New York City Trip - 12/30/09

Happy New Year all,

Went up to NYC with nephew, whom had never been in NYC before. Neat time to be with him as he's a senior in HS aand I will not likely not get a chance like this again.

In terms of RRing did the following:

0921 NJT train to NYPenn from Hamilton. 8 or 10 Older MU's with a wheel with a flat spot directly under the floor where I was standing. Train was standing room only, stopped at New Brunswick, main (as opposed to Jersey Ave), Newark, Seacaucus Jct. and then onto NYC. Had to wait on stop signal at Secaucus as they had one tunnel shut down for trackwork so we moved along with about a 10 min delay. Some people rode in the vestibule all the way in.

MTA subway #1 local down to WTC and Ground Zero (my nephew is a firefighter and very much wanted to see WTC and Station 10 - a hallowed shrine for him, and me too!) Went all around there. Construction very much under way on WTC rebuild. Looks basically like a big construction sight now. Good to see this coming back. Tribute museum very moving..

Since we have a subway day pass, we took full advantage - took R train one stop to South Ferry, to possibly take boat to Statue of Libery. No go as they had too many people booked.

Next best thing and FREE - Staten Island Ferry - My nephew wanted to see Staten Island and I wanted to ride the SI Railway. Great way to see the harbor.

Took the SIR all the way to the south end at Totenville (pronouced "TAHT-enville"). For those of you who know imagine about 25 stops just like the Milburn stop on the Philly Market Frankford El. (the one before 69th street). Same sort of working class neighborhoods but with a touch of Jersey shore thrown in for good measure. The only time you pay is when you get on and off at the ferry terminal at the north end otherwise train is FREE! You can get on and off at any stop free. Trip took about 45 minutes one way.

Saw what appeared to be at least 4 spurs off the line. Coming out of the terminal there is a wye to the west for one stop to a ball park, and eventually to CSX northside freight line and then over to Arthur Kill lift bridge to Jersey, and then the main heading south. Mayor Bloomberg is pushing for passenger service to continue on the northside.

On the main it goes thru a short tunnel and then near street running for 2 stations. Neat modeling ideas there. No grade crossings the entire route.

About 3 or so stations down (can't remember which one now) is a yard (fenced in with high fence and razor wire!) with some ballast hoppers, caboose, and 2 what appear to be either old SW or Alco switchers.

Saw 2 more sidings off the main along the way but couldn't tell what sort of industries they serviced other than the main is fenced off again with high fencing and razor wire.

South End

Saw the remains of the old ferry terminal at the Totenville (just off the end of the platform) which went over to Amboy NJ just down the Arthur Kill about a mile or so. (Amboy has restored their old ferry terminal.) According to my research, the Ferry ran until '63 and then I suspect the opening of the Outerbridge Crossing bridge put an end to it.

The Staten Island RR reminds me of a laidback small time RR where everybody knows everybody. Throw in a bit of Sir Topham Hat and the Isle of Man RR from Thomas the Tank Engine and you get the idea.

Rode back to Manhatten, then ferry across, onto the #1 to Chambers, transferred to #3 express uptown to Times Square. What a nuthouse that was LAST night. (Only can imagine what is like NOW) Doing sound checks on the 2 stages there as well as LOTS and LOTS of people, so LOTS and LOTS of sensory overload. Phew!

Took Grand Central Shuttle over to Grand Central. Terminal looks fantastic as usual. Nice O guage layout in the tourist shop.

Back to Time Square. Always interested in the tunnels that go either way from the shuttle platform. The shuttle has 3 trains that run back and forth. At Grand Central on the east end one track disappears EB but who knows where. At Times Square 2 WB tracks look like they go around to the north to join the 7th Ave. line.

Took #2 back SB to Penn Station.

Caught NJT 1931 express to New Brunswick, with new double deck equipment. Sat in last car of 10 car train...sat is a relative term. I stood 'till New Brunswick (standing room only) then sat. Comfortable ride - my head brushed the ceiling n the way out (I'm nearly 6'5"). Now I can see where they made up for the clearance to fit 2 levels in these cars and still keep the level low enough to ride "under the wire".

Neat trip. Have some pictures via my or my nephews Cellphone, which I will post later but didn't want to be too obvious nor have my nice camera stolen either.

Charles Kadyk

Last Sunday Before Snow

"Look both ways before you cross the busy thoroughfare."

With all the Wheelman's travels and DT&I Fan's work schedule, getting out as a group on a Sunday afternoon to see anything on District 1 is a rare event these days. This was Sunday November 29th, right after Thanksgiving. Given the time of year, the sun was making an uncommon appearance too.

