Alright, I went onto amtracks website to buy tickets from Saco to North Station on the saturday of PAX. The site is telling me that they're ALL SOLD OUT! Can anyone else believe that? I cannot. It's so far in advance, I mean I would much rather take the amtrack rather than drive to boston.
Got tickets for the 176 on the way up (leaving Philly at 1:55 edit: on Thurs) on the way up, and, this might sound strange to some, but on the way back, I got ones for the 9:30 PM on Sun night which gets into philly at 4:35 AM on the way back. Figure that's late enough to do everything I want on Sun and enough time to catch some sleep after the con!
We're booking the Metal Gear Solid (I think that's what its called) on the Wed, arriving at 910pm on Thursday evening. This made the most sense to us as we don't want to miss the Friday PAX activities. Is anyone else planning on taking this trip?
448 Lake Shore Limited at 930pm on March 20.
I'm planning on bringing Cards Against Humanity, Munchkin, some DS Games, and possibly Dominion
I don't know if this helps anyone, but I'm planning on taking the PAX Train this year, Metal Gear Line. IIRC it was the 448 Lake Shore Limited, and here is the schedule plus one-way cost:
Thursday March 21 2013
Chicago 9:30 pm ($101)
Toledo 2:50 - 3:20 am ($86)
Cleveland 5:35 - 5:50 am ($77)
Buffalo 8:58 - 9:08 am ($58)
Albany 2:50 - 3:25 pm ($27)
Boston 9:10 pm
My wife and I will be joining up for the Metal Gear Line in Buffalo. I'll be offering up a D&D game for folks, and looking to play some games of whatever else is offered.
Alright, I went onto amtracks website to buy tickets from Saco to North Station on the saturday of PAX. The site is telling me that they're ALL SOLD OUT! Can anyone else believe that? I cannot. It's so far in advance, I mean I would much rather take the amtrack rather than drive to boston.
Another option if you want to get to South Station from north is C&J bus service. They have terminals in Dover NH along with Portsmouth NH and Newburyport MA. Still have to drive a bit down 95 to get there but still better than driving into the city. Parking is free also which is a plus.
But keep an eye on the Amtrak site. If they see a lot of activity at one particular time they sometimes put more trains and routes into service. I'm not sure how it works on the Downeaster, but they often increase Acela and Northeast Regional trains during holiday peaks and what not.
Glad to see a couple others are taking the 448 Lake Shore. I'm from MA so I'll only be on the last 3-3.5 hours, but should be a good ride if I can find some people to get some games going with.
I'm bringing 5 people including me from team9000gaming.
I will bring Fluxx (a few different variants of it) and a few other games undecided yet
rileyper on
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I am likely taking this train, its $49 from penn station with pricing as of right now. The ACELA express is $107 and a whopping 40 minutes faster, so I'll pass on that.
Friday, March 22, 2013
170 Northeast Regional (NYP - BOS)
Depart: 8:30 am, Fri, Mar 22, 2013
Arrive: 12:43 pm, Fri, Mar 22, 2013
I don't know if this helps anyone, but I'm planning on taking the PAX Train this year, Metal Gear Line. IIRC it was the 448 Lake Shore Limited, and here is the schedule plus one-way cost:
Wednesday March 20 2013
Chicago 9:30 pm ($101)
Thursday March 21 2013
Toledo 2:50 - 3:20 am ($86)
Cleveland 5:35 - 5:50 am ($77)
Buffalo 8:58 - 9:08 am ($58)
Albany 2:50 - 3:25 pm ($27)
Boston 9:10 pm
If you book Leaving Chicago (or South Bend, IN) on March 21st on the 448, You will miss the entire first day, arriving 9:10 PM on Fri 22nd. Missing PAX is bad. Also we will miss out on your company, which is also bad.
On the plus side Amtrak is pretty laid back about changing times and cancellations.
