PROLOGUE The trip had been discussed for over two years while I was living in New London. It would have been a two-night, one-day journey, preferably taken in July to maximize day time scenery watching. But, the trip always fell victim to more pressing commitments. Now, with the impending demise of the train, there was no more time to waste. Unfortunately, there was also no more summer-time daylight. While I had previously ridden the Montrealer in 1981, I had not ridden it since the "Montrealer-II" routing through New London that was inaugu rated in July, 1989. The all-CV routing offered roughly 100 new miles of route on which to ride, from New London to Northampton. The plan to ride the Montrealer just two weeks before its demise reminded me of a similar ride, back in 1979. The month before the infamous "Carter Cuts," I took a cross- country train journey. The west-to-east portion of the trip was via the North Coast Hiawatha from Seattle to Chicago, and the Floridian from Chicago to Winter Park, FL. UNION STATION...A PERFECT PLACE FOR TRAINWATCHING Thursday, March 16, I arrive at Washington's Union Station four hours before the Montrealer's departure time to have lunch with a friend. Following lunch at the a table in Pizzeria Uno that overlooked the former ticket counter area in the West Hall of the station, I head out onto the plat forms to watch and photograph trains. The weather is perfect: 75 degrees, not a cloud in the sky. From the Track 7/8 and 9/10 platforms I photograph some MARC trains waiting for the afternoon rush hour. Metroliner 113 arrives on time from New York at 2:59 p.m. I move over to the platform at track 19/20 for watch the Capitol Limited that arrived earlier in the day be pulled out to Ivy City. Atlantic City train No. 665 departs from track 24 with F40 No. 245 in the lead. I neglect to shoot a photo of the cab car at the south end of the train that would have firmly identified the train as one of the last Atlantic City trains when viewed in the future. The Silver Star now arrives, in charge of E60 No. 906. I shoot some of the Heritage equipment on the train as it passes. Moments later train 171 from Boston arrives and stops next to the Silver Star. I then move over to the plat form low level platform between tracks 14/15. Thursday's Capitol Limited backs into the station. I now notice that the Montrealer is already sitting on track 24 on the lower level section of Union Station. The afternoon parade of VRE commuter trains to Virginia depart from track 23 on the same platform, so there is no problem in getting to the platform well before the Montrealer's departure is announced. Two VRE trains arrive and depart while the Montrealer is boarding. I take a number of photos of the Heritage lounge and sleepers. The consist of today's Montrealer is: AEM-7 No. 943 & 942, 1176(baggage), 2911(sleeper), 2444(sleeper), 3113(lounge), 25029, 25086 and 25059(Amfleet-II coaches), 21225, 21268, 21112, 21158(Amcoaches) and 20049(Amcafe). The train is actually operated as two separate trains along the NEC to New York City. The rear five cars are treated as an unreserved corridor train. The third Amfleet-II coach is kept locked, prohibiting the movement of people between the "two" trains. There are two separate crews. THE JOURNEY NORTH BEGINS Only about 20 coach passengers get on the "real Montrealer" in Washington. I hear roughly half of them speaking French. After negotiating the station switches, and passing under the New York Avenue bridge, we quickly accelerate. Unfortunately, my car No. 25086, rides exceptionally rough at speeds above 80 mph, especially when negotiating turns to the right. It rides much smoother when turning left. In contrast, the Heritage lounge car two cars ahead is as smooth as silk. Passing the Ivy City yards I note F40 no. 358 in the "primer" scheme. This is the third "primer F40" I've seen in as many weeks. At New Carrollton station we meet Metroliner 117. It obviously arrived ahead of schedule, and the engi neer is standing on the platform enjoying some of the beau tiful spring weather. I plead guilty to feeling a bit smug as we sit at the station during the early part of the afternoon rush hour. I observe commuters hurrying to catch their bus, subway, or commuter train. Normally, I would be among the crowds of DC- area commuters, but on this day I am enjoying the beginning of a long-distance train adventure. As my car bounces along the NEC, I drift in and out of a light sleep. Standing in the warm sun on the platforms of Union Station is taking its toll. Not that I mind. Cat naps on a train are most pleasant. I awake as the train enters the B & P tunnels. The platform in Baltimore is very crowded; the Montrealer heads north in a time slot well suited for busi ness travelers. And, most