BOSTON to CHICAGO with Amtrak Lake Shore Limited

BOSTON to CHICAGO with Amtrak Lake Shore Limited

This is the Amtrak Lake Shore Limited,  connecting two of the Northeast’s biggest cities,   New York and Boston, to the Windy City… Chicago!  Come along with me on this 22-hour rail odyssey   between Boston and Chicago. And no, folks, you  won’t see any luxurious sleeping cars or fancy  

Meals in the dining car. On this journey,  I will travel in the least covered class   by YouTubers… THE COACH ACCOMMODATION. But  you’ll see in this video that it can be better   than you think and totally worth it! In this video  you’ll see some beautiful New England landscapes,  

Some dope Amtrak shunting, microwaved food  from the café car, a comfy night, the beautiful   landscape of Ohio and maybe Indiana…. Sit back and  relax this ride on the Amtrak Lake Shore Limited Our journey starts in the beautiful Boston  South Station, which is the northern end of  

The Northeast Corridor. South Station’s building  was inaugurated in 1899, during a time when train   travel was considered cool in North America. It  used to have one of the biggest train sheds ever,   which was demolished in 1930. Now, the only nice  part of South Station is the front building;  

The rest of the station reminds me a  bit of the old Penn Station in New York,   which was rebuilt in the ’70s with offices  and a parking lot above the train station – an   idea we thought was good back then! However, there’s a massive revamping  

Project around South Station, and it has  been under construction for years. So if   you’re going to Boston in the future, the station  should, in theory, be more open and enjoyable.  Apart from this, you’ll find some shops in the  station. Since I will be traveling in coach for  

The next 22 hours, I prefer to stock up on some  food and drinks. Yes, folks, I will be traveling   in coach today. The sleeping car was just  overpriced for a 22-hour journey. The price for   a roomette was above $800, and I couldn’t afford  it. To be fair, I’ve done several long-distance  

Journeys with Amtrak in coach, and I’ve always had  a wonderful time for the price I paid. I rode the   Coast Starlight and Crescent in coach. You can  watch these videos in the Amtrak Long Distances   Playlist. In both cases, I slept very well and  almost better than my times in a Roomette. so  

I’m quite excited for the Lake Shore Limited. The Lake Shore Limited used to be operated by   the mighty New York Central Railroad until  1956. Once Amtrak took over the operation   of most passenger services in the United States,  Amtrak retained the Lake Shore and initially ran  

The train only between Chicago and New York.  Amtrak only started operating the Lake Shore   Limited in its current formation in 1975! Indeed,  the Lake Shore Limited is one of the rare Amtrak   long-distance services along with the Empire  Builder to be split and serve two different  

Destinations. You can take the Lake Shore from  New York to Chicago or from Boston to Chicago.   Both trains will meet later in Albany, NY, and  be connected together to form only one train.  The scheduled departure from Boston is at 12:50  PM, and surprisingly, they only allow passengers  

To board 20 minutes ahead of departure! I’ve  seen earlier boarding with Amtrak, especially   for such a small train. The Boston section of  the Lake Shore is the smallest, comprising only   two coach cars, one café car, and a sleeping  car. The New York section, however, is longer,  

With three coach cars, a true dining car (not a  café car), two sleeping cars, and one luggage car.  A friendly reminder that drinks and meals are  included if you’re traveling with a sleeping car   ticket. This is not the case for me, but  a reminder is always welcome! So, folks,  

If you are traveling from Boston in a sleeping  car, you’ll have to wait until AFTER Albany,   once both trains are reunited, to enjoy your  meal at the dining car. Keep in mind that   Amtrak still hasn’t reintroduced traditional  dining, but I truly hope they will soon. 