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JOEPROGrandmaster of the Lin KueiWilmington, DelawareRegistered Userregular
edited January 2013
Taking the Sonic Line and bringing my 3DS; MK7, Sonic Gen, Star Fox, Pokemon White!
176 NE Regional (WIL-BOS) - Arrives 8:00pm Thursday - $59
173 NE Regional (BOS-WIL) - Departs 11:05am Monday - $59
JOEPRO on
The ex-hosts of X-Play & Attack of the Show should be the floor hosts of the twitch.tv streams at PAX East!
I'm bringing 5 people including me from team9000gaming.
I will bring Fluxx (a few different variants of it) and a few other games undecided yet
Don't even act like you're bringing us, .
Speaking of such things, I'll have a copy of cards against humanity with me, and I'm thinking of trying to run a LAN party on the train... Thoughts about this?
I'm leaving Philadelphia Thursday on the Northeast Regional 172, arriving at South Station at 3:12 p.m. I would love to meet some others going to PAX on this train, but nobody has mentioned it yet. Is anyone planning on taking this train? If not, any guesses on weather or not there will be a lot of PAX people, based solely on the fact that it's a train to Boston on the Thursday before PAX?
I'm leaving Philadelphia Thursday on the Northeast Regional 172, arriving at South Station at 3:12 p.m. I would love to meet some others going to PAX on this train, but nobody has mentioned it yet. Is anyone planning on taking this train? If not, any guesses on weather or not there will be a lot of PAX people, based solely on the fact that it's a train to Boston on the Thursday before PAX?
I'm getting on the Regional 172 in DC!! Thought I had to ride this one alone.
I'm getting on the Regional 172 in DC!! Thought I had to ride this one alone.
Cool! This is a good sign indeed. I think there are many more people going to Pax than frequent the forums, so color me optimistic. I'll have Cthulhu dice for sure, and possibly some other table tops for the Thursday night thingy in the lobby. I'm on the fence about bringing my DS or Vita. Does anyone know if there is WiFi on the Northeast Regional?
Traditionally, 176 is the Sonic line - maybe though (not for this year since I know that a lot of people have already bought their tickets) we can discuss moving it to the 174 in order to get in earlier... something to remember for next year.
yeah the problem is based on when they all hook up. I remember @Moe Fwacky working on that in the past and for whatever reason the 176 was typically the best.
yeah the problem is based on when they all hook up. I remember @Moe Fwacky working on that in the past and for whatever reason the 176 was typically the best.
Yeah, the issue was hooking up with the Metroid line (which only runs once a day) and not having them get screwed by a short connection, but also not getting into Boston at like midnight:30, and also also not being the Acela which costs $texas.
Got tickets for the 176 on the way up (leaving Philly at 1:55 edit: on Thurs) on the way up, and, this might sound strange to some, but on the way back, I got ones for the 9:30 PM on Sun night which gets into philly at 4:35 AM on the way back. Figure that's late enough to do everything I want on Sun and enough time to catch some sleep after the con!
I'll be with you on the way up to Boston, but there's no way I'm going home that late on Sunday (or early on Monday).
I'll look into what board/card games I have that might be able to get "portabalized", but otherwise I'll likely just partake in other people's festivities.
I am on board for 176 on the way up to Boston and will meet you guys near the back. I am on the 169 back down to Philly, which I believe is leaving Boston South Station at 6:40pm and arriving in Philly at 12:30am.
I'm a website!
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I'll look into what board/card games I have that might be able to get "portabalized", but otherwise I'll likely just partake in other people's festivities.
Yea, I will decide when it's a bit closer. I'd love to get a game in that takes some time since, well, we have some time! But I figure it can't be anything with too many bits (especially ones which might slide with the train's movement), don't know how much space we'll have, and don't know how many people on the train would be into something bigger/longer. At the very least, I'll have my "box o'filler" and probably Munchkin (as it all fits in one box quite easily).
I'll probably also have an iPad with me and have a decent handful of board games on there as well.
