Disney Train Flickr Set

Here's a great Flickr photo set from kmb733, taken at the Rensselaer Amtrak station on Tuesday: Disney's A Christmas Carol Train Tour.

Looks like some great costumes were on display, and very cool set models. I got a kick out of the Victorian street lamps with Christmas wreaths, set into fake snowbanks along the trackside. Check it out.

Disney's A Christmas Carol Train Tour (official site)

Free Shuttle for Disney Train

Don't try to drive to the Amtrak station for the Disney Train!! CDTA will provide free shuttle service to the Rensselaer Amtrak station for the Disney Train on Tue., Sept. 22 (running from 8am t0 8pm). Local residents can also take CDTA's 214 bus (not free).

The free shuttles will stop at the following parking lots on Columbia Turnpike (all are on Rt. 9/20 in Rensselaer/East Greenbush): K-Mart, St. Mary's Church, and Computer Sciences Corp.



View Parking for CDTA Disney Train Shuttle in a larger map

Read more at:

• The Record: CDTA shuttle to Disney train
• Disney's Dickens Train
• Disney's A Christmas Carol Train Tour (official site)

Premium Rail Parking

Times-Union: CDTA's premium spots

Agency leasing private parking spaces on ground floor of rail station for $325 a month

RENSSELAER -- The Capital District Transportation Authority is giving users of the CDTA's Rensselaer Rail Station the opportunity to rent their own personal parking space.

Learn About Nanotech

UAlbany NanoCollege and CDTA Partner to Display Educational Nanotechnology Exhibit at Rensselaer Rail Station (duplicate press release at New Energy New York)

The College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering ("CNSE") of the University at Albany and the Capital District Transportation Authority ("CDTA") are partnering to publicize the global leadership of the UAlbany NanoCollege and New York State in nanotechnology - as well as the growing impact of nanoscale technologies in the 21st century - through a unique exhibit now on display at the Rensselaer Rail Station [525 East Street, Rensselaer, NY].

The exhibit - which incorporates high-tech items from CNSE's world-class Albany NanoTech Complex, such as silicon wafers, computer chips and biochips, and solar and fuel cells with nanotechnology-enabled consumer products, including an Xbox, iPod Touch, clothing and cosmetics - will be located through September at CDTA's Rensselaer Rail Station, the 10th-busiest station in the country, serving more than 830,000 people last year.

Other local learning opportunities include RPI's animated planetarium show Molecularium, Riding Snowflakes at the Children's Musem of Science and Technology [250 Jordan Road, Troy]. A new Molecularium show (Molecules to the Max in 3D) will be released in IMAX format this fall.

To see more real-world applications of nanotechnology, check out the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies, which maintains inventories of nanotech-based products. Here's a snapshot from their interactive NanoMetro Map of nano-related research and industry.

Nanotechnology Map Highlights: The top 4 states overall (each with over 75 entries) are California, Massachusetts, New York, and Texas.

Disney's Dickens Train

On September 22, Rensselaer will host a national whistle stop train tour for Disney's upcoming holiday movie, A Christmas Carol (opens Nov. 6). This free traveling exhibit gives behind-the-scenes information and also includes a museum of artifacts on loan from the Charles Dickens Museum in London.

Disney's A Christmas Carol Train Tour
Albany/Rensselaer, NY – Tue., Sept. 22, 2009, 9am-7pm
Rensselaer Amtrak Station, 525 East Street, Rensselaer, NY
Admission is Free

Flood Delays - Amtrak Resumes

Times-Union: Amtrak resumes service in Rensselaer

Flooding concerns forced cancellation of morning trains

RENSSELAER - Amtrak resumed train service to New York this afternoon.

Trains between the Rensselaer Rail Station and Penn Station were canceled this morning because of flooding from Wednesday night's storm.
...
Amtrak says passengers should still expect residual delays along the route.

Amtrak Demolition Can Proceed

Times-Union: Green light for rail stops

RENSSELAER -- Amtrak and the Capital District Transportation Authority have reached an agreement that will allow the demolition of two abandoned Amtrak station buildings to proceed.