Our train will be hauled until Albany by a P42 DC  number 103 today! Nothing fancy here, just a good   old Genesis engine. Let’s enjoy it while it lasts!  The Chargers are right around the corner, folks!  Let’s board our train, shall we? As always with  long-distance trains east of the Mississippi,  

You’ll travel onboard the good old Amfleet II.  Despite not being a fan of the first series,   the second series is way more enjoyable,  probably due to the larger windows and bigger   seat pitch between seats. Speaking of windows, we  immediately spotted the dirty window on our side,  

So my friend John, who came along for the ride  with me, volunteered himself to go out and clean   the window. We went from 720p to 4K definition. SEAT CHECK  As always with Amtrak, you’ll find one of the  best seat pitch ever on a train. There is a  

Little table that you can adjust to your liking.  Two 110v power outlets on the side; you’ll find a   curtain for nighttime, but the best part of coach  accommodation is the seat. Like my friend Alan   Fisher likes to call them, it’s a true American  recliner. Large and comfy. On the long-distance  

Fleet, the seat reclines comfortably. Sleeping  here is totally fine if you find a good position,   but I will tell you more about it tonight. We left Boston South Station right on time   at 12:50 pm – our ride to Chicago will take us 22  hours and 22 minutes for a total distance of 1,017  

Miles, which is 1,637 km – The Boston section  is the longest one; traveling from New York is   shorter. For example, going toward Chicago, New  York passengers will leave Manhattan at 3:40 pm.  The good thing about the Lake Shore is  its relatively good on-time performance  

For a long-distance train – in 2022, according  to Amtrak, the Lake Shore Limited is the 2nd best   long-distance train when it comes to on-time  performance. 63% of the trains were on time.   The best being the Palmetto at 70% – of course,  many countries will laugh at these stats, but  

For North America where freight railroads are like  gangsters towards passenger trains, 63% is great.  And off we go west! During the first part  of the afternoon, we’re slowly getting   out of the Boston area and running on MBTA  territory on the Worcester Line; this is the  

Only Amtrak train to run on these tracks! We made a longer stop in Worcester at the   end of the MBTA line; the station is  under deep refurbishment to increase   the capacity of the station. That’s a good  sign! But at the moment, it’s quite a mess! 

After Worcester, we went through some very  remote areas of the states of Massachusetts, and   to be fair, we did nothing except watch the  landscape going by. It was super relaxing!  The first big stop of the afternoon is  Springfield, Massachusetts. This is NOT a  

Smoke stop, but the train stops there for at  least FIVE minutes due to the high number of   passengers getting in and out. Springfield serves  as a massive passenger rail hub in the region,   with Amtrak service on the Hartford Line,  Vermonter, Lake Shore Limited, and also some  

Northeast Regional trains serving Springfield. Right after Springfield,   we are crossing the Connecticut River… The rest of the afternoon was pretty chill;   we briefly stopped in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.  Our train once again crosses some very wild parts   of the US, and this is definitely the best  part about traveling with Amtrak; the train  

Will take you to wild places. All you have to  do is relax and enjoy the scenery going by.  Now it’s time for one of the best things to do on  a long train journey, as we like to say in France,  

“Apéro,” or just drinking some booze before our  dinner tonight. I went for some IPA beers from the   café car, and my friend John went for his classic  cocktail, vodka diet coke, an all-time classic! We went for one, two, three rounds before our  arrival in Albany Rensselaer station! As explained  

Earlier, our train will be reunited with train  number 49 Lake Shore Limited, New York – Chicago.   Our train, the 449, Boston to Chicago, always  arrives first at 6:10 PM. Then another P42 DC is   attached to the consist, and the train 49 arrives  from New York, gets its engine removed. Then the  

449 Boston section moves forward to then back up  and couple with the New York section to form a   unique train with the final destination Chicago! We arrived a bit earlier in Albany at 6:00 PM,   and as soon as I set foot on the platform,  I saw the beauty that will haul our train  

Tonight. The second P42 added is a special  heritage unit for Amtrak’s 50th anniversary,   the P42 108 is in the Phase VI livery scheme.  I’m usually lucky when I ride Amtrak trains;   I usually have special liveries units such  as the 156 or 160 on the Southwest Chief. 