The issue with the Sonic Line is that technically it starts in like Georgia or Florida, somewhere way down south. We catch in around noon in DC/Baltimore because that makes it early but doable for the people down south. The real question is, does anyone actually ride the Sonic Line the whole way in? I would guess that at most we have a tiny handful doing so. If the numbers are that small, it might be worth it to shift the Sonic Line to an earlier NE Regional. I know a LOT of people would jump back on if they got to Boston in time for the full PokeCrawl and/or PrePAX Dinner.
Also, as stated before I will be doing my normal "stalk the dining car and grab a table for gaming". Last year was pretty much All Cards Against Humanity All the Time. We will also have some magic decks, Munchkin, Mad Scientist University, and a smattering of other tabletop fun. Come join us!
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The issue with the Sonic Line is that technically it starts in like Georgia or Florida, somewhere way down south. We catch in around noon in DC/Baltimore because that makes it early but doable for the people down south. The real question is, does anyone actually ride the Sonic Line the whole way in? I would guess that at most we have a tiny handful doing so. If the numbers are that small, it might be worth it to shift the Sonic Line to an earlier NE Regional. I know a LOT of people would jump back on if they got to Boston in time for the full PokeCrawl and/or PrePAX Dinner.
Also, as stated before I will be doing my normal "stalk the dining car and grab a table for gaming". Last year was pretty much All Cards Against Humanity All the Time. We will also have some magic decks, Munchkin, Mad Scientist University, and a smattering of other tabletop fun. Come join us!
It's the Metroid and Star Fox lines that are the issue - they only run once a day, and IIRC the connection to the earlier NE Regionals is pretty tight for one or both of them.
Just out of curiosity, where did these names come from? I never saw a single reference on Amtrak's site to any sonic line, and obviously, nothing to do with Metroid or Star Fox. I'm guessing that's just a thing around here, but it just seems confusing.
Just out of curiosity, where did these names come from? I never saw a single reference on Amtrak's site to any sonic line, and obviously, nothing to do with Metroid or Star Fox. I'm guessing that's just a thing around here, but it just seems confusing.
Ah, OK. More fun? Sure. Easier for people to figure out what's going on? No :P
Not true, usually. In past years @Moe Fwacky has done the legwork of putting together all the train schedules to easily point out which line is which set of trains, so it's not confusing whatsoever. The people talking about the lines by their code names here are just people who have done this before so they know which is which. This year, nobody has taken the time to do that legwork yet, and @Moe Fwacky will likely not have time to do so. I'm sure some of the folks in here though could take moe's picture from the wiki and info from last year's thread and put together a nice list.
Trouble with the 67 as a return venture is that its so late. I picked it so for once I could stay until the very end of PAX-E, but I'll probably be sleeping more than enjoying the sonic-line antics.
We've heard that a million monkeys at a million keyboards could produce the complete works of Shakespeare; now, thanks to the Internet, we know that is not true. -Robert Wilensky
Looking at the Regional 172 or 174 for me and Robziel. We'll be leaving out on DC. I'll have confirmation tonight.
Just to be clear though, as far as I know the official Sonic Line PAX train is still the 176 NE Regional.
I oh I know. I don't want to get there that late though.
Edit: We're now confirmed on Regional 172 boarding in DC. Looking forward to meeting up with anyone else on the early train, we'll bring some games with us and I'll also have Cookie Brigade noms.
Alright, there's (so far)5 of us leaving from Baltimore (either Penn station or BWI) PAX East bound. I'm looking into the Sonic line (176) up, and we're not sure about back yet.
Between me and my other friend we have a shit ton of board games. From the looks of the train it seems that the seating is just airplane-like? Is this true? We would require some sort of table for a majority of the games we have... Is there a dining car we can take over?
I've never rode a train before so I'm hoping you guys can provide some answers! We're looking into this still, we have hotels lined up for fri/sat but not for Thursday so we're deciding what we want to do about Thursday night, because a minimal amount of sleep will be required for Friday's epicness. Thoughts?
