NORTHAMPTON — The first Amtrak train on the inaugural run through Northampton pulled into the station at 1:46 p.m. Monday, precisely 15 minutes behind schedule.
It might not have been a good omen, but no one waiting on the platform complained. They were too excited.
A crowd of about 100 people jammed the Northampton stop next to the former Depot Restaurant for The Vermonter's first voyage through Northampton since the 1980s. The route also passes through Springfield and Greenfield on its way between St. Albans, Vermont, and Washington, D.C. For decades, the line dog-legged through Amherst, which had its farewell voyage on Sunday.
For most of the passengers on the platform, Monday's ride was a lark. Amy Lavalee took sons Jaxson, 9, and Jordyn, 12, to Springfield and back for their little ride through history.
"We're just riding the train," Lavalee said, predicting she will use it in the future.
"I have a lot of family in New Jersey and we like adventuring," she said.
Ed and Sherry Wingfield of Florence were heading all the way to New York City to take in a show. They were surprised by the crowd.
"We didn't know this was the first train," Sherry Wingfield said.
Several people, including Jimmy Quinn, got the inaugural ride as a Christmas present.
"It was either this or a toy train," said daughter Roisin, who accompanied Quinn to Springfield. Quinn expected the ride to be emotional because his brother, who operated a train, died recently.
"In my county in Ireland there was only one train, and my brother used to drive it," Quinn said.
For Benjamin Spencer, the ride provides some creative material. Spencer, a wood-cut artist, numbers trains among his subjects. The trip was a present from wife Martha Ebner and their sons, Emmet and Calvin.
"They love trains," Ebner said of the boys.
Craig O'Connell's ride was purely practical. The New Haven resident simply wanted to go home. He was dismayed to find that his ticket was for a north-bound train.
"There's no other way home," he said.
Eleanor Small was among the many who just came to see the train. She remembered taking it from Holyoke to Northampton in days gone by.
"It was so long ago," she said. "I miss the trains coming through."
Another sight-seer was Mayor David J. Narkewicz, who got a preview of The Vermonter when he rode it to Greenfield last week with Gov. Deval Patrick. Narkewicz, a professed train-lover, thought the run went well.
"People were really excited," he said. "I saw some familiar faces getting off the train."