And here’s the New York section arriving with  a delay of 10 minutes… The crew of Albany is   detaching the P32 from the New York section…  Amtrak can’t use regular P42 out of New York   since their diesel engine is banned in  the tunnels of New York. The P32 uses  

A third rail pickup shoes to get its power.  If you want to know more about this subject,   I invite you to watch my video on the Amtrak  Empire service between New York and Albany!   And there she goes! Have a good night, P32… Now the two P42 108 and 103 are pulling up  

From Albany with the Boston section… to then  back up on the New York section! All good!   Ready to go! It was a very fun operation  to watch if you are interested in trains;   a shunting action is something quite rare  within the Amtrak network. You can see  

Something similar in San Antonio, TX on the Texas  Eagle or in Spokane, WA on the Empire Builder,   but the shunting action is during  nighttime. The Lake Shore has one   of the rare shunting at a decent time of the day! And of course, if you don’t care about the train,  

You can walk around in Albany – feel free to do  so, just try to be back on time for the departure   of the train at 7:05 PM; we left with a delay of 8  minutes… nothing serious within Amtrak’s standard. 

Right after Albany, we went back to our spot in  the café car and had our dinner! I went for the   mac and cheese, a pop, and some rice crispy  treats. Not the healthiest dinner I’ve had,   but oh well. Don’t expect five-star food  from the café car, but at least it has the  

Credit to be rather cheap. I paid $12.50  + $2.50 for tips. Don’t forget that you’re   on a train and not at your local Walmart! We went to sleep after Utica, NY,   right after 9 PM. On coach, the light  goes off after 10 PM; in this case,  

They’ve dimmed the light after Syracuse, NY. Pro tip for your first night on coach, always   bring a hoodie, something to create a pillow.  I usually use another hoodie, a sleeping mask,   some earplugs, and a noise-canceling headset, and  you’re off to a good night. And exactly like my  

Other experiences, I slept like a baby until the  next morning. I only woke up briefly in Cleveland,   Ohio, since many people were boarding. I woke up  at 8:30 am just before Elkhart in the state of   Indiana, as you can see with the New York Central  railroad museum. So yeah, I slept pretty hard. 

Luckily, my travel buddy John woke up earlier  this night to capture the sunrise in the gorgeous   states of Indiana… Our train is currently  following the famous water level route of   the New York Central. Instead of going through  the Appalachians between New York and Chicago,  

New York Central took the long way around by  following the rivers and the great lakes. This   allowed the New York Central to run fast and heavy  trains due to the low gradient along the route.  By the way, don’t forget to like and subscribe  to the channel if you are enjoying this content;  

That’s the best way to help the channel.  And if you want to help even more with   some extra content, you can check out my  Patreon page linked in the description. Oh,   and I also have another YouTube channel about  my model trains in N scale if you are curious;  

It is called Minitrak by Simply Railway. This is South Bend, Indiana, and man, what’s   going on here? That’s a lot of people! We later  understood that there was a college football game   hosted at Notre Dame University the day before…  When I see how busy can be a train that comes only  

Once a day here. This is a clear sign that this  country deserves better public transportation.   After South Bend, the Lake Shore is running  alongside the South Shore Line, one of the most   unique commuter train operations in North America.  Definitely on my bucket list, but every time I’m  

Planning a trip on the South Shore Line, something  gets in the way and I have to cancel my journey!  Let’s review more of our train, shall we? This  is the beautiful unused dining car. For now,   it’s used as a common area for sleeping  car passengers. I really hope Amtrak will  

Reintroduce traditional dining on the Lake Shore;  sleeping car passengers deserve better for the   price of the ticket. Speaking of sleeping car, I  wasn’t able to access it since I wasn’t holding a   sleeping car ticket. But if you are curious to see  what it’s like to travel on a sleeping car on the  

East coast, I invite you to watch my video on the  Silver Meteor between New York and Miami or on the   Cardinal between Chicago and Washington D.C. Welcome to the coach section… The New York   section seemed to be more crowded  than the Boston… So if you want  