Alright, there's (so far)5 of us leaving from Baltimore (either Penn station or BWI) PAX East bound. I'm looking into the Sonic line (176) up, and we're not sure about back yet.
Between me and my other friend we have a shit ton of board games. From the looks of the train it seems that the seating is just airplane-like? Is this true? We would require some sort of table for a majority of the games we have... Is there a dining car we can take over?
I've never rode a train before so I'm hoping you guys can provide some answers! We're looking into this still, we have hotels lined up for fri/sat but not for Thursday so we're deciding what we want to do about Thursday night, because a minimal amount of sleep will be required for Friday's epicness. Thoughts?
As I mentioned in some previous posts, there IS a dining car on the 176. It only has about 5 tables (with seating at each for 4 normal-sized people, 5-6 if you squeeze). The past 3 years, when I got on at BWI the tables were all full. However, I've had good luck hovering and scoring a table when people get off (usually at either Philly or NYC). As I said, last year we played Cards Against Humanity with something like 7-10 people in the game, making it the whole way through the base set+expansion, twice. Some people were also playing, if I recall correctly, Pandemic and Smallworld at other tables.
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448 Lake Shore Limited at 930pm on March 20.
I'm planning on bringing Cards Against Humanity, Munchkin, some DS Games, and possibly Dominion
My wife and I will be joining up for the Metal Gear Line in Buffalo. I'll be offering up a D&D game for folks, and looking to play some games of whatever else is offered.
Another option if you want to get to South Station from north is C&J bus service. They have terminals in Dover NH along with Portsmouth NH and Newburyport MA. Still have to drive a bit down 95 to get there but still better than driving into the city. Parking is free also which is a plus.
But keep an eye on the Amtrak site. If they see a lot of activity at one particular time they sometimes put more trains and routes into service. I'm not sure how it works on the Downeaster, but they often increase Acela and Northeast Regional trains during holiday peaks and what not.
I'm bringing 5 people including me from team9000gaming.
I will bring Fluxx (a few different variants of it) and a few other games undecided yet
Pax South 2015 checklist: Accommodations[x] Travel [x] Time Off [ ] BYOC [x]
Pax East 2015 checklist: Accommodations[ ] Travel [ ] Time Off [ ] BYOC [ ]
Friday, March 22, 2013
170 Northeast Regional (NYP - BOS)
Depart: 8:30 am, Fri, Mar 22, 2013
Arrive: 12:43 pm, Fri, Mar 22, 2013
If you book Leaving Chicago (or South Bend, IN) on March 21st on the 448, You will miss the entire first day, arriving 9:10 PM on Fri 22nd. Missing PAX is bad. Also we will miss out on your company, which is also bad.
On the plus side Amtrak is pretty laid back about changing times and cancellations.
176 NE Regional (WIL-BOS) - Arrives 8:00pm Thursday - $59
173 NE Regional (BOS-WIL) - Departs 11:05am Monday - $59
Regional 172
Departing DC at 7:25am
Arriving in Boston at 3:12pm
3DS Friend Code: 2449-5711-0640
Don't even act like you're bringing us,
Speaking of such things, I'll have a copy of cards against humanity with me, and I'm thinking of trying to run a LAN party on the train... Thoughts about this?
I mostly tweet about food
I'm getting on the Regional 172 in DC!! Thought I had to ride this one alone.
3DS Friend Code: 2449-5711-0640
Cool! This is a good sign indeed. I think there are many more people going to Pax than frequent the forums, so color me optimistic. I'll have Cthulhu dice for sure, and possibly some other table tops for the Thursday night thingy in the lobby. I'm on the fence about bringing my DS or Vita. Does anyone know if there is WiFi on the Northeast Regional?
Yeah, the issue was hooking up with the Metroid line (which only runs once a day) and not having them get screwed by a short connection, but also not getting into Boston at like midnight:30, and also also not being the Acela which costs $texas.
