars MOUNT VERNON and NEW YORK CENTRAL 3 on the rear end.

I've ridden the Adirondack more than a few times between August 1974 and summer 2009. The last 9 years have been in our private car MOUNT VERNON, sitting in comfortably upholstered armchairs, riding on well maintained outside swing hanger trucks, which smooth out many of the problems with the track. I know the car rides much better than an Amfleet car on Pioneer III Itrucks.

I think I recall a few rough spots where we lurched or swayed or bottomed out, but I think the great scenery along Lake Champlain has usually distracted me the quality of CP (former D&H) track.

As for the quality of the onboard service provided to Adirondack passengers, I don't know what it is like during the past few years, but I do know that Amtrak service delivery is inconsistent, with a wide variation in service quality, depending on what crew is working and their overall mood on any given day. That is one reason why I am a private car owner.

This train has the potential for being the "Coast Starlight" of the East, but in a daytime version if Amtrak put some effort into its service and equipment. It can't operate with Superliners, but it could operate with some sort of descent single level "Lounge/Cafe Car" particularly for this train - like it did with the refurbished Heritage cars "once upon a time." The "Great Dome" is great for this route when it comes around for two month of service every other day etc.

jp1822 wrote:This train has the potential for being the "Coast Starlight" of the East, but in a daytime version if Amtrak put some effort into its service and equipment. It can't operate with Superliners, but it could operate with some sort of descent single level "Lounge/Cafe Car" particularly for this train - like it did with the refurbished Heritage cars "once upon a time." The "Great Dome" is great for this route when it comes around for two month of service every other day etc.

I travelled on it about 15 years ago. I liked the big windows, useful because it is a very scenic route. I think the more modern cars would be less interesting. I do remember that the air conditioning was a problem. I only discovered late in the journey that other cars were cooler than the one I was in.

Maybe, if the ACES service ceases this winter, NY State could acquire those cars and use them on the Adirondack. Nice large windows, and food service stations in several cars. But I trust that if CBP and CBSA have anything to say about it, it is a non starter. Too many places to hide those little terrorists.

Just got on the 12:05 SB to NYP today and on every seat was a little flyer advertising the Vintage Dome Car.

Really need to figure to finagle a ride.

Following is a link to an article in the Times-Union about the dome car on the Adirondack, it tells the story.

http://blog.timesunion.com/business/amt ... day/33420/

Noel Weaver

The Great Dome running on #69 today, video by Walt Favro.

http://www.youtube.com/user/walfav

Really is a shame Amtrak only has the one Dome. It would be nice to have a couple for uses like this.

Well, its a bummer it isn't running on Wednesdays as that's when I'm going up, but I'm coming back on a Tuesday so hopefully it will be less crowded coming down.

Great info everyone!

It was nice when they used the Heritage cars, until about the last 6-7 years. The track has improved. There are a few areas which still have jointed rail. The worst area is between Smith Basin and the south end of Whitehall siding. A few years ago there was still bad jointed rail between about MP44 and Smith Basin. They did a nice job in that area, and the track rides well.
It seems like they spend every summer surfacing the track, but every winter it gets beat up. The fact that the line runs through lots of wetlands seems to make the roadbed not hold true. The numerous curves are another source of trouble.

Engineer Spike wrote:It was nice when they used the Heritage cars, until about the last 6-7 years. The track has improved. There are a few areas which still have jointed rail. The worst area is between Smith Basin and the south end of Whitehall siding. A few years ago there was still bad jointed rail between about MP44 and Smith Basin. They did a nice job in that area, and the track rides well.
It seems like they spend every summer surfacing the track, but every winter it gets beat up. The fact that the line runs through lots of wetlands seems to make the roadbed not hold true. The numerous curves are another source of trouble.

Excellent observations. The line along the Champlain Canal does indeed run on some very poorly drained soil and has a number of wetlands. In earlier days the railroad might have tried to drain the wetlands and add more ballast. Now, wetlands are a protected environmental resource.

Adding ballast is certainly an option. So is using longer ties. Using 10-foot long ties spreads the load a little further. Improving the drainage is more expensive, but beats adding ballast year after year after year. Maintenance of existing ditches and culverts is helpful, but to try to change the drainage requires difficult approvals from the Army Corps of Engineers and other regulatory agencies.

Fortunately, much of that expense is being borne by the Champlain Hudson Power Express. The CHPExpress project has just completed an identification of all the wetlands along the Champlain Canal south of Whitehall. They have looked specifically at the railroad right-of-way because that is where they want to bury their power cables. The transmission company is now preparing an Environmental Impact Statement and if the project goes through they will be getting all of the necessary permits.

If I were representing the Canadian Pacific Railway, I would ask the transmission company to bury their cables on the upslope side of the tracks. The cables are typically enclosed in plastic pipes and buried 5 to 8 feet deep. The plastic pipes are laid on a layer of gravel at the bottom of the trench. This would tend to intercept the groundwater moving down from the hills before it got beneath the tracks. With a few key pipes to drain the water in the gravel layer out to the canal, the drainage problem is improved at very little cost to the railroad. Instead, the cost is borne by the electric customers in New York City who need power from Quebec.

Amtrak Adirondack rolling along Lake Champlain at Port Henry yesterday.


http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=376677


Frank

Amtrak #68 along Lake Champlain yesterday.


http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=377290