Travel
Coming By TrainThe train is probably the most elegant way to come to our Conferences, and the one which allows the most intellectually fruitful use of the time en route. Amtrak connects at Springfield with the Peter Pan bus line, and most train journeys to Amherst finish with that bus connection (for bus instructions, see the Bus page). The Springfield Amtrak station is a short walk from the Springfield bus station, and those with light luggage should find no difficulty in going from one to the other. The area is unproblematic in daylight hours; use reasonable caution after dark.
Reservations are required on Amtrak; see your travel agent or go direct to the Amtrak web site.
Terminal Location
The Amherst train station, now with no ticket window and half given over to a design firm, is located off of Main street near the intersection with Triangle Street, and not far from the Emily Dickinson House.
Train Schedule
We do not attempt to give schedules for all Amtrak trains to Springfield, but one train per day goes all the way to the quaint Amherst train station, and on this we give details. It is the Vermonter (once also known as the Montrealer, but now operating only within the US). Its schedule is #55 (Sat/Sun #57; Northbound Mon-Fri #56, Sat/Sun #54) on the Amtrak Northeast Timetable. We here provide a short version of that schedule, omitting many stops. This version is that of 27 Oct 2003; check Amtrak for later updates and changes. The schedule for Mon-Fri is identical to that for Sat/Sun. Where two times are given for one station, the first is that of arrival, and the second is that of departure:
Mon-Fri Mon-Fri 11:05 AM White River Jct VT 6:45 PM 1:19 PM Amherst 4:20 PM
2:50 PM2:40 PM
2:50 PMSpringfield MA
3:00 PM3:15 PM
3:00 PM3:23 PM Hartford CT 2:09 PM
4:41 PM4:21 PM
4:41 PMNew Haven CT
1:06 PM1:22 PM
1:06 PM
6:55 PM6:25 PM
6:45 PMNYC: Penn Station
10:43 AM11:00 AM
10:43 AM7:02 PM Newark NJ 10:55 AM
8:22 PM
8:10 PM
9:17 AM
9:50 AM9:20 PM Baltimore MD: Penn Sta 8:45 AM 10:05PM Washington DC 8:05 AM
It is clear that the Cosmic Architect evolved this train for the convenience of those attending WSWG Conventions. There is nothing to be gained, however, from saying so to the Vermont businessman next to you, whose state government is subsidizing the route on quite different assumptions.
From the Station to the Campus
There are two taxi services which advertise by leaving business cards on the bulletin board inside the little cute station. We have no recommendation at present. Your other options are to walk from the station to the Campus Center, a little under two miles, the first part of it slightly uphill (salutary for robust persons with light luggage), or to be met at the station. If you arrive at the station but your arranged ride is not there, call Al Cohen (253-5558) from the pay phone (35 cents in US coins required; no change given) in the station waiting room. He lives nearby, at 142 High Street, and will try to assist you if he is available.
If you elect to walk, here are the directions.
Go along the Railroad Street entrance road to Main Street. Just ahead of you is Gray Street; do not take it. Instead, go a few steps left up Main to the light at Triangle Street, which runs slightly uphill to your right.
We here ignore the fact that if Emily Dickinson were at that moment lowering cookies in a basket from her window to children on the lawn below, a little further up Main, she might see you as you cross Main and head up Triangle. (If you should detour up Main to the Dickinson Homestead, her bedroom windows are the two second-floor ones on your left). Every step you take up Triangle from Main, for a few blocks, brings you a little closer to her grave.
Follow Triangle almost a mile, to the light at the intersection with East Pleasant Street (there is a Bank of America branch on your right). Follow Triangle through the light for a few houses until it veers north and merges with North Pleasant Street; this is the University's fraternity area. At the next light, about a third of a mile further on, you have two choices. One is to bear left onto Massachusetts Avenue, the main east-west road on the University Campus. The other is to bear right, up North Pleasant Street, until you see the Campus Center on your left. Here is a map to orient you. Follow instructions in the map caption.
If you take the left-hand option, you will presently see Haigis Mail Mall on your right, with the Fine Arts Center at the end of it, and Whitmore Administration Building just beyond.
We here repeat the directions from the Bus page, which center around the bus stop located at the north end of Haigis Mall:
"You will see the Library tower north of you and to your left. From the bus stop you should turn left (when facing the Fine Arts Center to the north) and walk to the first north/south path. Turn right and follow the path, with the Campus Pond on your right, past the Library up the slope to your left, then past the Student Union building ahead and to your right. Just past the Student Union, you will come to a walk leading down to a door in the west end of the Campus Center, at Level 2."
From this point, you should rejoin the main Travel page for directions inside the Campus Center. Welcome, and may your stay be a fruitful one.
1 Dec 2005 / Contact The Project / Exit to Conferences
