Boston Back Bay Station

Just a few minutes from the terminus at the palatial South Station is Back Bay Station near Copley Square. The station, also serving the T Orange line and MBTA Commuter Rail, is concrete and brick, in the brutalist style of most T stations. At Back Bay the platforms are below ground level.

For travelers taking Amtrak from the northeast corridor to a destination on the Downeaster route (New Hampshire and Maine), Back Bay station would be the stop to disembark for the Orange Line for a single ride transfer to North Station. There is no direct rail connection between North and South Stations. The transfer from Amtrak and commuter rail to the Orange Line is merely a matter going up one level, walking a few yards, passing through the fare gates, before descending one level to the T platform.

Pictures of historical railroad stations from the region adorn the walls at Back Bay Station, as well as pictures and text about the railroads that served the station in the days before Amtrak and MBTA. There's also a placard with the story of a railroad porter.

There's a convenience store, and two Dunkin Donuts(!) in Back Bay Station.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Boston South Station

South Station is a jewel of a train station. It's beautiful in it's own right, but especially so when considered in contrast to either of Boston's other two intercity stations: Back Bay's subterranean brutalism, or North Station's unadorned utilitarianism.

Perhaps not surprisingly then, looking at Amtrak's materials, more promotional photographs are seemingly shot at South Station than at any other station in the system.

South Station is bow- shaped with two wings. Stairs and escalators descend to the T subway station of the same name serving the Red and Silver Lines, at the middle of the bow, creating a smooth flow of foot traffic.

A new, naturally-lit concourse area was created some years ago by building a glass ceiling over the area between the two wings of the building. Cafe tables occupy the central part of the concourse, which also holds a newsstand, an Au Bon Pain, and a bookstore. The concourse almost has a sidewalk cafe feel to it, albeit, a sidewalk where a few hundred people periodically stream by.

Other take out eateries occupy one wing of the station. The ticket counter, and Amtrak's Club Acela for first-class passengers occupies the other wing.

I'm particularly fond of the Club Acela. It offers an opportunity to use a bathroom not nearly so crowded, or filthy as the one for coach, business, and commuter passengers. It is also in the most attractive part of the station. The attractively adorned ceiling in Club Acela is original to the station. It also affords a great people watching opportunity, perched as it is on the second floor looking out over the concourse.

The one thing that South Station lacks that would really improve it would be a full-service restaurant. There is a bar, Clarke's, which I would appreciate and make use of, but it is usually closed when I am at South Station.

A concise history of South Station can be found here:
http://www.south-station.net/stationhistory.asp
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Dover Transportatin Center

Dover Transportation Center, recently built for Amtrak's Downeaster service, is a small contemporary looking building that nonetheless evokes the look of classic Boston and Maine Railroad Stations common to this region. Dover has one combination low-level and high-level platform for the single-track serving the station. There is a wheelchair ramp up to the high-level portion of the platform.

Dover Transportation Center is served only by Amtrak Downeaster trains. The Downeaster service operates trains between North Station in Boston and Portland, making several stops along the way in New Hampshire and Maine's seacoast region. The cafe car on Downeaster trains serves regional foods adding such items as Maine's Shipyard Ale and Gearyaks to Sam Adams Boston Lager, which is also available on Northeast Corridor trains, and soups such clam chowder and lobster bisque.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Children's Museum of New Hampshire

The Children's Museum of New Hampshire moved to it's current location on the Cocheco River in Dover two years ago, having previously been the Children's Museum of Portsmouth for twenty-five years.

The whole facility has a much newer look to it compared to the previous location's more worn and homemade appearance. Several exhibits have been carried over including the post office window, the Music Matrix, and the Greek restaurant. Gone is the space shuttle cockpit. The much loved yellow submarine, great for climbing on and hiding in it's nooks and crannies, has been replaced with a more submarine-like yellow submarine without places to climb or hide.

The museum exhibit area is a single, open room with a ramp rising to a second level loft.

There is a lunch room with a vending machine, and a gift shop on site, but eating out will require going to one of the many restaurants nearby.

www.childrens-museum.org6 Washington Street Dover, NH 03820
(603) 436-3853
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Boston North Station

Boston North Station is a very new, and purely utilitarian train station. It sits at ground level, under TD Bank (Boston) Gardens arena. Adjacent to the North Station is a T Station of the same name served by T Orange and Green Line trains.

North Station is served by MBTA Commuter Rail and Amtrak Downeaster trains that serve destinations in New Hampshire and Maine.

North Station has a digital train information board that plays pre-recorded flipping sounds as the information on the board is updating.

If you are hungry or thirsty, and in a hurry, North Station is a good place to be with several quick-service food options. There's a Dunkin Donuts, where you can get your coffee "regula" (cream and sugar). There's a McDonald's, a convenience store selling snacks and bottled drinks, an ice cream stand, and even a bar (Maker's Mark Crossing).

North Station has plenty of seating, but many people there can be seen standing as they wait to see which platform their train will be departing from.

When a game or other event is being held in the arena, traffic in and out of the station can get congested.

Someone at North Station has a sense of humor: there are signs on the ceiling that read "Danger Do Not Stand on the Ceiling."

Trains departing North Station cross the Charles River with views of the Boston Museum of Science and Cambridge to the West before proceeding on lines built by the former Boston and Maine Railroad.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Melrose-Cedar Park

Inspired by Metro Venture (http://emilyhaha.wordpress.com/) blogger Emily HaHa (recently profiled in WashPo - link forthcoming), I've decided to start writing about train stations much the way she's been writing about D.C. Metro stations, and bus routes.

Not a train station, just a stop on the MBTA Commuter Rail Haverhill line. Melrose-Cedar Park has low level, canopied platforms, and metered parking, adjacent to the eponymous Cedar Park on West Emerson Street in Melrose. A few blocks away from the central business district along Main Street, there is, nonetheless a convenience store, bakery, coffee shop, pizza takeout, and a few other businesses within a block of this stop.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

The InterCity Dad Express

After an evening workout, and a shower I made my way to Washington Union Station to board the 10 pm train to Boston last night as usual for weekends with the boy.

I made myself comfortable in coach class. After an on schedule departure, and once my ticket had been collected, I made my way to the cafe car at the front of the train for a double whiskey to sip back at my seat. I read WashPo stories on my BlackBerry, and caught up on e-mails until I got sleepy, which happened just after the train pulled out of Baltimore Penn Station.

Putting on my mask and pulling out my pack pillow, I made myself as comfortable as could be lying across the two seats, legs curled-up against the wall of the car. I slept soundly that way through most of the night, oblivious to the train's stops in Wilmington and Philadelphia, waking only briefly when the train stopped in Trenton. I slept soundly through the 50 minute stopover in New York City where there is a crew change. On some other trips the new ticket collector has insisted upon waking me, although I always leave my ticket out in full view (tucked behind the strap of my eye mask). I awoke again only briefly at New Haven, and New London, before finally waking up for the day when the conductor announced the stop in Providence, one of my better night's sleep on the North East Corridor.

Once up for the day, I headed back to the cafe car. The same attendant who had served me whiskey the night before, served me coffee and Raisin Bran for breakfast. Back at my seat, I read more WashPo on my BlackBerry while eating my cold cereal, and watching the southern New England scenery go by in the dreary weather.

Having eaten, I brushed my teeth, and then pulled my things together just in time to alight the train at Back Bay. Off I went to catch the green line at Copley Square to pick up the boy for the weekend.