Originally Posted by
ND76
In 1984, when Mrs. ND76 was 7+ months pregnant with our daughter and she couldn't fly, we took a train that no longer exists, "The Montrealer", which was an overnight sleeper from Washington to Montreal, via Penn Station, New Haven, Hartford, Springfield, White River Junction, Essex Junction and St. Albans, crossing the border at Cantic, QC. I'm not sure whether the Montrealer crossed the border on the track that the Adirondack uses, but I do remember the train being stopped for over one hour at Cantic (and I remember the Canadian border police escorting two men from the train). We left DC around 5 pm and didn't get to Montreal until after noon. It was a great trip in any event. The train had a dining car and a club car which included a piano. As we took this trip on very short notice, we were unable to book a sleeping accommodation. We were told to speak to the conductor after we left New York City to see if anything opened up. As luck would have it, a bedroom went unclaimed, and the conductor let us have it for $100. Those were the days.
Amtrak gave up this line quite a few years ago. They run "The Vermonter" up through Albany to Rutland.
The really problematic part of the line is between Cantic and Rouses Point, since most CN freight to and from the US goes via St. Albans, staying on CN. Relatively little is interchanged with CP at Rouses Point, so 10 mph is fine with CN for that.
The Vermonter goes to St. Albans via New Haven, Springfield and Montpelier, not Albany, btw. The Ethan Allen Express was recently extended to Burlington from Rutland and goes via Albany and Saratoga Springs.