Some quietness, Boston might be a better bet And this is the Café car we were in last night.   Accessible to every passenger on the train! And now comes the toilet time. And even after   running 20 hours non-stop, the toilets  are still in okay condition, clean and  

Fully functional. Good job there, Amtrak. Near Chesterton, we can see the junction with   all the Amtrak Michigan services. The Wolverine,  Pere Marquette, and Blue Water trains are using   this line up north to the state of Michigan. This is the fantastic city of Gary, Indiana, not  

The fanciest city to visit in the United States. Before arriving in Chicago, let’s talk a bit about   the price. I paid $185 two weeks before departure  for this journey between Boston and Chicago,   and honestly, it’s a good price. $185 for  a 22-hour journey. Traveling in coach with  

Amtrak is usually a good deal. It’s not the  most comfortable, but it will get you there!  To my great surprise (we had a bet with my  friend, I was positive we wouldn’t be on time),   and we arrived in Chicago not on time but  with an advance of 38 minutes! You hear a  

Lot about Amtrak getting late and yadi yada,  but we never hear when Amtrak arrives earlier,   so thumbs up for that! Upon arrival in Chicago,  don’t miss the massive Amtrak yard. You’ll find   loads of cool stuff; of course, if you are not a  train nerd, it’s just a bunch of Amtrak engines  

And cars sitting around a yard, but you know,  for trains people, it’s like a candy store!  Chicago serves as a central hub for Amtrak for all  of its operations; the yard is impressive. And if  

You have some time to kill in Chicago, go for a  walk on the Roosevelt Road bridge. It’s worth it!  All in all, the Lake Shore Limited is a very  enjoyable, not the most scenic but enjoyable   and useful, the schedule especially between New  York and Chicago makes a lot of sense. Leaving in  

The afternoon in New York, fall asleep and wake  up a few miles east of Chicago. I’m also very   glad to have chosen the Boston section since it  brought me to places I’ve never been in the past!  Thanks a lot for watching, friend. Like  and comment on the video if you liked it,  

And don’t forget to subscribe to the  channel if you haven’t already to not   miss new videos every week. This was Thibault  for Simply Railway, have a wonderful day.

Howdy howdy,

Boy, it’s been a while since I haven’t released a video on long-distance Amtrak. It’s time to finally take a look at the mighty Lake Shore Limited between Boston and Chicago… As always, an Amtrak journey is full of surprises

Enjoy, and don’t forget to like/leave a comment to help the channel 🙂

– TRIP INFORMATION –
Date: OCTOBER 2023
Railway company: Amtrak
Route : Boston South Station to Chicago Union Station
Time : 22h22
Price : $185 (purchased two weeks ahead of departure)

Credit thumbnail : Michael A. Burke on Flickr : https://flic.kr/ps/o9eUo

LINK TO THE NEW CHANNEL : Minitrak by Simply Railway https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgV2ympxK8JW2xLWZEPD5ZA/videos?app=desktop&view=0&sort=dd&shelf_id=0

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LINK FOR MY BOOK ABOUT NIGHT TRAINS!

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00:00: Intro
00:49 : Boston South Station
02:13 : The Lake Shore Limited
02:55 : On the platform and composition
03:35 : Our engine
03:58 : Boarding
04:26 : Seat Check
04:58 : Departure / time of travel
05:25 : On Time performance
05:52 : Straight outta Boston
06:20 : Worcester, MA
07:03 : A chill afternoon
08:07 : Springfield, MA
09:06 : Relax
09:50 : Eastbound 448
10:06 : Apéro
10:30 : Shunting in Albany, NY
15:25 : Dinner
15:50 : Night time in coach
16:25 : Good morning
16:37 : Sunrise by John B
17:20 : Mid roll ads
17:42 : Crowd in South Bend, IN
18:15 : Waltkthrough
19:15 : Toilets Time
19:43 : Junction with Amtrak Michigan services
20:26 : Beautiful Gary, IN
20:40 : Price
21:00 : Earlier arrival in Chicago
21:17 : Amtrak Yard
21:46 : Thoughts about the Lake Shore Limited
22:25 : Outro