I'll be with you on the way up to Boston, but there's no way I'm going home that late on Sunday (or early on Monday).
I'll look into what board/card games I have that might be able to get "portabalized", but otherwise I'll likely just partake in other people's festivities.
I am on board for 176 on the way up to Boston and will meet you guys near the back. I am on the 169 back down to Philly, which I believe is leaving Boston South Station at 6:40pm and arriving in Philly at 12:30am.
PAX East 2014 Checklist:
[X] - Pre-registered | [ ] - Train tickets | [ ] - Time Off
Yea, I will decide when it's a bit closer. I'd love to get a game in that takes some time since, well, we have some time! But I figure it can't be anything with too many bits (especially ones which might slide with the train's movement), don't know how much space we'll have, and don't know how many people on the train would be into something bigger/longer. At the very least, I'll have my "box o'filler" and probably Munchkin (as it all fits in one box quite easily).
I'll probably also have an iPad with me and have a decent handful of board games on there as well.
Also, as stated before I will be doing my normal "stalk the dining car and grab a table for gaming". Last year was pretty much All Cards Against Humanity All the Time. We will also have some magic decks, Munchkin, Mad Scientist University, and a smattering of other tabletop fun. Come join us!
Just to be clear though, as far as I know the official Sonic Line PAX train is still the 176 NE Regional.
It's the Metroid and Star Fox lines that are the issue - they only run once a day, and IIRC the connection to the earlier NE Regionals is pretty tight for one or both of them.
They're named after video game characters because it's more fun to say than, like, Northeast Regional 176. I think Prime started it.
Last year's thread: forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/149698/east-pax-east-train-alliance-2012/p1
Not true, usually. In past years @Moe Fwacky has done the legwork of putting together all the train schedules to easily point out which line is which set of trains, so it's not confusing whatsoever. The people talking about the lines by their code names here are just people who have done this before so they know which is which. This year, nobody has taken the time to do that legwork yet, and @Moe Fwacky will likely not have time to do so. I'm sure some of the folks in here though could take moe's picture from the wiki and info from last year's thread and put together a nice list.
It's the bestest, and you also get the fun peoplewatching opportunity of "who the hell else is boarding an Amtrak train at midnight?"
I highly doubt I'll see anyone on it though.
Train 648: HARRISBURG, PA - PHILADELPHIA (30TH ST), PA
Depart 11:00 AM, Thursday, March 21, 2013
$27.00
Train 176: PHILADELPHIA (30TH ST), PA - BOSTON (SOUTH STATION), MA
Depart 1:55 PM, Thursday, March 21, 2013
$59.00
Bringing my Vita, 3DS, and Cards Against Humanity.
Put it in your ear holes.
Twitter: @APacManSays
I oh I know. I don't want to get there that late though.
Edit: We're now confirmed on Regional 172 boarding in DC. Looking forward to meeting up with anyone else on the early train, we'll bring some games with us and I'll also have Cookie Brigade noms.
Between me and my other friend we have a shit ton of board games. From the looks of the train it seems that the seating is just airplane-like? Is this true? We would require some sort of table for a majority of the games we have... Is there a dining car we can take over?
I've never rode a train before so I'm hoping you guys can provide some answers! We're looking into this still, we have hotels lined up for fri/sat but not for Thursday so we're deciding what we want to do about Thursday night, because a minimal amount of sleep will be required for Friday's epicness. Thoughts?
As I mentioned in some previous posts, there IS a dining car on the 176. It only has about 5 tables (with seating at each for 4 normal-sized people, 5-6 if you squeeze). The past 3 years, when I got on at BWI the tables were all full. However, I've had good luck hovering and scoring a table when people get off (usually at either Philly or NYC). As I said, last year we played Cards Against Humanity with something like 7-10 people in the game, making it the whole way through the base set+expansion, twice. Some people were also playing, if I recall correctly, Pandemic and Smallworld at other tables.