Several of my friends have claimed to take commuter rail from NYC to Washington DC. I have the opportunity to try this out. It will be on a weekday so MARC and VRE will be running.
Anyone care to suggest routes? I'll be starting from the NYC Subway system and intend to make my way down to Washington DC on transit and commuter rail. I don't mind "winging it" but has anyone here done this?
Thanks!!
Here you go for an interesting trip. Sure you can start out in Manhattan on a NJT commuter train directly to Trenton, but why not sample a PATH subway train from World Trade Center to Newark, and ride the front car and look out the front window on the speed run from Journal Square to Harrison. Newark - Trenton on New Jersey Transit. At Trenton, you can board a SEPTA commuter train directly to Philadelphia (same platform), but a more entertaining way is to go down to the street and cross it and board a New Jersey Tansit diesel light rail car for a ride on the scenic River Line, including a portion of the old Camden and Ambay, where the first successful steam locomotive (revenue, not just demonstration) ran, to Camden's Transportation Center. Then it's Delaware River Port Authority's PATCO rapid transit line over the Benjamin Franklin bridge to 8th Street Station, and a short walk to Market East Station or a ride on the Market Street SEPTA subway line to 32nd Street for the 30th Street Station, and a SEPTA train through Wilmington to Newark, DE. A gap exists between Newark DE and Towson, MD, where the only passenger trains are Amtrak, and I am unsure if any Amtrak trains actually stop at Towson. So you may have to ride to Baltimore on Amtrak, a short distance further. MARC has frequent trains between Baltimore and Washington on the NEC and less frequently from the old B&O Camden Station location on the CSX line, the latter diesel. Or if it isn't getting to close to midnight, you can ride the Baltimore light rail shuttle car from Penn Station over to the Howard Street "main line" and ride light rail to Baltimore-Washington International Airport, and then a MARC commuter train to Washington. But you can also leave the latter at the New Carrolton (also a stop for Amtrak) and then use the Washington Metro to go downtown.
Dave is right, there is a gap from Newark DE ot Towson, MD. You might check out local bus service, or if really rich, taxi between those points. And his side trips are spectacular. A little work in Philadelphia can also get you light rail vehicle ride via PATCO to end, Broad St. subway one stop, then either subway or LRV to 30th. The River Line from Trenton to Camden is spectacular to. PATCO Back in NYC you can take PATH from either World Trade direct ot Newark or 33rd St. line to Journal Square and change for the Newark train. Also you could go to Hoboken on either PATH line and take a Hoboken train direct to Newark Penn and change to a Trenton train, Or take a Hoboken train to Newark Broad and a Newark City Subway (LRV) to Newark Penn. It all depends on how many days you want to be traveling.
Fastest: NJT from NYP to Trenton, SEPTA to 30th St. to Newark, DE or Amtrak to Baltimore. Figure two hours NYP to 30ths St. this way. Add at least an hour via PATH, Another hour more via RIver LIne/PATCO/Subway. Food available if you have time at most important stations: NYP, Hoboken, Newark Penn, Trenton, Camden Wallace Transit Center, 30th St. Wish I could join you!
RIDEWITHMEHENRY is the name for our almost monthly day of riding trains and transit in either the NYCity or Philadelphia areas including all commuter lines, Amtrak, subways, light rail and trolleys, bus and ferries when warranted. No fees, just let us know you want to join the ride and pay your fares. Ask to be on our email list or find us on FB as RIDEWITHMEHENRY (all caps) to get descriptions of each outing.
And how about on to Boston? I know there would be a gap somewhere after New Haven, but maybe bridge it with Amtrak?
C&NW, CA&E, MILW, CGW and IC fan
Actually I think you can get at least to New London if not Pawtucket before ending commuter rail. Then I don't know where you can pick up MBTA, maybe Providence.
Thanks for all the tips. The Amtrak gap-filler breaks the budget. I was hoping to use commuter rail fares for the whole trip, but Amtrak doesn't quite cut it.
