Amtrak Goes Green • New York State’s Top “Green Destinations” Your Amtrak® travel guide to 35 destinations from New York City to Canada New York By Rail® • Natural wonders • Urban scenes • Stately homes • Fabulous fairs and festivals Amtrak puts them all within easy reach 2 3 20 | New York by Rail Amtrak.com • 1-800-USA-RAIL Contents 2010 KEY New york TO sTATiON SERViCES: ® m Staffed Station by Rail /m Unstaffed Station B Help with baggage Published by g Checked baggage Service e Enclosed waiting area G Sheltered platform c Restrooms a Payphones f Paid short term parking i Free short term parking 2656 South Road, Poughkeepsie, New York 12601 ■ L Free long term parking 845-462-1209 • 800-479-8230 L Paid long term parking FAX: 845-462-2786 and R Vending 12 Greyledge Drive PHOTO BY GREG KLINGLER Loudonville, New York 12211 T Restaurant / snack bar 518-598-1430 • FAX: 518-598-1431 3 Welcome from Amtrak’s President 47 Saratoga Springs QT Quik-Trak SM ticket machine PUBLISHeRS 4 A Letter from the NYS 50 Central Vermont $ ATM Thomas Martinelli Department of Transportation and Gilbert Slocum 51 Mohawk River Valley [email protected] 5 A Letter from our Publisher Schenectady, Amsterdam, Utica, Rome eDIToR/Art DIRectoR 6 Readers Write & Call for Photos Alex Silberman 53 Syracuse [email protected] 7 Amtrak®: The Green Initiative Advertising DIRectoR 55 Rochester Joseph Gisburne 9 Amtrak® Discounts & Rewards 800-479-8230 56 Buffalo [email protected] 11 New York City 57 Niagara Falls, NY 27 Hudson River Valley AD AND PRoMoTIoN DeSIGN Amtrak Goes Green • New York State’s Top “Green Destinations” Janet Atkins 59 Lakes To Locks Yonkers, Croton-Harmon, Your Amtrak travel guide to 35 destinations from New York City to Canada Hinterland Design Poughkeepsie, Rhinecliff-Kingston, Saratoga Springs, Fort Edward- 518-731-2895 Ne w Yor ® [email protected] Hudson Glen Falls, Whitehall, Ticonderoga, k By R a il Advertising PRoductioN Port Henry, Westport, Port Kent, • Natural wonders 31 Putnam County • Urban scenes CoordinatoR Plattsburgh, Rouses Point • Stately homes • Fabulous fairs and festivals Pegeen Wall 33 Rhinebeck Amtrak puts them all within easy reach 845-849-1126 61 Canada: Toronto & Montreal [email protected] 35 Greene County 62 Photographers’ Corner BookkeePeR Ulster County TeRI SMITH 37 64 Destination Green 845-468-0202 39 Columbia County [email protected] 68 Fairs & Festivals 41 Albany 71 Crossword Puzzle: All Aboard! 45 Cooperstown 73 Scenic Railroads ON THE COVER The Adirondack Line, with its All services and offers presented in this publication are, to our efforts, accurate as of the publication date. However, services and accessible scenic vistas, is one offers may be changed in the future without notice. For current schedules, rates, routes and offers, call your travel agent or Amtrak at 1-800-USA-RAIL. Time periods stated in the “Travel Times” sections are approximations and are subject to change without notice. of the most popular subjects THE NATIONAL RAILROAD PASSENGER CORPORATION, commONLy kNOwN as AmTRAk, AND mARTINELLI-SLOCUm PUBLISHING HAVE for photographers, and the ATTEmPTED TO ENSURE THE ACCURACy OF THE INFORmATION CONTAINED IN THIS PUBLICATION, BUT ASSUmE NO RESPONSIBILITy FOR intense colors of autumn ERRORS, CHANGES OR OmISSIONS. Cor rections are welcome and should be sent to martinelli-Slocum Publishing. AmTRAk DISCLAImS make it the most compelling ANy LIABILITy FOR SERVICES PROVIDED By THIRD PARTIES. season. Greg Klingler, our New york by Rail, and the contents thereof, are copyrighted © by the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) 2010. All cover photographer (and rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, or transmitted or transposed in any form or by any photo contest winner), is means, electronic or mechanical (including photocopy), recording or any information storage and retrieval system without written drawn to the Adirondack all permission from Amtrak. Amtrak®, Amtrak Guest Rewards®, Adirondack®, Empire Service®, Ethan Allen Express®, Lake Shore Limited®, maple Leaf, New york year around and, above, you by Rail® and Quik-TrakSM are the service marks of the National Railroad Passenger Corporation. Capital Corridor® is the registered can see his wintery depiction service mark of the Capital Corridor Joint Powers Authority. of the train. Amtrak.com • 1-800-USA-RAIL New York by Rail | 1 2010 Emmy Award-winning Your guide to local weekend getaways Webisode Agri-Tourism Getaways Across m New York E co scapeMaker. State! Check out our emmy award-winning BOOK NOW! “Tastes of New York State” webisode & Special online section for ideas on Green getaways, eco- friendly lodgings, destinations and local attractions & special events! www.EscapeMaker.com Green getaways & Agri-tourism escapes Amtrak.com • 1-800-USA-RAIL New York by Rail | 15 A Letter from Amtrak’s President