Adirondack, Montreal to New York

[williamn]

I'm thinking of taking this train, but am reading several horror stories about how long and involved the immigration process is. As I am flying into Montreal from the UK I will be entering the US on the train. Is this likely to be a problem?

 

[Ze Random One]

This site has some information
http://london.usembassy.gov/vwp3.html
They say that you don't need an ESTA (electronic authorisation, obtained before travel), but you will need to fill out an I94W form and hand over $6.00 (USD). IIRC they don't accept cards or give change, so you need to get some small denomination US currency before travelling.
How awkward they are, I don't know...
I understand that the customs check of the train can take an hour or more.

 

[rf_ioliver]

If you go to the Amtrak website and use the route planner from any Canadian station into the US, eg: Toronto-New York then you get the warning:

Important Border Crossing Information: Amtrak services that cross the US/Canada border are subject to inspection by Canadian and American law enforcement officials. When making a reservation for such services, you must provide your date of birth and country of citizenship. You must also indicate the form of ID that you will carry with you on your trip. Further conditions apply. Find out more about border crossings and passenger security and ID requirements.

The link to border crossings is: http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=am/AM_Snippet_C/IBLegacy&ibsref=bordercrossing
(hopefully that works)

I would recommend checking with a US Embassy and Amtrak just in case,

t.

Ian

 

[LE Greys]

Took two hours on the Maple Leaf last year. We sat in a siding on the US side of Niagara Falls while they checked papers. There were a dozen non-North American passengers on board, me, some from Europe and some from India. We all got off, had our passports checked, then our fingerprints taken. Then we paid the $12 entry fee (presumably making the USA the world's biggest theme park ) and all got back on board. There was a crew change at the same time, VIA Rail replaced with Amtrak. The procedure could have been done in 30 minutes, but we had to sit around for 2 hours waiting for our path. Still, we also had delays waiting in loops for freight trains to pass on several occasions.

This is nothing compared to the hour-long grilling I got from Customs at Halifax when I flew back north (which I wouldn't have done if they hadn't withdrawn the ferry from Portland to Yarmouth! :x ) when exhausted after nearly a week of solid travelling. I was just thinking of trying to get someone from the British Consulate when they finally got through to the people I was supposed to be staying with and finally let me go.
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Just to add, the journey through New York State is wonderful. Imagine a river the size of the Tay for mile after mile with spectacular mountains and bridges. That's the Hudson. It was worth all the delays just for that. They might also do an engine change at Albany, so there's a chance to get some pictures. Not sure about security problems, but there's the risk you'll get left behind. Finally, the last bit of the run into New York is usually on electric power.

 

[jamesontheroad]

As a UK citizen living in Montréal, I used to take the Adirondack a couple of times a year. I also took one holiday from the UK which involved flying in to Montréal and taking the train to Chicago before flying home.

It's no problem for a UK citizen to enter the USA this way. You must have a valid ESTA before you approach the border (https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/) and you must have some US dollar bills to pay for the Visa Waiver that UK citizens are able to use. If you arrive in the USA by plane the cost of this is normally included in your flight charges, but when arriving by train or car you have to buy it at the border.

It's a few years since I took the Adirondack, but it's a beautiful trip. Be sure to sit on the left as you leave Montréal to get the best views along Lake Champlain as you head south (and maybe switch to the right for the last hour or so along the Hudson River into NYC). It takes about an hour or so to get to Rouses Point, NY, where the train halts and is boarded by border agents. You must not leave your seat during this stop, except when invited to identify any baggage. As a UK citizen you will need to buy the visa waiver from an agent who is normally seated in the cafe car. When invited, you will go down the train to the cafe car with your dollars to buy the visa waiver, which will be stamped in your passport and which is valid for 90 days. You surrender this when you leave the USA.

The border process can add serious delays to the journey. It all depends on how many people are on the train and how complicated their papers are. If you travel on a Friday or Sunday it can be particularly bad.

