Metal Gear Line 2014 - Chicago to Boston along the Great Lakes

zerzhul

The Metal Gear Line
"Snaaaaaaaaake!"
Train: 448 Lake Shore Limited
Originating Station: Chicago, IL - Union Station (CHI)
Departure Date/Time: April 9, 21:30 CDT
Travel Time: 22h40m
Stops/Schedule (as of January 13, 2014): subject to change by amtrak

South Bend, IN - April 9, 23:59 EDT
Elkhart, IN - April 10, 00:22 EDT
Waterloo, IN - April 10, 01:15 EDT
Bryan, OH - April 10, 01:40 EDT
Toledo, OH - April 10, 02:50 EDT (Departure at 03:20 EDT)
Sandusky, OH - April 10, 04:12 EDT
Elyria, OH - April 10, 04:51 EDT
Cleveland, OH - Lakefront Station - April 10, 05:35 EDT (Departure at 05:50 EDT)
Erie, PA - April 10, 07:22 EDT
Buffalo/Depew, NY - April 10, 08:58 EDT (Departure at 09:08 EDT)
Rochester, NY - April 10, 10:08 EDT
Syracuse, NY - April 10, 11:38 EDT
Utica, NY - April 10, 12:42 EDT
Schenectady, NY - April 10, 14:00 EDT
Albany/Rensselaer, NY - April 10, 14:50 EDT (Departure at 15:25 EDT)
Pittsfield, MA - April 10, 16:29 EDT
Springfield, MA - April 10, 17:48 EDT (Departure at 17:53 EDT)
Worcester, MA - April 10, 18:57 EDT
Framingham, MA - April 10, 19:35 EDT
Boston, MA - Back Bay Station - April 10, 21:03 EDT

Destination Station: Boston, MA - South Station (BOS)
Arrival Date/Time: April 10, 21:10 EDT

Schedule Source
Lake Shore Limited info (for the entire line, not just the 448)

zombocom

pax first timer, my wife and I are thinking it'll be cheaper to take a train in to boston, and the PAX train sounds epic. i haven't seen any threads to subscribe to, is there one i should be watching, or does the train alliance get organized later in the year?

zerzhul

@Moe Fwacky get off your lazy ass and make a train post.

the_fuzzy_penguin

Having only taken the train once, I'll never travel any other way to PAX. I second a train thread (especially the Metal Gear Line)!

Sgt.Mays

I will be on the Metal gear line from Buffalo. Look forward to meeting people on it maybe doing some 3DS gaming.

As said above yes to a train thread, unless this can become one.

Soyduck

I am super duper interested in hearing about train experiences. I'm coming from Cleveland, OH with my husband and another friend ... if we can get more people to split the gas bill to drive, we'll do that as we have for 10/11/12 (missed this year). BUT I would totally love to relax on the train instead of making the long haul drive ... I guess that would make me Metal Gear Line ... I wanna play 3DS the whole time too!

sillyzombie666

METAL GEAR????????????????????????????????????

Kaladin

Which train is the Metal Gear line? I'm probably taking the train out of Buffalo now, but I was planning to just catch the earliest one Thursday morning.

Sgt.Mays

Kaladin wrote: »

Which train is the Metal Gear line? I'm probably taking the train out of Buffalo now, but I was planning to just catch the earliest one Thursday morning.

The lake shore limited train out of Buffalo Depew, goes direct to Boston. I am taking it because it is much cheaper then taking a train from Toronto-NYC-Boston and shorter.

zombocom

Soyduck wrote: »

I am super duper interested in hearing about train experiences. I'm coming from Cleveland, OH with my husband and another friend ... if we can get more people to split the gas bill to drive, we'll do that as we have for 10/11/12 (missed this year). BUT I would totally love to relax on the train instead of making the long haul drive ... I guess that would make me Metal Gear Line ... I wanna play 3DS the whole time too!

my wife and i are coming from columbus, we were figuring about 300 for gas, then 100-150 for accesible parking during the con, since we weren't wild about parking at the far end of the subway line.
the train from ohio came out to 270 for both of us, and our 2 kids, i think one was free and the other half price, so for three adults you might be looking at a little bit more, but still, convenience and price are likely in your favor and the entire heaping bowl of awesome is just icing.

Anyone know, since the con ends up pretty much buying out the train do we get some kind of group discount by any chance? (and if not, maybe we should get some station meetups going to gether and see if we can swing that, i know i saw something on the train site about party discounts....)

zombocom

<deleted, accidental double post>

JDetan

Having ridden the PAX Party Train (Choo choo!) last year and driving the year before that, I can say quite comfortably that the train is much much better. There's tons of leg room, lots of food (if a bit pricy) and at least on the way there it's full of people that are up for a game of Mario Kart. It wasn't even all that crowded, either. I remember quite a few empty seats.