and CEO NATIONAL RAILROAD PASSENGER CORPORATION 60 Massachusetts Avenue, NE, Washington, DC 20002 Joseph H. Boardman President and Chief Executive Officer Dear Traveler, As Amtrak focuses on being a safer, greener and healthier railroad, we are experiencing a surge in ridership, posting a record 13.6 million passengers during the first six months of our fiscal year with the historically busy summer travel season still ahead. Americans are beginning to travel again and are choosing Amtrak as an affordable and efficient way to connect to their nation. Amtrak also remains the unparalleled leader and only high-speed rail operator in America today, running the Acela Express at 150 mph (241 kph) since 2000. To further maximize the available opportunities, we recently established a new department dedicated to developing and pursuing new intercity high-speed rail service in select corridors around the country and to plan for major improvements on the Northeast Corridor, including determining the feasibility of increasing top speeds up to 220 mph (354 kph). In addition to our Northeast and Empire Corridors, several long-distance trains also travel through New York. One of the most beautiful routes continues to be the Adirondack from New York City through the Hudson Valley to the Adirondack Mountains and along Lake Champlain to Montreal. The Maple Leaf also originates in the city and makes its way to Canada traveling through Albany across the state to Buffalo and onto the majesty of Niagara Falls before arriving in Toronto. My personal favorite is the Lake Shore Limited which follows much of the same picturesque path on its way to Chicago, the hub of the Amtrak system where you can make connections to everywhere we operate. Riding on Amtrak is one of the most convenient ways to traverse the state and it is also energy efficient. Traveling by rail is approximately 20 percent more fuel efficient than airlines and 28 percent more than automobiles on a per-passenger-mile basis.* In addition, it has a smaller carbon footprint generating a lesser amount of carbon dioxide than both air and car travel. Even as Amtrak has increased train miles and frequencies across the country, we continue to reduce our consumption of diesel fuel, thanks to improved practices and conservation measures. New York by Rail® provides all you need to know to plan your New York rail adventure. I encourage you to take a copy to assist you in planning your journeys throughout this great region. You can always count on us to do all we can to serve you each time your ride. Thanks for choosing Amtrak! Sincerely, Joseph H. Boardman President and Chief Executive Officer *Source: U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge National Laboratory Data on Fuel Efficiency - 2009 Transportation Energy Data Book (Edition 28), Table 2.12 Amtrak.com • 1-800-USA-RAIL New York by Rail | 3 A letter from the Books for a New York Commissioner of the NYS DOT State of Mind CAof NSTLo S STATE OF NEW YORK DEPARTME N T OF TRA ns PORTATIO N ALBA ny , N.Y. 12232 www.nysdot.gov The New York State Department of Transportation welcomes you to the New York by Rail® travel guide! Whether you are a resident of New York State or just visiting, we encourage you to use this guide to help you experience the history and splendor of New York via our inter-city passenger rail system. Sco Ian Ba Amtrak trains provide convenient, safe and efficient public trans- 4 color process Typeface: Bauer Bodoni (title) portation to many of New York’s top destinations. The Empire ITC Franklin Gothic Condensed Corridor provides access north from New York City to Albany and By the author of In the Hamptons west to Niagara Falls, while the Adirondack Corridor runs north In the through the Capital Region all the way to Montreal. Hamptons Too Further Encounters with Farmers, Fishermen, From the shores of the Great Lakes and Finger Lakes Region in Artists, Billionaires, and Celebrities western New York to the majesty of the Catskill and Adirondack mountains, you will have many opportunities to experience and enjoy the natural beauty of New York. Anchor destinations along the Empire corridor include the spectacular Niagara Falls to the west, and the bustling metropolis of New York City to the south. Whether you’re interested in leisurely touring the extensive wine country, experiencing racing and the arts in Saratoga Springs, or visiting the Olympic Village of Lake Placid, New York State offers Dan Rattiner something for everyone. FOUNDER AND EDITOR OF DA n’s PAPERS Foreword by Alec Baldwin As a key connection between many of the State’s hottest vacation spots, inter-city passenger rail helps bolster our State’s economy River of Words and tourism industry and plays a pivotal role in continuing to PORTRAITS OF HUDSON VALLEY WRITERS make New York one of the top destinations in the world.