While I applaud the idea of taking the train on this route, here's the reality.
NYC - ALB takes 2.5 hours
ALB - arrival took you 8.5 hours
For the second leg of your trip, you averaged about 25mph. It's almost impossible for anyone but a train enthusiast leisure traveler (myself, for example) to take this form of transportation on this route.
It should be 4-5 hours to go between these two cities. Unfortunately, we are quite far from that.
Well, yes - for anyone who's pressed for time, this isn't the way to go. But it was a nice trip.
But shouldn't the work going on at Albany and Schenectady make things at least somewhat better?