I look forward to your comments!
On the bright side, I have at least one free Amtrak trip in the hopper, I am just hoping to ride commuter rail from NYC to WAS.
Thanks again!!
The gap in the NY - Boston commuter picture is changing. It was between New London and Providence, but now Boston's commuter service is being extened all the way southwest to Kingston, Rhode Island, so the Amtrak filled gap is between New London (reached by Shore Line East from New Haven) and Kingston.
Baltimore's light rail system operates through Towson with it's terminal destination at Hunt Valley. The only railroad that ever operated through Towson was the Maryland & Pennsylvania (the old Ma & Pa).
MARC commuter service on the NEC has it end at Perryville, MD
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Towson was an error, I should have said Perryville, with Amtrak the only passenger operator between Newark, DE. and Perryville. Does any Amtrak train stop at Perryville? Towsown was, of course, not only for a while the north end of the light rail line, but also was the north end of one of the two of Baltimore's last PCC streetcar lines, Towson - Catonsville. I also found it curious that despite National City Lines management, and thus virtual General Motors control, this streetcar line outlasted those in Washington DC (where Roy Chalk wanted to keep them)! In the case of Washington DC is was Congress that forced final streetcar abandonment, while in the case of Baltimore, it was the local governement that wished to both repave and redirect certain streets, some one-way, that forced final streetcar abandonment . National City lines wanted to get all the use out of the PCC's that they could before scrapping them.
Now, the question is, is there any reasonably inexpensive local transportation between Newark, DE, and either Hunt Valley or Perrgyville for our friend to make his trip without depleting his wallet?
I put my Ride With Me Henry cap on and found that it is more than just a gap of distance but also a gap of time. Even if a bus could be found from Newark, DE to Perryville, MD, depending upon your schedule out of NYC, you'd probably have to hole up overnight somewhere as there are no trains out of Perryville after 2 something in the afternoon until the next morning. Leaving NYC at the crack of dawn, however, might get you to Newark intime to find a bus or something to Perryville. Lots of hard planning...and at least the better part of two days...has to be put into the feat.
I have done this once before, but in the opposite direction.
Started in Fredericksburg, VA on the VRE at 5:05 AM
Got on MARC limited stop service to Baltimore Penn at 6:45
At 9:05, Took a Greyhound bus to Wilmington, DE
At 12:45, got on SEPTA to Philly
At 2:11, got on train to Trenton
At 3:18, got on train to New York Penn, which arrived at 4:48.
This turned out to be $5 cheaper then Amtrak fare, I would recommend going reverse this way. You get less train mileage by getting on Greyhound, but it bridges the gap. We bought all the tickets (except VRE) at the stations and the layover in Wilmington was a good amount of time for lunch. I would recommend planning by getting on the earliest NJT train you can and working your way south from there. Make sure to print out a schedule with departure and arrival times of trains you plan to take, include backup plans on this schedule. My trip was fully on time, but I can't speak for anyone else. If it goes wrong, it will go very, very wrong.
Thanks for all the information. My buddy's information was probably wrong about his trip being totally commuter rail from NYC to WAS. Somehow I thought SEPTA filled the gaps but it looks like there are more gaps.
The snow storm has cancelled my plans this year. Thanks for the information, though, it is helpful to know the fact that commuter rail from NYC to WAS can't really be done anymore before I leave on the trip!!
I just recalled why I made the mistake of Towson instead of Perryville, and it might just be helpful . I had a client in Towson, and once instead of going to Balatimore and riding Light Rail north, I was able to get off a very early Amtrak train at ABERDEEN.
Continuing. My client picked me up at Aberdeen. I think it was the Federal through from Boston. If I remember correctly, Aberdeen is south of Perryville, so MARC must stop there. An Amtrak ticket from Newark, DE, to Aberdeen should not cost much if there is an Amtrak train that stops at both places.