After that, it's a beautiful but very very slow journey to NYC. The tracks are in terrible condition, and you'll usually be scheduled around freight trains. An hour or more is not an unusual delay arriving into Penn Station, so don't make any hard and fast plans for when you arrive in NYC (although a connection to westbound Lake Shore Limited at Schenectady, NY for stations to Chicago, IL is fine). The train is normally made up of a couple of Amfleet coaches and a café car. During the autumn "leaf peeping" season there is also usually a heritage high level viewing car.

 

[williamn]

Thanks for all the really useful information.

How do seat reservations work? If I am booking online are they allocated then? or on the day of departure?

I'm travelling on a Monday so hopefully it should be fairly quiet.

 

[Schnellzug]

"passenger security"

What a euphemism. What the DSS and the TSA never seem to have understood is that (if one believes the official explanation as presented) the 9/11 Hijackers were in the U.S. perfectly legitimately, and didn't have, if I recall correctly, any previous convictions for anything that any number of ID Checks would flag up. So therefore, it's all completely pointless.

 

[STEVIEBOY1]

Sound like it could be a good trip.

By the way do they still use Penn and Grand Central Main Line Stations in New York.?

 

[Greenback]

"passenger security"

What a euphemism. What the DSS and the TSA never seem to have understood is that (if one believes the official explanation as presented) the 9/11 Hijackers were in the U.S. perfectly legitimately, and didn't have, if I recall correctly, any previous convictions for anything that any number of ID Checks would flag up. So therefore, it's all completely pointless.

Qu right. It's just that the government has to be seen to be doing something.

 

[stut]

Sound like it could be a good trip.

By the way do they still use Penn and Grand Central Main Line Stations in New York.?

Amtrak uses Penn Station, although if you've seen old pictures of it, it's nothing like that now. The concourse is a shopping centre, and the tracks are rather like an underground warehouse. The station is shared with NJ Transit (and the NJT/Metro North shared routes), and another section of the building is used by the LIRR (Long Island Railroad).

Metro North commuter trains that run east of the Hudson River use Grand Central Terminal, and a wonderful building that is, too. Tracks are on two levels.

 

[jamesontheroad]

How do seat reservations work? If I am booking online are they allocated then? or on the day of departure?

Amtrak don't reserve specific seats, when you board you will be directed to the carriage(s) for your destination, so that passengers are grouped together according to their stop. On overnight trains this means as few people as possible are disturbed when people disembark/board and on trains through rural areas (like the Adirondack) it means that the engineer (driver) and on-board staff can easily stop the train so that the one opening door aligns with the "platform".

On that subject, you'll notice that on your trip only Montréal Gare Centrale, Albany-Rensellaer and Penn Station (and perhaps the last few stops into NYC shared with Metro North) have high level platforms. So if this is the first time you've been on an Amtrak Amfleet coach, you won't notice the ingenious mechanism that conceals steps for low platforms inside each of the doors.

Plattsburgh, NY is the first stop south of the border, and I used to get off there, even if it was just for a moment or two, just for the symbolic first experience of American soil! On one occasion I even took a day-trip there - it being the only destination in the USA that you could safely enjoy a roundtrip to from Montréal between the southbound and northbound Adirondack. It cemented an early love of small American towns, and now I'm marrying a American girl from just such a small town

Here was that day trip to Plattsburgh: http://jamesbrownontheroad.blogspot.com/2006/03/from-somewhere-to-somewhere-via.html
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Forgot to add; perhaps it's symbolic, but Americans don't like to travel backwards! So when you board you will find all the seats in your carriage facing the direction of travel.

The seats in an Amfleet car can be rotated (there's a kick-mechanism beneath the aisle seat) but don't try this on your own; there's a knack to it and the guard will get annoyed. Some groups request four seats to face each other, but the legroom ends up being pretty limited so it's not really worth it.