Erie Canalway – Day 12 – Albany to Niagara Falls by Train and Crossing the Border

We had breakfast in the hotel then went back to the room to pack everything, and met in the lobby for a short ride around Albany to do some more sightseeing. We left our panniers in a secure room so that we didn’t have extra weight while riding, since the route came back past the hotel, and there wasn’t any extra distance to pick up the panniers. It felt delightful to ride without all that extra weight.

Cindy and I planned a short route that would take us back past the State Capitol Plaza and to George Washington Park and the giant Nipper statue.

We rode around the outside the wall of the empire State Plaza. You can see the New York State Museum on the left, which is connected by a staircase over the road, to the plaza, and has free admission. We didn’t have time to visit, though.

There are four identical buildings called the Agency Buildings and numbered one through four. They sit on a very small base and appear to float above the platform. The yellow sculpture is called Trio by George Sugarman.

In this picture, you can see how much the building overhangs the small platform.

This large sculpture by François Stalhly entitled Labyrinth made me imagine a Flintstones’ gym, and David think of the Lincoln logs building toy.

The Empire State Plaza architect, Wallace Harrison, also designed the Rockefeller Centre in Manhattan, the Corning Museum of Glass, the headquarters of the United Nations, and the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center.

The Swan building, which houses government offices, is over 400 m long.

We then rode over to George Washington Park. It reminded me of the La Fontaine Park in Montreal.

They have a statue of Moses in the middle of a fountain there.

I also encountered this park maintenance vehicle that was lifted to such an extent that the hood almost came to the top of my head. This type of vehicle is deadly when the drivers hit vulnerable road users, such as cyclists and pedestrians.

There was a small lake with a lovely bridge spanning it.

The homes surrounding the park were lovely.

This is a statue of George Washington looking towards the side of the Capitol.

This is the Alfred E Smith building, Albany’s second-tallest building after the Corning tower. It’s built in the art deco style and was completed in 1928. Houses government offices. It had an open observation deck on the 31st floor, but that was closed after the Corning tower observation deck opened.

This is the New York State education building.

Our route took us right back to the hotel at which point we had planned to pick up our panniers, but we realized that we would be coming right back to the hotel before using the Skyway to cross the highway, so we just relaxed for a few minutes and then rode over to see Nipper.

The building was in quite a dilapidated shape and for lease. The area was a mix of rundown buildings and buildings that had been fixed up.

We then returned to the hotel, and picked up our panniers, the rode over the Skyway, across the highway, and down to the river. It would’ve been a more direct route on our way into town two days ago, but we live and learn as we explore. From the Skyway we used this ramp to get down to the waterfront trail, which is the Empire Trail and goes all the way to New York City.

We had expected to ride up the ramp here, but there was a detour sign.

The cyclist standing there in the picture came over to speak to us and led us to the right spot.

The detour route was well signed.

We had a jersey wall separating us from head on traffic on the bridge. It was a hot and noisy place to be, and we went as quickly as we could.

At the top I took a moment to take a picture of the corning tower, agency buildings, and egg from the ramp.

The train station is a modern one.

Shortly, after arriving, there was an announcement that the train was delayed.

We purchased food in the café and then relax until the train arrived.

A station employee directed us to an elevator, which took us down to the platform.

Earlier in the day, I had seen this blog post on taking bikes on Amtrak. We were actually somewhat anxious about being able to get our bikes on board quickly enough and secured. We paid for tickets for ourselves and for our bikes, so we knew there would be room for the bikes. But, the blog post indicated that we should remove the panniers, and the front wheel, on the platform, then lift everything onto the train, and secure it in the cabinet for bikes. I spoke to one of the station employees and found out that we would have only about six minutes to board. They told us we could take the front wheel off once we were on the train, if we didn’t want to do it on the platform.

One of the reasons we were concerned is because the bikes are very heavy with the panniers, and we are used to having to lift them onto the GO Train. However, it transpired that there was level boarding, both in Albany, where we embarked, and in Niagara Falls, New York, where we disembarked. We also discovered, only moments before boarding, that there was only one bike per train carriage so that we would have to split up.

Once we were on the platform and the train pulled in, the conductor got off and directed us to different carriages. He said that the end carriage was closed, but someone could put their bike there. So I went that way, and was happy that I did, because he allowed me to secure the bike, intact, where wheelchairs would normally go.

The others had to remove their front wheels and hang their bikes.

The areas for hanging the bikes were adjacent to handicap seating. The handicap seats near Cindy’s bike were empty, and she asked the conductor if we could sit there, but he said he was expecting someone to board later and use it, so declined. We watched the train looking for a pair of empty seats, or at least two and a set of four. This man was alone in a set of four with all of his stuff spread out over the seats, so we stopped and asked him to move it.

I had my carbon dioxide detector with me, and it indicated that, the carbon dioxide level was over 1300 ppm, which was the level when I caught Covid in a restaurant last November, so we put on our masks. After Amsterdam, the train wasn’t quite as busy, so we found seats in the same carriage as David and Dayle. The non-stop pace of the past 11 days started to catch up with me along with with the hypnotic sounds and movement of the train, so I had a short nap.

The train left late, and became later, as we travelled west, so Cindy and I purchased some food on the train. It wasn’t very good, and the Café Coach attendant was surly and abrupt.

The train was fairly empty by the time we reached the first Buffalo station. The conductor indicated we could assemble our bikes after the second Buffalo station, when he would let me into the closed coach.

Between the two Buffalo stations, I saw Buffalo Central terminal. It’s an art deco building which was built in 1929, and used as a station until 1979. In the years since then, it has gone through many owners, and is currently owned. By the central terminal restoration corporation, which is working on restoring the property. It is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Once I was allowed to go into the closed coach, I was asked to bring my bike into the open coach, because they needed to quickly uncouple the closed one, and leave it at the Niagara Falls station, before returning to New York City. Here Cindy has her bike assembled and we are ready to disembark.

The platform was level in Niagara Falls, as well. I didn’t notice if there was level boarding at the stations in between.

And here are David and Dayle on the platform with Dayle taking our picture as I take theirs. The whole experience ended up being much easier than we thought it would be after reading the blog this morning. When we first started planning this trip, we thought we would go all the way to New York City, but decided that that would take too long. After I returned home, I read this account of Jake Laundau’s train journey from Toronto’s Union Station to New York City. Fortunately, ours was much better.

This is what the Niagara Falls, New York station looks like.

There was a multi-use path all the way from the station almost to the border area.

When we crossed to the US on Sunday, we mistakenly crossed with the cars, rather than the pedestrians. So when we saw this sign for crossing back to Canada, we followed it.

But it turns out at the Rainbow Bridge, bikes are meant to cross the border with the cars.

So we rode through the parking lot and followed the sign to Canada. There is a toll to use the Rainbow Bridge- six dollars for cars, but only one dollar for bikes.

David and Dayle and Cindy all had an easy and welcoming time at Canadian immigration. I am hard of hearing, and made the mistake of leaning slightly towards the booth, but by no means, putting my head inside, and the officer barked at me to stand back, and back himself up against the other side of the booth. I told him I have hearing loss. He did raise his voice to speak to me, after that, but asked about seven or eight questions before deciding to let me back into the country.

The light was beautiful. We arrived back at the fall Lodge in Niagara Falls. Canada, the same place we stayed on day one.

Here we are happy to be back in Canada.

We decided to celebrate our last evening with margaritas and nachos at Margaritaville.

It was a very windy evening. We briefly considered riding to St Catherine’s to catch the GO Train, rather than doing so in Niagara Falls, but decided we would just do a local tour, to avoid the strong headwinds that were predicted for the morning.