Albany

I was in Albany, New York last week for a few days. I saw a couple of trains from the air as we descended but nothing else for a few days.

On the 15th, I was done my work by noon and my flight wasn't due to leave until 4 PM, so I decided to take a cab to downtown Albany. On the way there I noted an interesting railway bridge across the Hudson River. I grabbed some lunch and walked to the Erastus Corning Riverfront Park to take a few pictures of it.


Then I walked a little ways northwest to a rail junction. Just about 30 seconds after I arrived there, I heard the hum of an approaching engine. I turned the trusty Fuji point-and-shoot on and captured Amtrak 709 pulling a six-car train northwest. According to Amtrak's schedules, this was probably the Empire Service train 281, running a few minutes late.


After that bit of excitement, I returned to the park to hopefully see another train. I heard an engine idling near the Albany-Rensselaer station, but I never saw anything until 14:15 when I saw a train pull up to the station. Apparently it had been sitting just outside the station for quite a while. I had to leave at that point, alas. Had I known there was a whole service depot there, I might have looked for a way to cross the river and have a look. Oh well... next time, if there is one.