The buildings originally were to have been demolished five months ago, but work was delayed while liability concerns were addressed.

I hope this federal money is still on the table: Times-Union [October 1, 2008]: Rensselaer train station gets federal grant

The federal government will contribute half the cost of design and engineering for a fourth track at Rensselaer Rail Station...

Old Albany Amtrak Station (Wikimedia Commons)

Daniel Case, the copyright holder of this photograph, has published or hereby publishes it under the following license: Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License".

UPDATE: Times-Union: State rail project priorities listed

Planners will seek $8.25 billion to fund improvements from federal stimulus program

Amtrak Garage Closed This Weekend

WRGB CBS 6 - Rensselaer Rail Station parking garage closed this weekend

The Capital District Transportation Authority has announced the Rensselaer Rail Station parking garage will be closed this weekend for maintenance work.

Governor's Rail Plan

Here's the round-up of Governor Paterson's new Rail Plan, announced today in the Amtrak station here in Rensselaer, NY.

First off, go launch a window to watch or listen to the recorded press conference for a while - it's good. (I had to smile when the Governor started with a history lesson about the 1831 Mohawk & Hudson Railroad - maybe he reads my blog.)

Times-Union: Paterson touts $10.7B overhaul of N.Y. rail service. Comment at The Buzz: Business News: Rail plan includes plans for growth even as state cuts support

Press Release: GOVERNOR PATERSON ANNOUNCES FIRST STATEWIDE RAIL PLAN IN MORE THAN TWO DECADES

NYS Department of Transportation: State Rail Plan

Paterson at Amtrak Today

Governor Paterson will be making an announcement about rail service at 10 am this morning, at the Amtrak station in Rensselaer.

Check out the following article, which helpfully includes the wrong pronunciation for "Rensselaer" (it's "RENNS-ler", pass it on...).

Newsday: NY gov to make statewide rail service announcment

High Speed Rail Stimulus

Times-Union, The Buzz Business Blog

Stimulus gives high-speed rail a faster track

The federal economic stimulus agreement reached between the Senate and the House of Representatives includes $8 billion for high-speed rail, with an undetermined portion of that to support work in upstate New York, according to an announcement from Sen. Charles E. Schumer.

Westbound Rail Traffic

Times-Union: DOT plan revived to speed rail traffic

The state Department of Transportation wants to put a dormant plan to lay a second railroad track between Schenectady and Albany back on the region's transportation agenda and make it eligible for federal stimulus funding.

An 18-mile stretch of Amtrak's Empire Corridor between rail stations in Schenectady and Rensselaer is a bottleneck that delays both passenger and freight trains at a critical point for travel in upstate New York.

Megabus Parking Problem

It looks like the additional travelers attracted to the Amtrak station by the new Megabus to NYC are causing parking headaches in downtown Rensselaer, NY. Here's the press release by Rensselaer County Legislator Mike Stammel:

Stammel Concerned About Mega Bus Parking Issues
...
Stammel said he wants city officials and others to review issues created by the operation of Megabus, which provides service from Rensselaer to New York City.
...
Patrons of the service have created parking issues in the center of the city since the Megabus service started. Residents have contacted Stammel about parking problems on Broadway, East Street, upper Wendell Street, Elm Street, Fourth and Fifth avenues and the state-owned parking facility on Broadway.

Either the thrifty Megabus customers don't want to pay to park at Amtrak, or they can't find room in the lot. The problem is, few of those older downtown homes have their own off-street parking, and homeowners are getting displaced by travelers parking in front of their residences.

I suggest that the DeFreestville Park & Ride on Rt. 4 is a much better place to leave your car than the narrow streets surrounding the Amtrak station. You can take the CDTA #14 bus directly to and from the station (check the timetables carefully, to make sure you're expected back before their last run, especially on Sunday night). The station is served by other CDTA bus lines as well.