of the crowd does enter the rear section of the train. The Crescent is on the next track over, and it departs shortly after we stop. Among the few passengers who board the "real" Montrealer is a young female student who is obviously friends with the car attendant. They exchange animated greetings, and the attendant mentions that he's soon going to have to travel to Chicago instead of Montreal. He is very unhappy with that prospect. I think to myself that the at tendant ought to be just glad he will still have a job on a train. Many of his fellow workers won't. NORTH OF BALTIMORE As we pass through the Union Tunnel east of the Balti more station I proceed to the lounge to purchase a soda. There are more employees, three, in the lounge than patrons. One service attendant is a waiter for the six tables on which tray meal service is available, one attendant handles the snack bar counter, and the third cooks the food in the ovens in a cubbyhole behind the snack bar service area. The menus are in French and English. I enjoy the smooth ride in the lounge car while the Montrealer passes the Conrail and CSX Bayview yards on the east side of Baltimore. About a half-mile to the left, I see a CSX intermodal train also heading north. The CSX and Am trak routes are never too far from each other in Maryland, but there are just a handful of locations where one can see one from the other. Just east of the I-695 overpasses is a large Martin- Marietta plant and a Maryland Air National Guard facility adjacent to a shared runway. What catches my attention today is a group of MARC coaches sitting outside one of the ANG buildings. MARC's coach repair shop is located in a former ANG building, and the coaches are the former SEMTA cars begin refurbished. Near the Bush River I return to my "bucking bronco" coach. A few minutes later we cross the Susquehanna River, and pass the Perryville train station. A man on the platform has a video camera trained on our train. MARC train No. 526, the "Afternoon Executive" is waiting for it's southbound deadhead trip back to Baltimore on the track next to the station. Dusk is falling as we pull into Wilmington. The south bound Silver Meteor, led by E60 No. 602, pulls in at the same time. We've been losing time throughout our journey north, and as we leave Wilmington, we rock and roll over to Track 3, the normal southbound track. A moment or two later the 5:00 p.m. Metroliner from Washington, No. 222, races by on Track 2. If the Montrealer is on time, this passing of trains occurs in Philadelphia. We then cross back to Track 2 so that southbound Metroliner No. 123 can race towards its 7:59 p.m. arrival in Washington, D.C. without delay. Nice dispatching. SMOKE AND ROCKS IN PHILADELPHIA The Montrealer arrives in Philadelphia on Track 2. The conductor announces a "smoke break," in anticipation of a few minutes of baggage handling at the head end. The number of passengers in the reserved section doubles. The rear four seats in my car are filled with a group heading to Sugarbush for a long weekend of skiing and partying. The partying has already begun; the skiing has to wait until tomorrow. Two school-mates have a happy reunion on the platform, and for the next 60 miles they laugh and talk about their just-ended vacation and what the next quarter at school holds in store. WHACK! BANG! The Montrealer becomes the object of juve nile target practice in Tacony, a suburb of Philadelphia. No cracks appear in the windows; but I'll bet there are some new dents in the stainless steel fluting. There's not much to see in the darkness, so I spend time by reading a book. I'm a bit hungry, so I go to the lounge car to purchase a cup of soup and potato chips. The lounge car is crowded and all the tables are full. The "Trenton Makes, The World Takes" sign glows brightly as we cross the Delaware River in Trenton. The northbound Montrealer is one of the few Amtrak trains that stop at Princeton Junction. (The southbound train doesn't make this stop). We also stop at Metropark and Newark. The evening rush hour is over, judging by the PATH yard south of the Newark station that is filled with trains. Adjacent to the New Jersey turnpike, east of Portal, there is a billboard proclaiming "Site of Allied Junction." This station, also known as Secaucus Transfer, will serve trains on the NEC and several NJT commuter trains that oper ate out of Hoboken Terminal. I notice rain drops on the window on the other side of my car. Wow. There wasn't a cloud in the sky at sunset, and now its raining. PAUSING IN PENN STATION As the Montrealer hurries through the Hudson River tunnels, the conductor announces that there will be a loss of power while the train is sitting in Penn Station and that people should keep a close eye on their belongings. We