Riding the Rails: Montreal to New York City
August 18, 2013 -- After spending time in the wonderful cities of Montreal, Quebec City and Ottawa it was time to head back to the States. So I said au revior to Quebec, Canada and hopped aboard the Amtrak Adirondack train heading south from Montreal for the eleven hour journey to New York Penn Station.
A big difference between the trip north to Montreal and this return trip south was that the Great Dome Car was available until the engine change in Albany when the observation car was removed. With wrap-around windows, the Great Dome Car offers spectacular views of the Quebec and New York State countryside passing by. It was particularly stunning seeing Lake Champlain spread across the landscape.
While I was riding in the Great Dome Car, I struck up a conversation with an Orthodox Jewish man who was returning to New York with his family and explained to me that Canada was too socialistic for him and that he liked that America was more capitalistic. I could have gotten into an argument about why it is actually good that Canada is more socialistic and bad that America is too capitalistic, but it wasn't the right time or place.
I also got into a good conversation with a man named Phil from Connecticut who was riding the rails with his family -- his kids, parents, wife and sister. He said he had been wanting to take the Adirondack ride for a long time and spent two days in Montreal. He took a lot of pictures as did I.
We passed through the same scenic countryside and small towns as on the way up to Canada. As we neared New York City the sun was setting across the Hudson River and by the time we rolled through the Big Apple and into Penn Station it was nightfall.
After arriving at Penn Station, I waited a few hours for another train that would take me back to my final destination of Washington, D.C. As I write this blog post many months later, I'm still in a Montreal state of mind. Thank you Canada for an amazing trip! I look forward to returning to your great nation soon.
Here are photos of the train trip from Montreal to NYC:
Here is video riding the rails from Montreal to NYC:
Here is video of the engine change in Albany: