USA 45 Days by Rail: Day 38 - Lake Shore Limited

I woke up early which was great because I wanted to still have some time to discover Boston before my train left at 12.50 pm. I took a shower first and was then at the complimentary breakfast just a few minutes after they had begun serving at 7.00 am. I ate quickly and went then back to the room to get my camera. By 7.20 am I left the hostel. It was a beautiful morning, the sun had just risen and the city came alive. I went down Washington Street again. My first destination was the Old City Hall. I then went around the corner to see the new City Hall and the large square besides it that was surrounded by some really nice buildings. I just kept walking and discovering more interesting buildings along the way. Somebody had told me that Boston really had a lot to offer in terms of architecture and I couldn’t agree more with that. I eventually ended up at the North Station and had a brief look at the departure hall. Commuters were just streaming out of the building busy getting to work. After I had seen the station I headed back towards the center passing by Haymarket and returning towards the City Hall. I went one more time to the Faneuil Hall Market where I took some pictures before getting to Columbus Park. After I had spent some time there I went back passing by the Old State House, returning to Washington Street. Before getting back to the hostel I still went to see the Boston Common park. I was back at the hostel just about two hours after I had left. I was still able to eat some more breakfast which was served until 10 am. After the second breakfast I went back to the room in order to pack my stuff and to take a quick shower. I had three days and nights ahead on the train without any possibilities to take a shower so I really had to take advantage of this opportunity. I checked out by 11 am and left the hostel soon after walking back to South Station. I checked my bag in and I was lucky as I could check it in all the way through to Seattle. For the next three days I didn’t had to care about my bag at all. There was still about an hour left until boarding began so I went to have some lunch in the station and took a couple of pictures. About 20 minutes before departure time the track was announced. I knew the track already in advance as I had spotted the train which was easy to distinguish from the other trains as the one going to Chicago was the only one that had a luggage car. Boarding for train 449 the “Lake Shore Limited” began in time and I was the second person to board. Seats could be chosen freely which gave me the chance to choose the perfect window seat. Train 449 left right on time and my 72 hour journey to Seattle had begun. After pulling out of Boston the train called first at Boston Back Bay station and about half an hour into the journey at Framingham, MA. The scenery became really beautiful as the train passed by some lakes before reaching Worchester, MA. Also the station building in Worchester and the city itself looked really nice. After Springfield, MA it became a bit more rural with nice farm land, forests and hills. Final stop before the train ended surprisingly in Albany was Pittsfield, MA. Even though it said in the timetable that there were through cars from Boston to Chicago and that train 449 from Boston would be added to train 49 from New York to Chicago, all passengers of train 449 had to disembark at Albany-Rensselaer, NY. At least train 449 arrived on time in Albany. The layover was one hour and five minutes. I went into the station building and had some dinner in the station restaurant. At about a quarter to seven boarding for train 49 began and passengers traveling all the way to Chicago were called first. I was in hope to get a window seat but as too often during this trip I was assigned an aisle seat. Strange, I asked the car attendance for a window seat but he said there weren’t any left. In fact there were window seats left but assigned to other travelers boarding after me. It seems he didn’t want to make any extra effort to get me a window seat or perhaps he didn’t even know which numbers the window seats had. What a disappointment. Train 49 left Albany-Rensselaer with a few minutes delay. After about half an hour came the first station stop in Schenectady, NY and the sun started to set. A beautiful sunset, which I could only see partially from the aisle. I spent most of the evening with reading. Further stops followed in Utica, NY and Syracuse, NY. By the time the train left Syracuse, NY it had picked up a 40 minutes delay. Around 10 pm the light was turned off, unfortunately not all the light. The lamps right in the middle of the aisle remained on and were just perfectly shining into my face. It wasn’t easy to find sleep but at some point I must have fallen asleep, still angry that I had been placed in an aisle seat.