Maple Leaf or Adirondack?

I will be in Eastern Canada this spring, and will be going down to New York to fly home. I can either take the Maple Leaf or Adirondack, and I'd like to know which one is more scenic. Any thoughts?

Adirondack, no iffs ands or buts.

Adirondack.........hands down!!!!!

Adirondack! All the way. You can pretend D&H PA's are pulling you through the mountains.

The Maple Leaf, hoever will take you over the NYC main, through the Hudson Valley, through the Mohawk Valley, then through the industrial cities of Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo, then on to Niagara Falls and Toronto.

Adirondack without a doubt!

Thanks for all the input - I think I know what train I will be taking

One other question - is the Adirondack the same train as "The Montrealer"? An old college friend has sworn by that train, although I have never heard of it. if so, why the name change?

Yes, Adirondack is a MUST, I agree with all the other posters here.

One other question - is the Adirondack the same train as "The Montrealer"? An old college friend has sworn by that train, although I have never heard of it. if so, why the name change?

No, it actually wasn't. The Montrealer was a totally different train which started at Washington, DC Union Station, and went up the NEC till New Haven, and then up through Hartfourd, CT and then Springfield MA, till a shortcut in Palmer, MA (where it changes ends and makes the reverse move) and then through Amherst, MA and White River Jct, VT, Burlington, VT and St. Albans before going into the Canadian Border and to Montreal.

Then, in 1995 the Montrealer that I just described to you was discontinued and replaced with the Vermonter which goes the same way pretty much, but only to St. Albans VT, because the Canadian National or Amtrak didn't want to pay for funding to continue the Montrealer, so that's why this train here is now known as the Vermonter. And the Adirondack is now the only way to Railroad to Montreal from New York by Amtrak.

Well, if you want railroad action, you need to ride The Maple Leaf, train
no. 64 but if you want scenery, The Adirondack is probably the most
scenic train ride east of the Rocky Mountains.
Sit on the left side of the train leaving Montreal and move to the right side
after you get south of Whitehall if you can.
I am sure that you will ENJOY THE RIDE.
Noel Weaver

updrumcorpsguy wrote:Thanks for all the input - I think I know what train I will be taking

One other question - is the Adirondack the same train as "The Montrealer"? An old college friend has sworn by that train, although I have never heard of it. if so, why the name change?

The Adirondack was originally known as the "Montreal Limited/Laurentian" during the NYC-PC/D&H/CP days.

If I may clarify, Mr. CNJ, the Laurentian was the daylight train on roundly the same schedule as the Adirondack. The Montreal Limited was the overnight train on the route.

Both served GCT in NY and Gare Windsor in Montreal.

A 1959 NYC Form 1001 (PTT) shows seven Sleeping cars in the Limited's consist. The Laurentian offered an NYC Parlor Obs - quite the venue from which to view Lake Champlain during Autumn.

Robert Paniagua wrote:Then, in 1995 the Montrealer that I just described to you was discontinued and replaced with the Vermonter which goes the same way pretty much, but only to St. Albans VT, because the Canadian National or Amtrak didn't want to pay for funding to continue the Montrealer, so that's why this train here is now known as the Vermonter. And the Adirondack is now the only way to Railroad to Montreal from New York by Amtrak.

I took it in July 2000 from Montreal where it started as a bus from Gare Centrale to St Albans. However, it has been retimed to start earlier from St Albans and the connection is no longer possible.

I took it as far as Hartford, and it was a very pleasant trip.

Gilbert B Norman wrote:If I may clarify, Mr. CNJ, the Laurentian was the daylight train on roundly the same schedule as the Adirondack. The Montreal Limited was the overnight train on the route.

Quite correct you are Mr. Norman.

Personally, I would like to see a day and night running of the Adirondack service...much like its predecessor.

One point everyone here seems to have skipped is that the Adirondack and the Maple Leaf do not serve the same end points in Canada. The first serves Montreal and the second serves Toronto.

There are corridor trains between the two cities, but if departing from Montreal, one would probably have to take the overnight Rennaissance Fleet equipped Enterprise to Toronto the previous evening or an early corridor train depending on ithe Maple Leaf's departure from Toronto. (I know it passes through the Rochester, NY area during the mid-afternoon hours.)

Have a good time regardless of what you do.

"Personally, I would like to see a day and night running of the Adirondack service...much like its predecessor."

I agree an overnight run to Montreal would be nice, but it would probably gain more ridership if it was an overnight run of the Vermonter's route, as this train traverses the NEC markets (perhaps even the full length to Boston and then double back by traversing the "inland route" to Palmer, Mass., then north through Vermont). Leave DC at 4 p.m.; depart NYC 7:30 p.m.; arrive Boston 11:45 p.m.; arrive Montreal early morning.

It used to be nice departing NYP late Friday night and arriving Saturday morning in northern Vermont - for two full weekend days - and then departing Sunday night for the trip back to NYP. The Ethan Allen Express' Friday and Sunday schedules kinda help fill this void, but it's not the same.....

I don't know why they dropped the Montrealer. The times I took it, it seemed to be crowded. The train was pretty slow, and probably would be slower today, since it has to take the P&W, but that didn't matter so much because it was an overnight run. If it ran today it would probably leave in the late afternoon. In terms of end-to-end time, and maybe of equipment utilization, the D&H might be cheaper for Amtrak. Although the Montrealer went through bigger towns, it tended to go through them at ungodly times.