AnarCHris

Is anyone else thinking of taking the train from NYC? A BRO and I are probably doing that early Thursday morning, wanted to see who else was game for it.

ilta

I'm training in from NYC but I'll be doing the early Sonic line, which gets in early enough for gaming at the Westin on Thursday night but doesn't leave so early that I'll be grumpy.

MistyOLR

JDetan wrote: »

Having ridden the PAX Party Train (Choo choo!) last year and driving the year before that, I can say quite comfortably that the train is much much better. There's tons of leg room, lots of food (if a bit pricy) and at least on the way there it's full of people that are up for a game of Mario Kart. It wasn't even all that crowded, either. I remember quite a few empty seats.

I admit, I miss the inbound party trains (I would board Pac-Man in St. Louis and transfer to Metal Gear with everyone in Chicago, if I could route myself in the most direct route to Boston possible)... But I take some extra time to just ride trains. Example using PAX East '13 as my train routing... I took a more local train that runs the Pac-Man route, called the Lincoln Service (using the 4:35 AM departure, so I can wander Chicago more on the layover - I tend to go to Mitsuwa Marketplace in Arlington Heights or ride random "L" trains). I connected the same day to the NY branch of the Metal Gear Line. After getting to NY the next evening, I wandered NYC briefly with my travel mate and a local friend, then connected to a southbound overnight Northeast Regional along the Sonic Line to go to Washington DC, before connecting to a 9 AM Acela Express to head back up the Sonic Line to end up in Boston "con Thursday" afternoon. After having to fly back in '11 due to a work restriction I no longer have, I took the return party train home this year... Well, the Metal Gear train, anyway. I stayed in Chicago for a few days, but saw my travel buddy off on the Pac-Man Line the afternoon after the party train left Boston. Was much fun, I enjoyed invading the cafe/lounge car to play Cards Against Humanity and Streetpass everyone with my Pikachu 3DS that I'd only got con Sunday, after having someone drive me to a Gamestop in Braintree to get it

miker525

is it acceptable to talk about buses as well in this thread? I'll be taking the 10:00am Greyhound from Albany to Boston Thursday April 10th with some friends if anyone else is gonna be on that bus! I'll actually be getting on at 7:20 at Utica but it's the same bus

zerzhul

I think busing should be its own thread if you want to discuss who might be sharing buses.

miker525

zerzhul wrote: »

I think busing should be its own thread if you want to discuss who might be sharing buses.

Sounds good Z. Wasn't sure about that. If you don't mind I'll start that thread in a few!

MSUHitman

MistyOLR wrote: »

JDetan wrote: »

Having ridden the PAX Party Train (Choo choo!) last year and driving the year before that, I can say quite comfortably that the train is much much better. There's tons of leg room, lots of food (if a bit pricy) and at least on the way there it's full of people that are up for a game of Mario Kart. It wasn't even all that crowded, either. I remember quite a few empty seats.

I admit, I miss the inbound party trains (I would board Pac-Man in St. Louis and transfer to Metal Gear with everyone in Chicago, if I could route myself in the most direct route to Boston possible)... But I take some extra time to just ride trains. Example using PAX East '13 as my train routing... I took a more local train that runs the Pac-Man route, called the Lincoln Service (using the 4:35 AM departure, so I can wander Chicago more on the layover - I tend to go to Mitsuwa Marketplace in Arlington Heights or ride random "L" trains). I connected the same day to the NY branch of the Metal Gear Line. After getting to NY the next evening, I wandered NYC briefly with my travel mate and a local friend, then connected to a southbound overnight Northeast Regional along the Sonic Line to go to Washington DC, before connecting to a 9 AM Acela Express to head back up the Sonic Line to end up in Boston "con Thursday" afternoon. After having to fly back in '11 due to a work restriction I no longer have, I took the return party train home this year... Well, the Metal Gear train, anyway. I stayed in Chicago for a few days, but saw my travel buddy off on the Pac-Man Line the afternoon after the party train left Boston. Was much fun, I enjoyed invading the cafe/lounge car to play Cards Against Humanity and Streetpass everyone with my Pikachu 3DS that I'd only got con Sunday, after having someone drive me to a Gamestop in Braintree to get it

So yeah I want to take the train as well and I'm from St. Louis also. I have a friend who's family lives in the Chicago area so I could drive to Chicago leave my car and take the main train line from Chicago to Boston so which train do I take? I see these nicknames but no idea what to look for on the Amtrak website.