As has happened many times in the past, the scratches on the scanner seemed to point east. So, off to Lewiston and beyond we go. Somewhere in Lewiston we hear an EDNM closing on Green, so we continue to Leeds Jct. We caught up with the train where it meets the highway. They stop at the solitary signal and we proceed to the junction. There we find RUED waiting to leave the branch (above).

While we are sorting out what might happen next Charles Hastings showed up on his way back to UMO. He stayed around a little while before light and timing for his trek got limited. Some other fans from Berwick showed up right after he left. They watched some of the proceedings and left just before we did. Unfortunately it was just cold and windy enough to force us into our vehicles rather than hang out and be social - much.

Eventually, with EDNM still stopped at Green, RUED pulled out of the branch with a few cars for Bucksport to set out on the siding, apparently for EDNM. Set-out made, the power returned to the branch and EDNM pulled ahead to Cressey. You can see the last car with the marker just cleared the branch.

We then watched RUED pull by on the main, headed west. Apparently both trains were due for crew changes. We left EDNM behind and followed RUED since they would re-crew at Strawberry Ave. in Lewiston. The train wasn't exactly screaming along. As you can see with the parting shot at Leeds Jct, the sun was getting lower.

It would be dark before it got to town. We tried out Stetson Rd. crossing on the edge of Lewiston (and met the Berwick guys again) where I got the last blurry shot in the faded light. I think it was on max ISO and still only had about 1/10 sec. Where was that monopod?

All things considered, it wasn't a bad way to kill an afternoon. Leeds Jct. always provides for unusual meets and the convergence with friends, spare time and nice sunny weather was rare.

Now we have a crust of snow and colder temperatures.



BC

Randomness - Interesting MBTA Red Line Shot

I'm a luddite when it comes to picture taking. I still use film, slides in fact. One downside is I find it very difficult to show blog readers any of my shots.

Before I was enlightened by Debate Coach, I took many, many Kodacolor prints. In cleaning out the archives this week, I found some of the first pictures I took as an upstanding adult. Once upon a time I worked in Waltham MA. One evening after work I detoured via the Red Line yard at Fort Point Channel. To me this is still the New Haven yard, but I'm stuck in a time warp.

Anyhow, I was there just as light was disappearing. This isn't a photograph for the ages, but under the heading of "take the shot while you have it", I happened to get all three generations of Red Line cars running at the time in one shot. This picture was dated October 2000. I'm glad I got it.



The Wheelman

An Hour Or So At Readville.

Most New England railfans get to the Northeast Corridor enough that seeing the same old stuff is not news at all. But, those of us from the northern part of the region are somewhat deprived in that department.

DT&I Fan and I were on an express visit to Mass. on Sunday 12/6 to go to the Marlboro train show, Readville and Ikea. It turned out to be a pleasant day despite the prior night's snow. The snow did slow our departure enough to kill any chance of having coffee with Skull, who had to work. After spending a fortune at the show we drove to Readville for a fix of "speed".

Upon arrival we spied a green signal outbound on the center track. Something was on the way. The audible warnings on the platforms spoke up next. It wasn't long before the HHP on the top of the page showed up. The end of the inbound platform was the right place to be for this guy. Unfortunately I did not bring my monopod and I could have ventured a bit farther down to clear the fence. I had to use the full 300mm to get past most of the clutter.

While this was going on, I thought I saw a headlight inbound. It wasn't long before the signal turned green and the headlight became apparent. Again the audible warnings and whoosh! Standing across the platform from a speeding AEM7, or anything else, is a nearly religious experience.

The W.F.P.T. will never forget Joey's first summit visit to Worcester a few years ago. I had to include a "Purple Train" for the benefit of those who recall the episode. Sorry Joey. I actually put this shot onto Facebook without a thought about Joey because I don't have that many shots of the latest paint scheme on the F40's. This paint scheme was not seen yet the last time I spent time at Readville. The third track showed a blinking green center light well before this guy showed and Sunday is an off day at Readville, so I assumed it wouldn't stop. Not exactly a "woosh" but fun to watch nonetheless.

The last train was a guess. The 4-5 year old timetable in the truck indicated a train out of Boston at 1510 or so. We hoped it was still true. Not long after we figured that out the outbound center track signal changed to high green. Okay, we'll stick around. I was beginning to get chilled to the bone but a sure thing would be worth the wait. It was a longish wait and the sun was getting low. But, no clouds and the sun should last long enough. This last shot was the result.

Three "religious experiences" with "speed" for a couple of northerners. It was good for the soul.



BC