Trip Report - Downeaster

4/29/04 - I took the Amtrak Downeaster from Haverhill Ma to Boston MA for an interview at MBCR. I had an intresting time.

I arrived early at the station knowing that I will have the oppritunity to photograph an MBTA train (inbound and outbound) and the northbound and southbound downeasters. The Outbound MBTA train arrives just on time and I got some nice shots of it.



[Outbound MBTA train crossing over Merrimack into Haverhill Station]

When the MBTA train pulled into the inbound platform, I got to chat with the crew. The crew on that MBTA train was the same MBTA crew I talked to last week at the station when I went to take the MBCR pre-employment test. They asked when my interview was.. I told them that was where I was going. They said good luck.

After the inbound departed, I went over to the outbound platform to photograph the Northbound Downeaster.


[Northbound Downeaster]

Then I went to the high platform on the inbound side to wait for my train. The train was 10 mintues late.


[Southbound Downeaster]

The train was crowded. There were not enough seats for the passengers. There were was a large group of sixth graders from Maine going to the New England Aquarium and a lot Red Sox fans going to the game. Because of this, many passengers had to stand or find other places to sit. There was a little girl that rode in the train-phone booth, passengers sitting on the floor in the handycap areas, even passengers riding in the broom closets and the entranceways to the cars (is that even legal?)

I tried to find a place to safely stow my laptop bag when a lady with several little girls allowed me to put my bag down on the floor in front of her. I did this and stood the 1 hour trip into boston. I spent the time chit chatting with the kids and parents and showing them my photo collection on my Palm PDA (trains and pictures of kids I took last summer at bible camp)

The crew on the train was the same I chat with last week when I took the same train down to Boston for the test. They asked if I got the interview and I said thats where I was headed.

I enjoyed the trip. Even though some of the passengers were upset over the lack of seats, I don't let such things bother me. There is no point in complaining and griping to the crew about the situation when there is nothing they can do about it.


[this guy has quick reflexes, he grabbed a little boy just as he started to fall between the car and the platform]

-- Return trip --

The train was just as packed. There were drunk passengers from the game and very grumpy passengers who couldn't have a seat. This one guy got aggressive towards the conductor and the conductor reminded the passenger that he could be dropped off at the next station.. he didn't have to go to Porland. I thought that was a bit rude, but hey, the passenger seemed to be fuming over something that in all realality, wasn't a big issue.

I had to laugh at the crews unnouncement about the sitting tags.. They announced that the conductors would be collecting tickets and issueing seating tags. Then they said if you don't have a seat, they'll just give you a seating tag anyway. Later the chearful conductor came to collect my ticket. He handed me my tag and I said "I'll just tape this to my forehead" since I didn't have a seat.

Approaching Haverhill, we stopped. I was standing by the conductor and in front of a lot of anxious commuters (btw, this triain was more crowded because it had the same batch of people from the previous train, + the commuters). I asked why we stopped and he said there was an MBTA train ahead of us, he pocked his head out the door, and said and the signal is red. I asked if I could look, he said go ahead, I look, the signal was now on approach, I told the conductor. He checked and was suprised to see I was right. the train began to move and we crossed over the Merrimak. The conductor said "this is where we drop off passengers who don't have a ticket. I said "I can swim". As we are pulling into the platform, the conductor asks the gather crowd what do they need to do after leaving the train. Everyone said "say thank you". I said the correct answer, "look for the other train on the inbound track before crossing." A lot of people got off at Haverhill. Mabey the annoyed guy finally got a seat.


["Oh boy, a photo op!" said the conductor when I got my camera out.]


[My train pulling out of Haverhill heading for Portland]

Excellent report!

Great report man! I think the downeaster crews are always the same.

I'm dyin to take a trip on this line sometime.

is train lenght restricted by platform lenght , or does Amtrak no t have the cars to add when they know it will be busy ? . i.e when theres a game on ?

The "Downeaster" service, like a lot of Amtrak routes, runs with fixed consists and no attempt is made to increase train length on peak travel days. The situation is further complicated by the fact that the trains utilize 60-seat long distance Amfleet coaches rather than the 84-seat corridor version used on NEC trains out of South Station, even though the run is less than three hours. That's great in terms of passenger comfort, but it means fewer seats on peak days. The fact that the trains have just become unreserved will probably exacerbate this situation.

Limited funding is an issue, of course.

