Amtrak’s Busiest Day 2012
The Sunday after Thanksgiving is Amtrak’s busiest day. In order to meet the peak demand that returning holiday travelers creates Amtrak borrows equipment from various commuter agencies. This creates some incredibly rare catches. I went out to catch the action.
First, there were a ton of regular Amtrak trains running.
![Amtrak AEM7 on 2012's Busiest Day](http://railfanning.kapuscinski.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/IMG_8117-1024x682.jpg)
![Amtrak AEM7 on 2012's Busiest Day](http://railfanning.kapuscinski.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/IMG_8116-1024x682.jpg)
Then the commuter stuff showed up. Seeing MARC equipment at the Martin State station isn’t weird. Seeing it with an Amtrak cafe car tacked on is.
![Amtrak "Commuter Extra" with a MARC HHP Heading North](http://railfanning.kapuscinski.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/IMG_8124-1024x682.jpg)
Back to the Amtrak equipment for an Acela and a northbound long-distance train.
![Northbound Amtrak Long Distance Train](http://railfanning.kapuscinski.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/IMG_8139-1024x682.jpg)
![Southbound Acela](http://railfanning.kapuscinski.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/IMG_8136-1024x682.jpg)
Then a REAL surprise showed up: an NS local. Being a Sunday, and being a really busy passenger day, this was the last thing I was expecting to catch.
![NS Local on the NEC](http://railfanning.kapuscinski.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/IMG_8144-1024x682.jpg)
Then it was back to almost regular Amtrak for a while.
![Northbound Northeast Regional](http://railfanning.kapuscinski.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/IMG_8224-682x1024.jpg)
Then came some southbounds.
Then more northbounds.
And more southbounds.
![Meet at Martin State](http://railfanning.kapuscinski.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/IMG_8185-1024x682.jpg)
![Southbound Regional in Good Sun](http://railfanning.kapuscinski.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/IMG_8209-1024x682.jpg)
![Another Doubled Up Regional](http://railfanning.kapuscinski.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/IMG_82241-682x1024.jpg)
And finally, in the waning hours of light, the real stars I was after in quick succession.
![Afternoon Northbound MARC Powered Commuter Extra](http://railfanning.kapuscinski.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/IMG_8285-1024x682.jpg)
![NJT Comet Cars in Maryland](http://railfanning.kapuscinski.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/IMG_8255-1024x682.jpg)