pull into track 11 just two minutes late at 8:20 p.m. The car lights go out, but it isn't dark thanks to the bright Penn Station platform lights. Metroliner No. 222 is next to us on Track 12, and it departs for New Haven with very few passen gers on board. Over on Track 13, train 149 from Boston to Washington arrives. Thump. The local section of our train has been removed. The lights come back on. "This train is sold out. Please remove all your belong ings from the seats. We will need all the seats tonight." Moments later the platform is alive with activity as the new passengers begin boarding. All three coaches are now open, and within minutes all but a few seats on the train are occupied. The Montrealer departs on time, and heads through the East River tunnels. The seat next to me is now occupied by a lady bound to New London, of all places. She asks me if there is a good view of New York City on this route. I an swer there is, weather permitting. She said she hadn't seen the city in the morning. "Oh, you took Metro North from New Haven into the city this morning," I ask. "No, I took the New England Express from New London, but I think we went on a different route." Perhaps she was looking out the wrong side of the train. Sometimes it is best not to put a "railfan" spin on everything, and I let the route question die. I point out our very dim view through the rain of the New York City as the train crosses the Hell Gate bridge. What does this lady think about the prospects of elec trified train service in New London? She says she was able to have almost 12 hours in New York with trains on the cur rent schedule. I have the feeling she doesn't ride the train too often. Fortunately, for my blood pressure, she doesn't say anything negative about the electrification of the Shore Line. By the time we reach New Rochelle we are both reading our respective books. Once again I'm tired, and I try to take another nap. I want to be awake for the trip up the west side of the Thames River, so I need to be rested. I awake briefly as the train passes through Bridgeport and over the shoo-fly constructed around the Peck bridge replacement work. I doze off until we arrive on time in New Haven. The two AEM-7s are cut off, and F40s Nos. 203 and 355, arranged elephant-style, are attached. We leave New Haven on time, and slowly crawl through the interlocking tracks east of the station. These tracks will be improved as part of the Northeast High-Speed Rail Improvement Project. The last westbound deadhead Shore Line East train of the night from Old Saybrook roars by, and I soon drift off to sleep. COLLECTING NEW MILEAGE WITHIN SIGHT OF HOME As the Montrealer slows for the "Sail-Off" switch in New London I wake up. I can't count the number of times I've laid in bed around 11:00 p.m. and heard this train screech to a halt for the switch and derail, which have to be manu ally unlocked. The switch itself is now controlled from the Shore Line dispatcher in Boston. The switch is aligned to the former CV, now New England Central Railroad, and we slowly proceed into the New London station. It feels strange not to be getting off the train, but I'm enjoying a ride over "new rails." The train crew still needs to call the dispatcher in St. Albans for clearance onto the NECR. For some reason this always seems to take about 20 minutes. It's not as if the railroad is bustling with action at this time of night. The station agent obtains a pillow from the crew before we head north. I move up to the lounge car for the trip up the Thames River. There are only a few people in the lounge. There have been times when I've seen it full at New London. The snack bar attendant announces "last call" as the train creeps over the sharp Winthrop Cove tressle and enters the CV, er, NECR, yard. Though cloudy, there are enough lights to make looking out the window worthwhile. Afterall, this is home territory for me. It is nice to finally ride on trackage that, up to now, I've only seen and photographed freight trains on. My coach is now riding relatively smooth since the speed limits along this route are in the range of 30 to 45 mph. The lights of the Naval Submarine Base and Dow Chemical plant at Allyn's Point reflect brightly off the calm river waters. We cross a cove in Montville at which I photographed a CV freight last fall during low-tide. Tonight we passed at high-tide, and I noted that the spots on the shore from which I'd shot the freight were underwater. Norwich, Yantic, Franklin. It was weird to ride between the silos of the K&L and Kobkoff Feed plants, two locations where it was easy to shoot the former CV freights performing switching. About an hour after leaving New London we briefly stop in Willimantic. I see one person get off at the small bus- stop shelter and