UPDATE: Times-Union, 1/21/09 Parking issues arise over new bus service

MegaBus to NYC

I've been meaning to post about the new MegaBus direct service from the Rensselaer Amtrak station to Penn Station in New York City. (Fares are as low as $1 if you book far in advance - it's currently $19 each way for a late Jan. weekend.) The schedule looks very convenient, so I hope to try it soon.

But for now, I found a great review from someone who has already made the trip. Matthew Loiacono's blog "the view from here" gives you detailed instructions, tells what to expect:

How to Travel from Albany -> NYC for $1 Each Way

The MegaBus site has this notification, which is a change of pick-up location (Matthew's review describes the old location):

The bus stop in Albany/Rensselaer has been moved. We are now picking up in the North Service Parking lot of the train station. The entrance to the parking lot is off East St, just North of Wendell St on the West side and this lot can be accessed from the train station.

Matthew Loiacono is a local musician, so while you're on his site, take the time to listen to a few tracks. It's very cool stuff! (Traditional instruments like mandolin and banjo with modern technology and sounds.) If you get to his site before the end of the year, you can download a free live album.

What's a Wye?

Last month I posted this photo on the Times-Union's web site, and noted that I saw the trains come just this far onto the bridge, and then reverse and back off again. I thought perhaps they were turning around. [Click images to enlarge.]

Rich was kind enough to post a comment confirming that was probably correct, as there is a track configuration called a "wye" at the east end of the bridge, which lets the train do a 3-point turn to go back down to NYC. You can see the wye on the east side of the river if you search for "livingston avenue bridge, rensselaer, ny" here on Google Maps - it looks very cool with Satellite view turned on too.

Wikipedia has a good article about the "wye" in rail terminology here, as well as a little blurb on the century-old Livingston Ave. Bridge here.

This is a rotating swing bridge owned by CSX Transportation. Here is a really nice video on YouTube, showing the bridge in action.

Here is one more view of the Livingston Avenue Bridge, taken Oct. 10 from the Corning Preserve on the Albany side of the Hudson River.

Old Rail Stations

Sometime in the next several months, two former Amtrak stations will be demolished to make way for a fourth rail line, to relieve train backups and reduce delays through Rensselaer. (Also, 100 additional parking spaces will then be possible at the new station.) See details in this Buzz Business News posting: CDTA Awards Demolition Contract.

Amtrak Station

These photos were taken from the bridge behind the Albany-Rensselaer Amtrak station [525 East. St.]


Click on each photo to see a larger image.











In early Oct., I uploaded these to the Times-Union's photo gallery. Unfortunately, they resize them down to 3x4", so I thought I'd post them here as well.

Empire Corridor

I just ran across this Aug. 20th MassTransitMag industry announcement. This fall, the NYSDOT will be running comprehensive software simulations of the Empire Corridor West, which is the rail line connecting Rensselaer to Niagara Falls, NY.

This simulation will model all passenger and freight traffic in the corridor. This will allow a way to assess the feasibility of various infrastructure improvements. Funding for the study comes from the NYS Senate Task Force on High Speed Rail.

Whistle Stop Tour

In another local train story, Good Morning America's recent Whistle-Stop Tour included two RPI student interns. An article in Inside Rensselaer tells about the trip.

Here's a (somewhat overly dramatic) ABC behind-the-scenes video of the technical challenges of broadcasting from a moving train. And in case you missed it, here's Dianne Sawyer's Sept. 16th interview of Senator Clinton during their stopover at the Rensselaer station.

Upstate New York wasn't necessarily painted in a good light by the New York City based GMA. Check out how Rome, NY felt about their portrayal.

Vintage Train Car

The 1955 "Great Dome" Car will be available on Amtrak's Adirondack Route through November 11 - perfect for viewing Fall foliage. See Amtrak's Press Release for details.

You can take a virtual ride on Youtube: Amtrak's Adirondack Dome and Private Varnish Train Ride.

UPDATE: See more info and a video tour here at Capital News 9: "Amtrak shows off glass dome topped car"