AsmodeusLore

I am joining at buffalo as well. Just waiting to make sure I know which train to book before buying tickets.
I was on the train last year and it was awesome. The only drawback is the return trip never seems to be as enjoyable as the inbound trip.

blAAAm!!!

I did the Metal Gear line my first PAX a few years ago. The train is a really fun experience and meeting all the people it awesome. The only thing that sucks is how long it takes and that it usually does not get in until after 9pm Thursday. If you want to enjoy any Thursday activities like the Pokecrawl you will not want to take the Metal Gear Line.

miker525

blAAAm!!! wrote: »

I did the Metal Gear line my first PAX a few years ago. The train is a really fun experience and meeting all the people it awesome. The only thing that sucks is how long it takes and that it usually does not get in until after 9pm Thursday. If you want to enjoy any Thursday activities like the Pokecrawl you will not want to take the Metal Gear Line.

This very much. Train is entertaining but it does have these down sides. I actually stopped taking the train specifically, due to it being 9+ hours for me and I was getting in too late to enjoy things. This year taking the bus It'll take 5 hours and I'll be there at about 2pm Thursday, which gives me more then enough time to visit my friends in Boston as well as hit the events. I wish the train in my area was much better, but it's just pretty damn terrible for me

the_fuzzy_penguin

Not sure if this will affect anyone not leaving from CLE, but our tickets are $32 cheaper round trip right now. If anyone still needs tickets for the Metal Gear line you might want to check the price. I think it may be a price mistake because adding the AAA discount increases the price rather than decreases it (same thing happened to me last year).

zombocom

i need to buy my tickets still, but no idea what train to buy for. i was just hoping to find an update somewhere.

Sgt.Mays

I got my ticket for the 9 AM train out of Buffalo (arriving at 9 PM in Boston, was really the only option that would work for me but it arrives kinda late.

HazelHalfBlood

Hello peeps! this isn't my frist year at PAX East but I'm taking a train for the first time and have no idea what I'm doing. I'm coming from Western Mass. Any tips?

SynthetiKat

A group of 7 of us will be on the Metal Gear Line however, we'll be leaving from Toledo at 3:20am on Wednesday morning so that we can arrive in Boston on Wednesday night

MSUHitman

OK how do I get to Boston on the train from STL? Or do I need to drive to Chicago first then get on a train to Boston?

MSUHitman

When looking on Amtrak tonight there's a train straight from Chicago to Boston, and there's a train that Chicago to Albany, NY then Albany to Boston. They are the same price. Which should I take?

Also both trains I was looking at arrive Thursday night. Will that be the wrong time to be on with other PAX attendees?

the_fuzzy_penguin

I think they're exactly the same as last year I selected the one without they layover in Albany and we stopped there to and from anyway. I'd go with the non-layover one in case something has changed, but they should both be the same.

Sgt.Mays

Yea i saw the layover one also, really did not want to deal with that as with my experience they just cause further delays. The Direct one is the best option.

As for the train on Thursday, i am expecting we will see a lot of PAX attendees as it is the closest train to the convention date from that part of the US/Canada area.

MSUHitman

So if I take the train that leaves on Wednesday from Chicago and gets to Boston on Thursday night I will be on with other PAX attendees?

the_fuzzy_penguin

Yep! That's the one almost everyone took last year, and I know at least 7 of us have that time booked for this year.

zerzhul

I made a new OP including the relevant info for the metal gear line.

An easy way to see your fellow passengers, use the following template:

[B]Location:[/B]
[B]Boarding Stop:[/B]

Sgt.Mays

By location you mean where we are coming from?.

a fraking toaster

oh snap the train stops in springfield ma? hmm might take the train this year,not many people bussing from here.

zerzhul

Sgt.Mays wrote: »

By location you mean where we are coming from?.

Yes. Some people drive out of their way to get to the trains, makes sense to mention where you're starting from to see if you can consolidate travel even more

the_fuzzy_penguin

I guess I'll throw mine in.

Location:Columbus, OH
Boarding Stop:Cleveland, OH

There'll be 7 of us in my group going. We'll have plenty of board and handheld games with us, and be camped out in the diner car for as long as they allow. I'll throw a list up once we start to determine what those games will be. I'm hoping someone will be running a beginner D&D campaign again this year; I missed out on the one on the train last year and would really like to start to learn more about it.

Sgt.Mays

Location: Near Hamilton, Ontario Canada
Boarding Stop: Buffalo-Depew

Will not forget my 3DS and plenty of games.

a fraking toaster

Location: west springfield ma
Boarding Stop: springfield ma

Ricin

IS there a larger version of the train map? It is a bit hard to see