cpamtfan
OBS Chief
National Train Day returned to NYC after a long absence with a bang, to the glorious Grand Central Terminal. As most of you may know, this may have been a one year event, even with it's unbelievable turnout.
Metro North, which runs all operations within GCT, allowed Amtrak and private varnishes to bring their equipment in for display. There were 4 tracks taken up, 3 with Amtrak equipment and one with the private rail cars.
I had been offered by a friend to volunteer on the equipment. I have previously worked the 40th Anniversary Train while it was stationed in New Haven, but I declined since I had work that morning.
After I got off work, I took the LIRR and subway to GCT (still no East Side Access) and toured the equipment (I've seen the actual station more than a lot of people combined here haha). As I was touring the equipment, I ran into a couple friends who were volunteering on the private varnishes. We went to lunch, and one of my friends was saying, "Hey, maybe we can get a ride back to Penn (Station) on one of the private cars!". I was thinking he was crazy, but he politely asked a few, most turning him down. Then we get to one of the most infamous railcars in the United States, the former 20th Century Limited tail car Hickory Creek. The car owner, who's name escapes me, pretty much said, "Sure, if you REALLY want too".
I called home to say I'd probably be a little late that night---
Boy did it get late
We watched 2 Metro North crews remove each set one by one. Finally, our engine took our train to the depths of the terminal for a class 1a brake test. This is the same yard that the famous car that FDR came in on is, and I can now say I was "near it".
Finally, we were on our way just past 10pm. After being held outside of Pelham for nearly an hour, they brought our train into New Rochelle. There we had an Amtrak pilot back to NYP. The view from the Hells Gate Bridge was something short of stunning. We arrived in NYP at 1am. From there it was a short trip back on the vomet comet back home to Long Island.
Then I had to explain to my mom why I was 8 hours late.
So sometimes you should take a different route to go 8 blocks.
Metro North, which runs all operations within GCT, allowed Amtrak and private varnishes to bring their equipment in for display. There were 4 tracks taken up, 3 with Amtrak equipment and one with the private rail cars.
I had been offered by a friend to volunteer on the equipment. I have previously worked the 40th Anniversary Train while it was stationed in New Haven, but I declined since I had work that morning.
After I got off work, I took the LIRR and subway to GCT (still no East Side Access) and toured the equipment (I've seen the actual station more than a lot of people combined here haha). As I was touring the equipment, I ran into a couple friends who were volunteering on the private varnishes. We went to lunch, and one of my friends was saying, "Hey, maybe we can get a ride back to Penn (Station) on one of the private cars!". I was thinking he was crazy, but he politely asked a few, most turning him down. Then we get to one of the most infamous railcars in the United States, the former 20th Century Limited tail car Hickory Creek. The car owner, who's name escapes me, pretty much said, "Sure, if you REALLY want too".
I called home to say I'd probably be a little late that night---
Boy did it get late
We watched 2 Metro North crews remove each set one by one. Finally, our engine took our train to the depths of the terminal for a class 1a brake test. This is the same yard that the famous car that FDR came in on is, and I can now say I was "near it".
Finally, we were on our way just past 10pm. After being held outside of Pelham for nearly an hour, they brought our train into New Rochelle. There we had an Amtrak pilot back to NYP. The view from the Hells Gate Bridge was something short of stunning. We arrived in NYP at 1am. From there it was a short trip back on the vomet comet back home to Long Island.
Then I had to explain to my mom why I was 8 hours late.
So sometimes you should take a different route to go 8 blocks.