platform that the town built after the Montrealer began running on the current route. In Palmer, MA, the southbound Montrealer is waiting for us. One crew takes the northbound train from New Haven to Palmer, where it switches to the southbound train to return to New Haven. The crew that brings the southbound Montrealer into Palmer goes off duty, and a new crew takes the train north. MORNING IN VERMONT I sleep soundly until White River Junction, at 5:08 a.m. A lady throws down her luggage in the seat next to mine, and the conductor says, "HI!" She must be a frequent rider on the Montrealer, and many crew members know her. Later in the morning I'll learn she was one of the most active people who worked to preserve some form of rail ser vice to Vermont. I don't know or care about that yet, as I go back to sleep. At 6:15 a.m. I awake again, and can't fall asleep. I look out at the dark, dreary Vermont morning. Looks as if I'll be spending another rainy day in Montreal. After the train leaves the Montpelier-Barre stop I head to the lounge for breakfast. All the tables are full, but the waiter gladly provides coffee while I wait for a space. I sit in the lounge portion of the dining car, and listen to the conversation going on at the table behind me. My White River Junction seat mate is discussing her efforts to save the Montrealer. Her table mates agree the train is nice, but question whether a day train to Montreal will work since it wouldn't have satisfied their travel needs. After about 15 minutes the waiter motions me to a table at which there another gentleman sitting. We begin talking about the future of the train. I mention I edit a newsletter for the Washington, D.C., Chapter of the NRHS. My breakfast partner says he is a member of the Massachusetts Bay Divi sion of the Railroad Enthusiasts, and has a business card to prove it. One of his friends is sitting at a table across the aisle and mentions that he's also an NRHS member. The Mass Bay RRE folks had arranged an informal "last ride" on the Montrealer. Some of them rode up on the Thurs day train, but most were going to arrive Saturday morning on the Friday train. Pity, they were all going to end up being "stranded" in Montreal due to the rail strike. My meal of French toast is quite good, considering that it was cooked in a convection oven. Back in 1981 on the southbound Montrealer I rudely encountered Amtrak's micro wave "budget" meal service, then just days old. While the present day's Montrealer food service isn't spectacular, Amtrak does do a credible job with their convection oven and microwave meals. I didn't hear any complaints from anyone about the food. During breakfast the train stopped at Waterbury and Essex Junction. Quite a few people got off at each station. On the way back to my seat I walk through all the coaches. At least 60 percent of the seats are still occupied with people going to Montreal. Proof positive of the attraction of the final destination and the overnight schedule. After returning to my seat I strike up a conversation with my train-activist seat mate. I don't volunteer any information about my background or insight into Amtrak oper ations. I just ask a series of leading questions, though it doesn't take much to get her on a roll. She says she wrote Tom Downs way back in November when the rumors had begun to circulate that the Montrealer was going to be cut. Mr. Downs reportedly wrote back that the Montrealer wasn't being targeted, yet less than a month later the official announcement was made. If one believes that the December 14 cuts were decided upon "in the blind," then Mr. Downs wasn't entirely wrong. My seat mate did not have wonderful things to say about the Amtrak bureaucracy, nor did she have anything nice to say about New Hampshire's support for the train. (She actu ally lives in New Hampshire and uses the White River Junc tion station across the Connecticut River in Vermont). She described her letter writing, fax and phone campaign. There were public hearings attended in each of the towns served by the Montrealer. She didn't like Vermont's idea to operate a train along the Rutland Railroad in the western part of the state. "Why should they get service when we are in danger of losing our service here? Is Amtrak a national system or not?" By the time we stop in St. Albans we've exhausted the subject. The padding in the Montrealer schedule is obvious as we pause 14 minutes. The rain keeps me from wandering around outside. As we leave I see my first New England Cen tral Railroad diesel locomotives idling away in the St. Albans yard. The GP-38s are painted an attractive blue and gold color. There is an Operation Life Safer decal on each locomotive. WE MUST BE CLOSE TO CANADA Just north of St. Albans we meet a southbound CN