norman@alice.UUCP (()) (11/11/84)
inmet!benk posted a conceptually accurate but somewhat misleading list of ways to travel between Boston and Ottawa by rail. Here's a list with the holes filled in. Data from the latest Amtrak and VIA Rail Canada timetables (both as of 28 October); Amtrak data will almost certainly be the same in February, VIA probably but less surely so. Amtrak trains unless otherwise specified. In the forward direction: 1. Boston to Springfield MA on the Lake Shore Limited; Springfield to Montreal on the Montrealer; Montreal to Ottawa on VIA #31 or #35, or the Sunday-only VIA Rideau. Depart Boston 1715, arrive Springfield 1940; depart Springfield 0042, arrive Montreal 0935; depart Montreal 1030, 1445, or 1225, arrive Ottawa 1235, 1644, or 1435. The connection in Springfield is OK if you'd like to spend an evening there, awful otherwise; that between the Montrealer and #31 in Montreal is rather risky (an hour is a good minimum pad time for long-distance connections), and the other possibilities involve spending a nontrivial amount of time in Montreal. Neither of these stopovers is necessarily bad, but you should be aware of them. Moreover, VIA now require that passengers travel only on the train and date for which their ticket was issued, and refuse to ticket space on trains their computer thinks fully booked. In other words, all VIA Rail trains are now effectively all-reserved, no matter what it says in the timetable. [Rail Travel News #302] This means that, if you miss your connection due to a late Montrealer, you may have difficulty getting a seat on a later train. The Montrealer has had a reputation for being a little slow, but I've neither heard specifics nor ridden the train since February. 2. Boston to New York on the Merchant's Limited, connecting to the Montrealer, and on as above. Depart Boston 1450; arrive New York 1920; depart 2108. (There's a later train from Boston which arrives New York at 2034 except on Saturday, but that's a bit close for comfort.) The coastal scenery on the upper part of the Shore Line (Boston-NY) is fairly pleasant, if you like that sort of thing. 3. Boston to New York (Penn Station) on the Colonial; New York (Grand Central) to Montreal (Windsor Station) on the Adirondack; an overnight stop in Montreal, and a connection to VIA's Ville-Marie or one of the trains named above. Depart Boston 0735, arrive NYP 1214; depart NYG 1400, arrive Montreal Windsor 2235; depart Montreal (Central Station) 0750, arrive Ottawa 0949. The Adirondack was frequently late during the summer; I don't know whether this will change in February. (In July, it once delivered me to Montreal three and a half hours late.) Apparently the D&H hasn't been doing a very good job of dispatching. The 1:46 gap between the Colonial and the Adirondack is more desirable than you may think, as it allows nicely for the half hour or so required to travel between stations in New York. The Hudson shore is indeed quite pretty; so is the northeast part of New York, though in the winter (and on the winter timetable) the sun may set before you see much of it. 4. Boston-Buffalo is not especially practicable; the westbound Lake Shore passes through Buffalo at 0337, and the place you really want to be to connect to VIA trains is Niagara Falls. About the best you can do is to run Boston-New York, take the Maple Leaf from New York Grand to Toronto, and catch the VIA Cavalier Toronto-Ottawa; however, the Maple Leaf departs at 0845, which means leaving Boston at 0200 to connect; and the Ottawa section of the Cavalier is scheduled to be discontinued 6 January (if the CTC approve, which they may not). The return trip: 1'. Ottawa to Montreal on VIA #34; Montreal to Springfield on the Montrealer; Springfield to Boston on the Lake Shore. Ottawa 1410, Montreal 1609; Montreal 1910, Springfield 0315; Springfield 1310, Boston 1540. I think the times say it all; the Springfield connection borders on the absurd. 2'. Ottawa to Montreal as above; Montreal to New York on the Montrealer; New York to Boston on Amtrak Shoreliner #150 or the Benjamin Franklin. Arrive New York 0646; depart New York 0740 (resp. 0916), arrive Boston 1206 (resp. 1335). 3'. Ottawa to Montreal on VIA #30; Montreal to New York on the Adirondack; New York to Boston on the Night Owl. Ottawa 0955, Montreal Central 1154; Montreal Windsor 1335, New York Grand 2212; New York Penn 0312 (!), Boston 0805. Travel between stations in Montreal is a 10 minute walk, which is moot unless you'd like to stay awake all night in New York. 4'. Just as bad as 4 (or 3'); the Maple Leaf arrives NYG 15 minutes before the last Boston train leaves NYP, which isn't long enough to travel between stations. Summary: 2 and 2' are probably the most practical direct trip. Norman Wilson research!norman