2013 NYC by Train 2 - An Away We Go

Travel prepped all day Friday (8/9)--cleaning (we like to come back to a clean home and especially clean sheets), cat set-up (dual litter boxes while we are gone, oversize water and food bowls, find all the cat toys, make sure good window viewing spots available, set-up neighbor to look in on Bella), juggling clothes and suitcase options (at least it will be all warm weather clothes instead of a mixture of hot/cold), balance checkbook and review finances, set-up mail hold by the P.O., gathering travel docs and tourist info, etc. etc.
Left home at 9:30pm Friday night for the drive to Elkhart, Indiana. The train station is only about 40 miles away, but on the mostly 2-lane roads it takes about 1-1/2 hours to get there. The cars in the free long-term parking lot looked more "presentable" (not raggedy and abandoned as they seemed on our previous trial run down here). So with that and advice from friend Carla, we decided it was OK to park there after all.

No one manned the ticket window as we entered the depot, but a handwritten note advised our train was running about 15 minutes late with a 12:37am departure. We were quite entertained by the cutsie train station while we waited. The wooden benches looked to be the originals and still in fine shape. The ceiling was arched and decorated like an old west train. Walls were lined with maps, guidelines, official statements about train procedure and security, and classic old train posters. There was a framed letter from Bob Hope and his wife saying how much they loved their stay in Elkhart. He must have been playing at the old Lerner Theatre we talked about previously. Three freight trains passed while we waited.

About 15 minutes before departure, passengers started ambling out to the tracks. The night was pleasant and had kind of a romantic glow from the night lights. There were maybe six others waiting and a few here to greets those getting off. We all talked in a quiet, confidential tone, so as not to disrupt the peacefulness. The scene reminded be of the Edward Hopper Nighthawks painting, but instead of a cafe it was a train station.


Two more trains passed before the lone headlight of our train slowly meandered into sight, closer and closer. About 30 de-trained, mostly Amish folks. Men with their long white beards, suspenders and broad-rimmed straw hats, and women demurely wearing "plain" calf-length dresses and white cap-bonnets. No one looked very happy, but maybe it was the hour.

The route we were taking included stops at Elkhart IN, Waterloo, Bryan OH, Toledo, Sandusky, Elyria, Cleveland, Erie PA, Buffalo NY, Rochester, Syracuse, Utica, Schenectady, Albany. In Albany, some of the cars split off and went to Boston, while we continued on to Poughkeepsie, Croton, and finally New York City at Penn Station. We were assigned seats as we boarded. Got a good location on the right side of the train with a nice window. Seemed roomy and comfortable enough (to start!). There was a foot rest, "calf rest," and the seat reclined way back, all adjustable.

We settled in and the click-clack of the train wheels on the track began our 18-hour journey.