freight with Engine Nos. 9529, 9058, 9536. Lake Champlain appears on the left. We stop. We begin moving again, but slowly as we cross the tressle across the lake. If I recall correctly, the 1990 Amtrak calendar featured a drawing of the Montrealer crossing this tressle to honor the reinstate ment of the train. At St. Albans the Amtrak train crew was replaced with CN crew members. In preparation for customs at Cantic they hand out forms to fill in. The customs station at Cantic is located in the center of a rail junction, on a track con necting the southeast and northeast approach tracks. Two through routes once crossed at a 90-degree angle, but the southeast to northwest through track has been removed. The northeast to southwest track is used by the Adirondack. Track connections exist between all the approach directions except for the southeast to southwest movement. Got that? Clearing customs takes just over 30 minutes. The six customs crew members use the lounge car as their base of operations. No one is permitted in the lounge during cus toms. Everyone on the train is allowed to enter Canada; I've seen people escorted off trains at the Canada border on previous journeys. FORTY FOUR MILES TO MONTREAL The southern Quebec countryside is flat farmland. There are piles of dirty snow along the tracks, and the fields are soggy with water. A recent warm spell, combined with some rain has conspired to melt most of the winter's remaining snow. At St. Jean the train slows and snakes through the downtown area. The dreary, cloudy weather turns foggy. No one is going to get a good view of the Montreal skyline today. About 20 minutes out of Montreal the crew mentions that the train lights will go out prior to entering Central Station. Pas sengers are cautioned not to begin detraining until the train comes to a complete stop. Why do we have to enter Montreal in the dark? To limit the amount of diesel exhaust in the underground Central Station. It seems archaic for such an operation to be required in the last decade of the 20th century. Four miles from Central Station we pass a station that seems to have two names. As seen from the passing train, the VIA sign says St. Denis, and the CN sign says St. Lambert. The Adirondack stops here. [In reality, what appears to be a "St. Denis" sign is in fact a fairly large address sign: "329 Saint-Denis" under the VIA sign. It is a puzzle why the station is marked so clearly with the street address. Another curiosity is that avenue Saint-Denis is actually across the tracks from the station. The "two-name-station" puzzle was solved by Pat Scrimgeour, who visited the station on Friday, April 14, after reading my posting of the trip report in the message section of TrainNet.] Soon the train veers to the left, and then right to parallel the mainline. We're crossing the St. Lawrence Sea way, and there are two separate crossings of a lock arranged so that neither train nor shipping traffic has to stop when a ship is in the lock. The two rail lines converge in the middle of the main bridge over the St. Lawrence River, the Victoria Bridge. In addition to the double track rail line, the bridge has a roadway on either side similar to the Huey P. Long Bridge in New Orleans. The lanes are very narrow. After crossing the bridge the train skirts the CN shops. The yard tracks are full of former GO Transit single- level commuter coaches, purchased by the Montreal transit organization (STCUM) to expand commuter rail service. The long hood of a former Chessie GP40 is sitting on a flat car. At CN Cape the train passes over the Lachine Canal. Just south of Central Station a work crew is taking down some catenary. This work is being done in preparation for the summer shutdown of the CN Duex Montagnes commuter line. Last summer when the line was shutdown the track was completely replaced and foundations for a new catenary sup port system installed. This summer the line will be shut down again, and the new catenary system will be erected. The 81-year old box cabs and not-quite so old emus will be re tired as the 3,000 Vdc electric system is switched over to a 25,000 Vac system. The new emus being built by Bombardier will cut the 45-minute travel time on the line in half. We stop in the throat of Central Station. Two tracks over Amtrak F40 No. 260 leads the Adironack south towards New York City, 10 hours, and 381 miles away. There don't seem to be many people in the train. Meanwhile, the lights go out as the HEP is turned off. The Montrealer begins to slowly move under the Hotel Bonaventure which is built on some of the air-rights above the station tracks. At 10:33 a.m. we stop. The doors don't open. Three minutes later we move one more car length forward. At 10:36 a.m. the Montrealer officially arrives in Montreal, nine