Chasing the 2017 Amtrak Autumn Express

On October 15, 2017, I chased Amtrak's Autumn Express around New York State. The main attraction was seeing Amtrak equipment for the first time ever on the ex-New York Central West Shore Line, now CSX's River Subdivision. I was also intrigued at the prospect of seeing an ACS-64 on the Empire Connection in Manhattan, which I live right next to.
My first stop was Iona Island, a spot I am very familiar with. The line was abnormally busy for a Sunday, as I caught three freights in about an hour before the Autumn Express showed up.
Train 1: CSX Mixed Freight - 10/15/17 10:16 AM
- CSX AC4400CW #5109 (YN3)
- CSX AC4400CW #391 (YN2 "Spirit of Dante")
Train 2: CSX Autorack Train - 10/15/17 10:39 AM
- CSX C40-8W #7858 (YN2)
Train 3: CSX Intermodal - 10/15/17 11:12 AM
- CSX AC4400CW #236 (YN2)
- CSX SD70MAC #4580 (YN3)
Train 4: Amtrak Autumn Express - 10/15/17 11:25 AM
- Amtrak P42DC #156 (Phase I Heritage Unit)
- Amtrak ACS-64 #642 (Veterans Unit)
- Amtrak P42DC #145 (Phase III Heritage Unit)
It would have been quite difficult to catch the train again on the River Line, so I headed up to Tivoli, NY on the other side of the Hudson to catch it on the return trip down Amtrak's Empire Corridor. This way, I could see a few Empire Services fly through at 100 MPH track speed while the train wyed in Selkirk.
Train 4: Amtrak Empire Service - 10/15/17 1:31 PM
- Amtrak P32ACDM #704 (Phase IIIb)
Train 5: Amtrak Empire Service - 10/15/17 1:59 PM
- Amtrak P32ACDM #703 (Phase V)
Train 6: Amtrak Empire Service - 10/15/17 2:58 PM
- Amtrak P32ACDM #716 (Phase V)
- Amtrak P32ACDM #711 (Phase IIIb)
Train 7: Amtrak Autumn Express - 10/15/17 3:10 PM
- Amtrak P42DC #145 (Phase III Heritage Unit)
- Amtrak ACS-64 #642 (Veterans Unit)
- Amtrak P42DC #156 (Phase I Heritage Unit)
After the Autumn Express slammed past the Tivoli crossing, I made my way home to see it on the Empire Connection just north of the George Washington Bridge.
Train 8: Amtrak Empire Service - 10/15/17 5:42 PM
- Amtrak P32ACDM #701 (Phase IIIb)
Train 9: Amtrak Autumn Express - 10/15/17 5:44 PM
- Amtrak P42DC #145 (Phase III Heritage Unit)
- Amtrak ACS-64 #642 (Veterans Unit)
- Amtrak P42DC #156 (Phase I Heritage Unit)

[@JBtrainman]

Beautiful shots! Those trains at Tivoli were flying lol

[@amtrak706]

Thanks! Yes they were

[@JoshuaTheTransitProdigy]

On October 15, I was filming my excursion on the Autumn Express. The main attraction was the train ride for 550 minutes. Nice catches by the way!

[@centralMDrailfan]

There was a Metroliner cab car behind the acs64

[@amtrak706]

That is 9800 which is now a business car with a conference table. I do not know if it still has its cab controls.

[@centralMDrailfan]

There was also another cab car

[@amtrak706]

Yeah I don’t know what that one was for. They used 156 when that end lead.

[@JoshuaTheTransitProdigy]

#9800 had the bell ringer and the other cab car was from the Keystone Line. Cab Car #9641.

[@LibertyRailfan]

great video Amtrak706

[@thenewyorkrailfan]

I hope they bring this back, where did the autum express go?

[@amtrak706]

This was the last year it operated. It was a victim of cost cutting and anti-excursion train policies that came in at Amtrak around this time.

[@thenewyorkrailfan]

@@amtrak706 oh