I took a 12-hour Amtrak train from New York City to Montreal. These 8 things surprised me about my first train ride to Canada.

Insider's reporter on the train to Montreal.Jordan Parker Erb/Insider

• In April, Amtrak fully reopened its Adirondack line, which runs from New York City to Montreal.
• To commemorate its post-pandemic reopening, I booked a seat in coach for the 12-hour ride.

Earlier this year, I became something of a train fanatic when I rode an Amtrak train across the country from Montana to New York City.

While I'd taken short train trips in the States before, it wasn't until my 57-hour trip in January that I had really considered rail travel as a viable form of getting around — and after that, I was hooked. So when Amtrak reinstated its Adirondack line from New York City to Montreal on April 3, I was eager to snap up a ticket.

With one transcontinental journey under my belt, I felt pretty certain I knew what to expect from the 12-hour ride. But from the minute I arrived at Penn Station's Moynihan Train Hall, I found that the trip to Montreal would differ from my domestic ride in several ways.