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Caption: I typically don't have interest in getting a picture of the Amtrak Maple Leaf, however why not. After all, it's a dying breed. This Toronto bound is slowing for its regular stop at St. Catharines. The crew is for sure extra alert as this area is infested with trespassers, two of which were under the bridge I was standing on. After seeing this train several times in the past couple of weeks, ridership has been at a frightening low, due to increased competition from GO Transit. Twice recently nobody has gotten on or off at St. Catharines, and the train definitely lacks passengers. Maybe I'm just paranoid, but I'd be grateful this American invader still exists. It is one of only three of its kind in Canada, and it is surprising to me that it is still around.
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I’ve taken the train several times and every single time it was packed, both heading towards the US and back east towards Toronto, with the station in Niagara Falls standing room only full of people waiting for the train, most I’ve seen on the lousy GO bus outside the station in Niagara Falls was 2 people. http://northamericabyrail.info , Pete
I’m with you. I usually didn’t care if I missed shooting the maple leaf but now I make sure to…just in case.
Maple Leaf ridership:
2008: 354,492
2013: (most recent data available)406,973
Reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Amtrak_routes
Pete, http://northamericabyrail.info
Interesting ridership. I would assume that the vast majority of riders are on the straight-thru run from Toronto to NYC., hence so few bothering with it in St. Kitts. I do not bother shooting many photos of it any more, having been out there since its’ start up along this route in 1981.
Mr Mooney, at least you had interesting locos with it…I hate the current ones with a passion…unless they are heritage units.
Sorry for the typos, no spellcheck feature in this post:
While everyone is entitled to their opnion, I beg to differ regarding the P42′s. They are beautiful engines, both from the trackside & from a passenger’s perspective. More fuel efficient and sleeker than the F40′s they replaced. Amtrak has done very well replacing virtually their entire fleet with the new GE’s. And they are certainly far better looking than the fugly freeloading Megabuses on the parallel QEW that do not pay their share of terminal fees & highway maintenance costs.
Pete and others – Spell-check is a browser feature – if you use Google Chrome spell-check is built in for example. I highly suggest always upgrading to the latest browser (Chrome, Firefox, etc) where possible for the best rp.ca experience.
Daniel this is a nice photo – thanks for sharing.
Thanks for the comments. From what I have seen, the Maple Leaf has been much more successful on the U.S side. Perhaps it depends on the season, but lately ridership has been dismal, at least on the Canadian side. From looking in the passenger cars, there is usually a few people in the third car and the fourth is reasonably filled. The first two cars are empty though.