minutes early. (ALMOST) THE LAST TRAIN FROM MONTREAL (PROLOGUE: Unknown to me, on Saturday, March 18, roughly eight hours after I detrained from the Montrealer in New London, all rail service in Canada was stopped to due strikes on both the CN and CP. Until train crews went back to work in during the last week of March as a result of government intervention, the Montrealer only went as far north as St. Albans. In fact, the train that had arrived in Montreal on Saturday morning was stranded in Canada; it wasn't returned to the U.S. for nearly a week. Thus, for a time, it looked as if my Montrealer which departed from its namesake city on Friday, March 17, would literally the Last Train from Montreal.) After a busy six hours in Montreal that included rides numerous rides on the Montreal subway, two journeys on the Rigaud commuter line from Vendome to Windsor station and back out to Dorval, an express-bus trip, and a ride to Deux Montagnes behind venerable box-cabs 6710 & 6711, I arrive back at Central station just before 5:00 p.m. A line is already forming at the top of the stairs to the track on which the Montrealer waits. At 5:05 p.m. the passengers begin to descend to the platform. The Montrealer is the same trainset on which I arrived in town a little over six hours earlier. It has been in the station for at least two hours; it was there when I returned from my trip to Deux Montagnes at 3:20 p.m. I find a seat in the first coach. This is one of two coaches that have the video installation for use on Florida service. Two tracks over an LRC train is preparing to depart for Toronto. The train is dark. Again, in an effort to minimize diesel exhaust in the confines of Central Station, the HEP is turned off. At 5:18 p.m. the lights come on and the ven tilation fans begin to hum. At 5:22 p.m. we begin moving south into the gathering gloom of a rainy Friday evening in Quebec. We proceed slowly towards the Victoria Bridge over the St. Lawrence Seaway. Just south of the station we "re peat" the meet with the Adirondack that we had this morning, only this time we're heading south and the Adirondack is heading north. F40 No. 350 is in charge of the four-car train. We move slowly over the Lachine Canal and soon stop adjacent to the CN shops. There's a northbound CN doublestack train coming off the bridge and crossing over and heading westbound in front of us. The delay for the freight is short, and we are soon on our way over the bridge. Automobile traffic on the adjacent lanes is heavy. The busy day of exploring the trains, subways and buses in Montreal has left me quite hungry, and I head for the lounge/dinette as the train passes through St. Denis/St. Lambert. The CN train crew is different, but the Amtrak service crew is the same on the return trip. There is no problem finding a place to sit; only one other passenger seems to be as anxious as me to eat. "Were n't you on the train this morning?" Mr. Lee, the waiter, asks. I reply that I was, and that I was on the train pri marily for the pleasure of riding the train. Mr. Lee ex plains that I'll have only 15 minutes to eat because the lounge car has to be empty at customs. That results in in convenient service for most people. The U.S. customs folks generally are on board until roughly 7:30 p.m. But, I decide to eat now, and I order the pork chop. My meal arrives in less than five minutes, and turns out to be quite tasty. Say what you will about tray meals, Amtrak does a de cent job with these things nowadays. And, at least I was expecting tray meals. In July 1981 I was rudely introduced to Amtrak's just introduced "microwave meal" service. Pretty ugly, made all the more so because I'd spent the day looking forward to a nice, fresh steak. I would certainly prefer a "real" diner with linen, but I've had plenty of good "tray" meals in recent years. BIGGER ROCKS THAN IN PHILADELPHIA As I enjoy my dinner, looking out at the rain-covered roads and houses of the Montreal suburb of Brossard, the train stops. It isn't a sudden stop, and there wasn't the sound of an emergency brake application. So I'm surprised when the conductor's radio comes alive with the statement: "We hit a boulder. Harold, you've gotta walk the train." The conductor asks the engineer a few more questions, and then gets up from the table, grabs his coat, and heads off into the dark ness to inspect the train. Guess I'll have more than 15 minutes to eat my dinner! I note the time, 5:53 p.m. Shortly after I finish dinner and return to my seat, we begin moving, albeit VERY slowly. We probably move no more than two car lengths before we stop. A few minutes later, at 6:20 p.m. the conductor makes an announcement on the public address system that the train hit a big rock placed on the tracks, and that a "rescue crew" needs to come inspect the lead engine for some possible damage. The rescue folks should arrive in 30 minutes, Harold says. Much to my surprise, there isn't much complaining among the passengers. 