Christmas Eve/Day, 2022: Riding across the Keystone state

It's arguably the most wonderful time of the ….. you know. For me that meant it was time for another ride on the rails. I had booked a round trip on Amtrak's Pennsylvanian to Pittsburgh several weeks ago, long before we all knew there would be an Arctic blast that hampered travel across the country during one of the busiest periods of the year. Fortunately my plans did not involve any airplane travel, but the lingering effects of the storm were still causing problems for trains in the Northeast when I departed D.C. on the 24th. 

First, let's just take a minute to enjoy Union Station's annual holiday decorations.

So yes, the departure board showed many trains that were delayed by multiple hours, delayed indefinitely or canceled outright. My first train, a Northeast Regional, was about an hour and a half late into D.C., as it had encountered mechanical problems at its point of origin in Richmond due to the cold. But all in all, not too bad when put in the larger context of the winter storm, which I now know has a name (Elliott). 

Once our train left Washington, the short ride to Philadelphia was fairly smooth and we didn't lose much more time. 

Ordinarily, the delay would have been problematic for me, as we didn't arrive into 30th St. Station until 1:10 p.m., and my train to Pittsburgh wasn't scheduled to leave at 12:42 p.m. But alas, the mass delays caused by the cold delayed my second train by an hour and a half, so I was good there.

I always enjoy spending time in 30th St. Station. It's a work of art architecturally and has been maintained well. What's more, there are nice old wooden benches in the main hall for everyone to use. This differs mightily from Moynihan Train Hall in New York, which has a similarly-sized main hall, but only a small waiting room off to the side that is exclusive to passengers. And Washington Union Station, for all its greatness, has removed much of its seating over the years -- something I hope is eventually rectified in the plans to renovate the station.

The Pennsylvanian finally arrived around 2:15 p.m. The delay out of New York was due to an equipment shortage, I believe. 

This train uses an electric locomotive from New York to Philadelphia, then switches to diesel power. The coaches are traveling backward for the first portion of the trip. The train then pulls out of the station in the same direction from whence it came, but takes a westward track shortly after pulling out of the yard. 

The train was crowded when I got on, and the only way I could get a window seat was to settle for a spot in the cafe car. So I did that for the first couple hours of the ride to Harrisburg. We zoomed out of the Philadelphia suburbs, through the Amish country of Lancaster County.

Many passengers disembarked as we reached the Lancaster, and then Harrisburg stations.

This corridor is actually electrified, and many short-distance trains run only as far west as Harrisburg using electric power. West of Harrisburg, trains must use diesel power.

At Harrisburg, my seatmate in coach disembarked, and I was able to get about a half hour of good daylight as we made our way out of Harrisburg and headed toward the mountains.

As we crossed the Susquehanna River, I was struck by the chunks of large ice floating in it -- an indication of just how cold it had been for the past few days.

Soon after, the sun began to set and by the time we reached Lewistown it was all dark. 

I had about three hours of the ride left, and I passed the time by either trying to read, munching on peanuts, or tracking our location and speed on my phone. As we passed through Altoona, Johnstown and Latrobe, and the towns in between, Christmas lights of homes illuminating each community came into view. I looked forward to seeing these places in the light of day.

The Pennsylvanian is Amtrak's only train that currently traverses the entire state of Pennsylvania. For most of the 20th Century, the Broadway Limited ran from New York to Chicago, over this same route. The train was operated for decades by the Pennsylvania Railroad, and Amtrak kept it going from the 1970s, until 1995. After the Broadway Limited was discontinued due to budget cuts, Amtrak operated the Three Rivers for another 10 years using the same route. That train, which had been hauling mail in addition to passengers, also was discontinued due to the end of a contract between Amtrak and USPS.  Today passengers wishing to continue west beyond Pittsburgh may do so by catching the Capitol Limited -- due in to Pittsburgh just before midnight.

The temperature had plummeted down to less than 10 degrees when we pulled into the steel city around 9:45 p.m. The crew had been hard at work salting down the metal steps that passengers use to board, which were becoming icy. 

Due to the extreme cold, I didn't stop to take any photos at Pittsburgh's rail station (which is rather unremarkable as it is). I caught an Uber and headed to my hotel a couple miles from downtown for the evening. 

The next day I got up early in preparation for my scheduled eastbound departure at 7:30 a.m. After grabbing a couple breakfast items to go from the hotel, I Ubered back to Pittsburgh Union Station and got there about an hour before the scheduled departure. 

The temperature was still around 15 degrees at this point, but fortunately things went off without a hitch, and we departed only 15 minutes late. 

It had been lightly snowing in Pittsburgh, and as we made our way out of the city and into the mountains, the snow gradually began to pick up. It was a pretty cool sight. 

The sight of the snow made for a great scene, when combined with the quaint towns of Greensburg, Latrobe and Johnstown, all of which I had only seen in the dark on the previous day's journey.

                              

Shortly before reaching Altoona, our train went around the World Famous Horseshoe Curve, which was built in the 1850s by Irish immigrants who were hired by the Pennsylvania Railroad to complete what is now considered one of the greatest engineering marvels of the world in order to traverse the Allegheny Mountains. 

The curve is more than 2,300 feet long and has a diameter of about 1,300 feet. It makes for great scenery from the window of a train. There's also a visitor center and train viewing area there, which is open seasonally.

For me, this was one of the highlights of the ride and among the reasons I wanted to take this route.

After Altoona, we gradually descended our way out of the mountains, and the snow began to thin out.

Often when I take a train, I have to fight the urge to pull out my phone and snap a photo of every picturesque scene, or use my GPS app to see the exact spot we are. I forget how much joy and romance there is in simply taking it all in. Not everything in life requires a photo or a Tweet.

By the time we reached Harrisburg the snow was mostly gone, and the temperature outside had risen into the 20s. We had also began to pick up speed.

The rest of the ride back to Philadelphia was a quick one, as we zipped along the electrified portion of the route through Lancaster, Paoli and Exton. We arrived into 30th St. Station just after 3 p.m. -- nearly on time!

My last train ride of the weekend back to D.C. was mostly in the dark, as it left just before 5 p.m. I'm not a huge fan of train rides in the dark, but this one didn't bother me too much since I've ridden the NE corridor many times at this point. We arrived at Union Station on time, with the temperature having reached almost 30 degrees here. 

I'm extraordinarily grateful that my plans this weekend weren't interrupted, other than the tardiness on Saturday, so I have to give kudos to the Amtrak crew there. Those traveling through the air weren't as lucky.

At some point I'll have to venture back to Pittsburgh so that I can actually get a taste of the city, and not in frigid weather. If I ever take this route again, I think I'll only take it eastbound because the westbound train goes through some of the best parts at night. And what good is a train trip if you can't see. I also might be inclined to take one of the short-distance Keystone trains some time to Harrisburg or Lancaster, which could make for a fun day/weekend trip.