To New Hampshire by Train (sort of)

At this end of this month I will make what, by my count, will be my 30th trip this decade to visit my colleagues at Yankee Publishing in Dublin, New Hampshire. Over those ten years (in in the years before) I’ve taken all manner of routes from Charlottetown to Dublin: I’ve driven straight there; I’ve driven the leisurely route with the family along; I’ve flown via Halifax, via Montreal, via Ottawa and via Toronto; I’ve driven to Montreal and driven south through Vermont; I’ve flown to New York City and then back to Boston and driven from there.

One thing I’ve never done, however, is take the train to Dublin. And so this time, at least partially, I decided to try that.

I don’t have the time nor patience to take the train all the way from Charlottetown, so I’m flying to Montreal first and taking the train from there. Sort of.

Amtrak doesn’t make it easy to get to southern New Hampshire from Montreal by train: its “Vermonter” route, which once went all the way into Montreal, now stops at St. Alban’s, Vermont, a town 25 km from the Canadian border. So here’s what I’m doing:

1. On May 30 I’m flying from Charlottetown to Montreal on Air Canada’s direct flight, arriving Trudeau Airport at 1:23 p.m.
2. I’ll hop on the “747” bus from the airport into downtown Montreal’s bus station where I’ll catch the 3:45 p.m. Greyhound bus to Burlington, Vermont.
3. I’ll stay overnight at the lovely La Quinta near Burlington Airport (which is where the Greyhound terminal is), and then on May 31 I’ll catch the 9:25 a.m. “Vermonter” Amtrak train south to Brattleboro, Vermont, arriving at 12:20 p.m.
4. In Brattleboro I’ll get picked up by Enterprise Car Rental at the station with a rental car, and I’ll then drive the 50 km to Dublin, NH.

So, despite my protests about having not enough time nor patience for the train, my journey will take me about 24 hours to complete.

Not content to let this wild adventure end, the following Friday I’ll return the rental car to Brattleboro and continue on the same train south to New York Penn Station where I’ll arrive at 6:24 p.m., rendezvousing with Catherine and Oliver who, being sane and all, will not take any trains at all and will instead fly to LaGuardia via Montreal direct from Charlottetown.

We’ll spend 4 nights in New York City before returning via Air Canada on Tuesday, June 11.

The total cost of my air, train and bus travel will be $546, which is not bad for Charlottetown-Montreal-Burlington-Brattleboro-New York-Montreal-Charlottetown.