6:50 p.m. passes, and there is no sign of the rescue crew. 7:00 p.m. 7:10 p.m. By this time the leader of a group of high school students is getting nervous be cause they are being met at Montpelier, and she wants to get word to the bus driver that the train is late. Unfortu nately, there are no phones on the train. The assistant conductor, J. P., explains that he can't ask the dispatcher to call because its Friday evening, things are very busy on the railroad, and the dispatcher is in Canada, not the U.S. Once across the border, he'd be talking with another dis patcher who could help. There is still no sign of the rescue crew as 7:20 p.m. comes and goes. J.P. detrains to protect the train as we back up about 1/4 mile to a grade crossing. Perhaps that will enable the rescue crew to find us easier. Unfortu nately, Harold explains, the crew has a cellular phone and no radio while the train crew only has a radio. The rock bent the pilot a bit, and the crew thinks a bit might have to be cut off. There "is also the possibility of damage to "one of the traction motors." I take advantage of the delay to discuss the future of the Montrealer with Harold. He says that ridership has re cently been up by about 10 percent as folks like me get in their last rides. He doesn't hold out much hope for the Vermonter being a big success. Even with the bus connection to Montreal, it just won't provide the same convenience as the Montrealer. Northbound, the bus won't arrive in Montreal until after the public transit service shuts down for the night. While we are talking in the vestibule a few other people ask about what's going to happen in April. None seem very happy. Finally, at 7:49 p.m., J.P., who has been up in the engine, announces "The rescue crew has arrived." At 8:00 p.m. Harold makes an announcement that the rescue crew has arrived, and that we should be on our way soon. And we are. At 8:10 p.m. we leave the lights of Brossard and the remains of the boulder behind. I hadn't particularly been looking forward to arriving in New London at 4:45 a.m., so the two hour delay really doesn't bother me. We continue south through the rainy night. The train passes the now-dark Canadian customs shack at Cantic, and stops for the Lake Champlain bridge before slowly crossing it. The speed limit is 10 mph. NIGHTIME IN VERMONT We arrive in St. Albans at 9:39 p.m., two hours and 19 minutes late. The U.S. customs officials board, and begin the process of making sure only the right kind of people not carrying the wrong kind of stuff enter our country. An ori ental lady two seats over doesn't seem to have the correct paperwork, but a trip to the lounge car seems to make every thing alright. Outside, the rain has turned to a wet snow. At Waterbury a large group of skiers get on. A father and two sons, two bags and three pairs of skis debates whether to purchase space in an empty roomette. I'm not quite sure how his decision turned out, though the father at least spent the night in his coach seat. I wake up enough at White River Junction to log our arrival and departure times in my travel log, but the next time I return to conscious ness we are in Willimantic. FIRST AND LAST MONTREALER PHOTOS There is just the faintest hint of light in the east ern sky, and by the time we roll through Norwich there is enough light to see out. I'm sitting on the left side of the train so that I can watch our progress along the Thames. My journey on the Montrealer comes to an end in New London at 5:55 a.m. We made up nearly an hour during the night. The northbound Night Owl is due at New London at 5:59 a.m., so I wonder if perhaps I'll be treated to a meet. I take advantage of there being enough light in the sky to take my first and last photos of the Montrealer in New London. As I'm taking photos I hear the Night Owl at Miner Lane, the first public grade crossing on the Northeast Cor ridor north of Washington, D.C. The Montrealer pulls out of the station at 6:08 a.m., just as the Night Owl is crossing Shaw's Cove, running on the wrong main to permit the Montrealer to head south. The Montrealer operates on Track 2, the normal northbound track, as far as Old Saybrook to eliminate what had been a time-consuming backup move in New London to get over to Track 1. The meet occurs within sight, west of the station. I manage to record the event on film. The photo certainly will never win any prizes, but it is a fitting conclusion to my journey. I depart for home as the tail lights of both the Montrealer and Night Owl head towards their respective des tinations at opposite ends of the NEC.