AMTRAK'S ETHAN ALLEN EXPRESS took us from New York City to Vermont on Sunday July 28 2024, and back again 2 days later. The journey up lasted 5 hrs 20 mins while coming back was a little longer at 5 hrs 40 mins.
We had comfortable seats plus a good view and we enjoyed the whole experience. But before we got settled on the train, we had to find our departure point. The landmark Penn Station on 7th Ave. and W. 31st St. was easy to find (and we walked there from the Hard Rock Hotel near Times Square) but once inside the Moynihan Train Hall we struggled to identify our departure track: the hall was huge and yet the information boards were quite small.
This made us anxious as our train, No. 291, only ran once a day. There’d be no backup if things went wrong and we weren’t quick enough to board.
We waited at a spot where we could see one of the boards and also listened out for any announcements: some departures were only being announced 10 minutes ahead, but we needn’t have worried, as we got 20 minutes’ notice to board our train at track no. 6. This was only a short walk away and down an escalator to the dark and hot underground tracks. It felt like we were descending into hell - no AC and a world away from the bright and airy train hall on top.
The route out of New York City very quickly went from being suburban with graffiti lined tunnels to being rural, following the edge of the Hudson River northwards. This really did change our perception of New York.
Stretches of the route went through wooded areas, with stops at small towns or villages and frustratingly the cell phone reception would often cut out. Many times the train would be ambling along, not going particularly fast, as the track weaved and meandered, and we loved looking out the window and taking in the views.
Sometimes you eat when bored, but we weren’t bored or hungry - we were keen to have the full “Amtrak experience” and therefore tried some of the onboard food from the catering car.
We ordered:
🦃 Turkey Nosh Box (turkey, celery, mini naan breads and mustard dip) = $9.50
🦃 Smoked turkey and Asiago sandwich = $9.50
🧀 Mac and cheese (heated) = $8.00
💰 Total = $27.00
The sandwiches were dire: bland, lifeless and dry as bones, coincidentally echoing the lunch we had had earlier on Fifth Ave. (see review HERE). The mac and cheese was hot and tasty, just as any microwave meal is, and it was fun having an iconic American snack on an iconic American train! The Turkey Nosh Bosh was mediocre.
Lesson finally learnt!
The onboard complimentary WiFi turned out to be useless. It was painfully slow. The power sockets next to our seats therefore came in handy for charging devices en route, particularly as the dire WiFi meant we had to use cellular data, when available, which was draining on our batteries.
We arrived at Rutland, Vermont, perfectly on time.
After a pleasant 2 day visit the return journey back to New York City was much the same as on the way up.
The Amtrak Station at Rutland was of course a lot quieter and smaller than New York’s cavernous Penn Station. It was unmanned but well looked after. The Ethan Allen Express has run daily from Rutland to New York since the 1990s but the station felt a lot newer. Outside we saw a train-like sculpture, called ‘Across Time and Space’, dated 2023, and synonymous with the time travelling locomotive from Back to the Future Part III.
Inside the station, we spotted an old Star-Spangled Banner on the wall. The flag had only 48 stars, which dated it to before Alaska’s admission to the Union in 1959. We weren’t in there long before we heard the familiar Amtrak horn and the train’s ringing bell, heralding its arrival. How exciting!
Having learnt our lesson on the way up, we took our own lunch for the return trip - a delicious chicken Caesar salad from Rutland’s Market 32 (Price Chopper supermarket) plus our favorite Lays.
A young family were sat in the opposite seats to us for most of the journey. They had their hands full with an infant child who was nursing plus a little dog tucked away in a meshed basket to keep an eye on (no idea where it peed). They chose similar seats to us: sat closest to the luggage bay at the end of the coach car, offering more leg room and a chance to supervise your luggage. As they alighted at Yonkers, we heard them commenting how they should do this more often as it was a lot easier and more comfortable than taking the car!
Interestingly, if we’d driven to Rutland from New York City it would have only saved an hour each way. Not sure what the costs would have been, but we enjoyed our train rides and the spectacular views of rural New York and Vermont.
💰 WHAT THE ROUNDTRIP COST
We purchased our tickets online from the Amtrak website 8 days before we travelled:
🚆 2 Coach Seats (New York to Rutland) = $192.00
🚆 2 Coach Seats (Rutland to New York) = $150.00
💰 Total = $342.00
🤔 WHO WAS ETHAN ALLEN?
Ethan Allen (1738-1789), who the Amtrak train was named after, was born in British America and was a hero of the American Revolutionary War. He was a co-founder of Vermont.
⬆️ NEW YORK CITY TO RUTLAND VT
⏳ JOURNEY TIME = 5 hrs 20 mins
14:19 - departed Penn Station (Moynihan Train Hall), New York.
14:39 - Yonkers, NY.
15:01 - Croton-Harmon, NY.
15:24 - passed Bannerman Castle, Pollepel Island, Beacon, NY. The castle is in fact an abandoned military surplus warehouse.
15:33 - passed through New Hamburg, a small hamlet in Dutchess County, New York.
15:52 - Poughkeepsie, NY (after a 5 min wait to pull into the station, where we got a good view of the Rural Cemetery).
16:07 - Rhinecliff, NY (Population: 425 as of 2010).
16:18 - got a good view of the Catskill Mountains near Woodstock, NY, across the Hudson River.
16:30 - Hudson, NY. The phone signal dipped out not long after leaving Hudson and the train followed alongside the Schodack Creek for a while.
16:53 - arrived at Albany, capital of New York state.
17:07 - departed Albany, NY.
17:29 - Schenectady, NY.
17:40 - passed through woodland for many miles then when in Ballston, NY, we could see wild turkeys wandering about.
17:59 - Saratoga Springs, NY.
18:14 - passed Gansevoort, a hamlet in the town of Northumberland in Saratoga County, New York.
18:21 - Fort Edward, NY (named after the younger brother of King George III, Edward Augustus, Duke of York and Albany).
18:49 - crossed Wood Creek at Whitehall, NY.
18:50 - passed Whitehall near the New York Vermont state line.
19:00 - crossed the Poultney River and crossed into Fair Haven, Vermont
19:18 - Castleton, VT.
19:25 - got a glimpse of the mountain at East Hubbardton, VT.
19:39 - arrived at Rutland, Vermont.
⬇️ RUTLAND VT TO NEW YORK CITY
⏳ JOURNEY TIME = 5 hrs 39 mins
11:28 - train arrived at Rutland, Vermont.
11:45 - departed Rutland, VT.
12:06 - Castleton, VT.
13:05 - Fort Edward, NY.
13:28 - Saratoga Springs, NY.
13:58 - arrived at Schenectady, NY.
14:08 - departed Schenectady, NY.
14:30 - arrived at Albany, NY.
14:42 - departed Albany, NY.
15:03 - Hudson, NY.
15:27 - Rhinecliff, NY.
15:45 - Poughkeepsie, NY.
15:55 - passed through New Hamburg, NY.
16:06 - stopped for 2 mins at Cold Spring, NY, owing to single track and a northbound train using it.
16:12 - passed through Garrison, NY.
16:21 - passed through Peekskill, NY.
16:33 - Croton-Harmon, NY.
16:39 - passed the infamous Sing Sing Correctional Facility, NY.
16:44 - passed through Tarrytown, NY.
16:47 - passed through Irvington, NY.
17:17 - arrived at Penn Station, New York.
📌 ETHAN ALLEN EXPRESS, New York City to Rutland, Vermont (roundtrip)
See all our New York City & Vermont photographs in special albums on our Facebook page >>> P&K USA
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