Departing for JFK

July 9, 2011.
   I decided to take Amtrak to NYC and then from there the LI Railroad to Jamaica Station where I could catch the Airtrain to JFK Terminal 8 for my departure on Air Berlin to Berlin via a connection in Dusseldorf. Figured this would be a much more pleasant way to travel than driving myself to the airport in a rental. Plus this way I could work on this blog as I traveled.
   Evelyn drove me to Utica's Union Station where I quickly changed the internet voucher I purchased online for a real train ticket using the automated kiosk in the terminal.  Piece of cake!  Just scan her in and out pops the ticket. There was some uncertainty about the track the train would be using. We started out on tráck 2 (the one closest to the station), but then the rumor circulated that it was going to be on track one, which most of the passengers accessed by using the stairs or elevator to rach the overhead walkway to safely traverse track 2. Being the rebels that we are, we just walked across track two at ground level to platform one. Forgive us OSHA!
   The train was surprisingly crowded. I didn't anticipate so many traveling to New York by train, not taking the train myself very often.  The seating was comfortable enough. My only complaint was the laqck of a shade on the window. I was stuck in a window seat and the morning sun was quite warm and bright.  There were 110V AC outlets for running the electronics that have become such an integral part of our lives.  But, alas, no WiFi!
   As I had woken at 5 AM this morning after turning in past midnight, I was tired and slept awhile.  Now wish I hadn't because I found there was some interesting scenery en route.  The beautiful rural landscape of upstate gave way to the less idyllic, urban "blight" of dilapidated industrial areasfrom bygone days, largely overgrown with what I would call "junk" vegetation occasionally punctuated with attractive wild flowers.  The debris of rail's long gone hey day, while ugly on the surface, made for some interesting sites.  Decaying switches and sidings, jumbles of discarded rails and ties, as well as piles of assorted and unidentifiable machine parts stick in my mind.
   We crossed what I assume was the Harlem river into northern Manhattan.  There was a group of folks on the water in brightly colored kayaks.  The track litter now tunred from decaying industrial residue to just plain trash.  At one point there was a pile of opened and unopened suitcases, as if dumped from the cliffs above, created when the track beds had been carved out of the hilly rock formations making up most of the island. Often I'd see mattresses along the tracks, particularly where there was an overhang or other sheltered area.  Wondered if I would see any homeless, but never saw anyone.  Graffiti abounded on the retaining walls and abandoned buildings alike. It made me think of ancient cave paintings I saw in a history book once.  There must be an innate desire in humans to leave their mark.  The wall writings are surprisingly similar, almost as if done by the same "artist".  The characters, those closely spaced, sometimes overlapping, pudgy, rounded and colorful letters spelled out names and cutesy sayings.  Rarely any profanity.  You could tell that the railroad or a local municipality had tried to fight the spread of the graffiti by painting over extensive sections of retaining walls with grey or taupe paint.  But it was evidently a losing battle as there was a lot of graffiti right on top of the cover up.  In fact, the cover up paint only acted to make the "artwork" stand out more predominately.
   Once in Penn Station I did the bag drag over to Long Island Railroad.  Looks like everything departing from Penn for LI goes through Jamaica Station, so it didn't matter which train I got on.  $4.50 for a senior citizen ticket, what a deal!  Nice train, clean, more utilitarian seating than the plushAmtrak seats, but comfortable enough.  At Jamaica Station I switched to the Airtrain ($5.00) which took me to terminal 8.