• Flipping from Washington DC (near Harpers Ferry, 1025.7) to nearby Hanover, NH (1756.1)
• 0 feet ascent, 0 feet descent 

Trains are exciting to us. Once we trained from our town in Montana to Seattle, WA and back just because we found a cheap ticket. We have traveled on trains in Scotland, the UK, Switzerland, and Germany. We were jazzed about our ride on the famous Vermonter train. 

We did a fair amount of reading about the Vermonter so we would be well informed about what we needed to do to make our day fun and comfortable. For example, we discovered that after New York City the first two cars behind the engine would be split off and sent another way. 

Train Shirts

Days before the trip, we decided to purchase AT tee shirts for the ride. We really liked the idea. First, it helped support the ATC, second, they wouldn’t stink, and finally, they reminded us we belonged to the Appalachian Trail even when we were on the train. 

My tee shirts said the Appalachian Trail on the front and had a topo map graphic on the back. The Historian fell in love with a shirt that had no words, and instead had a white blaze on it.

We both loved the graphic pun. As long as I follow The Historian, I won’t get lost. I can always find a white blaze! 

Queuing Up

We were eager to board the train as soon as we could. No seats were assigned and the train was full to capacity. We wanted to be seated together, not in the first two cars, and hopefully pointing in the direction of travel. 

We heard the first call for boarding and headed to queue up.  A nice employee directed us away from the main queue to the far line. Turned out we were seniors and and would likely need extra time for boarding. We were placed with the other old people and the families with strollers. It felt a little fraudulent, as we could have sprinted over the tops of most of the people in queue like rocks in Virginia, but we did not argue.

We are used to being called out on the Trail because of our green ATC hang tags. People often indelicately gasp and say, “You’re thru hiking! ” We always explain we are finishing a 1975 thru hike attempt but sometimes that makes it worse. 

We never inquire about the gasp, but assume it is related to our age. The first time it happened was in Southern Virginia. We met a father and two adolescent sons. We had a short, polite hello and hiked on. After we went by one of the sons, upon seeing our green tags, he cried out, “Dad! They are thru hiking!” The dad was embarrassed but we thought it was fine fun.

Apparently  backpacks with green ATC hang tags didn’t have any meaning in the train. 

We Need a Motor

Together, we stood in line with the older and youngest folks for quite some time. Across the queues, people were politely waiting but starting to get antsy. 

An official looking lady in an Amtrak uniform,  complete with hat, made her way through the crowd announcing we were in need of a motor. A few people giggled and asked each other if they might have a spare motor. No one could produce the needed motor.

After a while, our priority boarding line began to move. We must have a motor. When the hords were released, everyone made their way to a coach. We counted 3 cars back and loaded up. 

Everyone quickly found seats. We happily selected two seats together, facing in the direction of travel.  Each of us had our ereader and I tucked our food bag by my feet. We were home for the day. 

Heading North 

The electric train engine metaphorically chugged out of the station. We grinned at each other, reveling in the thrill of undertaking yet another great adventure. 

Sitting back in our spacious, comfortable seats, we watched as DC morphed into Baltimore. The spaces between development opened up and then Wilmington and Philadelphia appeared. Although the train did not run at a high speed, it was quite different than hiking speed. It was hard to keep up with all the details of what we passed. We didn’t want to miss anything. 

Food, of Course

The trip spun out in front of us, the train eating up miles. We had eaten breakfast at Union Station prior to leaving. I had lemon pound cake (420 calories) and The Historian had an almond croissant. Conveniently, one of his favorite pastries was also the highest in calories, 671, to be precise. 

After passing Philidelphia, we decided to partake of first lunch. It was a little early, but our tummies were up at 4:30 am so had a jump on the day. 

I dug into the middle of our bear bag where I had placed our food to keep it cold. We has some leftover arugla which I snarfed. The Historian discovered that a Swiss cheese slice from Harpers Ferry made a great wrap for the Peruvian leftovers.

New York City

Our next stop was New York City. Of course, we didn’t have to budge from our comfy seats, but it still felt like a big deal.

I hiked New England with a fellow from NYC in 1975. We didn’t have trail names back then, but if we did, his would have been New York City Ballet. When he was in high school he would skip school to watch rehearsals at the New York City Ballet school. When we would slip and slide on rocks and bog bridges, he called it auditioning for the New York City Ballet.

Changing from Electric to a Desiel Engine to Go on to Vermont

After New York City, the front of the train splits off and becomes the Ethan Allen, which goes north into the state of New York. The Vermonter gets a new engine, diesel rather than an electric. Seated in the third coach, we were unpretuebed by the  switch. 

The space between towns opens up. We feel a little more comfortable seeing the tree to building ratio tilt towards trees. 

All the excitement of the cities past, we naturally thought of eating (again). With a nod to the Hobbits, we laid out afternoon tea. After eating more of our Peruvian lunch we decided to check out the Cafe Car.

The Historian had an ice cream bar and I had peanut m and ms. It is astonishing how many of the dreaded things I have eaten in the past two months. No sugar at all for years and now m and ms. Another “won’t do that after we go home” thing. 

Arriving in New England

The train rolled on, hugging the Vermont New Hampshire boarder. The views looked more and more wild.

We arrived at our station. On the platform we could see our  friends waiting for us. After loading our packs into their car, along with their dog and grandchildren, we rode to their house. 

They live on a quiet farm established 1791. It was a huge, and reassuring change from the city interlude. The train ride up the populated eastern seaboard was exciting, and we were happy to do it. Nonetheless, settling into comfy chairs on the back porch overlooking the mountains with a glass of hand pressed cider was unbelievably rewarding. 

We have made it to the next step of the journey. Tomorrow we will visit, rest, eat and stage the hike between Hanover and Glenfliff. Tonight we bask in the glow of mountain evening light and the warmth of friendship.