Oh, I wish Amtrak were better funded. Mabey that would be what I will ask Santa for Christmas this year.

Great report!

... though, I am dismayed that the 'Downeaster' locomotives look very dirty. Do they get washed frequently?

The Downeaster consists are what they are (i.e. car counts, number of seats per car, etc.) because that's what the state of Maine contracted for.

Negotiations are underway to adjust the consists to provide greater capacity but it's ultimately a contract issue between Amtrak and NNEPRA (State of Maine).

Unfortunately, the Maine Authority and AMTRAK Portland have no extra cars to add as needed. It would be grand if AMTRAK would provide two extra cars for the Portland yard, but the sorry state-of-affairs the national railroad finds itself in -- more than 70 damaged cars awaiting money for repairs -- means that "flexibility" is near zero.

In addition, Maine attempts to keep expenses without bounds...extra cars in the consist cost them extra money. My understanding is that an extra car had been running $30,000 a month.

One source said that during that busy week, more than a hundred people were being turned away each day. Instead of shooting for a May 15th-30th start for the 5th car, the Maine Authority may need to back up their request to mid-April. Hopefully, AMTRAK will be able to accomodate them.

Great photos of the crews on the platform. We should get that engine scrubbed.

There is extra information on the Downeaster at www.downeastriders.us (run my passengers).

With increased ridership, I think they should seriously consider adding at least one more coach to the train. One of these days I will take the train up to Portland. I have yet had the chance to do that.

BTW, notice how fuzzy my photos are. My digi is reaching the end of its life. Time to get a new one.

I have to add my two cents, I always enjoy Downeaster discussions. I lived in Maine for three years, Freeport to be exact. I was there when Amtrak finally started up service, and I had the chance to ride the train from Portland - Boston & return. I couldn't agree more with the comments regarding being able to add another car, or even two for that matter. I just scratch my head at some of the decisions that have been made regarding the marketing of the train. There are a few key points in marketing train travel versus the bus, which also happens to leave from the Downeaster station.
In a nutshell:
A) Trains are more comfortable than buses
B) Trains travel on a fixed ROW that isn't subject to the congestion of auto travel (Although Rail congestion is always a possibility, but much less likely is trains are properly spaced, etc.)
C) Trains should be more effective as ridership grows, because you can add additional capacity (i.e., more coaches) to meet increasing demand that you can't with a bus.

The fact that they still have not yet been able to a) add more coaches to meet demand and b) get that train going faster is beyond me. What a great way to promote your service by turing away customers or making them stand for the 2 hour 45 minute ride because you can't excerise one of the hallmarks of using rail versus a bus or plane. Granted, Guilford is acting exceeding annoying with the whole 59 vs. 79 mph battle, but the real time on the train is lost once you enter MBTA territory. I hope in the future that the Downeaster is extremely successful and the state expands rail north into Freeport-Brunswick but if they can't get some things straight (e.g. Tickets are more expensive than the bus and the bus is currently much faster than the train) I'm not sure about the long term success of the Downeaster. I hope I am proved wrong.

Brooks

This morning, May 3, the early train to Boston had a fifth car added. Not sure if this is permanent, but it's welcome.

NNEPRA (State of Maine) controls the promotion and advertising of the Downeaster very tightly. In fact, they oftentimes bow out of participating in Amtrak promotions because they'd rather run their own.

Many times, NNEPRA initiates special promotions and advertising without even alerting Amtrak. Then when someone calls 1-800-USA-RAIL the poor Amtrak agent doesn't even have the information the caller is looking for!

As far as what gets promoted - the train or the bus - NNEPRA has adopted a transit system-like attitude on the point. They don't really have a strong preference one way or the other, so long as they are getting cars off the roads and getting folks to ride public transit. They are making a concerted effort to present an integrated and coordinated service utilizing their fully-sponsored Downeaster trains and the bus service provided by a private operator. Admittedly, the frequency of Downeaster departures is rather few, so including the Concord Trailways buses in the mix is an inexpensive and expediant means to those ends.

The equipment shortage is a mystery to me, too. For decades, we have seen shortages of equipment on the Empire Corridor. The fixed consists on the Turbos always caused problems. Then, when the Turbos were retired, the Amfleet consists have often proven to short.

I am dissapointed to hear that the Downeaster suffers from similar problems. I, too, hope that Amtrak and Maine work out a better arrangment.