Amtrak has limited stops at Newark and Perryville, and I'm not sure that the trains that stop at Newark also stop at Perryville (haven't checked the schedule recently). My recommendation to bridge the gap would be to get off SEPTA at Wilmington and take a NE Regional train down to Baltimore. It's not a 'commuter' train specifically, but they have the same feel. I used to ride that route frequently for work and you'd see a lot of the same folks day in and day out.
(You can also get a rental car from Enterprise in the Wilmington train station and drive to Baltimore and do some railfaning along the way. The CSX freight line and NE Corridor run very close to each other most of the way down and there are some great spots for photos.)
Once in Baltimore you can either continue down the NE Corridor on a Penn Line MARC train (NE Corridor), or, take the Light Rail from Penn Station down to Camden Yards and take a Camden Line train to DC (former B&O). If you decide to take a Camden Line train, be sure to check the SB schedule in advance. If I recall there is a big gap in the middle of the day for SB trains. Being 'stuck' in the Inner Harbor isn't so bad though...have a good lunch and a cocktail at the Capital Grille or at the M&S Grill. I always wanted to take the Camden Line, but could never make the schedule work for needing to go to/from Baltimore mid-day from/to DC so always wound up using Amtrak.
Enjoy the trip whenever you get to take it.
I did something like this the fall of 2007. I had business in Boston, so I arrived on the red eye from about 2000 miles away at 6:30 am the previous day at JKF, in New York. Then I took the airtrain to Jamaica, the Long Island to Penn Station, PATH to Hoboken, New Jersey light rail to intercept the PATH line to Newark station, a detour on the City Subway, NJT to Trenton, and the River Line to Camden. From there it was PATCO and SEPTA to 30th Street Station, and then AMTRAK to Baltimore, and MARC to Washington, D.C. By the it was about 8:00 pm. About 10:00 pm I left an AMTRAK for Boston, and about 8:00 am the next morning I was in Boston in good time to catch the subway to my meetings. I wish I could do it again!
When you did that was there a Washington - Boston sleeper, or did you go overnight in an Amfleet coach?
This sounds workable even with the Amtrak leg. What I did not do was check the fare for this part. I just assumed it was like the idiotic $50+ Amtrak fare between Newark and NY Penn Station. The conductors use the loudspeakers to warn commuters about this at Metropark, Newark Airport, and Newark Penn Station.
Amtrak uses a market demand/reserved seat pricing. Buy months in advance at a given price but wait until there is only one seat left as the train pulls in the station, and the price is out of sight open to the highest bidder. Very difficult to budget in at the last minute...if you're gonna do Amtrak, plan and buy ahead.
henry6 Actually I think you can get at least to New London if not Pawtucket before ending commuter rail. Then I don't know where you can pick up MBTA, maybe Providence.
Conn DOT does not currently operate into RI, the two states have had some discussions about running trains as far Noth as North Kingston Station (which is still more than 25 miles from Providence).
MBTA is currently running as far South as the new T.F Green Airport Station in Warwick,RI (maybe 6 miles south of Prov.) but the State is negotiating with the "T" to get service to North Kingston.
So you may be able to go NY to Boston without an Amtrak ticket in the foreseeable future, but not right now..
"I Often Dream of Trains"-From the Album of the Same Name by Robyn Hitchcock
Back in the day one could travel from I believe Portland, ME to Chicago and beyond and to at least Washington, DC by interurban and trolley car! I remember reading so in one of the fan mags in the 60's when I gave Warehouse Pt. Museum a map depicting all the avalable and contigious routes.
I do not think there was a sleeper. I went coach using some Amtrak points, and I wanted to use as few points as possible so I would have enough points for some trips with a bedroom on the sleeper that my wife and I have done since then. So I did not give serious thought to going on a sleeper for that trip. By the way, 63 years is how long I have been reading Trains, not my age. I grew up around Washington, D.C., and I rode the Washington & Old Dominion, D.C. and Baltimore streetcars, and the B&O (including new RDC cars) and the Pennsy to Baltimore several times.
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